So two guys walked up to me...

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Callin

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Well, this is a long story.

Today at college, while eating in the dining hall, I was approached by these two guys, college-aged, who said wondered if I was interested in helping them with a project, by answering some questions. I’m at college, so I figured it was for some class. About what? My religious beliefs. I said sure. I’d been studying Catholicism a lot lately. Why not.

Well, it started out as I thought. One guy took notes, the other sat down. What religion are you? Catholic. What’s your central beliefs? What makes your religion different from others? Why did you choose to join it?

And then, very smoothly, it transitioned into mainly Christian questions. What do you believe about Jesus? Why was his sacrifice necessary? Etc.

Just as smoothly, he confessed he was also Christian, pulled out a Bible. I asked what version it was, and I’ve forgotten now, but it wasn’t one I was familiar with.

And then he started turning to Bible passages. Mainly the ones on which Catholics and Protestants majorly disagree on. I was able to counter several of them, on what they actually meant, but the guy talked quickly, and if I counted some point, he just moved on and didn’t discuss it. Then he got into discussing being “born again,” and other such things I can’t remember. It ended with him giving me a tiny booklet and a fake dollar with religious messages on it.

Well, I hope he’s happy now. The whole experience, while doing a poor job of shaking my beliefs, has left me hurt and angry.

Hurt, because he deceived me as to why he wanted to ask questions in the first place. Project? Ha! And how I didn’t really grasp everything that happened until afterward.

Angry because I felt manipulated. Like I said, he talked fast. If I questioned certain things, he moved on. And he was a good speaker. Questions which I felt should have stumped him he was able to weave around somehow.

Then I looked at some of the little propoganda I was left with. One had a website url. I checked it out, and was further furious to see the words “Evangelism Training Academy” in large letters at the top. So the guy was a professional.

It turned out that some of the other text in his handouts were some of the things he had said to me VERBATIM during the discussion. Not only is this more proof he was a professional, but seems to me that it was almost like brainwashing - he couldn’t even use his own words to convince me of what he believed in? Or was he following a proven formula?

So yes, hurt and angry, although I’m feeling better writing this. The next time this happens, I’ll be somewhat more ready to deal with it. Has anyone else been tricked into something like this?
 
Every weekend I have these Jehova’s Witnesses come by.

Every once in a while I see Evangelicals.

Once, there were two male young adults in my porch in black pants and a white shirt with a black tie. I assumed they were LDS.

Yes it is very annoying but the Lord warned us, “Beware of false prophets”.

What’s the URL?
 
Pray for them, for they need our prayers.

I’ve encountered people like this at college. I’ll tell ya what happened.

I was sitting at a table by the vending machines, reading my new book (The Confessions of St. Augustine). I always eat a hot dog while I read the book, because food gives me energy and energy helps my brain absord info and focus on stuff.

Anyhow, two guys come up to me. Tall guys, nicely dressed (one in a really nice suit). They said they were taking a survey and asked if I would answer some questions. I said sure.

They first asked me what religion I belonged to. I said Catholic.

Than they asked me what my beliefs were. I said I believed in everything that the Church teaches.

This must have stumped them, or something, because the guy in the suit asked me what specifically I believed in. I said I believed in Jesus Christ, the Holy Trinity, and the sacraments, and I was careful not to tell them everything - heck, I would be there all day long if I had to tell them everything which the Church teaches.

Than the other guy, the one in the t-shirt, got out a Bible. He started to quote the Bible, and I just kept quiet. He stopped, expecting me to say something I think, but I just said I agreed with what the verse said. He than gave this very Protestant interpretation of the verse, to which I said I didn’t believe that.

Than he asked me what I did believe. I tried to explain myself, but I fumbled. Than he moved onto another verse, but at that point I had figured out what the guys were doing and told them I didn’t want to take the survey. They left, but not without giving me a brochure. I looked it over, curious as to what it said, and seeing it filled with anti-Catholic propaganda, I threw it in the trash - which, conventiently, was only three feet away (God knew this was going to happen to me, so He provided the trash can for me).

