Why become Catholic?

  • Thread starter Thread starter PDR1234
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
P

PDR1234

Guest
A friend recently asked me, what applicable difference would it make if one were a devout Catholic or a devout Protestant? Suppose that 2 people were either of these. In application, both spend their lives living for Christ but they have different understandings of this. For one, the Christian life is centered around the Eucharist and for the other the Christian life is centered around the Scriptures. But in application, neither one is better than the other. Both are getting to heaven.

My question is: What significant difference is there between a devout and faithful Catholic and Protestant? The Catholic Church does not teach that devout Protestants are going to hell but rather that Christ’s faithful too (regardless of denomination) can go to heaven.
 
If it were possible to say that someone who is “devout” will remain so forever, then I would agree with your friend’s sentiment. We know, however, that people are constantly tested and constantly fall short. Christianity is more than just an end result, it is a day to day practice and faith that leads to an end. The Protestant has a much bigger battle ahead of them because they don’t have the grace of the Sacrements bolstering their faith, and they don’t have the same level of protection from error because they lack the Magisterium. On another level, Catholics are simply that much more able to appreciate God’s Kingdom while they live because the Church is the earthly manifestation of that Kingdom.

It’s like asking why the marked and cleared path up the mountain is better than the rocky, winding one. If you are strong enough to make it to the top the painful way, and the top is your only consideration, then I suppose it wouldn’t make a difference. If, however, you wanted your less able companions to join you, and you wanted to have a pleasant journey as well as reach the peak, then the trail is FAR superior to the untraveled, unmarked path.

Why make things harder for yourself if you don’t have to?
 
40.png
Ghosty:
Why make things harder for yourself if you don’t have to?
Click to expand...
I completely agree with this statement. The fact is that the Catholic Church has sacraments which the Protestant churches do not. These sacraments are a way of receiving an outpouring of God’s grace. I explain it like this to my daughter (age 7): It is much like eating a well balanced diet, exercising, and taking vitamins. Some people do this while others to not. Those that do not can have more problems during their lifetime - maybe even die at younger ages. But those that do have a better chance of a healthier life. Obviously, vitamins are nowhere near the benefits of God’s grace but you get the idea.
 
I think I am perfect. I never sin and if I do something wrong it is justified. In the sacrament of reconciliation I must face my faults head on admit that I am a sinner. In this process I have the opportunity to celebrate formally my forgiveness and start all over being perfect!

When asked to leave the Catholic church the sacraments drew me closer. They make me a better person and I am able to know love and serve God in a way that a Protestant is not able.

In short: Become Catholic to know, love and serve God in the best way that you can.
 
i was born was bapist and went to church my whole life they belivew everything by the word and i was going to read the bible once but didnt and catholic also belivee in god but catholic are better then prostant in my opinon
 
Father Corapi once said, and it’s often-cited here, “Better to be a good Protestant than a lousy Catholic.” The will of God and His judgments are His alone. There are Catholics who go to Mass every week, don’t use birth control, pray rosaries, follow the rules, but live as hypocrites and gossip, feel they’re better than other people because they’re following the rules and it can create a Pharisaic sense of superiority and monopoly on the truth. There are Protestants that never take the Eucharist but do medical missionary work, preach the Gospel, live a wholesome life free of many of the sins other people commit, give to charity, help their fellow men, etc. And then there is vice versa of course. Which goes to Heaven? Who knows? I think God will surprise a lot of people who think they have Him figured out and in a box.

“Where two or three are gathered in my Name, there I am” and “if they’re not against us, they are for us” are two verses I hold dear to and trust that God’s mercy extends to Catholics and Protestants. His love is contagious and too powerful to be pinned down by people who love exclusivity and monopoly.
 
gurneyhalleck1 said:
Father Corapi once said, and it’s often-cited here, “Better to be a good Protestant than a lousy Catholic.” The will of God and His judgments are His alone. There are Catholics who go to Mass every week, don’t use birth control, pray rosaries, follow the rules, but live as hypocrites and gossip, feel they’re better than other people because they’re following the rules and it can create a Pharisaic sense of superiority and monopoly on the truth. There are Protestants that never take the Eucharist but do medical missionary work, preach the Gospel, live a wholesome life free of many of the sins other people commit, give to charity, help their fellow men, etc. And then there is vice versa of course. Which goes to Heaven? Who knows? I think God will surprise a lot of people who think they have Him figured out and in a box.

