What do you believe?

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ryanclewis

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I am 15 years old, live in the United States, and have grown up Protestant.

I am starting to question certain aspects of my faith. I don’t necessarily believe everything I’ve been taught so far; some doctrines I’ve been taught just don’t seem to agree with everything in the Bible.

For instance, salvation by faith alone. What defines “faith”? I have been taught that nothing can take it away from me, and I believe that. Yet, there are clear passages in the New Testament that seem to say that we CAN lose our salvation, through sin and rejection.

Anyway, I want to know about Catholicism. How do your beliefs differ from what Protestants believe? What are your reasons for confession, praying to saints, etc? Why do you say that you are “the” church?
 
ryanclewis said:
I am 15 years old, live in the United States, and have grown up Protestant.

I am starting to question certain aspects of my faith. I don’t necessarily believe everything I’ve been taught so far; some doctrines I’ve been taught just don’t seem to agree with everything in the Bible.

For instance, salvation by faith alone. What defines “faith”? I have been taught that nothing can take it away from me, and I believe that. Yet, there are clear passages in the New Testament that seem to say that we CAN lose our salvation, through sin and rejection.

Anyway, I want to know about Catholicism. How do your beliefs differ from what Protestants believe? What are your reasons for confession, praying to saints, etc? Why do you say that you are “the” church?
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As I am Lutheran and not Catholic, and you have asked for Catholic views, I will not comment on your questions. I will, however, applaud you for exploring your faith. And welcome to CAF.
Blessings to you,
Jon
 
First of all, Welcome!

You are far ahead of where I was at your age. Feel free to peruse all the topics here and on the other forums.

I am so happy for you that you are interested in learning and growing as a Christian. Keep it up!

I am a Catholic, raised Mormon, “saved” in an Assembly of God and finally HOME to the Catholic church in 2000.

in Christ
Steph

Also Ryan, What particular denomination are you in currently? We might be able to answer your questions better that way. The term “Protestant” includes vast differences!
 
ryanclewis said:
I am 15 years old, live in the United States, and have grown up Protestant.

I am starting to question certain aspects of my faith. I don’t necessarily believe everything I’ve been taught so far; some doctrines I’ve been taught just don’t seem to agree with everything in the Bible.

For instance, salvation by faith alone. What defines “faith”? I have been taught that nothing can take it away from me, and I believe that. Yet, there are clear passages in the New Testament that seem to say that we CAN lose our salvation, through sin and rejection.

Anyway, I want to know about Catholicism. How do your beliefs differ from what Protestants believe? What are your reasons for confession, praying to saints, etc? Why do you say that you are “the” church?
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A. “We” are “the” church because Christ established a church 2,000 years ago. That Church really had no name and was called by different names, for example “The New Way”. It later adopted the name Catholic. No other Christian church dates back to that time.
B. Did you ever hear of a “prayer group”? Or did you ever hear anyone ask someone to pray for them? Well that’s what we do when we ask the Saints to pray for us to God.
C. We have confession because that is the way that Jesus set it up when he told the Apostles that they could forgive sins. You would of course have to know what those sins were, hence confession.
D. The beliefs of Catholics and Protesants differ greatly or very little depending on the “non Catholic” teaching. Remember, the Catholic Church has been here since Christ and it’s teachings have not changed in that time as God’s word does not change.
E. You are correct in saying that you can lose your salvation. Bravo for you! Not too many non-Catholics have figured that out!

These are brief but clear answers. Some who cannot accept these things demand more information which is available of course right here and in Catholic Answers and many other fine Catholic sites.
 
Thank you all very much. It’s nice to know that I’ll actually be able to ask questions without being condemned…

(I go to a Baptist church, by the way)
ricko said:
A. “We” are “the” church because Christ established a church 2,000 years ago. That Church really had no name and was called by different names, for example “The New Way”. It later adopted the name Catholic. No other Christian church dates back to that time.
B. Did you ever hear of a “prayer group”? Or did you ever hear anyone ask someone to pray for them? Well that’s what we do when we ask the Saints to pray for us to God.
C. We have confession because that is the way that Jesus set it up when he told the Apostles that they could forgive sins. You would of course have to know what those sins were, hence confession.
D. The beliefs of Catholics and Protesants differ greatly or very little depending on the “non Catholic” teaching. Remember, the Catholic Church has been here since Christ and it’s teachings have not changed in that time as God’s word does not change.
E. You are correct in saying that you can lose your salvation. Bravo for you! Not too many non-Catholics have figured that out!

These are brief but clear answers. Some who cannot accept these things demand more information which is available of course right here and in Catholic Answers and many other fine Catholic sites.
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A and C: From what I understand, Catholics base these beliefs off of Jesus’ statements in Matthew 16: 18-19, where Jesus gives the “keys to the kingdom” to Peter. But aside from this, I guess I just can’t see how the papacy is biblically based.

B: Jesus says that he is our mediator in 1 Timothy 2:5. Why should we pray to anyone else? Additionally, do you believe that we can pray directly to God?

