Protestant Radio and TV

[Cory_G]

Hello everyone,

I have read many places on this site that a Catholic has no place in a protestant worship service. Why would we, after all we have the real presence of Jesus in our Eucharist and so on.

With the fact in mind that Catholics really wouldn’t head over to a Protestant worship service after Mass.

I for one am a regular watcher of the 700 Club and we have a local Christian radio station (sosradio.net/mainIndex.html) that I sometimes tune into when I am driving.

Do you feel that Catholics should or shouldn’t watch and/or listen to protestant television and radio?

AND

Do you watch and/or listen to protesant television and radio?

 

[puzzleannie]

within my driving range the only choice is the contemporary Christian music station, which has talk shows in the evening I listen to on the way home, including Focus on the Family, which are often quite good. Still hoping Catholic radio gets off the ground here with better coverage.

 

[Dandelion_Wine]

As long as one is well-formed in their faith, I see nothing wrong with it as long as there isn’t a Catholic option.

I did data-entry during college and would listen to the radio at night and since at the time we didn’t have Catholic radio, I’d listen to some very good protestant radio. Yes there was some garbage mixed in there that I knew wasn’t Catholic and some that was anti-Catholic, but I could take the 95% that was good out of it.

Thankfully now we have Catholic radio in the area (although near my house I can’t get it in)

I don’t have cable so I don’t get any Catholic t.v but I will watch occasionally the protestant station that I get on our regular t.v. Again, some of it’s junk but considering what’s on most of the other channels…

But once again this presupposes someone who is well-formed in their faith and isn’t easily led astray.

 

[Cory_G]

within my driving range the only choice is the contemporary Christian music station, which has talk shows in the evening I listen to on the way home, including Focus on the Family, which are often quite good. Still hoping Catholic radio gets off the ground here with better coverage.

That would be great. What is your opinion on why things like Catholic radio, aren’t really around, and EWTN, while I watch a couple of shows from time to time, really lacks the professionalism compared to Daystar and TBN and the 700 Club. Most production reminds me of the public service videos we watched in school during the 80’s.

Do you think it is a matter of demand from the Catholic community or simply money? Are we not as charitable?

 

[Jguerra]

Do you feel that Catholics should or shouldn’t watch and/or listen to protestant television and radio?

AND

Do you watch and/or listen to protesant television and radio?

I watch EWTN when I get a chance, especially the daily Mass. Before they changed their broadcast policy I used to tune in to the shortwave station on a regular basis. I am waiting for the day when a low-power AM or FM station goes on the air re-broadcasting the signal from WEWN in our neck of the woods. In the meantime, I listen to the protestant stations for entertainment value.

 

[Gidget]

Cory,

My aunt is Protestant and I have told her that I would love to attend one of her contemporary worship services after Mass.

The few things that would keep me away from a Protestant service would be if they are having something such as a Lord’s Supper or an adult baptism. The former because I would never receive (it would be wrong to do so) and it’s just so sad to see your brothers and sisters in Christ receiving a symbol when they could swim the Tiber and have the Eucharist. I wouldn’t attend an adult Baptism service because too many times they are re-baptisms (God forbid! Oh, yeah, that’s right … He does forbid, that’s why I won’t go).

As far as simple worship and scripture service, I see no harm in a well-grounded Catholic participating. (As far as the sermon goes… one cannot depend on hearing orthodoxy in homilies, unfortunately). The worship is usually lively and enjoyable (and it IS okay to enjoy God) and you’ll get a great appreciation for just how biblical CATHOLIC worship is. (The Liturgy of the Word has WAYYYYY more Scripture than most “bible-believing” Christian services.)

Besides, it’s a great way to meet Protestants and invite them to Church with you the following week!

Oh and… I LOVE Protestant radio (just need to avoid programs such as “Prophecy Today.”) Protestant TV? What’s TV??

 

[Cory_G]

Cory,

My aunt is Protestant and I have told her that I would love to attend one of her contemporary worship services after Mass.

The few things that would keep me away from a Protestant service would be if they are having something such as a Lord’s Supper or an adult baptism. The former because I would never receive (it would be wrong to do so) and it’s just so sad to see your brothers and sisters in Christ receiving a symbol when they could swim the Tiber and have the Eucharist. I wouldn’t attend an adult Baptism service because too many times they are re-baptisms (God forbid! Oh, yeah, that’s right … He does forbid, that’s why I won’t go).