I was a little embarrassed afterwords that I couldn’t defend my Faith, but I buried myself in St. Augustine’s book, said a little prayer for forgiveness, and trusting in God’s Mercy, was embarassed no more.

Next time, though, I’ll tell those guys to leave me alone. 😉
 
I have never had this kinda stuff happen to me, maybe its cause I look like a “hood” or so, I have been told by random people in the stores. I am glad people do it, but it cna be rather annoying, especially if they start getting mean cause you tell them the answer to their questions.
 
I would chalk it up to a lesson and just strengthen your understanding of apologetics so that in a kind way you can leave them with something to think about as well.

They mean well and may be somewhat run of the mill evangelical Christians BUT there is a mentality for some of these folks that seeks to achieve notches on their bible by bringing others to Christ. So, they run around and ask strangers if they know where they are going when they die, go through the sinners prayer with them or do what they did to you and move on to the next person. Meaning well but annoying.

These sorts of tactics did not work with me and I am sure they do not work with a great many people. What works is building genuine relationships with people and study. People who care about your soul are going to care about you as a person not a statistic (notch on their Study Bible). On top of all that the Holy Spirit has to prepare someone’s heart to receive the Good News. My heart was open and I felt the call of God in my life. The growth and discovery process was aided by genuine and wonderful Christians whose lives exhibited the love of Christ and by study. Christians such as you mentioned above did not deter me but annoyed me.
 
I’ve never been presented the opportunity (apparently I am so unattractive that people don’t want to witness to me, for fear that I might spoil their heaven with my bad looks 🙂 ), but I always thought I’d handle it by saying that I’d listen to everything they have to say, as long as they listened to what I had to say.

Might work if you try it!
 
Sadly, i used to be something like that. At my old church, we were told to do whatever we could to get Catholics to doubt their faith. I am so glad Jesus saw to it to lead me home!!!:extrahappy: :signofcross:
 
CWBetts said:
Sadly, i used to be something like that. At my old church, we were told to do whatever we could to get Catholics to doubt their faith. I am so glad Jesus saw to it to lead me home!!!:extrahappy: :signofcross:
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That’s the one thing that is so frustrating: you don’t hear too much about one protestant denomination trying to convert the other. But us Catholics are a bunch of heretics.

When I decided to convert to the Church, my Baptist granny said, “There’s so many denominations, why couldn’t you become Lutheran?”

Must be the label that frightens her. I apologize for going off-topic.
 
Callin said:
Well, this is a long story.

Today at college, while eating in the dining hall, I was approached by these two guys, college-aged, who said wondered if I was interested in helping them with a project, by answering some questions. I’m at college, so I figured it was for some class. About what? My religious beliefs. I said sure. I’d been studying Catholicism a lot lately. Why not.

Well, it started out as I thought. One guy took notes, the other sat down. What religion are you? Catholic. What’s your central beliefs? What makes your religion different from others? Why did you choose to join it?

And then, very smoothly, it transitioned into mainly Christian questions. What do you believe about Jesus? Why was his sacrifice necessary? Etc.

Just as smoothly, he confessed he was also Christian, pulled out a Bible. I asked what version it was, and I’ve forgotten now, but it wasn’t one I was familiar with.

And then he started turning to Bible passages. Mainly the ones on which Catholics and Protestants majorly disagree on. I was able to counter several of them, on what they actually meant, but the guy talked quickly, and if I counted some point, he just moved on and didn’t discuss it. Then he got into discussing being “born again,” and other such things I can’t remember. It ended with him giving me a tiny booklet and a fake dollar with religious messages on it.

Well, I hope he’s happy now. The whole experience, while doing a poor job of shaking my beliefs, has left me hurt and angry.

Hurt, because he deceived me as to why he wanted to ask questions in the first place. Project? Ha! And how I didn’t really grasp everything that happened until afterward.

Angry because I felt manipulated. Like I said, he talked fast. If I questioned certain things, he moved on. And he was a good speaker. Questions which I felt should have stumped him he was able to weave around somehow.

