Question for protestants from a protestant

[Cade_One]

…continued

This is getting really long. Sorry about that. I will try and finish this up.

Shanon wanted to go to RCIA. Her Mom wasn’t very happy. Her mom was raised Penticostal and was fef all the anti-Catholic stuff. Shanon’s mom stopped going to church when she was in her teens. I would drive up to Port Clinton every Tuesday night for RCIA with her and then drive back home. We met so many wonderful people some new little about the faith some who knew alot obout the faith. But it didn’t matter, because we all learned from each other questions and coments. I bacame like a little family within a Big Family. Shanon had perfect attendance. I missed one or two because of snow storms. I watched her grow in her faith and most of all in her relationship with Christ. Shanon is truely beautiful and has come so far on her spiritual journey since that night she through herself on the bed after I told her that I might going back to the Catholic Church. Shanon came into the Church during this past Easter. We have been together for five years and this past week I asked her to be my wife.

http://www.infernofest.org/images/S_J.jpg

Here is a prayer that I would like to pray with you.

*Heavenly Father, give me the peace and joy: Peace of mind, so that I can think clearly without fear and confusion; Joy, becaouse the joy of You, Lord, is my strength.

In the name of The Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Amen

---

About your analigy of Truth being like playing telephone. I too have had this analigy enter into my mind along the way, but mine was partaining to the millions and millions of churches that we have in Christianity. Noy keeping in mind the concept of “telephone”… Christ establishes a Church. A person in this church decided to break away from her and form their own church (throwing out things that they don’t feel is important). Now someone else in this new church that has broken away from original true church decided to break away from that church and starts their own church (once again throwing away or adding things that they see as not important). What if you think of it that way.

 

[Delgadoajj]

Cade_One:

…continued

This is getting really long. Sorry about that. I will try and finish this up.

Shanon wanted to go to RCIA. Her Mom wasn’t very happy. Her mom was raised Penticostal and was fef all the anti-Catholic stuff. Shanon’s mom stopped going to church when she was in her teens. I would drive up to Port Clinton every Tuesday night for RCIA with her and then drive back home. We met so many wonderful people some new little about the faith some who knew alot obout the faith. But it didn’t matter, because we all learned from each other questions and coments. I bacame like a little family within a Big Family. Shanon had perfect attendance. I missed one or two because of snow storms. I watched her grow in her faith and most of all in her relationship with Christ. Shanon is truely beautiful and has come so far on her spiritual journey since that night she through herself on the bed after I told her that I might going back to the Catholic Church. Shanon came into the Church during this past Easter. We have been together for five years and this past week I asked her to be my wife.

http://www.infernofest.org/images/S_J.jpg

Here is a prayer that I would like to pray with you.

*Heavenly Father, give me the peace and joy: Peace of mind, so that I can think clearly without fear and confusion; Joy, becaouse the joy of You, Lord, is my strength.

In the name of The Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Amen

---

About your analigy of Truth being like playing telephone. I too have had this analigy enter into my mind along the way, but mine was partaining to the millions and millions of churches that we have in Christianity. Noy keeping in mind the concept of “telephone”… Christ establishes a Church. A person in this church decided to break away from her and form their own church (throwing out things that they don’t feel is important). Now someone else in this new church that has broken away from original true church decided to break away from that church and starts their own church (once again throwing away or adding things that they see as not important). What if you think of it that way.

That’s a beautiful story! Congratulations both of you.

Jorge.

 

[wjsmartin]

Benedict may be the man to clarify the doctrine of the Petrine norm. I am not sure, but he seems to have a subtle mind that will explain infallibility in a way that could be digested. As an Anglican priest I confess to finding this as a stumbling block, at least as a necessity for salvation. In addition the Marian Dogmas strike me a pious opinions but not of the status of the Biblical Dogmas. I do know that the Dominicans have various problems with at least one of the Marian dogmas- that of the Immaculate Conception. They seem to be able to remain in Communion with Rome. Aside from this, there is the horrific liturgy of the American Catholic Church. It has to be about as banal as it gets; its content is custom-made for degenerate and illiterate post-moderns. -Of course the Episcopal Church’s new liturgies defy any connection with true doctrine also. But one would think that the Catholics might come up with something like the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, which we use in my parish. It would not have to be written in Plantagenet Prose- but that is helpful, since it was written, like the KJV, to be remembered. The 1928 Book is deep and heavy. Its content is faithful to a form of Augustinian-Anselmian doctrine that demands a real vow on the part of believers. The modern Amercian Catholic liturgy is just plain mickey-mouse. At many parishes a General Confession or any one of the Creeds is not recited. Might as well be a liberal EPISCOPAGAN. Father M

 

[Eden]

Thanks for sharing your story, Joshua! It’s really amazing what happens when we just allow the Holy Spirit to work through us and guide us. You and Shanon are a beautiful couple! Congratulations on your engagement!

