My (rather uninformed) Baptist Uncle

[Della]

With a certain level of trepidation I will say for myself that I do not see myself as a Fundementalist with a warped interpretation of the scriptures…this you may not agree with which is your perogative.

I wouldn’t use the term “warped interpretation of Scripture” to describe Fundamentalists’ approach to biblical interpretation. Rather, I would say that they have too narrow an interpretation–literalism. Most Protestant denominations aren’t literalists. I don’t know which Protestant denomination you belong to, if any, but you don’t sound like a Fundamentalist to me, anyway.

I approached CAF aware that I probably had misconceptions about what the Catholic Church teaches and while I feel I have learned lots by participating here

It’s possible you have misconceptions about Catholic teachings, but not having read many of your posts I wouldn’t know if you do. If there are questions about or objections to Catholic teachings that you wish to discuss, I encourage you to start threads in which we can participate. The aim of CAF is to help people learn, and perhaps understand, Church teachings. We Catholic members can but try since most of us are amateur apologists.

I am also becoming aware that a lot of Catholics also have misconceptions of what their Church actually teaches as is borne out repeatedly by Don Ruggero in other posts. So yeah,ignorance!

Don Ruggero is a retired Catholic priest who taught university level classes. It is possible that you merely don’t understand what he has written–university teachers’ approach to explaining teachings might be a bit more dense than someone like me whose training is far less academic. But trust me, he knows his stuff. If you are having difficulty with what he writes, you may want to ask him for clarification rather than assume he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

 

[Lenten_ashes]

With a certain level of trepidation I will say for myself that I do not see myself as a Fundementalist with a warped interpretation of the scriptures…this you may not agree with which is your perogative. I approached CAF aware that I probably had misconceptions about what the Catholic Church teaches and while I feel I have learned lots by participating here I am also becoming aware that a lot of Catholics also have misconceptions of what their Church actually teaches as is borne out repeatedly by Don Ruggero in other posts. So yeah,ignorance!

Wannano, there is a ton to learn about the Church so it’s likely there will always be room for improvement for Catholics to educate themselves further. I agree some Catholics do not know much about what the Church teaches. Others seem to be cultural Catholics and just go through the motions.

And when i say warped fundamentalist interpretation, let me clarify. If Sola scriptura becomes selective scriptura, then i believe it is a warped interpretation. If a protestant pastor is claiming we are ***not ***under the law, but then screams about tithing all the time and quotes Malachi saying you are robbing God, then that guy has a incorrect and self serving interpretation. Just one example of many.

And the problem that i see with SS is that most of the time it does become selective scriptura. As humans we all have a certain filter in which we interpret things. And that filter is determined by educational status, personal experience, personal influences in life, etc, etc. Seemingly unavoidable to stress verses A/B more than C/D, etc, etc.

Does not mean those churches are not good and profitable.

Pax

 

[Nick_Russell]

I shared a Catholic Answers video on my Facebook feed a few days ago - the one that talks about why we ask saints to intercede for us. It was a very good explanation and one that I would think anyone wound understand. My baptist uncle proceeds to respond “This man deceives many people.” He’s also responded to other posts about my Catholic faith in a very negative and ignorant way. I finally had enough of him on Sunday so I blocked him from Facebook. I try to do my best to explain my faith (I converted from baptist) to my non-Catholic family and most of them are very respectful, but my uncle just will not listen to me nor any of my explanations.

I’m curious to know if any one else has had experiences like this where family members or friends just won’t listen to anything you say and only respond with false accusations. What did you do?

I kind of had a similar experience as you. I converted when I was 15 and my Grandparents disowned me. They refused to come to my baptism and told my family that I was brainwashed. After three years of never speaking to them they apologized to me. It was a conversation filled with many tears and eventually brought us closer. I would encourage you to continue to pray about it and very peacefully offer to have an open discussion about the issues he has with the Church.

Nick

 

[Wannano]

I wouldn’t use the term “warped interpretation of Scripture” to describe Fundamentalists’ approach to biblical interpretation. Rather, I would say that they have too narrow an interpretation–literalism. Most Protestant denominations aren’t literalists. I don’t know which Protestant denomination you belong to, if any, but you don’t sound like a Fundamentalist to me, anyway.