As far as simple worship and scripture service, I see no harm in a well-grounded Catholic participating. (As far as the sermon goes… one cannot depend on hearing orthodoxy in homilies, unfortunately). The worship is usually lively and enjoyable (and it IS okay to enjoy God) and you’ll get a great appreciation for just how biblical CATHOLIC worship is. (The Liturgy of the Word has WAYYYYY more Scripture than most “bible-believing” Christian services.)

Besides, it’s a great way to meet Protestants and invite them to Church with you the following week!

Oh and… I LOVE Protestant radio (just need to avoid programs such as “Prophecy Today.”) Protestant TV? What’s TV??

I always change the channel when the preaching comes on. My favorite thing about SOS is that it is 90% music. They only play talk late at night.

The only Protestant TV I really watch is 700 Club. I like it because Pat gives us news and commentary from the Christian perspective. Also has good guests on, even books the same guests as O’Reilly. Also, it’s not just a video tape of the preaching half a worship service.

I am a cradle Catholic, and probably not the most grounded, but I have read some negative things about Robertson so I am not sure if it is healthy for me to watch him. But out of all Christian programming, I enjoy 700 Club the most.

I love protestant music but I hate the preaching, but then I was never big on lectures in school either. I prefer to read the book and discuss with my study group.

 

[Gidget]

I love protestant music but I hate the preaching, but then I was never big on lectures in school either. I prefer to read the book and discuss with my study group.

Have you ever heard Chip Ingram? He is excellent and 95% of the time in total agreement with Catholic theology. (Unfortunately, I get the impression that he was raised Catholic… probably was one of those not-well-grounded cradle Catholics ) See, you’ve already got one up on a protestant preacher - you’ve remained in the Church. Oh, and you know why we really like Christian (Protestant) music? Because at the heart of it, it’s mostly Catholic. Actually, it only makes sense. It’s based on a book that came out of the Catholic Church.

 

[SJMP]

Dear All,

For the best in Catholic Television AND Radio search out the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN). You can find them online at www.ewtn.com

Also, they have live (streaming) video and RADIO through their site! Even if you do not have the channel through your local cable/satellite provider, you can view their actual, live network feed through their website, www.ewtn.com

Also, you can listen to their radio feed the same way (navigate over to www.ewtn.com and peruse the menus near the top of the screen, “Television”, “Radio”, etc).

If you would like to listen to the radio in your car I know for certain that EWTN is carried by most every satellite radio company (check a few out on the internet); it is not very expensive at all and is surely worth the cost to bring something infinitely more substantive than the average protestant radio show to you while you are in your car, and also it completely eliminates the possibility of a passenger (or co-worker if you listen during work) being lead astray even though you yourself may be strong and informed enough not to be mislead.

Think also of the fact that listening to Protestant radio requires a much higher level of vigilance so as to avoid nodding one’s spiritual head to heresey; why put oneself in such a position? I have a rather large collection of John Michael Talbot CD’s (I’ve converted them all to digital format and placed them on a single digital music device, much to my delight) which never get old.

I’m sure you all can find something less potentially dangeous than Protestant radio

and may God bless you always!
-Sal

 

[universalist]

I think “The Lutheran Hour” would be acceptable for Catholics to listen to. In CHRIST.

 

[SJMP]

Also, if one were somehow unable (or unwilling) to purchase satellite radio and/or otherwise lacking the ability to listen in on EWTN radio yet yearned for more than just Catholic Music (a la www.johnmichaeltalbot.com, as in my previous reply) might I suggest that you invest in some of Father John Corapi’s spiritual talks.

Father John Corapi (often shown on EWTN) is a wonderful, completely 100% orthodox (in doctrine, not in sect) Roman Catholic Priest who more than once has set me straight without even knowing about it, thanks to his excellently huge selection of seminar-type talks. Simply surf over to fathercorapi.com/index.aspx and look up some of his audio (or video if you want to watch at home) talks.

