What are the reasons I should (or shouldn't) become Catholic?

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The only reason why one should do anything, is because it is the right thing to do.

Either you believe what the Catholic Church teaches is true or you do not. IF you believe as we do that the Catholic Church teaches the Truth then you should become Catholic. If you do not believe then you should search elsewhere.

What we have going for us is almost 2000 years of history. Core Catholic beliefs have been consistent since the time of Christ, protestant beliefs at most can only go back 500 years. We have one faith, one set of teachings, protestants have thousands of splinter groups. We think it’s a no brainer. Catholics have it right. In spite of all our problems our core beliefs are consistent throughout.
 
AgnosTheist said:
I think a more perfect God would not have conveyed his message through the limitations of a local culture. That is if he/she intended the message to reach all cultures and all time.
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I couldn’t disagree more. I think Chesterton was right:
If there be such being as a God, and He can speak to a child, and if God spoke to a child in the garden, the child would, of course, say that God lived in the garden. I should not think it less likely to be true for that. If the child said, “God is everywhere, an impalpable essence pervading and supporting all constituents of the Cosmos alike” – if, I say, the infant addressed me in the above terms, I should think he was more likely to have been with the governess than with God. So if Moses had said God was an Infinite Energy, I should be certain he had seen nothing extraordinary. As he said He was a Burning Bush, I think it very likely that he did see something Extraordinary.
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If you can’t be a Christian, for goodness’ sake go be a Buddhist or something equally specific. Agnostheism sounds like terribly thin food to live on all your life long.

Edwin
 
Contarini said:
I couldn’t disagree more. I think Chesterton was right:

If you can’t be a Christian, for goodness’ sake go be a Buddhist or something equally specific. Agnostheism sounds like terribly thin food to live on all your life long.

Edwin
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He’ll soon tire of beating himself up and give in. See, we have a conspiracy going against him. 👍
 
po18guy said:
He’ll soon tire of beating himself up and give in. See, we have a conspiracy going against him. 👍
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Oh, it’s not a conspiracy. :whistle:
Contarini, what’s going on with you? When are you going to jump into the Tiber?::ehh: 😉
 
qui_est_ce said:
Oh, it’s not a conspiracy. :whistle:
Contarini, what’s going on with you? When are you going to jump into the Tiber?::ehh: 😉
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Probably I’ll topple in on my deathbed!

It’s a question of trust. I don’t see a good alternative (except maybe Orthodoxy), but I can’t be sure that the Catholic Church deserves the kind of absolute trust required.

After all, conversion is the ultimate act of private judgment.

Edwin
 
Contarini said:
Probably I’ll topple in on my deathbed!

It’s a question of trust. I don’t see a good alternative (except maybe Orthodoxy), but I can’t be sure that the Catholic Church deserves the kind of absolute trust required.

After all, conversion is the ultimate act of private judgment.

Edwin
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Edwin, too much study and analysis will ruin any concept on earth. It is about faith and trust. You have been conversing with the church. We can be rather pleasant at times. It is too easy to rage against the machine.

Listen to Marcus Grodi for inspiration, or check post #11 on this thread: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=2500674#post2500674

Christ’s peace, my brother.
 
#824 Contarini said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by qui est ce forums.catholic-questions.org/images/buttons_cad/viewpost.gif
Oh, it’s not a conspiracy. :whistle:
Contarini, what’s going on with you? When are you going to jump into the Tiber?::ehh: 😉

Probably I’ll topple in on my deathbed!

It’s a question of trust. I don’t see a good alternative (except maybe Orthodoxy), but I can’t be sure that the Catholic Church deserves the kind of absolute trust required.

After all, conversion is the ultimate act of private judgment.

Edwin
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You draw a distinction where none exists, then complain about the distinction. 🙂

Edwin,… Dude,… THE Church is THE FREAKIN’ CHURCH…!!

I’m not putting my trust in ANY non-divine/human thing when I trust completely in the Church.

You KNOW your right when you think about it. Jump away, Pal…!! 🙂 The water’s FINE…!!
 
Keikiolu said:
You draw a distinction where none exists, then complain about the distinction. 🙂

Edwin,… Dude,… THE Church is THE FREAKIN’ CHURCH…!!

Pal…!! 🙂 The water’s FINE…!!
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You’d better watch out, Agnus, I mean AGNOS was suspended last week-end for using that adjective in relation to the Rosary
 
qui_est_ce said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Keikiolu forums.catholic-questions.org/images/buttons_cad/viewpost.gif
*You draw a distinction where none exists, then complain about the distinction. 🙂

Edwin,… Dude,… THE Church is THE FREAKIN’ CHURCH…!!

Pal…!! 🙂 The water’s FINE…!!*

You’d better watch out, Agnus, I mean AGNOS was suspended last week-end for using that adjective in relation to the Rosary
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What’s wrong with saying, “Dude…!”

…wow,… you’se guys is strict…!! Sheesh…! 🙂
 
Contarini said:
If you can’t be a Christian, for goodness’ sake go be a Buddhist or something equally specific. Agnostheism sounds like terribly thin food to live on all your life long.
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Works fine with me. 🙂 You are just not used to the concept & practice of having faith without religion. I was very devoted in the past but once a person reaches my stage, it is very difficult believing in any religion without some proof.
 
qui_est_ce said:
OK I’ll admit, who is the real Contarini?
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Gasparo Contarini was a Catholic cardinal (and Venetian diplomat) in the sixteenth century, who saw a lot of merit to the Protestant understanding of faith but remained staunchly loyal to the Church, and tried to work out an agreement with the Protestants on justification in 1541. He wasn’t the most profound thinker of the 16th century, but I really admire him and if I lived in the 16th century would have been basically on the same page.

A basically Protestant take on him can be found here, and a Catholic interpretation here.

Edwin
 
Keikiolu said:
You draw a distinction where none exists, then complain about the distinction. 🙂

Edwin,… Dude,… THE Church is THE FREAKIN’ CHURCH…!!

I’m not putting my trust in ANY non-divine/human thing when I trust completely in the Church.
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Keikiolu, I avoid bringing this painful subject up if I can help it, but is it really true to say “the Church failed to protect children from abusive priests”? In that phrase, is “the Church” a divine rather than a human thing?

This is my problem–not that I don’t know that Protestant ecclesiastical bodies also contain grave evils and corruption, but that Protestant ecclesiastical bodies do not make the same claim on my trust.

The distinction is not invented by me–it’s right there staring me in the faith. When you say “the Church teaches that women cannot be ordained” you are supposedly speaking of a divine entity. But when those same mouthpieces of the Church on whom we depend for authoritative teaching act in a flawed or even evil way, we are supposedly no longer talking about “the Church” but simply a bunch of flawed human beings.

This is not a distinction I have come up with! I don’t have a problem with the proposition “God protects the Church from making doctrinal errors but not from moral corruption.” Well, I have some problems with it, but I can accept it. What I have trouble with is the proposition that “the Church” is the entity engaging in authoritative teaching but is somehow untouched by moral corruption, even when the people and institutional structures involved are exactly the same in each case.

I can trust the Church not to apostasize. That would be enough if I were already a Catholic. But it’s not enough for conversion, as your post indicates.

In Christ,

Edwin
 
qui_est_ce said:
No he said “Fr----n Rosary” and was suspended over the week-end. Maybe it’s the context. :).
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context:

hey, its not just the school, okay. We used to live with my grand parents. Each night, EACH NIGHT! we had to do say the BEEP rosary! :mad:

thats in the mary stumbling block thread. and i wasnt really angry there, just making face. 😃
 
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