What Convinced You That Traditional Catholicism is The True Religion?

[GorgeousBlonde]

i am continuing to look to build my faith and belief in being Catholic and wondering what inspired, and convinced you that Traditional Catholicism is the true religion? Provide examples if possible.

So far I started to build my faith by reading Near Death Experiences on iands.org/nde-stories/iands-nde-accounts.html and many people report meeting Jesus in Heaven so that is convicing that Christianity is the true religion. Then I read Bleeding Hands, Weeping Stone: True Stories of Divine Wonders, Miracles and Messages amazon.ca/Bleeding-Hands-Weeping-Stone-Miracles/dp/1935302310 There are many miracles reported in the Catholic church unlike other religions. I also read amazing stories of people being saved from danger and healed of illness by wearing the scapulars, miraculous medal, and praying the rosary.

 

[YoungTradCath]

I would start off by saying that, in reality, there is only one Catholicism. Traditional Catholicism is not a religion of its own. Rather, it is a–some might say the–way of living the religion.

 

[TrueLight]

i am continuing to look to build my faith and belief in being Catholic and wondering what inspired, and convinced you that Traditional Catholicism is the true religion? Provide examples if possible.

So far I started to build my faith by reading Near Death Experiences on iands.org/nde-stories/iands-nde-accounts.html and many people report meeting Jesus in Heaven so that is convicing that Christianity is the true religion. Then I read Bleeding Hands, Weeping Stone: True Stories of Divine Wonders, Miracles and Messages amazon.ca/Bleeding-Hands-Weeping-Stone-Miracles/dp/1935302310 There are many miracles reported in the Catholic church unlike other religions. I also read amazing stories of people being saved from danger and healed of illness by wearing the scapulars, miraculous medal, and praying the rosary.

Stories of the Saints and the stories of miracles and healings are awesome and help build faith.

I do think you need to be careful not to base your interest in Catholicism on miracles.

The Catholic Church is the Church Christ founded. That is true whether one is healed from a disease or whether one has the same disease for 40 years.

It’s true whether someone falls into ecstasy every time he receives the Eucharist or whether he rarely feels the presence of God.

 

[OurBeloved]

i am continuing to look to build my faith and belief in being Catholic and wondering what inspired, and convinced you that Traditional Catholicism is the true religion? Provide examples if possible.

So far I started to build my faith by reading Near Death Experiences on iands.org/nde-stories/iands-nde-accounts.html and many people report meeting Jesus in Heaven so that is convicing that Christianity is the true religion. Then I read Bleeding Hands, Weeping Stone: True Stories of Divine Wonders, Miracles and Messages amazon.ca/Bleeding-Hands-Weeping-Stone-Miracles/dp/1935302310 There are many miracles reported in the Catholic church unlike other religions. I also read amazing stories of people being saved from danger and healed of illness by wearing the scapulars, miraculous medal, and praying the rosary.

I would say that the most certain way for you to arrive at the Catholic faith (apart from Christ personally appearing to you and telling you to join, which most of us are not privileged to have happen to us anyway) is to start at the Resurrection.

No matter how many miracles we have, the Catholic faith stands or falls on the Resurrection. So you must investigate what evidence we have to think that the Resurrection did happen. Here you would take in to account the martyrdom of those who claim that they saw the risen Christ and how they shed their blood for that claim. You would ask yourself how likely it is that all these persons would construct a lie such as the resurrection and then uphold it till death. After some analysis (which might be somewhat in the field of psychology at this point), it should be clear to you that the most plausible explanation is that Christ did indeed rise from the dead.

Here it is important to mention that the Resurrection invalidates all the other religions as well. One might ask why? One might answer that this is because none of the founders of the other religions have given us any reason to think that they have any authority to make the claims they made. At best, the claims can be considered to be logically consistent or to ‘feel’ like it sounds correct. But such points are not reasons to accept the authority of any mere human being on the transcendent. But if that person had defeated death itself, then it would make sense to listen to that person since he has shown that his power and knowledge transcends death.