“Where two or three are gathered in my Name, there I am” and “if they’re not against us, they are for us” are two verses I hold dear to and trust that God’s mercy extends to Catholics and Protestants. His love is contagious and too powerful to be pinned down by people who love exclusivity and monopoly.
Click to expand...
First off, the example PDR1234 gave us was not the lousy Catholic and the saintly Protestant, but two people who seem to be equals in spiritual attainment, so let’s stick to that. 🙂

Secondly, the Church in no way teaches it has exclusive right to truth. It teaches just the opposite–that there is truth in most other religious bodies, Christian and non-Christian (except, perhaps the really crazy ones like the Hale-Bopp kind of groups). Truth is universal. God’s natural law is available to anyone who cares to seek it–St. Paul told us as much in his Epistles.

And thirdly, the Protestant isn’t representative of one ecclesial body that teaches one doctrine. He belongs to one of many such bodies, each teaching different things about very important matters, such as the various beliefs about sacraments, morals, the meaning of Jesus’ life and mission, and the list goes on. The Church, on the other hand, teaches a set of doctrines that has not changed in 2000+ years.

Trying to reach heaven or live a godly/saintly life is not easy. If it were everyone could claim sainthood for himself. Jesus instituted sacraments and the hierarchy for good reason–to ensure we had every possible help in living as God wants us to and for attaining to holiness, and thus union with God. That is what is important here, not whether or not a Protestant might be able to get to heaven without being in perfect union with the Church, for as we must also remember, all Protestants baptized with the trinitarian rite and who intend what the Church intends by baptizing are Christians by right of their baptism and are, therefore, in imperfect union with Christ’s Church. When a such a Protestant joins the Catholic Church he doesn’t “convert” he is reconciled to the Church that Christ founded and of which he is a partial member already.
 
The sacraments and a valid apostolic succession is the most important differences.

Why join a protestant church which has not the fullness of the faith when you can get it all in the catholic church.

Nevertheless there is many good and devout people in the protestant churches, no doubt about that, that also are not hostile to the catholic church, they just has not understood that the fullness is in the catholic church.
 
PDR1234 said:
A friend recently asked me, what applicable difference would it make if one were a devout Catholic or a devout Protestant? Suppose that 2 people were either of these. In application, both spend their lives living for Christ but they have different understandings of this. For one, the Christian life is centered around the Eucharist and for the other the Christian life is centered around the Scriptures. But in application, neither one is better than the other. Both are getting to heaven.

My question is: What significant difference is there between a devout and faithful Catholic and Protestant? The Catholic Church does not teach that devout Protestants are going to hell but rather that Christ’s faithful too (regardless of denomination) can go to heaven.
Click to expand...
the biggest differences are the sacraments

but about can these people who aren’t catholic can they go to hell the link explains it well

youtube.com/watch?v=lD7LGjDUhbw

i think the only people who are devote prodastants but still will go to hell are people who have been shown the full truth of the cathoic church but still deny it could possible go to hell but we don’t know that for certain
 
PDR1234 said:
A friend recently asked me, what applicable difference would it make if one were a devout Catholic or a devout Protestant? Suppose that 2 people were either of these. In application, both spend their lives living for Christ but they have different understandings of this. For one, the Christian life is centered around the Eucharist and for the other the Christian life is centered around the Scriptures. But in application, neither one is better than the other. Both are getting to heaven.

My question is: What significant difference is there between a devout and faithful Catholic and Protestant? The Catholic Church does not teach that devout Protestants are going to hell but rather that Christ’s faithful too (regardless of denomination) can go to heaven.
Click to expand...
How does the protestant know he is following God’s law when all he has is the scripture? He may be offending God/.
 
JoellaFaith said:
i was born was bapist and went to church my whole life they belivew everything by the word and i was going to read the bible once but didnt and catholic also belivee in god but catholic are better then prostant in my opinon
Click to expand...
If Catholics are better than Protestants then why aren’t you Catholic? Also, if Baptists really believe the Bible word for word and take it literally, when then do they deny the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist?
 
