Protestants, why are you not Catholic?

[Nicea325]

YEP!!! As she said in her Magnificat:" And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my SAVIOUR." (Luke 1:47 emp. mine) also St. Paul writes: " FOR ALL HAVE SINNED, and come short of the glory of God(Romans 3:23 emph. mine) This is part of the man made doctrine that the RCC teaches. In fact 99.9% of Marian teaching is man made.(Theotokos is the only exception) Along with prayers to anyone but God, Purgatory, the rosary, indulgences, et al. Nicea, I would suggest that you pay better attention to what Non Roman Catholic Christians are saying. You wouldn’t have to ask for a list of man made doctrine that the RCC teaches. They have been listed ad nauseum on many threads.

Bad theology…that is all I can say. So “ALL” means exactly that…“ALL” no exceptions-right? Jesus too-right? Isn’t Jesus 100% human?

In fact 99.9% Marian teaching is man-made? Which evidently means: 100% of non-Catholic churches are man-made all with a human founder,not Jesus. Ouch!

 

[ghepner]

I am a cradle Lutheran, though I do not feel as though the Roman Catholic Church is that far away from the Lutheran church. I do sense, however, a lot of fear in the RCC. Fear of priests, fear of hell, fear of sex, fear of purgatory.

 

[Isaiah45_9]

Respect, my friend. Not fear, respect.

On this subject - doesn’t Luther start almost every point in the Small Catechism with having fear of the Lord?

Which is very wise indeed.

*Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Psalm 111:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who practice it.
His praise endures for ever!


*

 

[aidanbradypop]

I heard Carn juice was sour.

Sorry Lol

 

[biggybig]

I was raised Baptist. While I grew up, I watched my friends leave Christianity because of the discrepancies and inconsistencies. There are over 33,000 different christian denominations, all of them picking and choosing what they believe and slowly changing the bible. That’s was the initial reason for joining RCIA. So, I am in the process of becoming Catholic and I can tell you, has been an enormous blessing. It frustrates me immensely to see my protestant brothers be so unwilling to humble themselves to see the truth. History is not on their side. Facts are not on their side, which is why I am becoming Catholic. I am reminded of a quote from president Lincoln, " let us pray that we are on God’s side, not his on ours."

 

[aidanbradypop]

Happy you found peace.

 

[ChurchSoldier]

I was raised Baptist. While I grew up, I watched my friends leave Christianity because of the discrepancies and inconsistencies. **There are over 33,000 different christian denominations, all of them picking and choosing what they believe and slowly changing the bible. ** That’s was the initial reason for joining RCIA. So, I am in the process of becoming Catholic and I can tell you, has been an enormous blessing. It frustrates me immensely to see my protestant brothers be so unwilling to humble themselves to see the truth. History is not on their side. Facts are not on their side, which is why I am becoming Catholic. I am reminded of a quote from president Lincoln, " let us pray that we are on God’s side, not his on ours."

I as well are glad you found peace.

Can you quote the source of your research for the claim on denominations? I see the number thrown out there a lot, but have never seen a source other than “So and So Apologist said it”.

Thanks.

 

[GaryTaylor]

Me too, beautiful story of Gods will, thy will be done. Jesus loves you all. And sent you all here so we can be together and celebrate the good news together. Thy will be done. And now that we all know we are interceding for each other, we need to intercede for all the others God wills to be saved. Because he loves everyone and died for everyone. Lord have mercy on us and on the whole world. We are all in this together.

Can I get an Amen?

Rome is just up around the corner from the Amen.

Goodnight “Jesus loves you”. May he guide you to everlasting life.

I missed my calling, I should have been preaching in the Baptist congregation. But… Thy will be done!

 

[batman1973]

Please, start a thread on these other things about which you have some very nasty and incorrect misconceptions. I pray that the Holy Spirit enlightens your heart.

The Holy Spirit has indeed enlightened my heart, which is why I will never be Roman Catholic, which is the question asked by the OP. as far as nasty and incorrect, I’m sorry you feel that way. I’ve been told that the truth not only sets one free, but hurts as well.