It’s possible you have misconceptions about Catholic teachings, but not having read many of your posts I wouldn’t know if you do. If there are questions about or objections to Catholic teachings that you wish to discuss, I encourage you to start threads in which we can participate. The aim of CAF is to help people learn, and perhaps understand, Church teachings. We Catholic members can but try since most of us are amateur apologists.

Don Ruggero is a retired Catholic priest who taught university level classes. It is possible that you merely don’t understand what he has written–university teachers’ approach to explaining teachings might be a bit more dense than someone like me whose training is far less academic. But trust me, he knows his stuff. If you are having difficulty with what he writes, you may want to ask him for clarification rather than assume he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

 

[Wannano]

I wouldn’t use the term “warped interpretation of Scripture” to describe Fundamentalists’ approach to biblical interpretation. Rather, I would say that they have too narrow an interpretation–literalism. Most Protestant denominations aren’t literalists. I don’t know which Protestant denomination you belong to, if any, but you don’t sound like a Fundamentalist to me, anyway.

It’s possible you have misconceptions about Catholic teachings, but not having read many of your posts I wouldn’t know if you do. If there are questions about or objections to Catholic teachings that you wish to discuss, I encourage you to start threads in which we can participate. The aim of CAF is to help people learn, and perhaps understand, Church teachings. We Catholic members can but try since most of us are amateur apologists.

Don Ruggero is a retired Catholic priest who taught university level classes. It is possible that you merely don’t understand what he has written–university teachers’ approach to explaining teachings might be a bit more dense than someone like me whose training is far less academic. But trust me, he knows his stuff. If you are having difficulty with what he writes, you may want to ask him for clarification rather than assume he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

Oh my goodness, sometimes the #nglish language does not convey what you meant! No, I understand Don Ruggero (almost) completely. I love his posts. Yes he knows what he is talking about…I was saying his posts bear out that many Catholics themselves do not really know what their Church is teaching and are ignorant of changes it has made.

 

[mattp0625]

I shared a Catholic Answers video on my Facebook feed a few days ago - the one that talks about why we ask saints to intercede for us. It was a very good explanation and one that I would think anyone wound understand. My baptist uncle proceeds to respond “This man deceives many people.” He’s also responded to other posts about my Catholic faith in a very negative and ignorant way. I finally had enough of him on Sunday so I blocked him from Facebook. I try to do my best to explain my faith (I converted from baptist) to my non-Catholic family and most of them are very respectful, but my uncle just will not listen to me nor any of my explanations.

I’m curious to know if any one else has had experiences like this where family members or friends just won’t listen to anything you say and only respond with false accusations. What did you do?

As you know, there are many different baptist denominations. Some have greater anti Catholic rhetoric than others.

There is not much you can do. Most times, a Protestant will not accept the truth unless they find it on their own.

For perspective, there is EWTN’s The Journey Home program. You might find the interviews with Dr Wesley Vincent, Dr Davis Anders, and Brandon Barker of interest. It’s posted on YouTube.

 

[Della]

Oh my goodness, sometimes the #nglish language does not convey what you meant! No, I understand Don Ruggero (almost) completely. I love his posts. Yes he knows what he is talking about…I was saying his posts bear out that many Catholics themselves do not really know what their Church is teaching and are ignorant of changes it has made.

I did wonder if you meant what you wrote as it sounded. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[hadulzo]

Don’t argue with him ever. Turn the other cheek. Engage in discussions where you only ask questions or dicuss commonalities such as abortion and so called gay martiage. Since he believes is sola scriptura ask where in the bible it says you have to be Baptist? Where does the Bible come from? Where in scripture does it say you go to hell, who’s assigned the task of determining that?
Whenever he criticizes mention mention Christ’s one commandment.

 

[claymcdermott]

I agree with the last guy.

Also, when you block someone on Facebook, they can usually tell. Next time, try adding the person to your restricted list. You are still friends on there, they just cannot see or comment on anything you do not make public.

 

[JustaServant]

Maybe not charitable but probably accurate.

Most of these cases are fundamentalists having a warped interpretation of the scriptures and and at least partial misconceptions about what the Catholic Church actually teaches. So yeah, ignorance.

People can have ignorance in any number of areas. Most likely it stems from a simplistic and intellectually lazy world view. I imagine it extends into politics and social issues as well. The Catholic Church just fits nicely into that dwarfed view of the world.