THe proverbial Protestant "Silver Bullet"

[dumspirospero]

The other day at my restraunt…a Baptist group who comes every Sunday to eat dinner after Church left me one of their tracts…I found it humerous. Here are just a few of the fallacies they handed me in their tract.

Opening Paragraph: “I am asking you the most important question of your life. Your Joy or your sorrow for all eternity depends upon your answer. The question is: Are you saved? It is not a question of how good you are, nor if you are a church member, but are you saved? Are you sure you will go to Heaven when you die?”…You can be saved today. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13) Whosoever includes you. Shall be saved means not maybe, nor can, but shall be saved.
(emphasis…not mine, but according to the tract)

Now here comes the silver bullet…according to them…this is all that is necessary for salvation…forget good works…a life of faith…going to Church every Sunday, etc…the following is all you need for salvation according to the Protestants: (notice the near plagirism of our Act of Contrition)

“*Oh, God, I know I am a sinner. I believe Jesus was my substitute when He died on the Cross. I believe His shed blood, death, burial, and ressurection were for me. I now receive Him as my Savior. I thank You for the forgiveness of my sins, the gift of salvation and everlasting life, because of Your merciful grace. Amen.”
*
It goes on to say “Just take God at His word and claim His salvation by faith. Believe, and you will be saved. No Church, no lodge, no good works can save you. Remember God does the saving, All of it!”

It goes on to say " You say, ‘surely it cannot be that simple.’ Yes that simple! It is scriptural. It is God’s plan."

Whatever…it is not that simple…and they are setting people up for failure…this is just one of the few reasons I left the Baptists and became a Catholic…these people are missing the boat…bigtime. What do you all think?

 

[Scott_Lafrance]

I think that if it is your restaurant, you gathered all these little pieces of garbage and used them as tinder for your fireplace.

dumspirospero:

The other day at my restraunt…a Baptist group who comes every Sunday to eat dinner after Church left me one of their tracts…I found it humerous. Here are just a few of the fallacies they handed me in their tract.

Opening Paragraph: “I am asking you the most important question of your life. Your Joy or your sorrow for all eternity depends upon your answer. The question is: Are you saved? It is not a question of how good you are, nor if you are a church member, but are you saved? Are you sure you will go to Heaven when you die?”…You can be saved today. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13) Whosoever includes you. Shall be saved means not maybe, nor can, but shall be saved.
(emphasis…not mine, but according to the tract)

Now here comes the silver bullet…according to them…this is all that is necessary for salvation…forget good works…a life of faith…going to Church every Sunday, etc…the following is all you need for salvation according to the Protestants: (notice the near plagirism of our Act of Contrition)

"Oh, God, I know I am a sinner. I believe Jesus was my substitute when He died on the Cross. I believe His shed blood, death, burial, and ressurection were for me. I now receive Him as my Savior. I thank You for the forgiveness of my sins, the gift of salvation and everlasting life, because of Your merciful grace. Amen."

It goes on to say “Just take God at His word and claim His salvation by faith. Believe, and you will be saved. No Church, no lodge, no good works can save you. Remember God does the saving, All of it!”

It goes on to say " You say, ‘surely it cannot be that simple.’ Yes that simple! It is scriptural. It is God’s plan."

Whatever…it is not that simple…and they are setting people up for failure…this is just one of the few reasons I left the Baptists and became a Catholic…these people are missing the boat…bigtime. What do you all think?

 

[dumspirospero]

My mom is a Baptist …so I think they seem to come and see her…but I am slowly converting her. I just bought an Icon of Christ that is beautiful…along with some other Catholic things that I am putting up in the restraunt…hopefully they will soon get the message.

I also uprgraded her standard Cross she wears around her neck to a beautiful Crucifix…I am contemplating getting her a wrist Rosary…

 

[Coptic]

Do Baptists…or other Protestant denominations find it wrong to wear a crucifix? If so, do you know why?

God Bless,
Elizabeth

 

[Catholic_Dude]

just say you dont worry about sinning anymore, your saved no matter what after you say the prayer. You are saved no matter what! Tell them you could pray the Rosary right now and still go to heaven.

