Why Did You Revert Back to Catholicism?

[ChristSupreme]

Hello there…

I just had a question for all of the reverts who were born into a Catholic family, left to go to another denomination (became a “born again” christian), and then reverted back to Catholicism at a later time.

1. What were some of the things that led you back to the Catholic Church? Were they things that were good in the Catholic Church that caused you to go or things that were bad in the church to which you had gone when leaving the Catholic church?
2. Were there things that you still disliked about the Catholic Church when you reverted back? Have they been resolved since?

I am interested in hearing your answers.

Just an FYI, I was born Catholic and am now in a Baptist Church.

 

[Ohana]

Hello there…

I just had a question for all of the reverts who were born into a Catholic family, left to go to another denomination (became a “born again” christian), and then reverted back to Catholicism at a later time.

1. What were some of the things that led you back to the Catholic Church? Were they things that were good in the Catholic Church that caused you to go or things that were bad in the church to which you had gone when leaving the Catholic church?
2. Were there things that you still disliked about the Catholic Church when you reverted back? Have they been resolved since?

I am interested in hearing your answers.

Just an FYI, I was born Catholic and am now in a Baptist Church.

We were out for a time. Became really disenchanted with Catholicism during the time of “the assassinations” back in the seventies. I think it was after Martin Luther King was assassinated that we went to church and it was not even mentioned. I tried to have a Mass said for him and was refused. It hurt, and at my stage of development, it did not at all make sense.

We “journeyed” after that through Unitarian Universalist and Presbyterian. Both communities ministered to our needs at the time and helped us grow. We were out about 10 years, but just had a longing for the church of our youth. Being born again was not part of the equation. For my part, I had a personal relationship with Jesus from the time I was pretty little, and I think my husband did so also, though less expressed. It was after we came home that we got involved in things like Life in the Spirit and Cursillo that really helped us develop and gave us a small Christian community to relate to. That is the bare bones, The other thing was that “still small voice which is God” that I was very aware of over those years of being out that called me home. I suspect my husband would express it differently, but in some way God called him home also.

Our best to you on your own journey. Listen to your heart.

 

[Lochias]

When I was a teen and into my twenties, I simply didn’t have the drive and spiritual maturity to dig into the meat of my Catholic faith. I was scared of going to Confession because of some sins I had committed and others I was still committing. When I started going out with a long-pined-for girl who was staunchly Protestant and had nothing kind to say about the Catholic Church, I figured it was God telling me to move on. Mom never stopped praying for me.

That turned into the worst 7 or 8 months of my life, and God used it all for my good and safety. Things went horribly south with the girl, and I came back to the Church needing something familiar and real. It was at that point, needing focus and sustenance of a spiritual nature, that I really started learning more about my faith. God gave me the graces I needed to overcome my fear of Confession, and things went uphill from there.

Now, I still have my struggles, and my fallout with the girl has left me struggling not to be bitter towards Protestant religions in general, but God is working on that, too. I’m an Inquirer into the Secular Franciscan Order, and I cantor at Saturday evening Mass, and I am learning more and more how to deal with the challenges of everyday life.

In short, I converted back to Catholicism first because it was familiar, then later because nothing else would ever, ever do.

 

[ndeparis88]

Hello there…

I just had a question for all of the reverts who were born into a Catholic family, left to go to another denomination (became a “born again” christian), and then reverted back to Catholicism at a later time.

1. What were some of the things that led you back to the Catholic Church? Were they things that were good in the Catholic Church that caused you to go or things that were bad in the church to which you had gone when leaving the Catholic church?
2. Were there things that you still disliked about the Catholic Church when you reverted back? Have they been resolved since?

I am interested in hearing your answers.

Just an FYI, I was born Catholic and am now in a Baptist Church.

My Reversion consisted of a few things. But really it comes doen tot the grace of God. When I started my first year of college I was in a trade school in Boston, I was doing better than I ever did in year of school before. I’m a cradle Catholic, I never renounced my faith but I was never confirmed so I was sort of a wanderer. Then I left for the South and while there I started playing at a Presby Church with a budy of mine who was a serious Christian, he and his now wife were both virgins and waited until marriage. That was inspiring in itself but God was still coming back in or I was letting him in more specifically.