Some may complain about the price of his media, thinking it is too expensive. The moment the sound from the first CD you buy hits your ears, you’ll realize that buying his stuff was one of the best things money has ever done for your faith. His personal testimony is at once cheap and extraordinary; the rest of his wonderful series are simply out of this world. It is as if Jesus himself is sitting there reminding you of what needs to be done, and giving you advice on how to do it, sometimes firmly, always lovingly.
No protestant radio broadcast can fathom what Father John Corapi has brought to Christian Media, and that of course has to do with the fuller Communion we share with our God which our Protestant brothers and sisters have been denied thanks to the heretical activities of a few.

If you do not have a CD player in your car and cannot get the talks on tape, then buy a cheap sony (good on battery consumption) CD player off of www.amazon.com and buy a CD to cassette adapter: go to www.froogle.com and search “CD to cassette adapter” (without the quotations). A CD to cassette adapter is simply a mock cassette tape with a head phone jack coming out of it; simply put the head-phone jack into the cheap sony CD player, the cassette portion into the cassette deck in your car and you suddenly have a cd-player which can play through the cassette deck in your car.

Hint; even though it says it’s for CD players, you can hook it up to anything with a head-phone jack (digital music player, a voice recorder)

If that sounds too complicated (or the cassette deck in your car is broken) go to www.froogle.com and search “CD FM Transmitter”

Or you can find one directly (for $4.95!!!) at arkon.com/fmtransmitter.php

This unit is a battery-operated FM transmitter that you can plug into any audio device (CD player, digital music player, etc) which allows you to hear it over the radio in your car. It has a few selectable transmission frequencies (let’s say for example, 87.1 FM), so you plug it into your cd player, turn it on, and tune your car radio to 87.1 FM, and you will hear whatever is being played in your CD player through your car radio!

These are simple solutions which give everyone access to a wide variety of HIGHLY SUBSTANTIVE good old Roman Catholic Media; thus a Catholic has no excuse for listening to anything less

Why settle for 95% “acceptable” and 5% “garbage” when you could be getting 100% Priceless Treasure?

And if you want some advice as to which product(s) to buy, email me personally (through this site) and I will advise you, personally.

-Sal

 

[SJMP]

And yes, a Catholic has no place in a Protestant worship service under normal circumstances. Understandably, a devout Catholic might be found attending the Wedding or Funeral of a Christian friend in a Protestant place of worship, but anything beyond that begs the question “What benefit do you see in attending such a thing?"

Really, what reason would a devout Catholic have for entering a Protestant place of worship? What do they have that we do not? A bible study? Find one online (google search Online Catholic Bible Study, It took me 2 seconds and I found 420,000 websites!)

A devout Catholic spending time in a Protestant place of worship is something like a married man spending time in another woman’s house. It begs the question: what does it benefit this married man to spend time in her house? He already has the fullness of family life at home, why need he venture elsewhere?

Does he participate in some activity with her that he does not participate in with his own wife and family, perhaps cooking or sharing some other hobby? If so then he would do better to go home and start pursuing those things with his own family
Does your local Catholic Church not have an X, a Y, or a Z? Where X Y and Z can be things such as different activities, eg. a Bible Study, a fellowship, a youth group? Then perhaps God is calling you to start one!

Remember! While the actual act of spending time in the house of another woman is not illicit, seeing as there is no benefit to doing so it is therefore an unnecessary temptation (one wrong move, and something very terrible could happen). The same is true with a Catholic in a place of worship other than a Catholic Church; just as it is natural for a man and woman fall into romantic love (even if they are already married, etc) it is also natural for us to “fall into worship” when we are gathered with others doing so. Their form of worship and beliefs certainly do not coincide 100% with the truth as passed down from Jesus, to His Apostles, to their appointed successors, to their modern day appointed successors, so we should not go and lend our support to their way of worship by our presence

What effect might our presence have on our protestant brothers and sisters who are yearning for the fullness of revealed truth which, unbeknownst to them, can only be found in the Catholic Church? You could imagine what they would think “Well look at that, even Catholics come to this [protestant] church to worship, the Catholic way must certainly not be the right way”

Stay away; even though you yourself may be able “to handle it” imagine the effect it would have on others who see you there. Only go for special events related to friends and family where the reason for your is your friend/family member, not the form of worship they practice

and may God bless all of you, always!

-Sal

 

[Gidget]

Sal,

“WOW!” All I can say is, “WOW!”

I will venture to presume that your middle name is not Ecumenism. A married man spending time in another woman’s home? I must admit that is not an analogy I ever would have come up with regarding attending a Protestant worship service.