Indulgences, Mary as co-redemptrix, treasury of merit teachings, purgatory, papal supremacy and universal jurisdiction, papal infallibility, I think the teachings have changed during the last 2,000 years just a touch…😉 Go ask the Orthodox…

And the Catholic Church does indeed teach that it has the monopoly on truth. That’s what infallibility and teaching against moral relativism, a concrete catechism, and an infallible pope/magisterium is all about, right? To not have a monopoly on truth would imply that infallibility is a part time reality. Yes, the Church teaches that all churches possess kernels of truth but the Catholic Church possesses it all in its fullness.
Della said:
First off, the example PDR1234 gave us was not the lousy Catholic and the saintly Protestant, but two people who seem to be equals in spiritual attainment, so let’s stick to that. 🙂

Secondly, the Church in no way teaches it has exclusive right to truth. It teaches just the opposite–that there is truth in most other religious bodies, Christian and non-Christian (except, perhaps the really crazy ones like the Hale-Bopp kind of groups). Truth is universal. God’s natural law is available to anyone who cares to seek it–St. Paul told us as much in his Epistles.

And thirdly, the Protestant isn’t representative of one ecclesial body that teaches one doctrine. He belongs to one of many such bodies, each teaching different things about very important matters, such as the various beliefs about sacraments, morals, the meaning of Jesus’ life and mission, and the list goes on. The Church, on the other hand, teaches a set of doctrines that has not changed in 2000+ years.

Trying to reach heaven or live a godly/saintly life is not easy. If it were everyone could claim sainthood for himself. Jesus instituted sacraments and the hierarchy for good reason–to ensure we had every possible help in living as God wants us to and for attaining to holiness, and thus union with God. That is what is important here, not whether or not a Protestant might be able to get to heaven without being in perfect union with the Church, for as we must also remember, all Protestants baptized with the trinitarian rite and who intend what the Church intends by baptizing are Christians by right of their baptism and are, therefore, in imperfect union with Christ’s Church. When a such a Protestant joins the Catholic Church he doesn’t “convert” he is reconciled to the Church that Christ founded and of which he is a partial member already.
Click to expand...
 
JimO said:
My best answer is the Eucharist, the greatest gift we have.
Click to expand...
But there are any number of protestants who fully believe that have that. My biggest problem with those Catholics that make this argument is than why is their anything to mass? Why not just a drive up window where a priest can administer the eucharist, give a short blessing and send you on your way?
 
Sounds like a happy meal or whopper type religious experience? 😛

I agree with your sentiment to some degree. The Mass is not the entire experience of Christianity. Ministries like visiting prisoners, feeding the poor, visiting the infirm and aged, medical missionary work, education, Habitat for Humanity, living the Christian Gospel and getting out there and making a difference in the world is what Christ wants of us. Hearing a good sermon on Sunday is motivating. But on CAF when, at times, I’ve said, “I wish I could hear a better sermon,” the predictable reaction is, “look, buddy, worship is not about YOU! It’s about the Lord! You don’t have to learn anything and obviously you want to be entertained and not fed!” stuff like that. As if we can’t walk and chew gum? Learn, feel inspired, AND have communion…
Lutheranteach said:
But there are any number of protestants who fully believe that have that. My biggest problem with those Catholics that make this argument is than why is their anything to mass? Why not just a drive up window where a priest can administer the eucharist, give a short blessing and send you on your way?
Click to expand...
 
Lutheranteach said:
But there are any number of protestants who fully believe that have that. My biggest problem with those Catholics that make this argument is than why is their anything to mass? Why not just a drive up window where a priest can administer the eucharist, give a short blessing and send you on your way?
Click to expand...
Because even though the eucharist is the central mystery in Catholicism (as well as “small c” catholicism) Christian tradition mandates worshipping together on the sabbath as a community of believers.
 
PDR1234 said:
My question is: What significant difference is there between a devout and faithful Catholic and Protestant? The Catholic Church does not teach that devout Protestants are going to hell but rather that Christ’s faithful too (regardless of denomination) can go to heaven.
Click to expand...
To me it is a question of truth. God commanded us to be perfect even as our Father in Heaven is perfect. This is an invitation to share fully in Christ. The Eucharist is not the equivalent of the Lord’s supper as found in Evangelical churches. As we unite with Christ and become more like him; as we become more like him then we become more perfect because of Him.

There are no greater examples of individuals learning truths than the Saints. As we study the lives of the Saints, we learn more about how we might serve God and serve each other.

It is true we can live life only knowing some of what Jesus taught us; however, how much happier would be we be if we had a fulness of truth through Christ’s church?
 
Plain Bible-reading just isn’t enough. The Church that Christ gave us allows us to encounter Him face-to-face.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top