 

[ChurchSoldier]

To answer the original post: I don’t think there is a need to. Without arguing, I am fully satisfied we trace our roots to Christ through the RC, Orthodox and Antiochan lines of succession (apart from Anglican - Matthew Parker line). Though I would add to that the continuous, though denied by Rome, Anglican lines, and I don’t see the need.

Now if you ask what would have me consider becoming Roman, I would like to remove the saying “have you heard what they’re doing now” from my religious lexicon.

 

[GaryTaylor]

The Holy Spirit has indeed enlightened my heart, which is why I will never be Roman Catholic, which is the question asked by the OP. as far as nasty and incorrect, I’m sorry you feel that way. I’ve been told that the truth not only sets one free, but hurts as well.

Jesus told you. you shouldn’t be Catholic and you should persecute his people? What page it that on?

 

[frobert]

I am a cradle Lutheran, though I do not feel as though the Roman Catholic Church is that far away from the Lutheran church. I do sense, however, a lot of fear in the RCC. Fear of priests, fear of hell, fear of sex, fear of purgatory.

I don’t think you would hear the fear at the parish level that you hear on CAF. I live in a what might be called by some as a “red-neck” county of Florida and I do not hear that kind of fear at my local parish or elsewhere in the community. Most of the people I know are serious about their religions but I never hear them argue the fine points of religion other than Jesus was our Savoir who instructed us to love God and love our neighbors. I have a theory why that they don’t argue religion is because they haven’t been taught to or told to by their clergy.

 

[JonNC]

Thou, who at Thy first Eucharist didst pray
That all Thy Church might be forever one,
Grant us that ev’ry Eucharist to say
With longing heart and soul, “Thy will be done.”
O may we all one bread, one body be,
Through this blest sacrament of unity.

For all Thy Church, O Lord, we intercede;
Make Thou our sad divisions soon to cease;
Draw us the nearer each to each, we plead,
By drawing all to Thee, O Prince of Peace;
Thus may we all one bread, one body be,
Through this blest sacrament of unity.

We pray Thee too for wand’rers from Thy fold;
O bring them back, good Shepherd of the sheep,
Back to the faith which saints believed of old,
Back to the Church which still that faith doth keep;
Soon may we all one bread, one body be,
Through this blest sacrament of unity.

So, Lord, at length when sacraments shall cease,
May we be one with all Thy Church above,
One with Thy saints in one unbroken peace,
One with Thy saints in one unbounded love;
More blessèd still, in peace and love to be
One with the Trinity in Unity.

I can say Amen to this.

Jon

 

[meme1961]

I am Protestant and I am very confused about what to be. i am baptized and believe in God but I am longing for something more. I came here to get answers and i am starting to understand a little. I am going to Mass for the 1st time Sunday and I am afraid. Half my family from 50 years ago ar Catholic and the other half Pentecostal. So you see I am confused.

May God Preserve you.

Don’t feel like you gotta do it alone . . . there is so much support and help out there for you. From the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, to a whole raft of books written by incredibly studious and intelligent persons who started out as Protestants, then by an act of faith and reason, converted.

EWTN, both radio and TV.

The HUGE amount of information and support on the Internet.

And of course, here.

The first, biggest hurdle that most Protestants seem to face is “learning to speak Catholic.”

That’s code for “the words are the same, but the meanings may not be.”

When in doubt, ask, and when you are certain you understand without needing to ask, then please DO ask. I can’t tell you how many times I stumbled over that one.

 

[frobert]

I am Protestant and I am very confused about what to be. i am baptized and believe in God but I am longing for something more. I came here to get answers and i am starting to understand a little. I am going to Mass for the 1st time Sunday and I am afraid. Half my family from 50 years ago ar Catholic and the other half Pentecostal. So you see I am confused.

For over a year I went though the same soul searching and confusion that your are going through now. I made the choice to at least attend Catholic mass. At first I was uncomfortable but as the weeks went by my discomfort eased. I finally got the courage to request a meeting with the pastor, during the meeting I decided to make a confession after which I was a peace with myself.

You made the right decision, for your own peace of mind, to attend Mass. Do not expect to be comfortable and if you aren’t fight the urge to give up. Attend mass faithfully for at least several months and when you are able request to have a meeting with a priest.