Then I looked at some of the little propoganda I was left with. One had a website url. I checked it out, and was further furious to see the words “Evangelism Training Academy” in large letters at the top. So the guy was a professional.

It turned out that some of the other text in his handouts were some of the things he had said to me VERBATIM during the discussion. Not only is this more proof he was a professional, but seems to me that it was almost like brainwashing - he couldn’t even use his own words to convince me of what he believed in? Or was he following a proven formula?

So yes, hurt and angry, although I’m feeling better writing this. The next time this happens, I’ll be somewhat more ready to deal with it. Has anyone else been tricked into something like this?
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Sometimes all this is a blessing in disguise, because it motivates one to learn their faith more, it does me.🙂
 
Personally, I enjoy talking to people of other faiths who come up to talk to me. I’m generally very honest when talking to people like that, I tell them that I’m Catholic and use it as an opportunity to learn more about what other people believe. I like to find out what the differences are and to further understand what makes other religions different from the Catholic religion.

I haven’t ever had someone try to trick me into talking with them or listening to their beliefs, they’ve always been quite open and honest with what their intentions were. Most of the time they just seem to be kind hearted people trying to help others live their lives in a better way.

I definitely don’t approve of people trying to trick others into talking with them like they did to you but maybe its because it’s the only way they can get people to talk with them? Personally, if I’m ever in your situation and they did start to turn the conversation into more of a preaching/trying to convert me session, I think I’d have to stop them and first get them to tell me honestly what their intentions are. I’d let them know I’m happy to discuss this with them but that we should have an honest conversation from both sides with no hidden agendas.

Though, what I’d like to do and what you end up doing when the situation happens can sometimes differ, especially when you’re caught off guard!

Having discussions with those sorts of people is always fun I think. I love learning about other religions and seeing what makes people believe certain things.
 
Techno2000 said:
Sometimes all this is a blessing in disguise, because it motivates one to learn their faith more, it does me.🙂
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Yes, that’s very true, I’ve found when I find I can’t explain something about the Catholic faith too well (which is quite often), it often motivates me to learn more about it all and make sure I get a better understanding of it so I’m better prepared to answer and talk about the issue next time.
 
Techno2000 said:
Sometimes all this is a blessing in disguise, because it motivates one to learn their faith more, it does me.🙂
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In the end, that’s sort of how I felt about it. I quickly wrote down the things he went on about, such as how Jesus says we must be born again (though we call this Baptism :rolleyes: ) and so on.

I also forgave them before I went to bed. They’re doing the best they can to bring people to Jesus, insofar as they understand him. The hardest part was how their deceptive way of doing it.

I can’t help but wonder how the other guy’s notes will be used. Maybe to evaluate their progress? 😦
 
Callin said:
In the end, that’s sort of how I felt about it. I quickly wrote down the things he went on about, such as how Jesus says we must be born again (though we call this Baptism :rolleyes: ) and so on.

I also forgave them before I went to bed. They’re doing the best they can to bring people to Jesus, insofar as they understand him. The hardest part was how their deceptive way of doing it.

I can’t help but wonder how the other guy’s notes will be used. Maybe to evaluate their progress? 😦
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Go to classes. I heard that in some Cathedral you can take Apologetics classes for defense of the faith. I suggest you take one so when they come, you’ll be prepared.

👍

With love and grace,
_[Samuel]
 
Callin said:
In the end, that’s sort of how I felt about it. I quickly wrote down the things he went on about, such as how Jesus says we must be born again (though we call this Baptism :rolleyes: ) and so on.

I also forgave them before I went to bed. They’re doing the best they can to bring people to Jesus, insofar as they understand him. The hardest part was how their deceptive way of doing it.