 

[Glenn_Lego]

april_hosen:

HI,
When I first came to this site it was soley for research reasons. I never would of thought in a lifetime I’d be considering what I am now. I’m beginning to believe God is callingme into the Catholic Churchbut there’s still some things that just dont make sense. I was wondering if you guys have found any BIG reasons on why I shouldnt go ahead and do this? Thanks for your time!

There is a former protestant minister named Alex Jones who converted to Catholicism a few years ago. A quote from him: if you don’t understand the book of Revelation, go back to Matthew! True there’s much you may not understand about the Catholic faith but for now start out with what you DO understand and work your way up to the other stuff. Hope that helps. Peace be with you Glenn

 

[amanda_nicole82]

Hi April, I am Protestant (specifically Baptist) so I thought I would share my opinon with you. The most important thing is Christ, not religion. So if you find that attending a Catholic church will bring you closer to Christ then go for it! My fiance has recently converted from Catholicism to Protestantism because he has found that the church we go to has and is bringing him closer to the Lord. I believe there is only one way to Heaven, and that is not through any one denomination. To say that one has to be either Catholic or Protestant to get to Heaven is in essence taking God’s sacrifice in vain. As long as you keep Christ first in your life above all else you’re fine!

 

[JoaoMachado]

Glenn Lego:

There is a former protestant minister named Alex Jones who converted to Catholicism a few years ago. A quote from him: if you don’t understand the book of Revelation, go back to Matthew! True there’s much you may not understand about the Catholic faith but for now start out with what you DO understand and work your way up to the other stuff. Hope that helps. Peace be with you Glenn

Hey, if any of you have never heard the story of Alex Jones, it is a must;
Here is a video, but it is 26MB, so if you don’t have Hi Speed Internet, you better fire up the BBQ, it will take a while!

stanwilliams.com/AJSMovies/index.html

Or you can listen, to his story from EWTN; Listen (Real Audio)

Oh and Shannon and Joshua, congradulations, may your marriage be blessed and may God bless you with children.

Joao

 

[JoaoMachado]

amanda_nicole82:

Hi April, I am Protestant (specifically Baptist) so I thought I would share my opinon with you. The most important thing is Christ, not religion. So if you find that attending a Catholic church will bring you closer to Christ then go for it! My fiance has recently converted from Catholicism to Protestantism because he has found that the church we go to has and is bringing him closer to the Lord. I believe there is only one way to Heaven, and that is not through any one denomination. To say that one has to be either Catholic or Protestant to get to Heaven is in essence taking God’s sacrifice in vain. As long as you keep Christ first in your life above all else you’re fine!

I mean no disrespect, but this sounds a bit of “what ever feels good” type of attitude. Let me guess, your fiance left the Catholic Church after an exhausting study of the Faith and came to realize that it was not the Church Christ founded?

Joao

 

[kevinfraser]

Amanda, may Jesus always bless you and lead you.

amanda_nicole82:

Hi April, I am Protestant (specifically Baptist) so I thought I would share my opinon with you.

Protestants by definition MUST rely on their opinions about faith and morals. We Catholics won’t trust ourselves with that because we’re basically chicken about getting it wrong. Yup, 2,000 years of being chicken. Cluck, cluck.

Instead, the Catechism of the Catholic Church lays it bare in the full light of scripture. Anybody can buy a copy anywhere and it’s free on the web.

amanda_nicole82:

The most important thing is Christ, not religion. So if you find that attending a Catholic church will bring you closer to Christ then go for it!

Your truth vs. my truth? Means vs. ends? As Catholics, we believe that when Jesus said this IS my body he meant exactly that and nothing else. And people say we’re not Bible Christians.

Beware of the difference between literal and literalistic understanding of scripture. Literalist says raining cats and dogs means animals are falling from the sky. Literal seeks to understand the objective truth: LOTS of water, zero mammals.

See, what many Catholics fail to understand and convey to others about our Church is its central principle: The Catholic Church is ALL about Jesus. Literally.

It’s SO about Jesus in fact, that the highest form of worship, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, has as its purpose and centrepiece, arriving from heaven alive, the very Lamb of God himself who takes away the sins of the World. Reality, not symbol. Why? Because of Jesus’ promises and commands to the Apostles!

How much more could anything be about Jesus than that?

amanda_nicole82:

My fiance has recently converted from Catholicism to Protestantism because he has found that the church we go to has and is bringing him closer to the Lord.