Then near the end of my 4th year in college I read a few book that changed my life, Wild at Heart and Shop class as Soul Craft, and it made me really look at my life. Upon leaving the Presby down south people there asked what will I do when I get home, I decided I will return the Church of my Upbringing, I was always in Catholic schools I grew up in them my Grandpa was a Roman Catholic who raised his 10 kids that way one being my mom, and I wanted to honor him and all of my Ancestors on count of me being Italian. Plus I was going back to Boston.

What was good was what I forgot I learned growing up. I found my home where I needed to be, and the way my moral compass was it pointed to Rome although I didn’t acknowledge it at the time. The history of not only 2000 years, but also being from North of Boston, and living near the city, Catholicism really was imbued in the culture. The reasoning they did to defend the faith the beauty of the sacraments, growing up all I knew was men of the cloth and Nuns. Catholic schools were the best around and still are, we score better on SAT’s though that’s not the only thing.

It was a little trial to wrap my head around the contraception thing. Waiting until marriage was a tough one but that was because of what was around me. But I knew to be a real Catholic is to trust in God, and this meant allegiance to the papacy. But after realizing the Church’s stance on Contraception is rooted in the teachings of Christ then with everything else I said Heck yeah to haven’t looked back since.

God was working little miracles in my life and made me see all I had and what I missed and forgot. I looked at the valley of my life and saw how many things I missed, the things I took for granted. I promised I would never do that intentionally again. I try every day to offer myself to Christ. I keep the faith and I keep fighting in my own special way. When you see God in your life like I did, you don’t want him to leave you know.

 

[wondrousgnat]

Many reasons actually. Pricipally I did not want to be a member of a denomination which does not condemn abortion.
So many churches with different beliefs yet all claiming to be bible believing. Proof to me that infallibility is a necessity.
Attacks on Catholicism that were not historically accurate and those which distorted Catholic teachings.
Frequently hearing that Catholics “cannot do that” right after reading in the bible that they can.
Frequent divorces and remarriages not only allowed in Protestantism but also among the pastors.
Last day as a Protestant I was listening to a sermon Joanna whose name appears in the bible once. I thought to myself: “thank God. One more sermon from my pastor or a tv evangelist about Mary Magdalene and I would run out screaming.” Then it hit me: speaking of people named Mary. Her name is everywhere in the important places in Jesus’ life. Yet the only time I hear of her is an unnamed virgin at Christmas. Why are Protestants so afraid of her? Why do they disparage her? Jesus obeyed the ten Commandments and honored His mother. If I am a follower of Jesus would it be right for me to downgrade her?

 

[JustaServant]

1) What were some of the things that led you back to the Catholic Church?
The Eucharist. When I was Baptist like you I hungered for something more than what I was getting. I could never say it out loud to other church members. What I was missing was the Body and Blood of Christ.

Were they things that were good in the Catholic Church that caused you to go or things that were bad in the church to which you had gone when leaving the Catholic church?
To a 21 year old kid? They were superficial in retrospect. I was searching for a new beginning, a fresh start, a break from my past life. “Born again” theology made sense at the time. But it took me almost twenty years of seeing it lived out in my and others lives that it was a theology that was broken. Only experience could show me that.

**2) Were there things that you still disliked about the Catholic Church when you reverted back? **
Age and maturity have a way of humbling a proud spirit. I told my wife (who’s a convert) “be aware of what we are walking into. This is no insulated Baptist community. We are walking into a mess!!”
A beautiful, wonderful 2000 year old mess.

Have they been resolved since?
There will always be problems and issues as long as we live on this earth and churches are run by fallible, sinful human beings.
But I would never want to be anyplace else.

 

[JRKH]

Hello there…

I just had a question for all of the reverts who were born into a Catholic family, left to go to another denomination (became a “born again” christian), and then reverted back to Catholicism at a later time.

While I was away from the Church for some 35 years, I never formally joined another denomination though I did attend an “evangelical” service once or twice at the invitation of a friend. Though I don’t precisely fit your criteria above, I hope you will accept my reply anyway.

