Protestants hurting themselves?

[stevers]

]After responding to a post about “Protestants beating Catholics” in terms of numbers of church growth and conviction of the Holy Spirit, I just had to post the following:

I’m a former protestant, from the Pentecostal Church, in Cincinnati, where the focus of doing God’s will was to nuture and follow the Holy Spirit. I was very happy there, but after 2 or 3 years God was calling me to the Catholic Church which I and my Pentecostal friends thought was strange if not sinful. To make a rather long story short I converted after about 3 years. Now I’m a firm Catholic who still loves his protestant friends and roots. It took me quite a while basically 3 years to receive the blessing which changed my view on Holy Communion and the Eucharist as being the literal body and blood of Jesus - after this I converted. Whether or not protestants and especially fundamental churches believe it the Catholic Church teaches the same - develop your relationship with God through the Holy Spirit. The Catholic Church does have more of the truth than any other Christian faith especially when it comes to The Eucharist. So why then, assuming the Eucharist is the literal body & blood of Jesus is it so hard for leaders of the protestant church to realize what they are missing. The truth of the matter is they don’t care! Many protestants especially Pentecostals are big on studying scripture, and as far as I can tell it’s pretty black and white what Jesus says about Communion! The Eucharist is a great gift from Jesus and when you don’t believe in it, you’re simply missing a great gift and blessing from God Himself. Some Catholics that I know who have left the Catholic Church and joined a Protestant Church say that’s one thing they miss the most about the Catholic Faith - being touched by Jesus every Sunday! SO IF YOU’RE PROTESTANT AND YOU STUDY SCRIPTURE AND YOU THINK THAT THERE MIGHT BE SOME TRUTHE TO THE TRUTH - TAKE IT A STEP FURTHER!

Your brother in Christ

 

[Loginus]

Really, argueing which religion/sect/denomination is better is like argueing your favorite color is greater than someone else’s favorite color.

Of course your favorite color will seem amazing to you but to someone else, its merely a color

For those of us who dont really care about favorite color, the whole debate seems useless and silly

My 0.02

 

[LutheranStudent]

Hey there Stevers,
I’m glad that you have come to a greater appreciation and love for the Lord’s Supper. It is, as you say, something that is unfortunately much-maligned and/or ignored in many “Protestant” churches - especially those with Calvinist roots. But also as you say, keep digging and looking deeper. The Lord’s Supper is his body and his blood. It does offer forgiveness of sins to those who recieve it properly.

But is it a re-sacraficing of Christ? Can Christ be re-sacraficed?
Was his death for us on Calvary incomplete?

 

[Eileen_T]

Do Catholics keep sacrificing Jesus at Mass?
The simple answer is that they don’t! However, it is a common misconception, held by some Christians of other denominations, and others, that they do. This often comes from some misunderstandings about Catholic theology and terminology.

Catholics, along with most Christians, believe that Christ was sacrificed once and for all (Hebrews 7:26-27). Jesus Christ is not sacrificed over and over again at the Mass. There is no need!

The Catholic Mass is a re-presentation of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, NOT a re-sacrifice. The book of Hebrews explains this sacrifice, “For Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a copy of the true one, but heaven itself, that he might now appear before God on our behalf” (Hebrews 9:24). It does not say that Christ appeared on that Friday at 3 pm before our God. Rather it says that even NOW Christ’s sacrifice appears before God. How does that happen?

It is important to know a little about Jewish temple sacrifice. Once a year (Yom Kippur), the High Priest offered a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. The writer of Hebrews is contrasting that sacrifice of the High Priest with the sacrifice of Christ. It is not only once a year, it is a sacrifice that was sacrificed once, but continually presented before God.

The Catholic Mass is that re-presentation of Christ’s sacrifice. This follows Paul’s comment in his letter to the Corinthians, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).

At Mass Catholics present themselves as “a living sacrifice” to the Lord (Romans 12:1). Our sacrifice is united to the re-presentation of Christ’s once and for all sacrifice, so that we too may experience the resurrection to new life.

university.ex.ac.uk/catholic/newtoexeter/faqs.htm

 

[Jeanette_L]

Thank you EileenT for your post. I get really tired of people trying to misrepresent us and what we believe about the Eucharist.

Sometimes I think they just don’t want to represent (no pun intended ) us correctly.

 

[Jeanette_L]

Stevers -

I too am a convert to the Catholic Church from Protestantism. I was formed as a combination Independent Baptist/AoG (long story ) and am thrilled that I now receive Christ as he always intended, in his entirety!

And my relationship with the Holy Spirit is still happening! I find my journey to be deeper and more challenging than I had ever imagined, and am very grateful to God for the grace to “see”.

God Bless!