Read this short cautionary tale for Catholics, and give it to him to read as well. It is VERY typical:
stmichaelspod.com/?page_id=43

I don’t understand how anyone could become closer to the Lord by leaving him than by consuming Him, as He commanded, His sacred body, blood, soul, and divinity, every bit as real as when He walked on earth among us, despite the accidents of bread and wine.

Perhaps he’s found a way to be even closer to Jesus than that, but that would remove Jesus’ promises of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist from the equation because your Church doesn’t – and won’t – even entertain the thought. Ask your pastor.

Leaving Jesus’ last supper for a higher purpose worked out real bad for one Judas Iscariot.

Charity demands I say he’s confused–like most of we Catholics. Maybe he’s gotten bad example… which means scandal.

This is what I turn my back on if I leave the wedding feast of the Lamb–Jesus’ Last Supper–the Mass: the fullest and most complete promise of Jesus’ real presence, as fully as Jesus promised. “I will be with you always” It has a special name: Eucharist. It means thanksgiving. What else could we call such a gift from the King of Kings?

Remember, the Catholic Church and faith is ALL about Jesus. Catholics often, OFTEN forget that.

amanda_nicole82:

I believe there is only one way to Heaven, and that is not through any one denomination. To say that one has to be either Catholic or Protestant to get to Heaven is in essence taking God’s sacrifice in vain.

I’m going to assume you DIDN’T mean to pass and proclaim judgement against the eternal salvation of 1.37 billion Catholic Christians.

I’m also assuming this denomination that brings your fiance so much closer to Jesus Christ than He himself personally, and fully alive in the Holy Eucharist, is able to, does NOT teach a doctrine of condemning other Christians for their strict obedience to Christ’s commands through the Apostles and their confident faith in Christ’s promises.

amanda_nicole82:

As long as you keep Christ first in your life above all else you’re fine!

Agreed. So how first in your life do you want Jesus to be?

If you want the maximum possible, then you can’t get more than from receiving the Catholic Holy Communion in the Mass because it is the Lord Himself who becomes our real and supersubstantial food and drink for body and soul!

Catholics must have strict obedience to His command to eat and drink His most sacred body and blood which He promised was truly Him, and we trust that He keeps all his promises. We do it out of trust. Blind trust, like the sheep we are.

Many, MANY Catholics leave our church because they are embarassed to make an auricular (“in the ear of a man”) confession of their sins, also as Jesus commanded we do.

They refuse the inexhaustible Divine Mercy of the Christ’s forgiveness and absolution – ABSOLUTION – from Jesus, not the priest. Jesus is the only One who can forgive sins. And by Jesus’ holy will and command, His forgiveness comes through His priest in the sacrament.

Refusing Christ’s absolution received through His priest in the holy sacrament of confession is like choosing certain terminal cancer because you’re embarassed to get the proper examination! Eternal madness.

The Holy Spirit has led you to learn about Jesus’ Catholic Church through this forums.catholic-questions.org instrument. I urge you to persevere and pray, Amanda. God bless you.

 

[denhamburg]

Hi April:

I think that you made a wise decision to wait until you graduate before you make your mind to become a catholic. You would not want to disobey your parents. That would be a sin and hurt your relationship with the Lord.
I want to give you a list of book that you might want to read. the first is “Let Rome Speak for Herself” By Robert Ketchum. You should be able to get it free from R. B. Press, call 1-888-588-1600. If Not e-mail me your name and the name and address of your church and I will sent them a copy of it for you. My e-mail address is denjan@joimail.com.
Also “a Short History of the Baptist: BY Henry C. Vetter, Are Baptist Reform” by Rev. Dr. Kenneth H Good, and Church History In Plain Language" I pray these wiil help you.

God Bless you
Dennis

 

[april_hosen]

kevinfraser:

Amanda, may Jesus always bless you and lead you.

Protestants by definition MUST rely on their opinions about faith and morals. We Catholics won’t trust ourselves with that because we’re basically chicken about getting it wrong. Yup, 2,000 years of being chicken. Cluck, cluck.

Instead, the Catechism of the Catholic Church lays it bare in the full light of scripture. Anybody can buy a copy anywhere and it’s free on the web.

Your truth vs. my truth? Means vs. ends? As Catholics, we believe that when Jesus said this IS my body he meant exactly that and nothing else. And people say we’re not Bible Christians.

Beware of the difference between literal and literalistic understanding of scripture. Literalist says raining cats and dogs means animals are falling from the sky. Literal seeks to understand the objective truth: LOTS of water, zero mammals.

