Why cant I make up my mind about staying Protestant or becoming Catholic

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yogosans14

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I have never been into a Catholic Church but I have seen the Mass many times on the internet and TV. Anyways I believe much like a Protestant (Faith alone we are saved, bible is #1 Authority, Heaven Hell no purgatory, gifts of the spirit like speaking in tounges are for today, mary is not to prayed to) but I still feel drawn to the Church…whats wrong with me?
 
yogosans14 said:
I have never been into a Catholic Church but I have seen the Mass many times on the internet and TV. Anyways I believe much like a Protestant (Faith alone we are saved, bible is #1 Authority, Heaven Hell no purgatory, gifts of the spirit like speaking in tounges are for today, mary is not to prayed to) but I still feel drawn to the Church…whats wrong with me?
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Nothing is wrong with you. Go to a Catholic Mass. Speak to a Catholic priest. Sign up for RCIA, and see how the Spirit guides you.

Jon
 
Hello friend,

I was a Protestant once, too, but was drawn to the Catholic Church while trying to disprove it. There is nothing wrong with you, but you should continue to investigate. For example, why do you believe the things you believe? What is the basis for believing them?

I was surprised to find very poor arguments for sola scriptura and the foundations of other Protestant cornerstones and very good arguments for the foundation of Catholic teachings and therefore things like “praying” to Mary (“praying” is in quotations because we do not pray to her in the same way a Protestant prays to God, we ask her to pray for us and we pray with her, we go to Jesus through her, as He came to us through her.)

Anyway, in the end, I was convinced of Jesus’ real presence in the Eucharist. I thought to myself, “Since my wife is Protestant, has been her whole life, I like the worship and the sermons, etc, I will be a Catholic in theology but still go to the Protestant Church. After all, it is non-denominational.” But if Jesus was really there, really present in the Eucharist every Sunday, every day, as I had come to believe He was, then why, WHY, would I not go running to Him as often as I could (even if some of the people can’t or don’t sing or the homily is as exciting as stale crackers)? You are drawn to the Catholic Church because you are drawn to Jesus.
 
There is nothing wrong with you. It’s good to evaluate what you believe and always be on a search for Christ. This is the Church he founded, and it is beautiful. Aside from the information on this site (which is top-notch by the way), also check out salvationhistory.com/. This is the website for Dr. Scott Hahn. He is great!

Also, we don’t pray to Mary or the Saints in the way one prays to Jesus. Pray in the English language in the past was used also as a verb for “talk to”, “ask” etc. aside from “pray” being used for “worship”. The verb has changed a bit over time in modern English, so it confuses people, but it’s still used in this older way when we refer to Mary and the Saints. We do not worship or adore any of them when we “pray” to them - worship and adoration is reserved for God. However, we do talk to them and ask them to pray for us because they are our brothers and sisters in Christ and the Bible tells us that we are not truly separated from them. Just as any of us would gladly ask a friend at school or work to pray for us, we ask our brothers and sisters in Christ in heaven to pray for us too.
 
As to the Catholic faith, if you still have doubts, why not go to the Rite of Christian Iniation for Adults (RCIA). It accepts not only converts but those who are exploring the Catholic faith. Why not ask them your questions? They have experience in these matters. It might help you clarify things.
 
yogosans14 said:
I have never been into a Catholic Church but I have seen the Mass many times on the internet and TV. Anyways I believe much like a Protestant (Faith alone we are saved, bible is #1 Authority, Heaven Hell no purgatory, gifts of the spirit like speaking in tounges are for today, mary is not to prayed to) but I still feel drawn to the Church…whats wrong with me?
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I would suggest signing up for RCIA at a Catholic Church in your area and find out why you are being drawn. Signing up for RCIA is not a commitment, you are not Catholic by learning more about the Catholic Church. Explore.

Also, I highly recommend listing to Catholic Answers Live each night from 6PM to 8Pm on Catholic Radio. Or on the Internet. They even record each episode so you can listen via podcast.

catholic.com/radio/calendar

An since you are a currently Protestant, I especially recommend listening when Tim Staples is on (though I do recommend the show regardless of guest, but if you are going to go back and listen to old ones, start with Tim Staples… Then Jimmy Akin)

God Bless
 
Nothing is wrong with you. God is just trying to tell you something!

Gifts? The RCC has gifts dating back to the days of Jesus. Tools are an important distinction that the RCC has to offer. For now, don’t focus on purgatory, though I do want to say… if purgatory exists, your chances at Heaven just increased by 1/3 instead of just 50/50! 😉
 
OP, how do you feel drawn to the Catholic Church? Like others here, the RCIA program is great and you are not committed. Try it out. Easiest way is to go to masstimes.org and put you zip code in and go to the nearest Parrish, get a bulletin after mass and call the RCIA director. No sweat.
 
yogosans14 said:
I have never been into a Catholic Church but I have seen the Mass many times on the internet and TV. Anyways I believe much like a Protestant (Faith alone we are saved, bible is #1 Authority, Heaven Hell no purgatory, gifts of the spirit like speaking in tounges are for today, mary is not to prayed to) but I still feel drawn to the Church…whats wrong with me?
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  1. Pray
  2. look up what the early Christians believed (hint: very Catholic)
  3. read some books by Catholics on why they believe what they believe
  4. ask questions here
I commend you for searching for the Truth its an honorable pursuit I will be praying for you!
 