Good luck.

 

[SoMissCatholic]

And please also indicate the bit of the Bible that teaches that the pope has access to the Treasury of Merit and can dispense it on behalf of the church to remit time in Purgatory.

“And I say to you, that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatever you shall release on earth shall be released in heaven.” (Mt. 16:18-19)

what·ev·er
(h)wətˈevər,ˌ(h)wät-/
pronoun & determiner

1. used to emphasize a **lack of restriction** in referring to **any thing or amount, no matter what**.

Jesus gives Peter the power to bind and loose “whatever,” not “whatever, except for time in purgatory.”

 

[SoMissCatholic]

Depends on whether we count Jerome as a Catholic or not

St. Jerome accepted the deuterocanon, as noted in this article:
5 Myths about 7 Books:

this myth begins to disintegrate when you point out that the overwhelming majority of Church Fathers and other early Christian writers regarded the deuterocanonical books as having exactly the same inspired, scriptural status as the other Old Testament books. Just a few examples of this acceptance can be found in the Didache, The Epistle of Barnabas, the Council of Rome, the Council of Hippo, the Third Council of Carthage, the African Code, the Apostolic Constitutions, and the writings of Pope St. Clement I (Epistle to the Corinthians), St. Polycarp of Smyrna, St. Irenaeus of Lyons, St. Hippolytus, St. Cyprian of Carthage, , Pope St. Damasus I, the , St. Augustine, and Pope St. Innocent I.

But last and most interesting of all in this stellar lineup is a certain Father already mentioned: St. Jerome. In his later years St. Jerome did indeed accept the Deuter-ocanonical books of the Bible. In fact, he wound up strenuously defending their status as inspired Scripture, writing, “What sin have I committed if I followed the judgment of the churches? But he who brings charges against me for relating the objections that the Hebrews are wont to raise against the story of Susanna, the Son of the Three Children, and the story of Bel and the Dragon, which are not found in the Hebrew volume (ie. canon), proves that he is just a foolish sycophant. For I wasn’t relating my own personal views, but rather the remarks that they [the Jews] are wont to make against us” (Against Rufinus 11:33 [A.D. 402]). In earlier correspondence with Pope Damasus, Jerome did not call the deuterocanonical books unscriptural, he simply said that Jews he knew did not regard them as canonical. But for himself, he acknowledged the authority of the Church in defining the canon. When Pope Damasus and the Councils of Carthage and Hippo included the deuterocanon in Scripture, that was good enough for St. Jerome. He “followed the judgment of the churches.”

 

[SoMissCatholic]

I Galations 3 we read

.26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Notice that Paul did not say that if you are a member of the Roman Church you are a child of God with the fullness of truth. He stated that in Christ we are ALL children of God. We are not seperated brethen, half brothers and sister or even step…we are ALL children of God and through our baptism we have clothed ourselves with Christ.

One of the things that really gets under my skin is the “we have the fullness of truth” saying that flies around here like flies on a watermelon. Christ is the fullness of truth and His Body (ALL believers) live in that truth through Him! Not a Church or temple but THROUGH CHRIST. (not yelling lol)

I know many will say that the Roman Catholic Church is the Church Christ established on earth and I can respect that. As an Episcopalian, I believe I am part of that OHCAC and I do not believe the Roman Catholic Church to be that Church, but rather a part of it as well.

In the Peace of Christ,

You are taking a 21st century view of Christianity and grafting it on to St. Paul’s writing from the 1st century. There were no denominations in St. Paul’s time. There was but one church, as St. Paul expresses in Ephesians 4:4-6: “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

 

[aidanbradypop]

You are taking a 21st century view of Christianity and grafting it on to St. Paul’s writing from the 1st century. There were no denominations in St. Paul’s time. There was but one church, as St. Paul expresses in Ephesians 4:4-6: “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

I would not disagree with the last part.

 

[Nicea325]

I would not disagree with the last part.

So you believe “denominations” existed when St.Paul wrote his epistles? Those who claim such a position are dreaming.

Sects? Yes! Gnostics,Arians,Montanist,etc,etc.