Protestant ideas

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Anglewannabe

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I have often read books writing by protestants on how to live a Christian life. I find a lot of these books very good, comforting and helpful. As much as I truly believe the Catholic church is the one true church, I still really enjoy reading these books.

I have spoken to a few Catholics who just refuse to see the goodness in these books. One person said ‘It would be better to read books that were written by Catholics’. However, I don’t find such books. For example, Cloud and Townsend have a book about boundaries I really like. If there was a boundary book written by a Catholic I would read it, but I can not find one.

Also, I believe that a lot of protestants are genuine in the efforts to serve God. (I have met a lot of protestants that like to mock Catholics but those are not the ones I am referring to in this post).

I have come to the conclusion that for whatever reason, God (although created the Catholic church as the one true church), leads some people to the protestant churches for His purposes and I won’t understand them while in this life.

Am I off the mark? What do others think.

I also think that God has a purpose for people who never come to a Christian church. I believe that when a child is born to a Muslim, budhist, atheist or any other non-Christian family, it is because God will that child to exist. I also believe God knows full well that some of these children will ever become Catholic but again, He has His reasons for that.

Is there any official teaching on this?

Angie
 
One thing the Protestants have, especially the evangelicals, that is lacking in the Catholic church is the emphasis on having a relationship with Jesus. There is a lot we can learn from a fellow christian who is a protestant, that’s different from saying protestants are right.
Code: 
The Catechism says that God uses the Protestant churches as means of salvation so yes I believe that God would lead someone to a Protestant church if that person would not accept the Catholic church.
Protestantism is a heresy and a serious error. However a lot of Protestant people have a deep love for Jesus. And I, for one, believe Jesus will save those people. Ultimately that’s what God wants- People who love him. Those are the people who go to heaven.
 
Anyone who is saved, even if Protestant or non-Christian, is saved only through the Catholic Church. This is infallible Catholic teaching. So even though there are decent people and good christians outside the Catholic faith, they would all be better off to become Catholics, where they have t;)he grace of the sacraments and fullness of the faith.

It’s better to read a good Catholic author, because Protestants, even if a good writer, may lead you into false ideas.
 
Coming from a protestant past one of the ideas that is almost totally lacking is the idea of suffering. We must choose to suffer for others and for the faith. Many of the books I grew up reading were, for the most part, about self fulfillment and ideas like that.

I can’t comment on the core of your question but to me that has been a very different perspective when I read the older classics, Philothea, Imitation of Christ, Way of the Cross, etc.

One of the reasons for the larger amount of protestant publications, I think, is that to be a great protestant you generally have to write a book. There is a large urge to become a great speaker, author, leader. Whereas a Catholic approach is more “doing”. Being little, being anonymous, doing charity at the soup kitchen and not telling people about it lest we loose our reward.

Not passing judgement just observing differences that I have seen.
 
bitznbitez said:
Coming from a protestant past one of the ideas that is almost totally lacking is the idea of suffering. We must choose to suffer for others and for the faith. Many of the books I grew up reading were, for the most part, about self fulfillment and ideas like that.

I can’t comment on the core of your question but to me that has been a very different perspective when I read the older classics, Philothea, Imitation of Christ, Way of the Cross, etc.

One of the reasons for the larger amount of protestant publications, I think, is that to be a great protestant you generally have to write a book. There is a large urge to become a great speaker, author, leader. Whereas a Catholic approach is more “doing”. Being little, being anonymous, doing charity at the soup kitchen and not telling people about it lest we loose our reward.

Not passing judgement just observing differences that I have seen.
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Are you familiar with Dietrich Bonhoeffer?

Jon
 
Steveabrous said:
One thing the Protestants have, especially the evangelicals, that is lacking in the Catholic church is the emphasis on having a relationship with Jesus. There is a lot we can learn from a fellow christian who is a protestant, that’s different from saying protestants are right.
Code: 
The Catechism says that God uses the Protestant churches as means of salvation so yes I believe that God would lead someone to a Protestant church if that person would not accept the Catholic church.
Protestantism is a heresy and a serious error. However a lot of Protestant people have a deep love for Jesus. And I, for one, believe Jesus will save those people. Ultimately that’s what God wants- People who love him. Those are the people who go to heaven.
Click to expand...
There is no higher relationship with Christ than receiving him, body, blood, soul and divinity in the Eucharist. Protestantism lacks what Christ meant for his Church on earth to have in the fullest meaning of having a relationship with him. Protestants do not understand that Christ taught the apostles that bread and wine truly became his body and blood. And the apostles taught their descendents what Christ taught them.

St Ignatius was a disciple of St. John…who was taught by Christ

“They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of His goodness, raised up again.” Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to Smyrnaeans, 7,1 (c. A.D. 110).

Justin Martyr talks to this teaching.