E: For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. - 2 Tim 4:3. I think the Bible is very clear that works and faith go hand in hand. I don’t pretend to fully understand this, but I don’t think simply saying “I accept Jesus’ salvation” and walking away is what the Bible means by “faith”.
 
the best way to find out something is to ask and not be afraid it is a silly question?

you seem to have a knowledge of scripture at such a young age, so that is to be applauded.

there are a lot of differences between protestant and catholic and a lot of the answers will lead to more questions, so please take your time and don’t jump to any conclusions.

if you were brought up protestant, maybe you already have some pre-conceived ideas about catholics, some of which might be negative.

so you will have to have an open mind to be able to look at where both sides are coming from.

the Catholic church goes back to Jesus and the first apostles.
the protestant churches began 1500-1600 years later.

good luck!
 
Welcome!!

I am a revert back to the Catholic Faith and I like you asked and asked. It is a hard journey and all I can say is with prayer and fasting will you discern where you should be. The Holy Spirit has brought you this far now, to CAF. 😉
 
Ryan - welcome to CAF. 🙂
ryanclewis said:
B: Jesus says that he is our mediator in 1 Timothy 2:5. Why should we pray to anyone else? Additionally, do you believe that we can pray directly to God?
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We Catholics pray directly to God. All our worship is directed to God. Prayers directed to Mary and the saints are simply prayers asking for them to pray for us, in the same way you’d ask a friend to pray for you. We not direct prayers of worship to the saints.
 
First off Ryan, welcome to CAF. I admire your desire for truth. You are mature beyond your years. When my son was your age…well I won’t go there. 🙂

I used to teach Sunday School to adults in the Southern Baptist Church. I came into the Catholic Church Easter Vigil 2006. I came in via a program called RCIA. I would hope that you would have access to a Catholic Church that offers RCIA near you.

As for the Catholic Church always remember the Catholic Church is the only one set up by Jesus with Peter as it’s head. Peter was the first Pope. All other Protestent Churches came some 1500 years later and only as a result of denial of the Church set up by Jesus himself.

The Protestent Bible is short 6 books. Have you ever put a jigsaw puzzle together? Try doing it without all the pieces and see what you get. The Protestents have to take books out of their “bible” in order to hide truths from believers.

Did you know Catholics have a church service every day? And Bible verses are read there at every “Mass”? Anyone that says Catholics aren’t exposed to the Bible just aren’t telling the truth as Catholics will read through the entire Bible i about 3 years and most of the New Testament and Psalms every year.

Did you know that Catholics have something called Sacraments? Sacraments are a form of sacredness or holiness and are rites/rituals set up by Jesus himself when He was here on Earth. The Sacraments themselves are powerful and dispense grace. The Baptist Church believe in what are called “ordinances” and they have no power. The Catholics hold the sacrament of marriage so high that you can’t just get a divorce, you have to have a valid reason to say the marriage was never valid and you have to get what is called an “annulment”. All the Sacraments are like that. God gave us these sacraments to actually help to make us holy.

There are so many reasons to be Catholic. But the most important one is: It is the only true church set up by Jesus. And since that is who you are to worship, that is the only reason you should need. I wish you Godspeed and may the Lord bless you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
 
correction on post #6. i did not mean to put a question mark after the word question or at the end of the statement. sorry about that. kind of confusing.
 
Ted_in_Charlott said:
As for the Catholic Church always remember the Catholic Church is the only one set up by Jesus with Peter as it’s head.
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This is the main reason I started questioning Protestantism in the first place. There are so many denominations that separate us, yet aren’t we supposed to be one, united Body of Christ?
Ted_in_Charlott said:
The Protestent Bible is short 6 books.
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What are they, and why are they not part of mine?
Ted_in_Charlott said:
Did you know Catholics have a church service every day?
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I’m vaguely familiar with Mass, yes. But I really don’t know the difference between that and our Sabbath services.
Ted_in_Charlott said:
Did you know that Catholics have something called Sacraments?
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What is the significance of the Sacraments, and what are the different ones?

I know these are a lot of questions, but there seem to be plenty of people here willing to answer!
 
Canon of Scripture and the historicaly included deuterocanonical books. The first King James Edition included the “apocrypha”. Gradually it was pushed out entirely. Luther wanted to eliminate James, Revalations along with other books. Ultimately he did not completely succeed and he got some of what he wanted but others he did not. For details read the New Advent link.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03267a.htm
http://www.scripturecatholic.com/deuterocanon.html
http://www.catholicexchange.com/2007/04/04/80909/

For the Sacrament…included in the Catechism of the Catholic Church below. Note that there are 2 CHURCHES in existence today. The Catholic Church (Latin, Byzantine rites) and the Orthodox Church. Both have valide sacraments.
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/
http://www.catholic.com/library/sacraments.asp

Sacraments of Christian initiation
Baptism
Confirmation
Eucharist

Sacraments of Healing
Penance and Reconciliation
Anointing of the Sick

Sacraments of Vocation
Holy Orders
Matrimony

The significance of each is categorized and explained in the Catechism. I haven’t read the links but I didn’t bother to remove them. That’s what I get for being to lazy to type it out.
 
