Thanks for your reply. I am a former Southern Baptist, agnostic, atheist – in that order – now a deliriously happy Catholic for many years. Studying religions is my hobby, but I love studying Catholicism most of all. It has the sweet taste of purity, logic, and truth. You’ll have a lifetime to plumb its depths; it’s so beautiful.
Steven K. Ray is a former Baptist (Southern, I think?) turned Catholic. His conversion story is documented in
Crossing the *Tiber. *Another excellent book by Ray is
Upon This Rock, St. Peter and the Primacy of Rome in Scripture and the Early Church. He has made a series of videos documenting Christian history from the time of Moses – all excellent. His website is
www.catholic-convert.com. His books and videos are at Ignatius Press and on his own website.
I strongly recommend the convert stories at
www.chnetwork.org, especially Brian Harrison’s story,
Logic and the Foundations of Protestantism. At the home page, click on “conversion stories,” then scroll down by name. Patty Bonds’ story is unique. Her brother is James White, the #1 anti-Catholic apologist in the U.S.
That she became a Catholic is astonishing. The Cindy and Kerry Beck story is great – he works for Catholic Answers. (My story is also there, if you’d care to read it.)
I agree with others who have advised you to study Catholicism first. It is the Mother Church of all Christendom, and you should know it well before you study the heresies, in my opinion. This is the Church that was founded by Christ; the others are all man-made. They’re interesting, but my advice is to learn original Christianity first, then you’ll understand the deviations better.
It’s important for you to know the history of the Bible and the history of Christianity. There’s a Bible history thread on this forum. I’ll bump it up for you. Hope it makes you hungry for more.
If I can ever be of help, write to me at
Katholikos1@aol.com.
And I’ll hang around to read the other responses to your thread.
God bless and Mary keep, JMJ Jay Damien