Hey Church Militant - finally read your Testimony - we have some common ground (although I am a few years behind you I think.)
Looking at my other thread on Saints connected to pagan gods, one idea that differs is Catholic teaching that those who “die” are not dead, but actually more alive than those of us still here, and we are connected to the Church in Heaven, not separated. Is this one of those teachings that is tradition? Catholic faith being Bible plus tradition.
I think it’s another both/and because the Bible is pretty clear that the saints in Heaven are “great cloud of witnesses” and so with the long experience of the church and logic we see that The saints who readily interceded for others while on this earth would not cease when they enter into their reward.
One odd thing I have noticed is that even n-Cs will visit a grave of a loved one and stand and talk to them. Why do that if they don’t believe deep down that they are being heard?
I don’t know if Sola Scriptura let’s you reach that conclusion (one of the reasons I won’t go back to the Baptist church). Protestants seem to look at things thru a paradigm of worldly limits, and apply them to the spiritual, where they don’t belong.
Nope…It just doesn’t work either in support of SS itself or much of anything else and the more you study and encounter its adherents the more you will see that.
I agree with all the posts here.
Many Catholics check the box and only attend mass.
Yep and that’s why we are taught that the first line of evangelism is to our own households and if you read the Bible you see that that is the way it’s always been.
Then we face the world as witnesses.
Yet, there are others who frequently gather to pray outside abortion clinics.
Generally, the every day Catholic is short on evangelization.
I would amend it to say Christian, because my experience is that they aren’t much different than we are…The rank and file don’t witness much and when many of them do they are less effective than they want to be because they are often ill prepared to give an answer for the hope that is in them. It’s becoming even more difficult in today’s society which is very secular and eaten up with moral relativism.
My understanding is that Protestants place a high premium on obtaining converts from other Christian denominations as well as non Christians and that is great.
Yeah, that first part is sometimes called “sheep stealing” and is more about efforts to make the other guy abandon his church and join theirs because they are a better “Bible church”, though most would never admit that to anyone else and may not even realize it themselves. Part of this is caused by a pretty common sermon tactic that I call “compare and contrast” in which the preacher will make a point of contrasting their beliefs with “those Catholics” (for example) and then when his people leave they are primed and armed to “witness” to us poor lost Catholics. But next week it may be the Baptists vs Methodists or Episcopals or Pentecostals or… And it cuts both ways because it’s pretty common wherever you go regardless of denomination or professed lack thereof.
However, I can’t help but feel that part of that is an attempt to demonstrate legitimacy in a denomination. Catholics do not feel the need to do that.
Yep, that’s what I mean, and as Bishop Sheen said we just need to let the lion out of the cage.
Should we Catholics evangelize more? Absolutely. However, most of our ministries focus on increasing faith and helping the needy, not winning converts.
Here again we have the need for the good ole Catholic both/and where we need to do the one and not neglect the other. Christianity is not nearly as simplistic as some think it is, right?
We need to evangelize our fellow Catholics first and foremost. They are in dire need. For this reason they are the fertile field of converts for Evangelicals.
Sad but true. We also have a bad cultural problem where we wander around seeking to be entertained and hence we see the emotional appeal of the mega churches with “praise bands” and contemporary music instead of the beauty and reverence and the miraculous reality of the Mass where we meet Christ in word and sacrament.
There is also a culture of oversimplification and comfort in our societies which has led to the “sinner’s prayer” and “get saved” system that is
really “A Different Gospel”.
And “the Rapture” misinterpretation of scripture that will likely destroy the faith of many when persecutions come and we are not all yanked away before it gets bad. Something that we never see anywhere in the Bible or in Christian history. We have to be the kind of believers who tough it out.
Most of what I offer cites links to CA and others. I think we all stand on the shoulders of giants.