Put it this way the Catholic church was started by Christ but the Protestant church was started by Martin Luther

So who would you want to follow God or a man in Luther. I would say God becuase how can you fellow a man. We all know that all humens are in error where as God never is in error.

Thing like purgatory, mircles and so on their is alot of proof you just need to start gogleing and reading about things to know and learn about them. once you start reading things you will be very amzed. I HOPE YOU BECOME CATHOLIC
 
When I converted a lot of what’s been said here was part of my decision. Another reason I picked up later that kinda solidified my choice was this: no other church is attacked the way the Catholic Church is. Why is that? Protestant churches have controversies but you don’t hear so much about them. Its kind of an old combat trick - let your enemy fire the first shot. You then know where your enemy is but also what his target is.
 
I remember that! I think this could be me talking 3 months ago!

My advice is to look at Catholic doctrine with an open mind and try to see why it makes sense. I did that, and wound up agreeing with most of it all of a sudden. Also, pray for God’s guidance. He wants you somewhere. He has work for you to do in some church (and though I’ve gone Catholic, I’m not going to insist that’s the Catholic church. He may have plans for you to teach a Baptist Sunday school and lead children to Him, or start a Lutheran Bible study and bring God into someone’s every day life.) With that said, ask Him to use your hands to do His work, and ask Him to show you where He wants you. There’s something to the old saying of “bloom where you’re planted,” but the Gardener plants us where He wants us to bloom.
 
yogosans14 said:
I have never been into a Catholic Church but I have seen the Mass many times on the internet and TV. Anyways I believe much like a Protestant (Faith alone we are saved, bible is #1 Authority, Heaven Hell no purgatory, gifts of the spirit like speaking in tounges are for today, mary is not to prayed to) but I still feel drawn to the Church…whats wrong with me?
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I’m also a convert to Catholicism. Those things you list are things that were taught to you by the Protestants. Since I was brought up by an agnostic parent, I didn’t have any Protestant beliefs that I had to overcome when I was considering becoming a Catholic. But, I can relate to how you feel drawn to the Catholic Church. My conversion happened when I was around 22 years old. And I had always felt drawn to the Catholic Church ever since the first time I walked into a Catholic cathedral when I was a child.

A couple of big reasons for being a Catholic are that this is the only Church that was founded by Jesus (God the Son). A look at history quickly disqualifies all of the Protestant denominations from being the Church of the early Christians since Protestant denominations didn’t exist until the 16th century. And the books of the Christian Bible were compiled based on the authority of the Catholic Church. In the Holy Bible, it actually says that the Church is where the authority is that we are to follow.
 
There’s nothing wrong with you. Sounds like you are a normal track of investigation and drawing closer to Christ.

My advice to you is to not worry about it too much one way or the other. All parishes are well into RCIA season, so any participation in those classes would likely make you feel overwhelmed, and you would be too late to officially join the Church at this point anyway.

I would use the time between now and the fall (when most RCIA programs begin) to casually study and watch TV.

“Watch TV”?!?!? Yes.If you are watching the mass, you are likely watching EWTN, and even if you aren’t, you can catch EWTN on the internet. Look for a program called ‘The Journey Home’ and watch it every chance you get. You will hear similar stories and have tons of questions answered. A convert friend credits ‘The Journey Home’ as the main reason for deciding to become Catholic. It let her learn a lot with no pressure and let her know she wasn’t alone in all the questions and in making such a huge decision.

Read some books about the issues you think you disagree with re: the Church. Pop around on the forums a bit. Watch the Journey Home. Pray. By the time fall comes around, you’ll likely be able to clearly decide on whether or not to join RCIA.
 
FC44 said:
Look for a program called ‘The Journey Home’ and watch it every chance you get. You will hear similar stories and have tons of questions answered. A convert friend credits ‘The Journey Home’ as the main reason for deciding to become Catholic. It let her learn a lot with no pressure and let her know she wasn’t alone in all the questions and in making such a huge decision.
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Yes! Marcus Grodi’s program has managed to embed itself very deeply into my own heart. And his website, chnetwork.org/ is a great place to read testimonials from lots of former Protestants, clergy and lay people alike.
 
Hi! I’m in the same boat as you. Get a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and read through it.(if you haven’t already) It can be gotten from most religious bookstores and doesn’t cost a lot. if anything it has given me a great deal of respect for the Catholic Church.
I won’t go into my whole long spiritual journey as I don’t want to take over your thread, but hubby and I are both looking at Rome and Orthodoxy. That fact that Hubby is willing to become Catholic has got to be a Holy Spirit thing as he was raised in a Fundamentalist home that believed the Catholic Church was the whore of Babylon!! He was impressed with the Church’s pro-life stance and JPII and Benedict XVI. He became a Lutheran for me -long story-it was the first liturgical church he ever attended in his life-and we’ve been attending that church for 22 years so he understands a lot now he didn’t before.
We have some roadblocks, though, which I may detail in another thread.
My brother and his wife started to take RCIA classes but quit and are staying with the Lutheran church for now-wife had issues with a few things.
 
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