Now even armed with the truth of the Resurrection, it is not yet clear to a seeker as to where one should go next. Contrary to what some may claim, it is not possible go directly from the truth of the Resurrection to the Bible being the inspired word of God. So one has to turn to other means to know where to find the teachings of Christ. The logical place would be to turn to the Apostles. The Apostles taught with authority and history tells us that they passed down their authority to their successors and so forth. This unending line of successors are present today in the Roman Catholic Church. Hence, you embrace everything that the Apostolic Successors have taught and continue to teach in the Roman Catholic Church. As a result, you would accept Scripture and Tradition of the Church.

At this point in time, one might raise the objection of handling the difficulty with the existence of the Orthodox Church. one would answer that we must consider the nature of the Schism to better understand who is correct. If everything held and taught by the Apostolic successors were true, then it is true that to disagree with the teachings is to cause schism. Now if we study the history, it is clear that the entire Church prior to the schism held that the Roman Church had primacy in matters of teaching. If the Roman Church did indeed have primacy in teaching, and if it did indeed teach the Infallibility of the Pope and the other problematic teachings the Orthodox disagreed with, then the Orthodox would be in error to disagree with the teaching in the first place. It violates the already established or accepted teaching/belief of the Primacy of Rome in matters of teaching. Therefore, the Orthodox had committed error in breaking away with the Church and not vice versa.

Through such an analysis, anyone can arrive at the Roman Catholic Church today.

 

[OraLabora]

Stories of the Saints and the stories of miracles and healings are awesome and help build faith.

I do think you need to be careful not to base your interest in Catholicism on miracles.

The Catholic Church is the Church Christ founded. That is true whether one is healed from a disease or whether one has the same disease for 40 years.

It’s true whether someone falls into ecstasy every time he receives the Eucharist or whether he rarely feels the presence of God.

Sound advice TL! I do think however that miracles can occur, but sometimes we are looking for miracles in the strong wind or raging storm rather than looking for God in the gentle breeze.

I can say that Catholicism in general, and Benedictine monasticism in particular, effected a very big miracle in my life, it saved my marriage, and we were able to look past the problem and forgive each other’s foibles. That to me is a miracle, and God was its architect.

On a smaller scale, how often have we seen someone suffer a chronic illness for years with dignity and even in some cases, with joy unaffected? Dollars to donuts those are folks for whom faith plays an active role in their lives. Sure a spontaneous remission might be a big miracle, but I think it’s every bit as much of a miracle to watch someone very ill live their lives with quiet dignity, hope, optimism and even joy.

 

[TrueLight]

Sound advice TL! I do think however that miracles can occur, but sometimes we are looking for miracles in the strong wind or raging storm rather than looking for God in the gentle breeze.

I can say that Catholicism in general, and Benedictine monasticism in particular, effected a very big miracle in my life, it saved my marriage, and we were able to look past the problem and forgive each other’s foibles. That to me is a miracle, and God was its architect.

On a smaller scale, how often have we seen someone suffer a chronic illness for years with dignity and even in some cases, with joy unaffected? Dollars to donuts those are folks for whom faith plays an active role in their lives. Sure a spontaneous remission might be a big miracle, but I think it’s every bit as much of a miracle to watch someone very ill live their lives with quiet dignity, hope, optimism and even joy.

Amen.

 

[maryjk]

I would start off by saying that, in reality, there is only one Catholicism. Traditional Catholicism is not a religion of its own. Rather, it is a–some might say the–way of living the religion.

 

[Zosimus41]

I would start off by saying that, in reality, there is only one Catholicism. Traditional Catholicism is not a religion of its own. Rather, it is a–some might say the–way of living the religion./QUOT

Peace of Christ be with you and your family

 

[TimothyH]

i am continuing to look to build my faith and belief in being Catholic and wondering what inspired, and convinced you that Traditional Catholicism is the true religion? Provide examples if possible.

God did it.

I was reading John 6, questioning, deliberately looking for loopholes and problems with Catholic theology in light of the Gospel before my eyes. I read the Bread of Life discourse three times, each time slower and more deliberate than the previous time. When I got to John 6:55 for the third time, reading it slow and deliberately…

***For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. *(John 5:55)

…a sudden realization came over me that God was everything people claim him to be and infinitely more, and that the Catholic Church was everything it claims to be. I remember thinking that if I ever stopped loving His Church, I would stop loving Him. I literally fell to the floor crying, and made a confession of 37 years the next day.

