Reinforcement...

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Aequitas

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Talking with some fundmentalist friends of mine, and they make all of the usual claims for Catholicism. " It’s pagan, they worship idols, etc." But I found, since I’m so new to the Catholic faith(heck I’m not even confirmed) that I couldn’t really refute many of his points, and it sort of shook my faith a little bit. Is this normal? What should I do to strenghten my faith?
 
Go to this link:

catholic.com/library/do_catholics_worship_statues.asp

Very good article! It cites many passages of Scripture to refute this subject. 👍

Also, in regards to the notion that Catholicism is a “pagan” religion, see this additional link:

catholic.com/library/Is_Catholicism_Pagan.asp

Hope this helps! 🙂
 
I couldn’t really refute many of his points, and it sort of shook my faith a little bit. Is this normal? What should I do to strenghten my faith?
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We are all human, and it is normal. A couple of years ago I rediscovered my faith in abundance. Shortly thereafter, I was shown how the “extra” books of the Old Testament didn’t belong. The argument was backed by “claims” and such and it did set me back (i.e., shook my faith)…for about 24 hours. I did a little study and was able to refute those claims. This person’s argument was based on selecive uses of text (not the whole story, etc.). Rest assured, you are in the right place.

Strengthen your faith by reading a lot. There are tons of books out there, i.e., Catholicism and Fundamentalism, that will be a great help

Get an apologetics crib sheet (with biblical passages supporting the Catholic Doctrine from the beginning of the Church). Practice your replies. Visit this forum, lots of good discussion here and if you have a particular question, I’m sure you will get many helpful replies.

Pray.

Peace, SG257
 
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Aequitas:
Talking with some fundmentalist friends of mine, and they make all of the usual claims for Catholicism. " It’s pagan, they worship idols, etc." But I found, since I’m so new to the Catholic faith(heck I’m not even confirmed) that I couldn’t really refute many of his points, and it sort of shook my faith a little bit. Is this normal? What should I do to strenghten my faith?
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Look through the CA library and go to www.scripturecatholic.com
 
Well, you can hang around here and learn a lot. 🙂 It’s probably a good idea to spend time where there are Catholics who know their faith and can defend it - at least it’s proven helpful to me. It seemed like as soon as the smallest question began to form itself, the answer was in front of me. And sometimes, I’d read something and kind of grin and think to myself, “Well, that was my next question!” 😉

The Catholic Answers Library is incredibly, amazingly full of responses to anti-Catholic messages. catholic.com/library.asp - there is a list of tracts on the left side of the page, or you can listen to several years’ worth of archived Catholic Answers Live shows: catholic.com/radio/calive.asp

At the top of that page is also a link to almost 15 years’ worth of past issues of This Rock - a magazine of Catholic apologetics. I started reading the oldest, one by one and I’m working my way forward. Lots of really good stuff in there! catholic.com/thisrock/1990/1990_ann.asp

Get the wonderful CD’s from John Martignoni’s site:
biblechristiansociety.com - $1.00 each is the donation requested, but they’re worth their weight in gold for the tools they give you to refute these claims made against Holy Mother Church. There are 14 1-hour talks, each of them a gem!

More CD’s from catholicity.com - all of them absolutely terrific and again a very small donation requested.

I love the rosary by Father Groeschel and Simonetta - beautiful meditations and music. saintphilomena.com/

Pray every day, every time you think about it. That’s reinforcement! 👍

And we can pray for each other. 🙂
 
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Aequitas:
Talking with some fundmentalist friends of mine, and they make all of the usual claims for Catholicism. " It’s pagan, they worship idols, etc." But I found, since I’m so new to the Catholic faith(heck I’m not even confirmed) that I couldn’t really refute many of his points, and it sort of shook my faith a little bit. Is this normal? What should I do to strenghten my faith?
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For learning about Catholicism, I wholeheartedly endorse what is on the posts above, and add to their lists anything by Karl Keating. And if you haven’t been given one already, you absolutely must get a copy of the official statement of Catholic belief, the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

You should answer ignorant critics like this by going on the offense:
  1. Smile. Thank him for his concern.
  2. Tell him you want to know more about his beliefs, and that you therefore are going to ask a Buddhist to explain Christian fundamentalism.
  3. Listen to him squack: WHAT??? How can a Buddhist be an authority on Christian fundamentalism?
  4. Explain that an American-born Buddhist probably knows more about his Christian fundamentalism than he knows about real Catholicism.
  5. Tell him that you’re going to a genuine Catholic source for the real answers - a Catholic priest and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
  6. Show him your copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Ask him to show you the part about idol-worship. (He probably won’t know what to do with the book.) Then show him paragraphs 2129 through 2132, where the difference between worshipping idols and venerating icons is explained.
  7. If he’s still talking to you, tell him you’ll pray for him, then invite him to join you at RCIA.
 
Thanks everyone, for all of your help. But I’ll tell you, I had a bit of an epipheny this morning. You see, all last night I prayed to God to show me the way, to show me the truth, and to strengthen my faith. When I woke up it hit me, Catholicism is right. And for the first time, it felt natural to be a Catholic. You see, being a baptist for 17 years, it felt awkward at first becoming a Catholic, now it feels like the most natural, normal thing in the world. 👍
 
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Aequitas:
That’d be cool. But at 17, I don’t think that is going to happen.
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Take it as a project for the near future. Read about pilgrimage and do it one yourself. Choose the Holy Place you are most interested in: the Holy Sepulcher of Christ (Jerusalem), the sepulcher of St. Peter (the Vatican), sanctuaries of the apparitions of Our Lady in Fatima (Portugal), Lourdes (France) or Medjugorje (still in progress in Bosnia Herzegovina). And, many, many others all around the world… It’s going to be a wonderful spiritual experience for you. The most important thing is to open your ears to listen to God in this special blessed places… It works.
 
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