Why do Protestants become Catholic?

[rayne89]

Alfie:

IT’S DOCTRINE! Where is your testimony about sin and how Jesus changed your life? Even if 99% of Catholic doctrine was correct its that incorrect 1% doctrine that will “damn you to hell”. More and more Protestants are becoming Catholic because they are more interested in unity than truth. They are deceived. This “can’t we all just get along” and “we are the world” attitude has got to stop". A relationship with Jesus is about truth…not numbers. If there was only one true Evangelical believer left in this world it would be a threat to Catholicism. That one believer represents the truth and they are terrifed of it. Have you never been taught about the book of Revelations? The world is heading into a one world religion. That means it will be centered in Rome. Someday Rome will be hunting down all of the “true” Christians in the world and killing them. Wise up before it is to late and on this note it has been nice knowing you as I am sure to be banned for this post.

Wow, I’m not sure what has brought to this place in your life where you are so filled with venom and fear of the Catholic church, but I will pray for you. I will certainly pray Jesus will bring you some peace, which you seem so desperately in need of.

*Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.

O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life. Amen.
*

 

[sadie2723]

Church Militant:

So …lemme see if this makes sense now. If someone attends a church and still remains unconverted then it is the church’s fault and not that person’s? So then you feel comfortable in blaming the church and not the individual?

Ezekiel 3:17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman to the house of Israel: and thou shalt hear the word out of my mouth, and shalt tell it them from me. 18 If, when I say to the wicked, Thou shalt surely die: thou declare it not to him, nor speak to him, that he may be converted from his wicked way, and live: the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at thy hand. 19 But if thou give warning to the wicked, and he be not converted from his wickedness, and from his evil way: he indeed shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul. 20 Moreover if the just man shall turn away from his justice, and shall commit iniquity: I will lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die, because thou hast not given him warning: he shall die in his sin, and his justices which he hath done, shall not be remembered: but I will require his blood at thy hand.

21 But if thou warn the just man, that the just may not sin, and he doth not sin: living he shall live, because thou hast warned him, and thou hast delivered thy soul.

Let’s just make sure that we have this in the proper Biblical perspective …

Tell it brother!

 

[Jeanette_L]

MariaG:

What is your intent, help them to serve Christ or get them to leave the Catholic Church? You can help them to become on fire for Christ right where they are in the Catholic Church. Ask yourself, what do you really want, A Catholic Christian on fire for Christ? That can be done right now, right where they are. You can help, believers. You can help them live their lives for Christ, right there in the Catholic Church.

God Bless,
Maria

The problem is that a lot of former Catholics who came from parishes that weren’t so good, say a priest that was liberal or even heterodox, and subsequently, a congregation that wasn’t orthodox either, they come away thinking that all of Catholicism is this way. They will not believe you when you tell them that what they experienced and learned was not the true Catholocism. They just will not listen. They have set their minds and hearts against any reason whatsoever.

So, their intent is not to help Catholics discover their faith and be on fire for Christ within Catholicism, it is to get them out of their faith in any way they can. This is the plain truth of it.

I’m going through something like this myself. I’m in the process of converting to Catholicism, ( ) and my parents think I’m joining the Church of Satan. ( ) It really is that bad. They are completely blind by the bigotry they have been taught their entire lives. It is as bad as it used to be with racial bigotry, the hatred runs that deep and that irrational.

All I can do is pray, and ask the Lord for grace to get me through, and teach me how to hold my tongue when it is useless to debate, because I don’t expect that anyone who hates this much will be persuaded by words alone, it will take the grace of God, as it did with me.

And so it is with many Protestants who come here and argue nonsense. Most of them double talk, until they don’t even make sense anymore, and they are so blind they cannot even see it, even if they read back some of the crazy stuff they write on here.

I just shake my head every night. :nope:

 

[sadie2723]

Jeanette L:

The problem is that a lot of former Catholics who came from parishes that weren’t so good, say a priest that was liberal or even heterodox, and subsequently, a congregation that wasn’t orthodox either, they come away thinking that all of Catholicism is this way. They will not believe you when you tell them that what they experienced and learned was not the true Catholocism. They just will not listen. They have set their minds and hearts against any reason whatsoever.

So, their intent is not to help Catholics discover their faith and be on fire for Christ within Catholicism, it is to get them out of their faith in any way they can. This is the plain truth of it.

I’m going through something like this myself. I’m in the process of converting to Catholicism, ( ) and my parents think I’m joining the Church of Satan. ( ) It really is that bad. They are completely blind by the bigotry they have been taught their entire lives. It is as bad as it used to be with racial bigotry, the hatred runs that deep and that irrational.

All I can do is pray, and ask the Lord for grace to get me through, and teach me how to hold my tongue when it is useless to debate, because I don’t expect that anyone who hates this much will be persuaded by words alone, it will take the grace of God, as it did with me.

And so it is with many Protestants who come here and argue nonsense. Most of them double talk, until they don’t even make sense anymore, and they are so blind they cannot even see it, even if they read back some of the crazy stuff they write on here.

I just shake my head every night. :nope:

Amen. This, my dear is the heart of the Protestant movement. Deny anything that gets in the way of your personal interpretation of things. Deny anything: scripture, logic, experience…anything. This was the flaw of the Protestant movement 500 years ago, and it still is to this very moment.