“For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.” Justin Martyr, First Apology, 66 (c. A.D. 110-165).

No symbolic communion here. The relationship that the early Church had with Christ was receiving him in the Eucharist as they followed Christ’s words:

John 6:53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

If you desire a real relationship with Christ and you do not believe in the real presence, I would suggest starting by re-reading John 6.
 
bitznbitez said:
Coming from a protestant past one of the ideas that is almost totally lacking is the idea of suffering. We must choose to suffer for others and for the faith. Many of the books I grew up reading were, for the most part, about self fulfillment and ideas like that…
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I am truly looking forward to the day when we are as one with Him.

RE: suffering:

The idea of suffering was a consistent one growing up. Having attended many different Protestant Churches in those years (moved a lot), it remained consistent amongst the various denominations. I truly did not know that some believed this to be lacking. And that’s a shame.
But it’s just one reason why I am in RCIA. 😃
 
Porknpie said:
There is no higher relationship with Christ than receiving him, body, blood, soul and divinity in the Eucharist. Protestantism lacks what Christ meant for his Church on earth to have in the fullest meaning of having a relationship with him. Protestants do not understand that Christ taught the apostles that bread and wine truly became his body and blood. And the apostles taught their descendents what Christ taught them.

St Ignatius was a disciple of St. John…who was taught by Christ

“They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of His goodness, raised up again.” Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to Smyrnaeans, 7,1 (c. A.D. 110).

Justin Martyr talks to this teaching.

“For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.” Justin Martyr, First Apology, 66 (c. A.D. 110-165).

No symbolic communion here. The relationship that the early Church had with Christ was receiving him in the Eucharist as they followed Christ’s words:

John 6:53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

If you desire a real relationship with Christ and you do not believe in the real presence, I would suggest starting by re-reading John 6.
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I couldn’t agree more. 😉

Jon
 
I read books from various traditions. Have gained much reading Scott Hahn. Looking forward to getting his new book soon
 
bitznbitez said:
Yes I am. But I am speaking in the generality.
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I think there’s the problem with your comment: it’s a generality. I don’t believe one can make such a broad sweeping statement when discussing Protestants since it covers such a wide range of differing and historically distinct communions.

Jon
 
Angie, it seems your question is: Does God call people to false religions?

No, he doesn’t. He allows us to exercise our free will, but he does not call people to error. He established a Church for everyone (cf. Mt. 28:19), equipping it with everything necessary for our perfection (cf. UR 3).

If you read Vatican II documents like Lumen Gentium and Unitatis Redintegratio, you will find acknowledgement that there is good in other religions, and that God makes use of “elements of sanctification and of truth” wherever they are found (LG 8).

But the same documents also point out that such elements “belong by right to the one Church of Christ” (UR 3), “impelling toward catholic unity” (LG 8); and that the “fullness of grace and truth” is found in the Catholic Church alone. Moreover, it is “only through Christ’s Catholic Church, which is ‘the all-embracing means of salvation,’ that they can benefit fully from the means of salvation” (UR 3).

A Catholic can certainly make use of good and useful things which originated in a non-Catholic religion, if he has the competence to do so without danger to his faith. St. Thomas Aquinas, for example, used elements of Aristotle’s philosophy to articulate Catholic theology.

In general, however, I would avoid religious items made by heretics and infidels (religious books, religious music, etc), as they may contain subtle errors. Cloud and Townsend have some good ideas, but personally I find their writing style annoying, as they try to proof text every point with a Bible verse that doesn’t always fit.
 
Steveabrous said:
One thing the Protestants have, especially the evangelicals, that is lacking in the Catholic church is the emphasis on having a relationship with Jesus. There is a lot we can learn from a fellow christian who is a protestant, that’s different from saying protestants are right.
Code: 
The Catechism says that God uses the Protestant churches as means of salvation so yes I believe that God would lead someone to a Protestant church if that person would not accept the Catholic church.
Protestantism is a heresy and a serious error. However a lot of Protestant people have a deep love for Jesus. And I, for one, believe Jesus will save those people. Ultimately that’s what God wants- People who love him. Those are the people who go to heaven.
Click to expand...
I agree with you. I was raised in a Protestant background and I feel that since I was a Protestant I have a deeper emphasis on a relationship with God than many Catholics I have met. I also feel a deeper sense of evangelization which I really find, no offense, very lacking in the Catholic Church. My dad who converted from the Catholic Church to Protestantism and back to Catholic feels that he is a much better Catholic after being Protestant for some time.

Just remember that Protestants show a greater sense of a relationship with Christ as a “buddy” and your best friend and more personal than we do in the Eucharist. Also, Protestants use a lot of emphasis on the whole “once saved always saved” manner of belief. They don’t put enough emphasis on what St. James wrote that “faith without works is dead”

Blessings!
 
