Why are you persuaded that Catholicism is the true Christian faith?

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GrantKlentzman said:
I have been encouraged by many of you to consider the claims of Catholicism and not to dismiss them. I will do my best to remain objective (although I do have my biases).
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Understood
GrantKletzman:
I honestly don’t have any problem believing either side because truth is truth. My next major project is to read “Letters Between a Catholic and an Evangelical: From Debate to Dialogue on the Issues That Separate Us.” The book will include James McCarthy (a former catholic) and John Waiss (a Catholic Priest). If you have any other resources from a Catholic perspective that would be worth reading (other than the one’s mentioned) let me know.
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  1. John Henry Newman, while still Protestant, made a statement, that has bec**ome famous. He made the statement while doing his own investigation of why he believed in what he believed. After all, one has to ultimately be able to defend why they are where they are. If I’m asked to defend why I’m Catholic, and I can, then a Protestant needs to be able to do the same if asked… true?
  • In Newman’s study, he went back in history. And found something very simple. Hence this statement of his.
  • To be deep in history is to cease being a Protestant.
  • That said, what he also found, to be deep in history is to be Catholic… going back to the beginning.
  1. Re: debates, and the like. There are lots of debates one can listen to. In the mean time, may I suggest going back to the Early Church. Those who were directly taught by the apostles. What did they believe?. What did they teach? What Church were they in? It’s all on record. Free to read.
May I suggest this web site The ECF’s 1st century to 7th century

They are not listed by date but alphabetically. Click on the name and you’ll see the date they lived.

For example:
  • Bp Clement (1st century) was 3rd bishop of Rome after Peter
  • Bp Ignatius (1st - 2nd century) was a direct disciple of St John the apostle
  • Bp Polycarp ( 1st - 2nd century) was also a direct disciple of St John the apostle
See what THEY have to say. BTW, all were martyred for the faith.
 
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GrantKlentzman said:
My next major project is to read…
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I commend you for being opened to the truth. & I think it’s a good idea to read as much as you can. If I may suggest, John 6:55.

Read it, pray, sit in silence for a minute. Read it, pray, sit in silence for two minutes. Read it, pray, sit in silence for five minutes.

Then read the whole chapter, pray, then just sit there. In silence.
 
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Dig into history. Trace the Church back to Christ. With the exception of the Orthodox, all other churches trace back at most to the Catholic Church in the 1500s.

No bible-based Church has any claim to being the Church that Christ founded, as Christ did not found His Church on the bible. He did not found His Church in Germany or Switzerland in the 1500s. He did not teach bible alone - or reference any writing at all. He gave all authority to His Apostles, telling them, “He who hears you hears Me” Luke 7:16.

Best not to complicate it.
 
Your next statement caught my interest. But I guess I should answer the OP first. In a nut shell for me it is all about authority. Someone always has to be in charge. The majority of humanity is to self centered wanting what they want. I don’t know of any institution on this earth that has been able to survive, especially in difficult times, without someone being in charge.
GrantKlentzman said:
I honestly don’t have any problem believing either side because truth is truth.
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This statement caught my eye. How can truth be truth if you don’t have a problem believing either side can be correct?

Maybe I’m not reading it the way you are intending it?
GrantKlentzman said:
My next major project is to read “Letters Between a Catholic and an Evangelical: From Debate to Dialogue on the Issues That Separate Us.”
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Not sure if a debate book is the way to go. I’ve watched many debates and in the end both sides feel they won and nothing is really accomplished. If your goal is to determine the TRUTH I would probably look towards earlier works like writings of the early Church Fathers. If you just want the highlights a book by Jimmy Akin - The Fathers Know Best might give you some insight.

In my mind to read what recent scholars believe the Bible is telling us still leaves you with deciding which one of the two is telling the truth.

God Bless
 
Neither Nicodemus nor Joseph of Arimathea were public disciples of Christ. And, they were not present at his miracles. They were also not present for his entry into Jerusalem. Any devotion by them to Christ after his burial is non-biblical.

That said, we do hold that they were pious men, and we know that Joseph did not consent to the works of the Jewish Tribunals regarding the affairs of Jesus.

