Protestant with questions.

[leanne12346]

Hi Faith,

A lot of my closest friends are Evangelical ministers (Yes, I am a devout and orthodox Catholic…) who prefer house church versus the usual version of church. I love to spend time with them because of their passion and intensity.

But here is my experience on purgatory:

When i was 3 I drowned, and had a vision, or some such, of a place of warmth, and healing… more like a warm salt water ocean. Given that I was 3, perhaps then I didn’t have much pain in purgatory, but there were other souls crying and weeping. It wasn’t the weeping of pain, but the weeping of remorse more, the deep realization of how much they had hurt someone they loved, in this case, God.

I’ve kept that description to myself for a very long time, until just a little while ago a friend of mine gave me a book called “Healing Your Family Tree”. In this book, Father Hampsch has a description of purgatory that very closely matched my experience. He described it as something like having hang nails removed… it hurts a lot but even in that pain you can feel the healing.

The vision I had of purgatory was like a red salty sea, with one single heartbeat, slow, calming, but the feeling for me was much like the few times I’ve gone swimming in a warm ocean, with small nicks on my hands or skin that I didn’t even know I had until the salt hit, and while it stung, I could feel the healing…

 

[ShakeyCatholic]

Hello
I am Catholic but feel I don’t have the knowledge to defend my faith, so am hoping over time to improve that.

I work with a lot of people who are lapsed catholic or who don’t belong to any religion and they say if they follow the commandments and treat people with respect, and are doing nothing wrong then they think they will go to heaven if there is a heaven.

I would like to know how I can hold a discussion with them without being overbearing. If i knew the arguments better I feel I could talk to them by sharing information. Can you help me firstly, this in turn may allow me to share this with others.

 

[Lampo]

Hello
I am Catholic but feel I don’t have the knowledge to defend my faith, so am hoping over time to improve that.

I work with a lot of people who are lapsed catholic or who don’t belong to any religion and they say if they follow the commandments and treat people with respect, and are doing nothing wrong then they think they will go to heaven if there is a heaven.

I would like to know how I can hold a discussion with them without being overbearing. If i knew the arguments better I feel I could talk to them by sharing information. Can you help me firstly, this in turn may allow me to share this with others.

Get very familiar with Church teaching first. Become very solid in your faith. Catholic Answers Forums are invaluable in your endeavor. So is Catholic Answers. Invite your friends to join CAF!

 

[Gabriel_of_12]

Jesus has entrusted his Gospel to his Apostles which is, the Church Jesus built is the “Pillar and foundation of Truth” (1Timothy 3:15
But if I should be delayed, you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth.) Only the Catholic Church has unbroken succession to Peter and Jesus apostles, (Matthew 16:17
Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood 12 has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
18
And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, 13 and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
19
I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. 14 Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” )

The Catholic Church is the New Covenant fulfillment of the Old Covenant;

The Old Covenant believed in a holding or prison of dead which Old Covenant referred to this place of the abode of the dead “sheol” or “hades”. The New Covenant Catholic Church which is the body of Jesus Christ calls it “purgatory”.

Jesus revealed to his Church that this prison of souls exists between heaven and earth when Jesus went to preach to the souls in prison after he rested (died) his flesh.

I would follow Jesus teachings first before following mans interpretation;

1 Peter 3:1 PETER 3: 18 For Christ also suffered 5 for sins once, the righteous for the sake of the unrighteous, that he might lead you to God.** Put to death in the flesh, he was brought to life in the spirit. 19 In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison,** 6 20 who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water. 21 This prefigured baptism, which saves you now.

1 PETER 4: 6 **For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead **2 that, though condemned in the flesh in human estimation, they might live in the spirit in the estimation of God.

To understand what the “Pillar and Truth” says about Purgatory one first needs to understand the biblical teaching of “Degree of sin”.
DEGREES OF SIN: venial or mortal;

1 John 5: 16 If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly. 18 We know that no one begotten by God sins; but the one begotten by God he protects, and the evil one cannot touch him. 19
We know that we belong to God, and the whole world is under the power of the evil one. 20 We also know that the Son of God has come and has given us discernment to know the one who is true. And we are in the one who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

James 1: 13 No one experiencing temptation should say, “I am being tempted by God”; for God is not subject to temptation to evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 Rather, each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death. 16
Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers:

Matthew 12: 32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the holy Spirit will not be forgiven,** either in this age or in the age to come.**

If you want Truth recieve it from the one who offers it, not from one who rejects it.

Peace be with you

 

[alekzander]

I have the same questions! If you sit back and think about it alot of people are not Christian in other countries and we are seeing more atheism and non-religious people in America and to that all the people who do live in mortal sin who claim to be christian and man there are ALOT of people going to hell. It bothers me alot to think about it. You can get caught up in a bad mindset just thinking about it.

 

[alekzander]

Another thing that baffles me is how the Jews are God’s chosen people and Jesus himself was a Jew yet 95% of them don’t believe in him. Are they all going to hell? You can sit there and think about this stuff and get no real comforting answers and a whole lot of anxiety. I love people and I think it is a tragedy if even ONE person goes to hell.

 

[JonNC]

Hello,

I am a Non-Denominational Protestant that is considering converting to the Catholic religion. I have been attending Mass at a local Cathloic church near my college for the past year. I even had a non-formal confession with a priest. Overall, I have taken quite a liking to the faith,…
God Bless,

-Faith44

Faith44,
Whatever responses you get here, I urge you to continue to talk to the priest. The information here is very helpful, and often, though not always, accurate.
All that said, I pray the Holy Spirit leads you where He wants you, and if your new faith home is the Catholic Church, that He bless you fully there.

Jon

 

[Prodigal_Son1]

Faith44,
Whatever responses you get here, I urge you to continue to talk to the priest. The information here is very helpful, and often, though not always, accurate.
All that said, I pray the Holy Spirit leads you where He wants you, and if your new faith home is the Catholic Church, that He bless you fully there.

Jon

 

[dcana]

1. The Pope

I am curious as to what power The Pope has. How does his job work? What is he allowed to change? Is there anything in the scriptures that describe how his job works?

Yes, there certainly are things in the Scriptures. Jesus tells him what one of his primary job responsibilities is going to be in the Gospel of John, after He has risen from the dead and is about to ascend to His Father and leave His work of the salvation of all sinners in the hands of others.

Here are His words, given to Peter alone: “Feed my lambs … Tend my sheep … Feed my sheep.”

He also prays, again for Peter alone, that his faith may not fail and tells him that when he has turned again he was to strengthen his brethren.

So, Jesus tells Peter alone to feed and tend his sheep and to strengthen his brethren. Who are Jesus’ sheep? Does not Jesus call Himself the Good Shepherd? Are not all Christians therefore His sheep? It would seem so. He says that the Good Shepherd lays down His Life for His sheep. For what sinner did Jesus not lay down His life? He did it for you and me. So is Peter your shepherd in any real, meaningful way? If you call Jesus your Good Shepherd then He would call you His sheep and He would say to Peter, “tend this one.”

Who are Peter’s brethren? Certainly we’re all brethren in Christ, including Peter. But didn’t Jesus choose twelve to follow Him personally for three years? I think Peter would say he felt very close to the other eleven and would think them in a special way his brethren.

God Bless