It’s actually pretty cool thinking back about the events of those two days. I sometimes pray that God never lets me forget that time, what it was like going through that. There has never been a doubt in my mind since, that the Catholic Church is the true Church.

-Tim-

 

[jeanannemarie]

It was the Holy Spirit.

 

[thistle]

i am continuing to look to build my faith and belief in being Catholic and wondering what inspired, and convinced you that Traditional Catholicism is the true religion? Provide examples if possible.

So far I started to build my faith by reading Near Death Experiences on iands.org/nde-stories/iands-nde-accounts.html and many people report meeting Jesus in Heaven so that is convicing that Christianity is the true religion. Then I read Bleeding Hands, Weeping Stone: True Stories of Divine Wonders, Miracles and Messages amazon.ca/Bleeding-Hands-Weeping-Stone-Miracles/dp/1935302310 There are many miracles reported in the Catholic church unlike other religions. I also read amazing stories of people being saved from danger and healed of illness by wearing the scapulars, miraculous medal, and praying the rosary.

There is no religion called Traditional Catholicism.

 

[clem456]

I would start off by saying that, in reality, there is only one Catholicism. Traditional Catholicism is not a religion of its own. Rather, it is a–some might say the–way of living the religion.

 

[Stylites]

Stories of the Saints and the stories of miracles and healings are awesome and help build faith.

I do think you need to be careful not to base your interest in Catholicism on miracles.

The Catholic Church is the Church Christ founded. That is true whether one is healed from a disease or whether one has the same disease for 40 years.

It’s true whether someone falls into ecstasy every time he receives the Eucharist or whether he rarely feels the presence of God.

 

[Stylites]

I would start off by saying that, in reality, there is only one Catholicism. Traditional Catholicism is not a religion of its own. Rather, it is a–some might say the–way of living the religion.

 

[mytruepower2]

i am continuing to look to build my faith and belief in being Catholic and wondering what inspired, and convinced you that Traditional Catholicism is the true religion? Provide examples if possible.

So far I started to build my faith by reading Near Death Experiences on iands.org/nde-stories/iands-nde-accounts.html and many people report meeting Jesus in Heaven so that is convicing that Christianity is the true religion. Then I read Bleeding Hands, Weeping Stone: True Stories of Divine Wonders, Miracles and Messages amazon.ca/Bleeding-Hands-Weeping-Stone-Miracles/dp/1935302310 There are many miracles reported in the Catholic church unlike other religions. I also read amazing stories of people being saved from danger and healed of illness by wearing the scapulars, miraculous medal, and praying the rosary.

Well, first thing’s first.

If by “traditional” Catholicism, you mean that “untraditional” Catholicism also exists, I disagree. Catholicism wouldn’t be Catholicism without her traditions.

If by “traditional,” you mean “orthodox,” thus implying that heterodox catholicism is a separate religion, I would say that gives it too much credit.

However, if you merely mean real, genuine Catholicism, as I suspect, I suppose it really snapped into place for me about two years ago, when I started reading theology. I’d always had trouble believing, because I couldn’t prove that any of it was true. It’s much more refreshing to be able to do that now.

I was first introduced to the many proofs for God’s existence. Secondly, because of his eternal communication in conjunction with the teleological argument, God must be one and multiple. Only Christianity acknowledges this. From there, the question of which Christian religion was correct amounted to studying each to determine the accuracy of its teachings, the strength of its origins, and the coherency of its claims, since these are all needed if you’re going to claim that a church was founded by God and passes on his truth.

1. The teachings could only be accurate if they came from God’s nature. God’s nature is unchanging. Therefore, the teachings needed to be unchanging. In many teachings, the Catholic Church stands virtually alone in its unchanging stance.
2. The strength of the church’s origins comes from the fact that we know the names of each and every Pope, back to Saint Peter himself, who clearly received his commission from Jesus.
3. There are two primary and popular ways for a religion to invalidate itself by making incoherent claims. The first is to admit that certain other religions (or worse, all other religions,) are just as valid as it is. The second is to make a claim that’s self-refuting (like the protestant belief of Sola Scriptura, for example.)

Having been set on the right track, I found myself intellectually-justified in believing that Catholicism is the one true faith, and that’s all I’ve needed since then.