the difference between your sunday worship service and the catholic mass
is that our mass is centered around the eucharist.

the mass begins with a few prayers, a confession of sin, then we have readings. there is usually a reading from the old testament. a psalm is sung.
then we have a reading from one of the epistles and then the gospel is read.
this part of the mass is called the litrugy of the word. in between these two parts of the mass we have the offering of gifts. the second part of the mass centers around the eucharist or holy communion. there are prayers which are sung occasionally and other songs are sung.

there are many facets of the catholic mass.

the baptist worship service probably focuses mainly on the sermon. i do not know how often you have holy communion. some protestant churches will have it once a month and some will have it more frequently or less frequently.

i am a new convert, so if anyone wants to add to this or correct me on anything, be my guest.

right now there are around 30,000 christian denominations. which does not necessarily make us one body of Christ. these denominations are fractured into many different and varying interpretations of scripture and beliefs.
whereas the roman catholic church has the Pope and the magesterium which hold together the tradition of the church and what she professes and proclaims. she doesn’t throw us out into the world to figure things out for ourselves. she guides us and shepherds us.

you might want to read about the early church fathers too. the protestant churches removed themselves from the early church fathers. they follow men like john calvin, john wesley and martin luther.

anyhow, hope this helps to answer some of your questions.
 
ryanclewis said:
I am 15 years old, live in the United States, and have grown up Protestant.

I am starting to question certain aspects of my faith. I don’t necessarily believe everything I’ve been taught so far; some doctrines I’ve been taught just don’t seem to agree with everything in the Bible.

For instance, salvation by faith alone. What defines “faith”? I have been taught that nothing can take it away from me, and I believe that. Yet, there are clear passages in the New Testament that seem to say that we CAN lose our salvation, through sin and rejection.

Anyway, I want to know about Catholicism. How do your beliefs differ from what Protestants believe? What are your reasons for confession, praying to saints, etc? Why do you say that you are “the” church?
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WELCOME Ryan. Please be proud of yourself that you are looking for answers. The more you look for them here and in other Catholic books the more answers you will find. I am so happy you are open minded in your seeking. There so many truths in the Catholic Faith, I don’t know if all can be learned in one lifetime. But do come back and keep questioning. 👍
 
hello 👋
Be careful who you receive answers from. Some people may be well intentioned but not entirely educated in the catholic faith. Others may intentionally give you false answers to try to mislead you.

I hope CAF catholics will keep a wary eye to ensure you are given the correct information.

:blessyou:
 
you are right. there are people who come here and pose as catholics and they might make you think negatively of catholics or like the other poster said, give you false information.
 
deborahaz said:
you are right. there are people who come here and pose as catholics and they might make you think negatively of catholics or like the other poster said, give you false information.
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Hello all. I am Catholic and the only Catholics I cannot abide are those who are overly Evangelical. They don’t seem to realize they chase more people away from investigating the Catholic Faith than drawing them near. This type of Catholic seems to think they are standing before a tribunal that is trying them for the crime of being Catholic. Sorry for the tirade Ryan. Carry on…
 
i am not sure i understand your point. i get the part about overly evangelical, but i don’t make the connection about before a tribunal and being charged for being catholic. maybe my mind is working slow tonight!

i don’t think anyone so far has said anything to chase ryan away. LOL
 
deborahaz said:
i am not sure i understand your point. i get the part about overly evangelical, but i don’t make the connection about before a tribunal and being charged for being catholic. maybe my mind is working slow tonight!

i don’t think anyone so far has said anything to chase ryan away. LOL
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No, Ryan wasn’t in the context of my post. I hope he stays around. I was talking about those Catholics who seem to think they MUST Evangelize and, to me, SEEM to be defending themselves when it SEEMS they are not being asked to defend their Faith. To me they have the same reaction one would have if called before an Iraqi, for example, tribunal and being sentenced to death if they don’t rescind their Faith. Hope that clarifies.
 
ryanclewis said:
I am 15 years old, live in the United States, and have grown up Protestant.

I am starting to question certain aspects of my faith. I don’t necessarily believe everything I’ve been taught so far; some doctrines I’ve been taught just don’t seem to agree with everything in the Bible.

For instance, salvation by faith alone. What defines “faith”? I have been taught that nothing can take it away from me, and I believe that. Yet, there are clear passages in the New Testament that seem to say that we CAN lose our salvation, through sin and rejection.

Anyway, I want to know about Catholicism. How do your beliefs differ from what Protestants believe? What are your reasons for confession, praying to saints, etc? Why do you say that you are “the” church?
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no, i understand you are talking about the catholics. i still don’t understand your way of thinking elts. ryan says he wants to know about catholicism,
how our beliefs differ from what the protestants believe, why we say we are the “church”. i think people were welcoming him and impressed the questions he is asking at his age for wanting to look deeper. i don’t think we were evangelizing and i still don’t get the tribunal aspect of your point and standing before an iraqi? why an iraqi?
 
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