I do not believe the church considers them apostles entrusted with Sacred Teaching prior to The Crucifixion.
 
Yes, I agree. I think that settles the matter once and for all!!
 
I personally am drawn to the Church over other Christian denominations because it interprets the scripture with careful and collected deliberation that acknowledges that individual humans cannot determine what any one passage means absolutely. I like to compare the Church to the ideal justice system: the Bible is like the constitution, and the Church is a council of judges whose job it is to interpret and disseminate the scripture.

I am also drawn to the rich history of scientific inquiry and achievement in the Church, from a position that treats science as a discipline that must serve mankind and remain ethical.

And finally I believe the Catholic faith is the true faith because it is the only religion with a well-documented and scientifically-examined catalogue of miracles.
 
GrantKlentzman said:
One, I hear people say that The Catholic Church is the church Jesus started and there is apostolic succession. But how without being circular do you know for sure that your church is the true church when Eastern Orthodox people say they are the true church?
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“Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church… and I will gove to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, it shall also be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.”

It is not simply a case of having valid apostolic succession, the one true Church has the successor of Peter as her head on Earth with the authority to bind and loose.
 
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For one thing, Jesus founded the Catholic faith and gave apostles the power to act in His name. As far as I know, there is no other church like that. And representatives like the pope and bishops are needed to help us understand Jesus, and what He means in scripture and also tradition.
Everyone else is left to their own “interpretations”. And Protestant churches, while “Christian”, don’t really value tradition, which Jesus emphasized through the apostles.
 
The Orthodox broke off about 1000 ad as I remember. They broke off on the wording of the creed. There were also political issue.
The issue in the creed was the Orthodox wanted it to say that the Holy Spirit is descended from the Father. And, the Catholics wanted from the Father and the Son. Three words. In fact all three persons always were, they had no beginning and any words we use to describe God are inadequate.
 
I can’t claim to be any authority on the Holy Trinity. The most I can say is that the difference boils down to the understanding of FILIOQUE…Greek vs Latin, I think…

Can anyone explain this further? I think I tried reading Jimmy Akin’s version of this in his book, The Fathers Know Best, but honestly I don’t think I still understand what all the feuding’s about…It’s a part of history I don’t get…Still shaking my head & shrugging my shoulders on it.

Thanks.
 
Just different beliefs. There is only one God and who came first seems like the wrong question.
 
And I love how so many of the Jewish practices of worshiping (candles, incense) are incorporated into the Mass. It’s a very visual experience.
 
The truth of Catholicism has never been explained better than this:
“If I were not a Catholic…
and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for
the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other
words, I would look for the Church which the world hated. My reason for
doing this would be, that if Christ is in any one of the churches of the
world today, He must still be hated as He was when He was on earth in
the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that
does not get along with the world. Look for the Church that is hated by
the world as Christ was hated by the world. Look for the Church that is
accused of being behind the times, as our Lord was accused of being
ignorant and never having learned. Look for the Church which men sneer
at as socially inferior, as they sneered at Our Lord because He came
from Nazareth. Look for the Church which is accused of having a devil,
as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of
Devils. Look for the Church which, in seasons of bigotry, men say must
be destroyed in the name of God as men crucified Christ and thought they
had done a service to God. Look for the Church which the world rejects
because it claims it is infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ because He
called Himself the Truth. Look for the Church which is rejected by the
world as Our Lord was rejected by men. Look for the Church which amid
the confusions of conflicting opinions, its members love as they love
Christ, and respect its Voice as the very voice of its Founder, and the
suspicion will grow, that if the Church is unpopular with the spirit of
the world, then it is unworldly, and if it is unworldly it is other
worldly. since it is other-worldly, it is infinitely loved and
infinitely hated as was Christ Himself. But only that which is Divine
can be infinitely hated and infinitely loved. Therefore the Church is
Divine.”
  • Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen
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Amen, El Cuerpo de Cristo
Amen, La Sangre Del Señor
Eating Your Body, Drinking Your Blood
We become What we receive
A–men, A----men.
 
You said you were going to a seminary in August. Are you studying for the priesthood?
 
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