Protestant Conversion

[catholic03]

Dear Friends,

I have a friend at school. He is an Evangelical Protestant. We are very good friends, and stand together on most issues of morality and of course the basic tenets of Christianity. However, he is constantly trying to convert me. I believe from the bottom of my heart that the Catholic Church is the one true church. That the Catholic Church is the only true Christian Church is a fact, not an opinion. He knows I believe this, however, he still tries to convert me. He refutes every argument I give him. Such as salvation by ‘faith alone’, which their is no evidence for, in fact the Bible specifically states many times that salvation is by faith AND good works. He is knowledgeable in refuting Catholic arguments.

He accepts that Catholics are Christians, but claims that we are ‘unorthodox Christians’. He claims that if I find evidence to verify that Catholicism is the one true faith, then he will convert on the spot. He says that I won’t be able to find such evidence, however. He false claims that the Church banned the sacred scriptures, among other things.

God wants to bring people to his faith. I am very knowledgeable on the faith, and I always back up my knowledge with scripture. I believe in complete loyalty to the Magisterium of the Church.

Does anybody have any ideas that he will not be able to refute! If I can bring him to the faith, then I will be happy in the knowledge that I am serving Christ and his Church.

Thank you for your help.

Yours in Christ and His Blessed Mother

 

[Jehu2077]

Go to the 1st/2nd century fathers. Ask him if they describe his church or yours.
Fact: they’re the ones who converted me.
He may try to argue that this proves the Church fell into heresy immediately following the age of the apostles.
Ask: so did Christ lie when He promised the gates of hell would not prevail against His Church?
Also: does this mean that we have a heretical sect to thank for promulgating the canon of Sacred Scripture?
Collect that soul.

 

[Limoncello4021]

Perhaps have him read Scott Hahn’s books (Rome, Sweet Home and others) and engage in discussion with you about them. Hahn, who was an Evangelical, is enormously well trained as a Bible scholar and would help you with arguments. Also, look for apologetic videos on specific topics (Mary, the Eucharist, etc) on Youtube.

 

[Todd_Easton]

Then, he would state: “Yes, this sect is heretical because the Apocrypha is not scripture and was written by the Popes”.

Please note that I call it by it’s proper name, the Deuterocanonical Books. He also believes the Deuterocanon was written by early Popes.

There are extant portions of some of the deuterocanonical books found in Jewish settings that go back at least to the first century. See the paragraph on the Dead Sea scrolls in the Wikipedia article on the Deuterocanonical books, here.

 

[1ke]

However, he is constantly trying to convert me.

You need to tell him to stop. Tell him religion is a closed subject, and if he can’t respect your boundaries you will have to stop hanging out with him. Be direct.

He claims that if I find evidence to verify that Catholicism is the one true faith, then he will convert on the spot.

Which he won’t ever do because he is not interested in the Truth, he is interested in converting you and he will disregard anything you say to him and just tell you that you are wrong. He’s already done this, you know this is how he operates.

Does anybody have any ideas that he will not be able to refute!

It’s a trick. Don’t fall for it. No matter what you say, he isn’t open to hearing it. He will ignore whatever you say. I’ve run into this type many times before, and when I did give them good solid arguments, they simply changed the subject to something else. When I’d try to circle back around to the topic at hand, they’d change the subject again.

 

[Dan_Defender]

If you will, challenge him to produce witnesses to what he believes between the 1st and 15th centuries. The fact is, he cannot trace back his belief system to Jesus and the Apostles. Then say, sorry if you expect me to believe Jesus intended to found a Church that would be in error for 1500 years, you are dreaming. And leave it at that.