I can’t help but wonder how the other guy’s notes will be used. Maybe to evaluate their progress? 😦
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You have nothing to feel ashamed about. These guys target Catholics (Because, you know, the whole Whore of babylon thing :rolleyes: ) I would suggest getting ahold of some anti-CAtholic literature, and with Bible and CCC in hand, go through and debunk every line of their propaganda. That way, next time…
 
I’m starting to think I should carry around the Catechism of the Catholic church and a bible around with me ready to have a good conversation whilst still having answers with me if I’m not sure. Just so I’ve got a book to refer to as well and it’s not just them 🙂
 
AustralianGuy said:
I’m starting to think I should carry around the Catechism of the Catholic church and a bible around with me ready to have a good conversation whilst still having answers with me if I’m not sure. Just so I’ve got a book to refer to as well and it’s not just them 🙂
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I carry the catechism with me all the time because whenever I get a break I read from it. My Bibile is too big to carry with the catechism, so Ive ordered a pocket one. It’s a good habit to get in to I think. Because even if you cant explain something and whizz to various parts of the Bible, at least having the catechism you can show someone exactly and precicely and definitively what the Church teaches on whatever it is they’e saying it doesnt!

The only issue I have with carrying the catechism around all the time is I have no room now for the trashy novels I used to read 😛
 
Ag_not said:
The only issue I have with carrying the catechism around all the time is I have no room now for the trashy novels I used to read 😛
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ha ha, i’ve only got the summary version at the moment which I got from World Youth Day. Whilst that means it’s easier to carry, it’s not as in depth. I think i’ll try to find a full copy of it sometime soon!
 
Ag_not said:
I carry the catechism with me all the time because whenever I get a break I read from it. My Bibile is too big to carry with the catechism, so Ive ordered a pocket one. It’s a good habit to get in to I think. Because even if you cant explain something and whizz to various parts of the Bible, at least having the catechism you can show someone exactly and precicely and definitively what the Church teaches on whatever it is they’e saying it doesnt!

The only issue I have with carrying the catechism around all the time is I have no room now for the trashy novels I used to read 😛
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I doubt that you have a pocket book that has the entire catechism of the Catholic Church.

I just so happened to have the catechism of the church’s link here.

Now if you tell me you have ALL THAT within your pocket. PLEASE. Tell me where to get one. Because I have the Catechisms in my shelf, and it’s a total of 11 books about 500 pages each with 12 font, I think.

If you have ALL that in one pocket book. PLEASE. Tell me where to get one. 🤷

With love and grace,
_[Samuel]
 
JLSamuel818 said:
I doubt that you have a pocket book that has the entire catechism of the Catholic Church.

I just so happened to have the catechism of the church’s link here.

Now if you tell me you have ALL THAT within your pocket. PLEASE. Tell me where to get one. Because I have the Catechisms in my shelf, and it’s a total of 11 books about 500 pages each with 12 font, I think.

If you have ALL that in one pocket book. PLEASE. Tell me where to get one. 🤷

With love and grace,

_[Samuel]
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I have The Catechism of the Catholic Church by Chapman. Amazon is your friend :D. It’s not pocket sized but will easily fit in my rucksack which I carry everywhere with me. I was referring to getting a pocket sized Bible as the Douay Rheims I have is too big to carry anywhere.
 
JLSamuel818 said:
I doubt that you have a pocket book that has the entire catechism of the Catholic Church.

I just so happened to have the catechism of the church’s link here.

Now if you tell me you have ALL THAT within your pocket. PLEASE. Tell me where to get one. Because I have the Catechisms in my shelf, and it’s a total of 11 books about 500 pages each with 12 font, I think.

If you have ALL that in one pocket book. PLEASE. Tell me where to get one. 🤷

With love and grace,
_[Samuel]
Click to expand...
I think this is the whole catechism here(it says so on the cover):
amazon.com/Catechism-Catholic-Church-U-S/dp/0385479670/ref=bxgy_cc_b_text_a

I compared 6 points online to my copy and they are the same word for word. And while a book 5x7 and about a pound isn’t pocket sized (at least not my coat pocket) I carry it easily in my purse. I like to have it on hand along with a pocket sized bible for my RE class, I used to keep them in my big tote but it doubles as my GS troop tote and I was always rearranging it for RE and GS and found myself without the 2 on occasion. Organization does not come easily to me:blush:
 
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