 

[dumspirospero]

From my upbringing and my conversation with Protestants…(I could be wrong), but they believe it is idoltry…or something like that, when it comes to wearing a Crucifix…They feel we are worshiping Idols by wearing a Crucifix.

Coptic:

Do Baptists…or other Protestant denominations find it wrong to wear a crucifix? If so, do you know why?

God Bless,
Elizabeth

 

[Curious]

From my upbringing and my conversation with Protestants…(I could be wrong), but they believe it is idoltry…or something like that, when it comes to wearing a Crucifix…They feel we are worshiping Idols by wearing a Crucifix.

Hm…I hadn’t heard that. But I have heard the statement that Jesus is no longer on the cross, that He is resurrected, and that is why it is better to wear an empty cross.

 

[Church_Militant]

The only objection that I have ever heard to the crucifix is that they wonder if we deny the resurrection, since they say that the cross is empty because of it.

I usually (and easily) point out that all Catholics firmly believe in the Resurrection and that the reason that I love my crucifix is that every time I look at it I am reminded of the terrible price that Our Lord paid for my sins and that inspires me not to want to add any more sins to that price.

 

[Xavier]

dumspirospero:

My mom is a Baptist …so I think they seem to come and see her…but I am slowly converting her. I just bought an Icon of Christ that is beautiful…along with some other Catholic things that I am putting up in the restraunt…hopefully they will soon get the message.

I also uprgraded her standard Cross she wears around her neck to a beautiful Crucifix…I am contemplating getting her a wrist Rosary…

This sounds soooooo wrong.
Why do you hate your mother so?

 

[Lorarose]

It goes on to say “Just take God at His word and claim His salvation by faith. Believe, and you will be saved. No Church, no lodge, no good works can save you. Remember God does the saving, All of it!”

This “recipe” for salvation makes it sound like God can be manipulated by words - or by incantation - similar to casting spells in witchcraft.
The message is…say THESE words, and God will be forced to put you in heaven.

The funny thing is…I haven’t found that prayer anywhere in scripture.
Where does it say in the bible that saying that prayer gets you into heaven?

 

[Church_Militant]

Xavier:

This sounds soooooo wrong.
Why do you hate your mother so?

you COULD mind your own business…

 

[dumspirospero]

Ive heard both of these arguments…the one that seems to have the most malice is that we are idolators…that is why I mentioned it…but I admit…I have heard this one too…both of which are fallacious.

Curious:

Hm…I hadn’t heard that. But I have heard the statement that Jesus is no longer on the cross, that He is resurrected, and that is why it is better to wear an empty cross.

 

[dumspirospero]

What are you talking about…I love my mother more than life itself…that is why I feel it is necessary to bring her to the Catholic Church…I am not doing anything unethical in doing so…nor am I approaching her in an abbrasive manner…she is more Catholic than she lets on…She has a statue of Mary in her front yard, holy water fonts in her house, etc…I am just helping her in her journey.

Xavier:

This sounds soooooo wrong.
Why do you hate your mother so?

 

[dumspirospero]

It is no where in scripture…this is just another Protestant creation…just like the Rapture

Lorarose:

This “recipe” for salvation makes it sound like God can be manipulated by words - or by incantation - similar to casting spells in witchcraft.
The message is…say THESE words, and God will be forced to put you in heaven.

The funny thing is…I haven’t found that prayer anywhere in scripture.
Where does it say in the bible that saying that prayer gets you into heaven?

 

[Ozzie]

dumspirospero:

Whatever…it is not that simple…and they are setting people up for failure…this is just one of the few reasons I left the Baptists and became a Catholic…these people are missing the boat…bigtime. What do you all think?

So you reject salvation by grace through faith alone. I was approached by a guy at work who told me essentially the same thing as that pamphlet. I did turn from my *unbelief *and personally put my trust in the Person and work of Jesus Christ. My life has never been the same since!!! I know my Lord and He knows me. I know without a doubt (in fact the moment I turned to Him by faith) that ALL my sins (past, present and future) were put upon Him 2000 years ago, and to this day I do not trust in my own worthiness but I rest in His righteousness which was imputed to me at the time of faith.