1. What were some of the things that led you back to the Catholic Church? Were they things that were good in the Catholic Church that caused you to go or things that were bad in the church to which you had gone when leaving the Catholic church?

I came home because no other Church had or has what the Catholic Church has. The Blessed Eucharist wherein we have the Real and True presence of Christ. And by Christ’s own words if we co not eat of this, we have no life within us.
No other church community has that.
I was never able to take the “protestant” “Sola Scriptura” communities very serious after I discovered that they were basing everything on a bible that had entire books removed…Without getting into detail on that subject…It boiled down to a view by the reformers that, "The Bible (which had existed in the 73 book cannon for 1000 years) is the complete word of God (after they removed these certain books). It simply made no sense…

1. Were there things that you still disliked about the Catholic Church when you reverted back? Have they been resolved since?

Not really. I love the diversity in the Church, the Depth of the Theology of the Church, the rich history, the beauty of the mass in both forms.
I may have problems with some of the members of the Church…but not with the Church herself.

I am interested in hearing your answers.

Welcome to the boards…

Just an FYI, I was born Catholic and am now in a Baptist Church.

Praise God.
I hope someday to hear that you have returned home.

Peace
James

 

[Allegra]

I did not become a “born again”, but I did go through a phase where I did not believe in God at all. My family attended Mass when I was small but once my parents got divorced my family took a pretty liberal view of religion. Their motto was “God is real and church is good for you, but God doesn’t really care what you do in your personal life.” Add to that the fact that many of the “devout” Catholic adults I knew were liars, hypocrites, bullies, and racists. By the time I went into high school I had decided that it was all fake and just a way to get people to behave themselves when everyone is looking. The only “good” Catholics I knew that actually practiced their faith were elderly people and I while I loved and respected these people, I only allowed them this religion foolishness on the same basis we ignore elderly people who use the n-word. (They’re old and they’re from another time.)
When I got into high school, I began to meet people who fell into the catagory of “religious nut”. Not many of these were Catholic but it didn’t help sway me from my opinon that Christianity was nonsense. Fortunatly, as I went through high school, I got to have several teachers who were adult Catholics and who were not only positive role models in my life but were open about their faith and answered my questions. I still had trouble accepting the idea of God being a real person (much less three), but I began to see the truth in the teachings of the Church as related to everyday life. I’m sort of backwards from most reverts because I accepted the Church’s more controversial teachings like homosexuality and birth control way before I was willing to buy the whole triune God business. Anyway, I gradually began seeking my way back into the Church my first two years of college. Oddly enough, I don’t think I ever even remotely considered any form of Protestantism. Apart from the “religious nuts” I met in high school, I always figured that if the original wasn’t any good, the spinoffs weren’t going to be any better.

 

[SonCatcher]

Hello there…

I just had a question for all of the reverts who were born into a Catholic family, left to go to another denomination (became a “born again” christian), and then reverted back to Catholicism at a later time.

1. What were some of the things that led you back to the Catholic Church? Were they things that were good in the Catholic Church that caused you to go or things that were bad in the church to which you had gone when leaving the Catholic church?
2. Were there things that you still disliked about the Catholic Church when you reverted back? Have they been resolved since?

I am interested in hearing your answers.

Just an FYI, I was born Catholic and am now in a Baptist Church.

I didn’t fully understand the Catholic faith and was merely willing when invited by a family member to go to a Baptist (SBC) church. It gave me an opportunity to reexamine the Catholic Church as though from the outside (I always considered myself to be Catholic and never had anything “against” the Church). Steve Ray’s website provided the most useful information to me during that time.

I happened to be involved with a MLM organization where the leadership frequently taught on the “power of submission” for people who wanted to build that kind of business. When a Church of Christ (LACC) pastor later explained to me the Primacy of Peter (the Baptists certainly weren’t going to teach this), I immediately saw how that authority must continue throughout the ages (an idea which the LACC reject) and resolved to submit myself fully to that authority, regardless of whether I understood or not (owing in part to my business training).