Anglewannabe said:
I have often read books writing by protestants on how to live a Christian life. I find a lot of these books very good, comforting and helpful. As much as I truly believe the Catholic church is the one true church, I still really enjoy reading these books.

I have spoken to a few Catholics who just refuse to see the goodness in these books. One person said ‘It would be better to read books that were written by Catholics’. However, I don’t find such books. For example, Cloud and Townsend have a book about boundaries I really like. If there was a boundary book written by a Catholic I would read it, but I can not find one.

Also, I believe that a lot of protestants are genuine in the efforts to serve God. (I have met a lot of protestants that like to mock Catholics but those are not the ones I am referring to in this post).

I have come to the conclusion that for whatever reason, God (although created the Catholic church as the one true church), leads some people to the protestant churches for His purposes and I won’t understand them while in this life.

Am I off the mark? What do others think.

I also think that God has a purpose for people who never come to a Christian church. I believe that when a child is born to a Muslim, budhist, atheist or any other non-Christian family, it is because God will that child to exist. I also believe God knows full well that some of these children will ever become Catholic but again, He has His reasons for that.

Is there any official teaching on this?

Angie
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Yes, you are off the mark. You are trading what tickles you ears for the fullness of truth only found within the Catholic Church.

I have read and heard many good things from non-Catholic Christians. What is good we must accept and should do so readily. But God will never lead one out of his own Church, the Church that he founded through Jesus Christ. It is the Church that Christ himself promised to build. It is his Church. Every other faith community had as its founder, a man.

The bottom line is this. Would you leave the Eucharist for an inspiring sermon, a charismatic preacher, friendlier people or a good book? Would you leave the Eucharist for any reason?
 
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to read books by Protestant authors, especially if the books are about Christian living more than theology. I agree that one should stick to Catholic writers when studying subjects like theology, Church history, apologetics, etc. But if a book is about boundaries or maintaining good family relations or something like that, I can’t see any problem with it.
 
FrStevenJones said:
Anyone who is saved, even if Protestant or non-Christian, is saved only through the Catholic Church. This is infallible Catholic teaching. So even though there are decent people and good christians outside the Catholic faith, they would all be better off to become Catholics, where they have t;)he grace of the sacraments and fullness of the faith.
It’s better to read a good Catholic author, because Protestants, even if a good writer, may lead you into false ideas
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Yes, however there is a difference in the material books on spirituality offer, some are simply about Christian living and life style while others offer mostly the authors belief of doctrine and theology.We should simply be very careful in choosing what we put into our minds. Peace, Carlan
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Porknpie said:
There is no higher relationship with Christ than receiving him, body, blood, soul and divinity in the Eucharist. Protestantism lacks what Christ meant for his Church on earth to have in the fullest meaning of having a relationship with him. .
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Yes, I am in full agreement here.
what I meant is that Protestants feel a personal connection of friendship with Jesus.

The personal relationship with Jesus Christ that the protestants promote is worth while and I wish the Catholic church taught that more.

If you have that relationship plus the true eucharist buddy you have it all.

But I agree recieving the real body and blood of Christ in the Catholic church trumps the personal relationship they are talking about. If I had to choose one I would choose the Eucharist. But we don’t have to choose.
 
Ok, perhaps it is time for me to be more specific. A Catholic Lay woman who I have been confiding in has suggested theories by Sanford. I forget the man’s name but his wife is Paula. They are about how in childhood we made judgements against our parents and created bitter roots and now we have bitter fruits.

So I order 3 of their books from Amazon (I wanted free delivery so my order had to be over $25). And I really am hoping they will help me. I am unemployed and this is not the first time in my life. I want to know what pattern is within me and bring in to God.

So as much as I want to remain Catholic and believe Jesus is in the Eucharistic, I so want these books to help, I do not want to reject them because they were written by a protestant

Angie
 
Anglewannabe said:
Ok, perhaps it is time for me to be more specific. A Catholic Lay woman who I have been confiding in has suggested theories by Sanford. I forget the man’s name but his wife is Paula. They are about how in childhood we made judgements against our parents and created bitter roots and now we have bitter fruits.

So I order 3 of their books from Amazon (I wanted free delivery so my order had to be over $25). And I really am hoping they will help me. I am unemployed and this is not the first time in my life. I want to know what pattern is within me and bring in to God.

So as much as I want to remain Catholic and believe Jesus is in the Eucharistic, I so want these books to help, I do not want to reject them because they were written by a protestant

Angie
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Angie, I remember hearing something of a Protestant author ,many years ago, his name was John Sandford he had a healing ministry and authored books on the subject and that he was highly respected, Could be your guy??? I do not believe he was into proselytizing of any sort;) Peace, Carlan
P.S His ministry was about inner healing, ans from what I understand, is what you are seeking…God bless you Angie.
 
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