So true, I stand corrected.
jesus g
I’m glad you recognize that and I appreciate your willingness to admit that you were in error. Thank you.
I’m not trying to belabor this and continue to beat up on you.
What I’m trying to do is somehow get across to all who are reading this thread how terribly offensive it is to evangelicals and other non-Catholic Christians when Catholics make sweeping, ignorant, judgmental statements.
I can tell you with certainty that if a Catholic makes such a statement to an evangelical Protestant, that the “door” would very likely CLOSE for many years, and their heart would harden against the Catholic Church.
The evangelical will remember that statement and in his/her mind, consider it a reason to doubt the Catholic Church. And that means that the Protestant will NOT seriously investigate the Catholic Church, and that means they will NOT become Catholic, at least not for many years. And that’s tragic.
As Catholics we need to do all that we can to keep the doors OPEN, so that evangelical Protestants will trust us and consider us friends and Christian brothers and sisters. That way, the Holy Spirit will have soft hearts to work in, and be able to softly speak to Protestants about the Catholic Church and urge them to “come home.”
We don’t ever want to be the cause for a Protestant turning their back on the Catholic Church.
Of course we need to stand up for our Church and teach “right” Catholic doctrine. I’m not suggesting that we compromise our teachings or disparage our Church in our attempts to reach out to evangelical Protestants.
What I’m saying is that we should avoid making sweeping, judgmental, ignorant statements that alienate people and turn them away from the Church.
The evangelicals that I listed above SHOULD be known to any Catholics who have any contact whatsoever with evangelical Protestants. The people on my list are great teachers and preachers who have had a major influence not only on evangelical Christians, but on the world as a whole.
Dr. James Dobson is sometimes called “the evangelical Pope.” There is a saying that “if Dr. Dobson says it’s OK, it’s OK.”
Dr. Dobson is one of the first, if not THE first, evangelical Protestant leader to recognize the evils of abortion and take a bold, public stand against it, and more importantly, to urge OTHER Christians to work against abortion and to be pro-life in our daily lives. He has repeatedly faced persecution and ridicule from the secular media, and dragged through mud by liberals who label him “fanatical” or “extremist” or even “dangerous.”
He is the founder of an organization called Focus on the Family, which since the 1970s has been an advocacy organization for decent Christian families, including Catholic families.
Dr. Dobson has never been anti-Catholic. In his latest book,
Bringing Up Girls, Dr. Dobson endorses (in writing) Sen. Rick Santorum for President of the United States.
Finally, Dr. Dobson has NEVER been “caught” in any kind of scandal. Yes, of course he sins–he admits that in his books and his radio talks. But he hasn’t been caught in a scandal or convicted of any kind of crime, as have so many other public Christians both Catholic and Protestant. His life has been an exemplary life that has glorified Christ.
As for the others on my list–Chuck Colson is the founder, along with Father Richard Neuhaus (RIP) of Catholics and Evangelicals Together. THIS alone should be reason for Catholics to not only know WHO Chuck Colson is, but to follow his life and if they have time, read his books, columns, and blog. ** He is a MAJOR player in the possibility of unification of the Catholic and Protestant churches.** His book,
Being the Body, was one of the main reasons why I converted from evangelical Protestantism to Catholicism. ** I strongly recommend this book–if you have time to only read ONE book this year, read
Being the Body by Chuck Colson.**
Charles Swindoll is a beloved pastor who has written many practical best-selling books for Christians. I would describe him as one of the most down-to-earth and reasonable pastors and writers in the evangelical world. Absolutely no scandal associated with him–so refreshing.
John R.W. Stott is in his 90s now, and is a rector in the Anglican Church in Great Britain. His intellectualism has heavily influenced evangelical Protestantism and taken evangelicalism out of the “snake-handing backwoods” into the intellectual arenas of our day, mainly universities and media. He is the author of
Basic Christianity, an apologetic work that is a wonderful companion to *Mere Christianity *(C.S. Lewis) In spite of his age, Stott has a huge following among young intellectuals. He was my hero and role-model when I was growing up.
John Ortberg is a pastor and a current best-selling author in the evangelical world. He is incredibly popular and on the path to become the next Billy Graham. I’m not surprised. I grew up with John–he and I attended church and school together, and back then, we all said that he would be the next Billy Graham! He’s a great man and a great Christian.
I would recommend that Catholics come out of their cloister (unless they are under vows!) and get to know real evangelicals. So many Catholics are incorrectly labelling some of the fundamentalist “TV preachers” as evangelicals–this is a mistake. Get to know the real thing.