I literally went to confession solely because the Church requires it for forgiveness, taking it on faith that the ordinance was set under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

 

[CB_Catholic]

I reverted back mostly because of the Eucharist. Even the most spirited evangelical and charismatic Protestant services left something to be desired, plus I got tired of all the “naming and claiming” of the so called Prosperity Gospel. I found most Protestant reading seriously lacking in depth, although the people were sincere in their love of Jesus and very committed to Him.

However, some of it left a very bad taste in my mouth, especially from the fundamentalists in their anti-Catholicism, and I still have a hard time with that, and catch myself in uncharitable thoughts about them.

There are a few things that bother me about the Catholic Church, one of which is the tendency toward legalism I see in many people. A lot of that is from scrupulosity, and I think that is much more of a problem in the Catholic church than in the Protestant churches. I also see many people not able to think things through enough to make their own moral decisions, but that could be youth and inexperience, and improper formation. Also, many Catholics take too much offense if one tries to question something about the Church, as if questioning something is a mortal sin. I also hate the tension (even if unspoken) between the 'traditionalists" and the more moderate and conservative Catholics. Sometimes it seems as if there are two different Churches, each pointing the finger at each other almost mercilessly. That gets very tiring.

All in all, though I am much happier being Catholic, and proud of the Church founded by Jesus Christ, warts and all. I will never go back to Protestantism.

But sometimes I think we need to “lighten up” a little and not take ourselves so seriously.

 

[ChristSupreme]

My decision to come back would have to be more scriptural than anything. I was really hoping to see more of that in the replies. I see mostly that folks were drawn more through other things rather than by the truth of God’s word. Can anyone share anything in this regard?

 

[Church_Militant]

My decision to come back would have to be more scriptural than anything. I was really hoping to see more of that in the replies. I see mostly that folks were drawn more through other things rather than by the truth of God’s word. Can anyone share anything in this regard?

First off, why would your faith have to rest on scripture alone? That’s a gross and fundamental error of the Protestant believers.

You want scripture as to why to be Catholic? No problem.

• How Is A Catholic Saved?
• The Eucharist IS Scriptural
• “I Find No Sacraments In the Bible” he said.
• Catholic Confession
• Scriptures About Penance
• Priestly celibacy is unBiblical. NOT!

and then you can read My Testimony.

You can quite thoroughly immerse yourself in the scriptural aspects of the Catholic faith at [Scripture Catholic (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...zfX3DQ&usg=AFQjCNExwlVea-VMx3p1A4YoK088OT6xNw) and by simply checking the abundant scripture citations in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and especially its footnotes.

Do that and with the grace and leading of the Holy Spirit you should be home very soon.

 

[JRKH]

My decision to come back would have to be more scriptural than anything. I was really hoping to see more of that in the replies. I see mostly that folks were drawn more through other things rather than by the truth of God’s word. Can anyone share anything in this regard?

Well I certainly can attest to The Church being the most “biblical” Church I can think of.
While it was the Eucharist that drew me back, it was the Bible that more and more convinced me that the Church had been right all along.

For me - the issue of authority was of critical import both in the understanding of Scripture and in the structure of the Church…and it turns out that once you examine Scripture looking for church structure you find that Scripture supports the Catholic (and EO) model far more than the protestant (independent local communities) model.
I found instructions, examples exhortations and prayers for unity, for listening to the Church, for being one, etc…And I found nothing indicating that local communities were independent etc…
Tie this with the fact that Jesus by his own words, gave His church authority to “bind and loose”, "whatever (Mt 18:15-18)and this is demonstrated in Acts 15…I was sold…It just all made sense where it really didn’t before.

Scripture dovetails nicely with the early development of the Church and left me with only two options…RC or EO…And - well - I was raised RC.

Peace
James

 

[Church_Militant]

Then of course there was also the historical facts of the early church’s worship that served to help me see that they were Catholic. Hence, I wrote What Was Authentic Early Christian Worship Really Like?

