New to Catholicism- where to begin?

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ChristinaAH

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Currently, I’m not a Catholic, I attend a Protestant Church and consider myself as being evangelical. Recently, though, some of my Catholic friends were talking about their faith and I began to really admire Catholicism. So I was wondering where should I begin?

I’ve read some fragments of writings by the saints, I’ve read a bit of CS Lewis as well. But some of the stuff in the saints’ writings seem really dated- Clement of Alexandria’s The Instructor says that men can’t shave their beards or take showers to get clean, for example, and Clement claims to have been given this information from God Himself. The Apostolistic Constitutions say this on the matter:

“. Nor may men destroy the hair of their beards, and unnaturally change the form of a man. For the law says: You shall not mar your beards. For God the Creator has made this decent for women, but has determined that it is unsuitable for men. But if you do these things to please men, in contradiction to the law, you will be abominable with God, who created you after His own image.”

I’d assume that this isn’t something Catholic men practice, because my male Catholic friends all look clean-shaven to me 😉

How much emphasis should be put on those writings? Are they considered church tradition? As you can tell, I’ve got a lot to learn…
 
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Saint Alphonsus Liguori’s feast day is today so maybe you might want to check out his writings. He isn’t so outdated. St. Thomas Aquinas is a good one if you can handle it.
 
There are quite a few Catholic Catechisms out there. There is this one which is VERY beautiful and complete, but also very long. It is great for reference, but to read from cover to cover would be like reading the whole bible cover to cover.

To get started, you might want to try the Baltimore Catechism, which is a basic question/answer format. There are 4 levels to it, here is the first level. It would give you a great overview.
 
OP, just so you know, the Baltimore Catechism hasn’t been updated since the late 19th century, so if a portion of it seems wrong/odd to you, look at the current Catechism for clarification and a more in-depth explanation.

However, for most topics, it’s an easily read and understood base-line.
 
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Is there proof that the Catholic Church is the truth? The modern Catechisms seem really different than what the early church believed.

I apologize if this sounds rude, I was raised Protestant so I used to think that the Catholic Church was idolatrous and evil. Obviously I don’t think that anymore 😀
 
What’s been posted is good. Fr. Mike does YouTube videos and while I’m not a regular watcher, the ones I’ve seen are good. Also, if you have questions on specific things as you start learning, CA will often have tracts and CAF can sometimes be a good place to get sources. (For example, I’ve gotten some book recommendations from CAF that I do not regret.) And then of course, an RCIA program at the local parish is a great help. I’m not sure how most RCIA programs would be about someone that was interested in just learning, but if you ever decide to convert, it’s SOP for RCIA to be part of the process.

Welcome to CAF. I hope you llike it here.
 
ChristinaAH said:
Is there proof that the Catholic Church is the truth?
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Depends on what you mean by the truth…
ChristinaAH said:
The modern Catechisms seem really different than what the early church believed.
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It may seem that way, but don’t misread it- The ecumenism of the post Vatican-II Church does not equate to her saying ‘all religions are equal’
 
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ChristinaAH said:
Is there proof that the Catholic Church is the truth? The modern Catechisms seem really different than what the early church believed.
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The papal succession from Peter to Linus to … to Francis is one piece of evidence. Another thing is understanding some of the disciplines that have changed while the core teaching remains. And that’s part of the differences.

To take a Biblical example, St. Paul mentions how it’s disgraceful for a man to have long hair. Nowadays, that’s not so. But when we look at the context of when St. Paul was writing, long hair on men in the area he wrote to meant male prostitution so a Christian man with long hair would’ve scandalized others into thinking Christians were prostitutes. And so with those situations no longer around, the discipline of no long hair for men isn’t really needed but the principle of avoiding scandal still stays.
 
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That makes a lot of sense. In my church, I grew up thinking that stuff like the prohibition of long hair for men was for all time, so I guess I just assumed that the no shaving rule fell into that category as well.

Thanks!
 
But wait, Clement of Alexandria definitely believed that God gave those commands for all time, because of his quoting of the Old Testament Law.

I know that these things aren’t practiced anymore, but it makes me doubt that the Catholic Church is the true church because the commands which the earliest Apostles believed were God-breathed are now not being followed.

Thanks so much for your help!
 
ChristinaAH said:
But wait, Clement of Alexandria definitely believed that God gave those commands for all time, because of his quoting of the Old Testament Law.
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I don’t see how that follows. Just because he’s quoting the Old Testament doesn’t mean he’s making a firm decision that is binding on all Christians for all time. Could you explain a little more? 😀
 
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Oh haha, I’m sorry if I’m not being clear! I have a hard time getting my thoughts out in words. I was just saying that Clement of Alexandria states in his writings that, for example, men who shave are an abomination, he quotes the OT law to support this, and then he says that he’s writing down in his works commands from God.

I hope that’s easier to understand!
 
If I were you, as a potential Catholic, I would not get hung up on Clement of Alexandria’s writings at this time. Leave them be for now. Read Therese of Lisieux’s Story of a Soul. Read Catholicism for Dummies. Watch The Journey Home videos on YouTube. Attend Mass on Sunday. Read the Catechism.
 
Wordonfire.org. Robert Barron is incredibly engaging. He did a great video series called Catholicism. Has written many books. He’s got tons of videos on YouTube as well on a huge variety of topics. Check him out!
 
Well, the Catholic Church doesn’t believe that everything a Pope says is to be followed forever. Nor do they say that everything a Pope says is correct.

Only when a Pope pronounces from the Chair of Peter on faith and morals is the Pope infallible. This incident is obviously not concerning faith and morals (whether men can shave) and the Pope was not pronouncing from the Chair definitely since I think this was a letter to a city.
 
Oh okay, I didn’t know The Instructor was a letter to a city.

Thank you very much.
 
The quote is accurate but you are jumping to the conclusion that he got this straight from God. When Moses allowed for stoning adulterers, that did not come straight from God either. Like St Paul, he was speaking for the benefit of people of his time under a specific cultural environment. What he said does not qualify as Catholic dogma. For Catholic dogma, consult the Catechism.
 
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