A
Antonius_Lupus
Guest
I have long debated with myself about actually writing this post.
I have decided to post this with the hope that I can give glory to God, and defend the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church that I have come to love.
Comments about my testimony, or critiques of my reasons for converting to Catholicism are more than welcome. But I certainly won’t be distraught if this thread is deleted or moved.
My journey to Catholicism begins at my birth. My mother was a nominal Catholic, but I was baptized as an infant. I have come to believe that at that moment, solely by the Grace of God, I was born again, washed of my original sin, and made a son of God.
I grew up with a small concept of God and Christ, but I never felt a strong desire to have a relationship with God. Yet all of that changed at the age of about eight. My grandmother began taking me to Sunday School at a local Southern Baptist Church. To this day I am not sure why, but I began to absord Biblical knowledge like a sponge. In less than a year I had learned the major tenets of Christianity and had unconciously memorized many Bible stories. At the age of nine I was re-baptized as a Baptist after saying a prayer with my pastor. I still remember those days after that moment. I was a Christian on fire for Christ. I voraciously read the Bible and learned as much about Evangelical theology as I could. Soon I had aquired a huge amount of Bible knowledge, and I spent virtually every morning at my Middle School telling others about Christ.
At the age of twelve however I began to wrestle with the Baptist doctrine of “Once Saved Always Saved”. I believed this, but I constantly worried about whether I was “saved”. It tortured me until I said another prayer with my family, making a commitment to Christ. I didn’t stop having doubts about my salvation, but I began to intensify my evangelism. I organized a Bible study at my school and every morning our group would read the Bible and I would preach a sermon on the passage. I preached every day trying to witness and spread the “gospel”, which was based on Evangelical soteriology.
Soon I was ridiculed and given the malicious nickname of “the preacher”. I still pressed on, preaching and studying the Scriptures.
As I entered High School many things changed. First and foremost, I met
“friends” who were involved with sin and sure enough I followed suit. I never gave up on my Christian faith, but I was still felled by doubts about the “assurance of my salvation.” One day, I came across a book called: “99 reasons to become or remain Catholic.” This book challenged my understanding of the Bible, showing by the very Bible itself, the insufficiency of Evangelicalism. What shocked me most was the fact that it was written by a former Presbyterian minister. I still remember walking out of the school weeping and overcome with fear after learning that the Bible does teach that one can lose his/her salvation thru mortal sin. Adding to this was when a deacon of a local Catholic Church gave me a copy of “Pillar of Fire, Pillar of Truth”. I was fourteen then.
Soon however, I began to immerse myself with Evangelical authors and books. I hoped to combat this Papist “heresy” (God forgive me). I even began to debate with Catholics on Beliefnet.com, trying to show them the error of their ways. I thought the Evangelical arguments were Biblically sound and I couldn’t imagine a Catholic being able to actually refute them on a Biblical basis. Sure enough however I presented the arguments of CARM on a post trying to destroy the doctrine of Transubstantiation. Yet to my shock, a Catholic easily refuted my arguments, not with Papist inventions as I had supposed, but with one simple tool: the Bible.
Confused and beaten, I feld back to CARM and other anti-Catholic websites. For the time being, I still felt secure in the arms of Evangelicalism. I soon began to debate with Jehovah’s Witnesses. I tried to show that the Trinity was Biblical, but to add historical weight to my arguments I turned to the Church Fathers. I was fascinated by the beliefs of the Early Christians, until I realized something dreadful. When I saw a Catholic apologetic website (turned out to be catholic.com) use the Church Fathers to defend Catholicism, I was shocked. I soon realized that every doctrine of Romanism that I had worked so hard to combat was believed by the Early Christians.
Coupled with Biblical evidence, I captitulated. With time and study I was soon convinced the Catholic Church was the TRUE Church. To my great joy, I will be recieved into the Church fully on April 7, 2007.
There is one thing that I question: Where was God in all this? I feel as though I came on this conclusion on my own, by research and Bible Study. I want to know where God fits into the picture of my conversion. I know it sounds crazy, but during my journey to my realization of the truth of Catholicism, I never felt that God was directing me. Where was He?
In any case, that is my testimony. There are many more details I’m sure, but these were the basic ones.
I hope that this brings glory to God and his Church.
For in the end I am nothing.
