Question For Protestants (if any are here)

[Maximilian75]

Absolutely.

 

[anon65111186]

I’m Protestant, but barely. After examining the Catholic arguments against faith alone & scripture alone, I now reject those two Protestant Solas. So I may not be Protestant for much longer…

Blessed be God forever, those Solas can get you into a lot of trouble. They also can’t be found in Scripture when you go deep in scripture.

I will pray for your journey, that you may have every grace and blessing!

 

[anon65111186]

I think she would be more inclined to make the leap of faith if she saw devout Catholics.

That is definitely a good reason to become Catholic, but has she met the Saints? Just read the lives of the Saints, and go to a Catholic Church.

It’s just the same for Protestants, you could be unlucky and find Protestants who are more worldly than the worldly folks, and indulging in every kind of sin. It’s a double sided coin.

The only reason to believe in something is because it is true. My wife converted not for me, but because she found that the Catholic Church taught and defended what was true.

 

[anon65111186]

I remain Protestant because my best understanding of the Christian faith conforms most closely to Reformed theology.

Okay, that’s reasonable, but do you find Reformed theology taught or believed in the early church?

 

[opulumpu]

What are you looking for in a church. Is it the depth and meaning of the service, the welcoming nature of the congregation, the qoir, etc?. Do the breakaway churches offer something better than the Catholic Church.

 

[opulumpu]

Can you explain how the Catholic Church “looks down or is unwelcoming to Non-Catholics”. Please provide some examples. Your experience with individual Catholics cannot be used as representing that of the Catholic Church. How does anyone know you are a non-Catholic when you go into a Catholic service. Have you ever been kicked out of a church service because the Church knew you to be a Protestant.

 

[Dhc8_Type]

Yes my whole family. My dad wouldn’t be in the pulpit if his dad was a catholic priest not a Lutheran Minister my mom wouldn’t be a Lutheran school principal if her dad was a catholic priest instead of a Lutheran minister.

 

[drac16]

After reading through books like Ephesians and Galatians, I am convinced that they teach that a person is justified by faith alone. I am hesitant to call myself a protestant, though, because I don’t think the reformers were entirely right (like on Sola Scriptura for example).

 

[Jill]

I’m protestant and do not understand fully why people are convinced by Sola fide as a theology. The Bible is chock full of commands for works.

Communion for example. Christ said to do this in memory of me. That is a work.

Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.

While I understand that all things are for him and through him, we still have our free will. I can throw my hands up and walk away any time.

The idea of once saved always saved was not a principle I was raised on and it makes little sense to me. If I was truly a changed person, I would be striving to do the will of God. To let my light shine so others may see my good works and glorify God in heaven.

We are called to be fishers of men. Why bother with us at all if we are not useful? He is big enough to by pass us all together. I can ask my children to go to school and become educated. If they come home and sit on the couch and do not apply it, I will be one unhappy mom.

 

[LostSheep7]

I’m Protestant, but barely. After examining the Catholic arguments against faith alone & scripture alone, I now reject those two Protestant Solas. So I may not be Protestant for much longer…
[/quot]
Same history here, brother. Once I stoped believing the lies of Sola Fide and Sola Scriptura I could no longer be a presbyterian.
I’m now a Catholic in the process of being received in the Church.

 

[TC3033]

Sure. before going to far though, do you consider leadership and priests representatives of the Catholic Church?

 

[heidi_storage]

More so than Catholic doctrine, certainly, especially in church structure and soteriology.

 

[anon65111186]

More so than Catholic doctrine, certainly, especially in church structure and soteriology.

How so exactly? What was the church structure as you see it? Which Reformed structure is like the old Church? Also teaching on salvation, how is it more so than Catholic doctrine?

 

[dkr1020]

It’s funny that I ran across this thread while doing a study on the word “catholic” which in the Greek was “katholikos” meaning “throughout the whole”. When the NT was translated into Latin the word “catholic” was used as a description of the church, not a name of the church. Now that word seems to be defined as “universal” but there was a Latin word for “universal” so why would they not have used that Latin word instead? That answer I have not found. I was raised in the Methodist church for 17 years and then converted to the Catholic church for the next 10 years. I left the Catholic church when I was filled with the Holy Spirit and have been a non-denominational Christian since then, almost 40 years ago. I learned the basics of the Christian religion in the Methodist church. I learned the meaning of being a Christian and loving others in the Catholic Church. I found the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior when the Holy Spirit revealed the truths to me. We are all sinners, correct? We all seek truth and salvation, correct? We are all followers of the Jesus Christ and believe he is the Son of God, correct? Jesus said, “Believe in me and you will be saved.” That is all the truth I really need in my life. I believe whatever church we attend is of little consequence as long as we have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and do our very best to follow His lead. We are justified by our faith in Him. He forgives me even though I am still a sinner just as he forgives each one of His sheep no matter which sheep pen they live in. This is just my humble opinion which of course means very little is the big scheme of things. Amen Hallelujah and Peace to all!