What do I think? I think you should read again the pamphlet and do exactly what it requests. Try coming to Christ empty handed, by faith alone, and then, and only then, will you understand those people who were not ashamed to share the Gospel with you (Rom. 2:16-17).

 

[Church_Militant]

dumspirospero,
I apologize for that guy’s insulting posts…
Pax vobioscum,

 

[Church_Militant]

Ozzie:

So you reject salvation by grace through faith alone. I was approached by a guy at work who told me essentially the same thing as that pamphlet. I did turn from my *unbelief *and personally put my trust in the Person and work of Jesus Christ. My life has never been the same since!!! I know my Lord and He knows me. I know without a doubt (in fact the moment I turned to Him by faith) that ALL my sins (past, present and future) were put upon Him 2000 years ago, and to this day I do not trust in my own worthiness but I rest in His righteousness which was imputed to me at the time of faith.

What do I think? I think you should read again the pamphlet and do exactly what it requests. Try coming to Christ empty handed, by faith alone, and then, and only then, will you understand those people who were not ashamed to share the Gospel with you (Rom. 2:16-17).

A touching testimony…here’s mine:
Hi,

I would like to offer you my own personal testimony so you can see where I’m comin’ from and WHY I returned to Catholicism.

I am a cradle Catholic and a “revert” to the faith after being gone for about 34 years. I had left the Church at about age 17 because I was on drugs and then “got saved” at a Campus Life Bible study that was run by a very cool minister. I had always gone to church but never really taken it seriously or read the Bible, even though it was in the house and other members of my family read it. The lack was not in the church (I see that now) but within me. I began to read the Bible for the first time in my life…(the epistle of St. James) and it really hit home. I have always believed in God, but I saw that that was not enough. I did alright for a couple of years, got married and we moved here to Florida, where I stayed out of establishment churches because I figured they were all messed up and did my thing as a “Jesus freak”, witnessing on the streets and handing out Christian underground papers and tracts, and talking to anyone who would listen.

Eventually I and my little family joined a Baptist church because the preacher convinced me that we believed the same things and he liked my no fear witnessing. That was fine until I admitted that I figured that the gifts of the Holy Spirit did not end with the death of the last apostle. That ended my path to being a Baptist minister so we joined a local Assembly of God where we stayed for many years in spite of some really unscriptural and uncharitable things they did. I became a deacon there, but finally we left after they pulled some really lame stuff and blew me off when I pointed out that what they were doing was unscriptural. My letter telling them why we were leaving was 10 pages long.

I intended to find another church, but we never did and so we remained out of any church for many years.

About 5 years ago I hit a real crisis and decided to turn back to the Lord. I found that Jesus meant every word of the parable of the prodigal son. I began to read the Bible again and got a New American Bible which is about like the NIV except this one has all the books (which I liked even though at the time I was still a Protestant). This particular edition was fairly big, with a bright green paperback cover that said “The Catholic Bible” in big orange letters. I went diddy-bopping into a meeting one day with that in hand and wasn’t in there a hot minute when some guy jumped my case.

“Are you Catholic?’ he asked me. “Well…yeah”, says I, (since technically I was). “You Catholics worship Mary.” “Say what?” I responded. “You Catholics worship Mary. You pray to her.” “Look, I know I I been outta the church for a long time, and we do pray to her but we DON”T worship her and no Catholic that knows his ear from his elbow would ever even SAY such a crazy thing. We worship God alone. End of story, Dude.”

He persisted so severely that I finally told him that I’d get some books, check it out and get back to him with what I found out, and that if he was right then I would never enter a Catholic Church ever again.

 

[Church_Militant]

continued:

I found a great book by a priest named Father Oscar Lukefahr of Catholic Home Study Service (Catholic Home Study Service) and read it carefully and prayerfully. I was happy to find that not only were the Catholics right and that they do not worship anyone but Almighty God, but that their doctrines about Mary are soundly based upon the Bible and that the early Christians believed the very same things. Even the three pillars of the Reformation ( Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli) believed the same things about Mary that Catholics do today. In the end I went back to church and met another Catholic guy, who like myself was returning to the faith as well. We studied and talked and found ourselves having to dig up real answers for people we knew who didn’t like the Catholic Church.