See, what many Catholics fail to understand and convey to others about our Church is its central principle: The Catholic Church is ALL about Jesus. Literally.

It’s SO about Jesus in fact, that the highest form of worship, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, has as its purpose and centrepiece, arriving from heaven alive, the very Lamb of God himself who takes away the sins of the World. Reality, not symbol. Why? Because of Jesus’ promises and commands to the Apostles!

How much more could anything be about Jesus than that?

Read this short cautionary tale for Catholics, and give it to him to read as well. It is VERY typical:
stmichaelspod.com/?page_id=43

I don’t understand how anyone could become closer to the Lord by leaving him than by consuming Him, as He commanded, His sacred body, blood, soul, and divinity, every bit as real as when He walked on earth among us, despite the accidents of bread and wine.

Perhaps he’s found a way to be even closer to Jesus than that, but that would remove Jesus’ promises of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist from the equation because your Church doesn’t – and won’t – even entertain the thought. Ask your pastor.

Leaving Jesus’ last supper for a higher purpose worked out real bad for one Judas Iscariot.

Charity demands I say he’s confused–like most of we Catholics. Maybe he’s gotten bad example… which means scandal.

This is what I turn my back on if I leave the wedding feast of the Lamb–Jesus’ Last Supper–the Mass: the fullest and most complete promise of Jesus’ real presence, as fully as Jesus promised. “I will be with you always” It has a special name: Eucharist. It means thanksgiving. What else could we call such a gift from the King of Kings?

Remember, the Catholic Church and faith is ALL about Jesus. Catholics often, OFTEN forget that.

I’m going to assume you DIDN’T mean to pass and proclaim judgement against the eternal salvation of 1.37 billion Catholic Christians.

I’m also assuming this denomination that brings your fiance so much closer to Jesus Christ than He himself personally, and fully alive in the Holy Eucharist, is able to, does NOT teach a doctrine of condemning other Christians for their strict obedience to Christ’s commands through the Apostles and their confident faith in Christ’s promises.

Agreed. So how first in your life do you want Jesus to be?

If you want the maximum possible, then you can’t get more than from receiving the Catholic Holy Communion in the Mass because it is the Lord Himself who becomes our real and supersubstantial food and drink for body and soul!

Catholics must have strict obedience to His command to eat and drink His most sacred body and blood which He promised was truly Him, and we trust that He keeps all his promises. We do it out of trust. Blind trust, like the sheep we are.

Many, MANY Catholics leave our church because they are embarassed to make an auricular (“in the ear of a man”) confession of their sins, also as Jesus commanded we do.

They refuse the inexhaustible Divine Mercy of the Christ’s forgiveness and absolution – ABSOLUTION – from Jesus, not the priest. Jesus is the only One who can forgive sins. And by Jesus’ holy will and command, His forgiveness comes through His priest in the sacrament.

Refusing Christ’s absolution received through His priest in the holy sacrament of confession is like choosing certain terminal cancer because you’re embarassed to get the proper examination! Eternal madness.

The Holy Spirit has led you to learn about Jesus’ Catholic Church through this forums.catholic-questions.org instrument. I urge you to persevere and pray, Amanda. God bless you.

Whoa!!
Goodness Kevin! Personal attacks on Protestants are anything but encouraging for any considering going into the Catholic faith. Uncalled for, sir!

 

[april_hosen]

Okay,

Hi Friends,
I JUST came back from a missions trip in Honduras for 2 weeks. I came on this site and I am so dissapointed! There was arguing before but…goodness! What happened? When Jesus comes none of this bickering is going to matter. Its useless!
We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. We are called to love as Jesus loved. THAT! Is what is going to matter at the pearly gates. Wether or not you KNOW Jesus. Hopefully during our time on earth we strived to live like Him. Even if it seemed insignificant.
If I learned anything on he missions trip I just went on it was that we are here to serve. We are not on this earth for ourselves. It is to serve God and others. I know for many of you this is old news, but for some of you its spankin’ new. I will pray for you all tonight. We all need so much prayer. I love you all.

 

[Shlemele]

Whoa!!
Goodness Kevin! Personal attacks on Protestants are anything but encouraging for any considering going into the Catholic faith. Uncalled for, sir!

Agreed, especially since the point of this thread was to ask protestants what their aversions to Catholicism are. It’s tough when you come to a board and people automatically assume they are right and you are wrong. As I have found no church has been without fault in actions or theology. Lets all remember that God gives us the ability to make our words soft and sweet in the event we may some day have to eat them!

 

[CheesusPowerKid]

APRIL!!! Welcome back! I missed you soooooo much!!!