If you want another excellent source of the Biblical basis of the Catholic faith, I strongly recommend Dr. Richard Sri’s A Biblical Walk Through the Mass which really drove home to me what the Mass is all about.

ascensionpress.com/shop/ProdImages/BIBLICAL-BOOK_300.jpg

 

[Robert_Sock]

I reverted back to Catholicism because my mom told me that I would go to Hell if I didn’t. I have no problems with the Catholic Church and I doubt that I would ever leave the Church. again.

 

[grandfather]

My decision to come back would have to be more scriptural than anything. I was really hoping to see more of that in the replies. I see mostly that folks were drawn more through other things rather than by the truth of God’s word. Can anyone share anything in this regard?

Protestantism is ever changing. There are many denominations who have separated from one another and they all claim that the Bible is the source of their diverse doctrines. They disagree with one another on numerous theological issues and morality. Some say it is sinful to drink alcohol. Others drink. Some say dancing is sinful. Some say Sunday is the day of worship. Others say Saturday. Some claim that once a person is saved salvation can not be lost. Others say salvation can be lost. Some say that it is a commandment that all Christians should tithe. Others ignore it. Some say infants should not be baptized. Other say they should. Some say there can be no divorce and remarriage. Others disagree. The list goes on.

If scripture is the source of the doctrine of Protestants and they claim it is the only authority for determining truth and doctrine why is there so much disagreement?

The only answer can be that scripture does not lead people, is unable to lead people to truth. I did not say scripture is not true. It is the word of God. It is not the means by which we know truth. Jesus gave His Church authority to teach what He taught according to scripture.

But if scripture is the sole authoritative source of doctrine and truth for Chrisitans then they who look to it as such would all agree on what doctrinal positions are true and which are false. Clearly that is not what happened.

Instead all we have is division. There are over 30,000 recognizable denominations and they all have the Bible as their source of truth and their authority to exist. Nowhere in the Bible do we read that it gives people the authority to start a church. Jesus founded His Church on men, not scripture. That is what the Bible says.

If the Holy Spirit guides individuals into truth as they read scripture as most Protestants claim then people would agree with one another about the meaning of scripture. History, not theology proves this has not happened. It does not work. All there is is confusion and argument.

The Holy Spirit would not tell one man something is true and another man the opposite. God does not deceive people. Why is it then that people who read the Bible end up believing contradictory doctrine? Who determines which is right? The Bible can not make the decision. History proves this does not work. How then do we know truth?

The Bible says the Church is the pilar and foundation of truth. Which Church is that?

Truth does not change. Jesus promised that His Church would be guided into all truth by the Holy Spirit for all time. That means His Church can never change its beliefs, because truth does not change. The faith of the true Church must be the same from century to century, past, present and future.

So pick any theological dispute and see which church has never changed its position. No one said infants should not be baptized until the anabaptists came along. They said this has to change. They claimed they were right and the early church is wrong. We believe what we believe, because we take it from the Bible.

The Church and Jews before the Church always prayed for the dead. That same Church assembled the books of the Bible. But 1500 years later someone said not to do that. It is wrong to do that and the authority for this new belief is the Bible. This is crazy and results in the confusion known as denominationalism (and nondenominationalism). The Bible nowhere says not to pray for the dead. To tell a Christian that it is forbidden to speak to God about something as important to each of us as the eternal fate of a child or parent who died when all Christians always prayed for their departed loved ones is crazy.

It is the result of believing a false doctrine about the Bible and Church which has bred doctrinal chaos.

Examine any doctrine and ask what has the Church always taught. You will also find a Biblical basis for all ancient doctrine.

No one has the authority to make up their own doctrines based on how they interpret scripture and go off and start a church. The Bible does not give anyone that authority. That is exactly what Protestantism is. The Quakers, Shakers, Seventh Day Adventists, Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, Congregationalists, Calvinists, Presbyterians, Jehovah Witnesses, Church of the Firstborn, Church of Christ, Pentecostals, Christian Scientists, Nonednominationalists, Evangelicals, Moravians, all began by some person with a Bible starting his own church.