 

[lilypadrees]

Just my opinion. But if you had been filled with the Holy Spirit, you wouldn’t have left the Catholic Church for another church because you would’ve realized that He is fully present in the Catholic Church.

One of my parents was Catholic and the other, Protestant. I grew up with the teachings of both sides. I was sitting in a Southern Baptist church, head bowed for prayer, when the Holy Spirit revealed to me that I needed to leave that church and return to the Catholic Church full time. That is what I did. And I have never been happier. And the parent who was Protestant is now Catholic.

 

[dkr1020]

It always amazes me how God moves in each of our individual lives. You and I are in the same “church” as we are Christians (followers of Christ) . I just attend a fellowship without denominational teachings. As I said though, I left the Catholic Church 40 years ago and the Catholic Church was different then as they did not follow the doctrine of the infilling of the Holy Spirit. As a young Catholic I was being taught by a young priest who also became filled with the Holy Spirit, was teaching the infilling of the Holy Spirit to the young people in the church, when the higher-ups decided he could no longer teach and moved him to a monastery. The local church lost many young worshipers when they made that move. I was one of them as I could not understand why “they” took away our teacher. Even now when I attend a mass for marriage or funeral I participate in the mass as I feel I am still a part of the “church”. I don’t take communion out of respect of the wishes of the church though. I am happy your family walks with the Lord as does mine.

 

[Gmsod]

Do you mean physical proximity or someone to talk to to learn about? Just because it isn’t close doesn’t mean it can’t be the truth, and the truth is worth moving somewhere else. I’m no orthodox though, I’m just seeing if you have any theological objections/problems of orthodoxy. Thanks for the reply! GOD bless.

 

[JonNC]

I mean physical proximity, but I’d need to actually explore it.

 

[undead_rat]

And why should Protestants and Catholics not worship Jesus? He is God the Son. He is our Lord and Savior. Do you really want to deny Him the worship that He deserves?

Jesus may not have needed to undergo such suffering and torture, iyo. But He did it for us. He did it in obedience to His Father and to our Father.

“It is not those who say to me, ‘Lord, lord,’ but those who do the will of my Father in Heaven.”
(Gospel)
In my opinion (for what it’s worth) Jesus did not come to mankind to be worshiped, but to teach.

I do not like the usually purported reason that Jesus suffered torture by crucifixion in order to enable YHWH to forgive mankind’s sins for the reason that this idea tends to obscure the true meaning of His terrible suffering. I believe that Jesus’ passion is actually an example to all of us as to how far we must be prepared to go in following the sacred Laws of our Creator.

But these issues are common to both Catholic and Episcopal Churches. To answer this thread’s question as to why I don’t convert to the Catholic faith I must note that my local Catholic Church refuses to display Jesus’ miraculous image. I gave Father Ken a nice famed picture of the Holy Face years ago, but he has never put it up in any common area. Then I gave the same to the assistant music director, Kay, who did display it in her office right next to a hallway window. There it remained for a few years. Recently I noticed that this copy of the Holy Face was not there anymore. I found out that Father Ken had refused to promote Kay when the director position became open. Kay was very upset and left St. Charles.

So, in my opinion, father Ken harbors some kind of prejudice against the Holy Face. Perhaps he doesn’t believe that the Sacred Image on the Shroud is really miraculous in nature. I have noticed this issue in other Catholic authorities. It is regrettable.
I am able to have the Holy Face on display in my local Episcopal Church. As you may surmise, this is an important issue for me.

 

[heidi_storage]

Sorry, I don’t really want to go into detail; too much effort, and I’m not looking to debate. Maybe I shouldn’t have answered the initial question. I am, I think, reasonably aware of church history (for a layman), I’ve carefully considered Catholicism (and Orthodoxy), and am a Protestant.