Amen.
I have decided to post this with the hope that I can give glory to God, and defend the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church that I have come to love.
Comments about my testimony, or critiques of my reasons for converting to Catholicism are more than welcome. But I certainly won’t be distraught if this thread is deleted or moved.
My journey to Catholicism begins at my birth. My mother was a nominal Catholic, but I was baptized as an infant. I have come to believe that at that moment, solely by the Grace of God, I was born again, washed of my original sin, and made a son of God.
I grew up with a small concept of God and Christ, but I never felt a strong desire to have a relationship with God. Yet all of that changed at the age of about eight. My grandmother began taking me to Sunday School at a local Southern Baptist Church. To this day I am not sure why, but I began to absord Biblical knowledge like a sponge. In less than a year I had learned the major tenets of Christianity and had unconciously memorized many Bible stories. At the age of nine I was re-baptized as a Baptist after saying a prayer with my pastor. I still remember those days after that moment. I was a Christian on fire for Christ. I voraciously read the Bible and learned as much about Evangelical theology as I could. Soon I had aquired a huge amount of Bible knowledge, and I spent virtually every morning at my Middle School telling others about Christ.
At the age of twelve however I began to wrestle with the Baptist doctrine of “Once Saved Always Saved”. I believed this, but I constantly worried about whether I was “saved”. It tortured me until I said another prayer with my family, making a commitment to Christ. I didn’t stop having doubts about my salvation, but I began to intensify my evangelism. I organized a Bible study at my school and every morning our group would read the Bible and I would preach a sermon on the passage. I preached every day trying to witness and spread the “gospel”, which was based on Evangelical soteriology.
Soon I was ridiculed and given the malicious nickname of “the preacher”. I still pressed on, preaching and studying the Scriptures.
As I entered High School many things changed. First and foremost, I met
“friends” who were involved with sin and sure enough I followed suit. I never gave up on my Christian faith, but I was still felled by doubts about the “assurance of my salvation.” One day, I came across a book called: “99 reasons to become or remain Catholic.” This book challenged my understanding of the Bible, showing by the very Bible itself, the insufficiency of Evangelicalism. What shocked me most was the fact that it was written by a former Presbyterian minister. I still remember walking out of the school weeping and overcome with fear after learning that the Bible does teach that one can lose his/her salvation thru mortal sin. Adding to this was when a deacon of a local Catholic Church gave me a copy of “Pillar of Fire, Pillar of Truth”. I was fourteen then.
Soon however, I began to immerse myself with Evangelical authors and books. I hoped to combat this Papist “heresy” (God forgive me). I even began to debate with Catholics on Beliefnet.com, trying to show them the error of their ways. I thought the Evangelical arguments were Biblically sound and I couldn’t imagine a Catholic being able to actually refute them on a Biblical basis. Sure enough however I presented the arguments of CARM on a post trying to destroy the doctrine of Transubstantiation. Yet to my shock, a Catholic easily refuted my arguments, not with Papist inventions as I had supposed, but with one simple tool: the Bible.
Confused and beaten, I feld back to CARM and other anti-Catholic websites. For the time being, I still felt secure in the arms of Evangelicalism. I soon began to debate with Jehovah’s Witnesses. I tried to show that the Trinity was Biblical, but to add historical weight to my arguments I turned to the Church Fathers. I was fascinated by the beliefs of the Early Christians, until I realized something dreadful. When I saw a Catholic apologetic website (turned out to be catholic.com) use the Church Fathers to defend Catholicism, I was shocked. I soon realized that every doctrine of Romanism that I had worked so hard to combat was believed by the Early Christians.
Coupled with Biblical evidence, I captitulated. With time and study I was soon convinced the Catholic Church was the TRUE Church. To my great joy, I will be recieved into the Church fully on April 7, 2007.
There is one thing that I question: Where was God in all this? I feel as though I came on this conclusion on my own, by research and Bible Study. I want to know where God fits into the picture of my conversion. I know it sounds crazy, but during my journey to my realization of the truth of Catholicism, I never felt that God was directing me. Where was He?
In any case, that is my testimony. There are many more details I’m sure, but these were the basic ones.
I hope that this brings glory to God and his Church.
For in the end I am nothing.
Amen.
That was a wonderful testimony. Welcome home.