 

[ChrissyB364]

I was raised Catholic but drifted away from the Church after my mother died when I was 18. I married outside the Church (my husband is Protestant, raised Baptist). In the last year or so we started looking for a church to attend together, tried Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian…but the more I prayed about it and really started doing some reading I knew I belonged to the Catholic Church. Living in the south I knew I would need to defend my decision to friends and family and the only acceptable way was through Scripture. Once I started reading the Bible I felt like the New Testament was a reflection of Catholicism. It was interesting reading the Bible as a whole rather than being frightened of single verses slung at me to discount my beliefs. If you’re interested in reading about conversion (and reversion) stories that have a scriptural basis I would check out Surprised By Truth by Patrick Madrid.

 

[wondrousgnat]

Continuing from my earlier post:

I often saw this one tv evangelist named Hunt on Christian television (mostly John Ankerberg). He was quite antiCatholic. Sometimes while bashing the church he would get on to the heresies and atheism of Bishop Spong. While I never heard him state that Spong was Catholic I never heard him say that he isn’t (Spong is Episcopalian). The implication was obvious. I frequently was aware of misinterpretations of Catholic history, scripture and Catholic doctrine (no, contrary to what one said we Catholics do not believe that every sneeze by the Pope is infallible).
The outrtight distortion , misunderstandings and blatant lies was too much. What was interesting was that many said that we are in the End Times and God’s church is under attack. But I only saw the Catholic church under attack; nobody else.

The sad part here is that the vast majority of Protestants are good, decent, charitable Christians. But the liars and phonies makes them all look bad to me. And I know that is NOT true.

 

[jschutzm]

Hello there…

I just had a question for all of the reverts who were born into a Catholic family, left to go to another denomination (became a “born again” christian), and then reverted back to Catholicism at a later time.

I wouldn’t exactly categorize myself as a ‘revert’ as I never joined a Protestant church. However my wife is Baptist and for a time and for the sake of my marriage, ‘tried out’ various Churches to see if I could feel like ‘home’ in any of them.
I never stopped considering myself a Catholic…but did stop going to Catholic Mass.

If that makes sense?

So here it goes…

1. What were some of the things that led you back to the Catholic Church? Were they things that were good in the Catholic Church that caused you to go or things that were bad in the church to which you had gone when leaving the Catholic church?

The Eucharist, Apolostic succession, and Unity - those 3 things are something that no other Church or Ecumenical community has that the Catholic church does. Throw in the fact that it teaches the same doctrines/dogmas that it did from the beginning and how these are the same central dogmas that the first Christians believed (those who were taught by the apostles) and the decision was a no brainer for me.

I simply could not find the same truths professed by any other Church. So I felt DRAWN, nay… COMPELLED to stop delluding myself, even for the sake of my marriage and return home to Christ’s church.

1. Were there things that you still disliked about the Catholic Church when you reverted back? Have they been resolved since?

A KEY part of my return was actually spending sometime on the Yahoo Answer’s forum which is VERY anti-theistic, immature, and caustic. But in that environment, I learned alot about my faith because it was constantly challenged. From “Catholics create Nazism to kill Jews” to “Belief in God is the source of all human suffering, war, violence, ignorance, suppression, and everything evil in the world” to the mundane like “The Vatican is so wealthy it could solve all the world’s problems if it just sold everything”

So I looked at any misunderstanding as an opportunity to dive into a topic and learn more. What I found was that many people misunderstand what the Church teaches.
My favorite quote is often times attributed to the late Bishop Fulton Sheen:
“People don’t dislike what the Catholic Church teaches as much as they dislike what they THINK the Catholic Church teaches”

If I fault the recent Catholic faith with anything… it would be NOT doing enough to better Catechize (teach) its youth, particularly in Apologetics (defense of the faith using reason) and/or trying to be TOO secular, in the case of our Catholic Colleges and Universities. The way to keep Catholicism strong is NOT to water it down or compromise in the face of growing secularization, but to be steadfast and uncompromising in our Catholicism. To be COUNTER-Cultural in a culture which so readily embraces relativism.

 

[JRKH]

Speaking of reversion stories that are often scripturally based, check out CHN.
CHN is a ministry specifically to help protestant ministers (Many Sola Scripturist in outlook) who are feeling the call to the Catholic Church.

Peace
James