Do you realize that we and our separated brethren worship the same God? Have you ever actually listened to Contemporary Christian music? I would trade my Catholicism for NOTHING because the Church is the Sacrament of Salvation, in the Church we find the fullness of truth.

However, my fellow Catholic, let us not be so arrogant as to think that we, as imperfect members of that Church, cannot benefit from sharing faith, and celebrating faith, with our separated brothers and sisters.

You wonder what they can gain by our presence? We can be living proof that the Spirit of God is alive and well in the Catholic Church (which too many Protestants simply think is a religion of law and guilt). It’s good for them to see that we love God. Of course, the Catholic is most effective in this environment when he is well grounded theologically. But, shouldn’t that be the norm for a faithful Catholic? It’s certainly necessary in daily life. Unless you live in a little bubble, you must realize that far too many of the Catholics sitting in the pews with you on Sunday or working with you Monday through Friday can be more theologically “dangerous” in what they tout as Catholicism (what I call cafeteria Catholicism) than a Protestant who at least doesn’t feign obedience to the Magisterium.

And when it all comes right down to it…
Contemporary Christian music (played on Protestant radio stations) is usually excellent musically and theologically it can be very good as well.

 

[mark_a]

Hello everyone,

I have read many places on this site that a Catholic has no place in a protestant worship service. Why would we, after all we have the real presence of Jesus in our Eucharist and so on.

With the fact in mind that Catholics really wouldn’t head over to a Protestant worship service after Mass.

I for one am a regular watcher of the 700 Club and we have a local Christian radio station (sosradio.net/mainIndex.html) that I sometimes tune into when I am driving.

Do you feel that Catholics should or shouldn’t watch and/or listen to protestant television and radio?

AND

Do you watch and/or listen to protesant television and radio?

Protestant radio or tv is just peachy with me until it turns into anti-Catholic radio or tv. And in my area, it invariably does.

 

[Mike_Dye]

I believe it is OK to listen to Protestant Radio or watch Protestant TV providing you know your Catholic faith well. I say this because no Protestant programming can ever pull a well grounded Catholic away from the fullness of the Truth of Catholicism. I have to give credit to the Protestants for their ability to produce interesting programming. We have some great programs but are light years away from the Protestants in understanding the mediums of radio and TV. All we have to do is watch what they do and copy it with a Catholic flavor…GEEEEEZ do I have to tell you everything?

 

[Cory_G]

In regards to radio, I never listen to the preaching. Personally, I do not enjoy talk radio, even if it was Catholic. Since I rarely listen to the radio outside of my car, I am really looking for good music to pass the time. 80% of the time I listen to Country, but every now and then I turn it to SOS.

I am curious, does anyone see any doctrinal errors, or something similar, when listen to contemporary christian music? I know the Church doesn’t incorporate this music into services and I know a lot of protestant services do, so it sort of makes it protestant hymns.

 

[Lil_Cat]

I’m sure you all can find something less potentially dangeous than Protestant radio

Like hip-hop talking about hooking up, murder, leaving kids, etc.?

And this is coming from someone who has the fullness of truth? I think I’ll pass. You can have it all to yourself.

 

[SJMP]

Like hip-hop talking about hooking up, murder, leaving kids, etc.?

And this is coming from someone who has the fullness of truth? I think I’ll pass. You can have it all to yourself.

I was not talking about that: I’m talking about some good Catholic music you can buy off of the internet, as well as some excellent Non-Catholic Christian music too (I have a wonderful Sonicflood album which is absolutely gold).

In any event, my point was that you can find alternatives to stations preaching unsound doctrine if you try hard enough; don’t just take the “easy” way out and flip on whatever is on the radio.

 

[SJMP]

Like hip-hop talking about hooking up, murder, leaving kids, etc.?

And this is coming from someone who has the fullness of truth? I think I’ll pass. You can have it all to yourself.

And who said anything about Hip Hop etc…? Please take the time to read my post in its entirety: reading a small passage out of context leads to misconceptions.

 

[Lil_Cat]

And who said anything about Hip Hop etc…? Please take the time to read my post in its entirety: reading a small passage out of context leads to misconceptions.

I did read all of your posts thankyouverymuch.

Was that not your underlying message?