I continued to study Catholic teaching and discovered that a great deal of what I had been taught about the Bible and Christianity was wrong. I found that non-Catholics ignore and “read around” Bible passages that support Catholic teaching and that they completely ignore the history of Christianity prior to the 1500s. Now I know what I believe and why and I will never change, though I promise every non-Catholic that I dialog with that if they can prove that the Catholics are wrong that I’ll be in their church with them every Sunday from now on. No one even comes close…

Now I participate at Mass as often as I can, pray the Rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet almost every day, abstain from meat on most Fridays (just out of devotion to God), and of course read and study my Bible, as well as other Catholic writings. I am Catholic because I know and believe with all my heart and soul that the Catholic Church IS the New Testament church and I believe that the Eucharist is everything that the church teaches it is, the same as the early church did…all the way back to the last supper and the 6th chapter of the Gospel of St. John. I believe it’s really the body and blood of our risen Lord because St. Paul said that if you take communion while living in sin that you become guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, and that wouldn’t be possible if His body and blood weren’t really present in the form of bread and wine…just like the last supper. It is the most powerful miracle in all of Christianity, and I love it.

My Christian life is stronger than ever before, my prayer life is powerful, and I have great answers to my prayers like never before. I have always been a soul winner and that has not changed at all. God has used me to win some people that I sure couldn’t have won on my own. Some were very anti-Catholic and now are very MUCH Catholic and very happy and forthright about their faith. It’s really very humbling…I feel like a raggedy (unworthy) Styrofoam cup at a feast, filled with the very finest wine.

So… God Love ya, That’s it. I’m nothing special. There are thousands of people like me who are returning to the faith each week and many more who are finding their way into it as well. It’s been here for over 2,000 years…it won’t die off or go away, and the very gates of hell have not prevailed (and will not prevail) against it. Jesus promised and he has kept that promise in spite of the human failings of individual members of His one true church.
This is the real thing. The fullness of truth, and the most beautiful Christianity you can possibly imagine. Nothing outside the Catholic Church even comes close. I cry tears of humble joy during the consecration at Mass because I am so wrapped up in worship of my risen Lord and Savior. I don’t care who notices or what they might think. I’m more concerned with making sure that Jesus hears me when I say, “My Lord and my God.”

 

[dumspirospero]

In a short answer…YES…faith without works is DEAD…furthermore, I reject the notion that “once saved, always saved”…I also reject that I can say a few words and all of a sudden I am saved for my entire life…despite my future transgressions…YEs, Christ died on the Cross for all of my transgressions…but that doesn’t mean that faith alone will save me…heck…The Devil has faith and we all know the status of his salvation…go sell crazy somewhere else…

Ozzie:

So you reject salvation by grace through faith alone. I was approached by a guy at work who told me essentially the same thing as that pamphlet. I did turn from my *unbelief *and personally put my trust in the Person and work of Jesus Christ. My life has never been the same since!!! I know my Lord and He knows me. I know without a doubt (in fact the moment I turned to Him by faith) that ALL my sins (past, present and future) were put upon Him 2000 years ago, and to this day I do not trust in my own worthiness but I rest in His righteousness which was imputed to me at the time of faith.

What do I think? I think you should read again the pamphlet and do exactly what it requests. Try coming to Christ empty handed, by faith alone, and then, and only then, will you understand those people who were not ashamed to share the Gospel with you (Rom. 2:16-17).

 

[TNT]

Curious:

Hm…I hadn’t heard that. But I have heard the statement that Jesus is no longer on the cross, that He is resurrected, and that is why it is better to wear an empty cross.

Even pagans an heathens wear “plain” crosses.
Here is the reason to “preach the crucifix”:
1 Corinthians1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumblingblock, and unto the Gentiles foolishness:
Since we cannot preach by voice to everyone who sees us, we use the Crucifix to do it.