 

[Thirst4Him]

Ted CharlotteNC:

Praise God for your desire. Don’t worry about the Homily. Just stay with it.

Ask God to give your priest an interesting topic that ties into the scripture of the day. Remember your priest may have just visited some very sick person in the hospice. Or he was tired or sick or worn out.

I remember the first time I spoke to my priest, he had just dealt with a difficult situation and I wrote him to tell him I was new and I was praying for him and I appreciated what he did for the parish. Since then we have become friends and I know he needs friends just like any other man.

Ted, Thanks for your kind words. As yet I have not begun actually attending a Catholic Church. I visit regularly the Our Lady of Peace church and bookstore where I’ve prayed with a couple of teh nuns. One of the issues I have is I work in one city and live in another 100 plus miles away. Long work days make for a tough go at attending daily mass. Most of my worship at the moment is contemplative and meditative each morning and evening in my room alone. When I’m home, it’s working on my “honey-do” lists that I couldn’t do during the week. I attend a large Presbyterian church pastored by one of the nations leading preachers. I just miss the liturgy that feeds me so much. My pastor is a marvelous Bible expositor and teacher and our services are great. I’m a Bible School graduate…many years ago…so I know my Bible. I love to read it. I read it through each year and it has fed my soul. This year I’ll read it through twice, one in a regular version and and in the evenings a Catholic through the year Bible. I love it.
You people are so kind and I thank you for your encouragement.
Thirsty

 

[Thirst4Him]

valient Lucy:

My advice is to keep doing what you’re doing. Allow God to work within you and keep praying constantly. Ask God to show you what he wants you to do. Be patient with Him, and yourself. He’ll guide you to the Truth, and to His path for you. As for your personal issues, keep praying about it. They’re valid concerns.

The difference between the Catholic and Protestant differences of opinion, is anyone in the world can go to one sourse to know exactly what the Church teaches about something: The Catechism of the Catholic Church. There may be Catholics who disagree with what the Church says, and Catholics may have different styles of worship, but when it comes to Faith and Morals, anyone can know what the Magesterium (the teaching authority of the Church invested in the bishops) teaches. No such sourse exists for Protestants. Even the Bible can’t function the way the Catechism functions, since five people can (and usually will) interpret the same passage five different ways.
But just keep going, and do what you’ve been doing. Pray, pray a lot, and keep reading and studying. Check out stuff you don’t understand in the Catechism. The Catechism is also online.
But like I said, keep praying. Keep reading, and attend Mass when you can. I also advise a weekday Mass, since you can hear more of what the priest is saying. Be patient, with God and yourself. And have faith.

Lucy, I understand what you are saying. There is so much to learn. I will continue my quest. God bless you.

 

[AquinasXVI]

Thirst4Him:

Lucy, I understand what you are saying. There is so much to learn. I will continue my quest. God bless you.

Thirst:

One of the beauties of the CC is that its depths are unplumbable that one can study it vigorously for the rest of one’s life and yet never exhaust it. The amount of material is staggering! And it’s still growing, never stagnant.

But as Fr. Corapi says, we already know enough to get to heaven, knowing is not the problem, it is the doing.

God bless.

in XT.

 

[Thirst4Him]

magdelaine:

Then I am confident that you will find your way Home. There is nothing like Christ our Lord in the Eucharist, nothing at all. I can hardly take communion without balling like a baby anymore. Don’t let the dry Mass experience drive you away; the Truth is in the Church even if it’s hard to see sometimes. The fact is that the laity of the Church are in serious need of renewal, and some of the clergy as well. Did you know that Scott Hahn was actually asked why he should even bother converting by one of the first priests he talked to? Talk about missing the message!! And that was a priest!!

Magdelaine, You touched upon a problem that I’ve observed with great dismay. It’s not just the scandals that have bothered me, but a general lack of genuine love to one another and inability to transfer the living concepts of the kingdom of God into day to day living. But then, that’s common among Protestants too.
I think the general sense of an ever present Saviour is lacking in both the Catholic and Protestant general population. I don’t then Christ meant for us to perserve an institution of walls in place of a living faith that has transferable concepts to the people we encounter on a daily basis.
Thanks for your encouragement.
Thirsty

 

[Mickey]

mozart-250:

…Umm…I don’t know about the other names on the list but I will defend Rick Warren. Our church is going through “Purpose Driven Life” for Lent…wonderful book…

May I recommend that for future Lenten activities, your church may want to do a detailed study of one of the Gospels.

 

[sadie2723]

Mickey:

May I recommend that for future Lenten activities, your church may want to do a detailed study of one of the Gospels.

We do that in Bible study. Which, of course, is lead by a priest. No worries.

 

[Mickey]

sadie2723:

We do that in Bible study. Which, of course, is lead by a priest. No worries.

It is Tradition for some Catholic groups (or even individually) during Lent to choose a Gospel and and study it in detail–doing Lectio Divina, and meditating on the readings. The following Lent you may choose another Gospel and so on. Of course we read all the Bible throughout the year–but this is a wonderful Lenten meditation. Personally, I choose St John every year.

 

[sadie2723]

Mickey:

It is Tradition for some Catholic groups (or even individually) during Lent to choose a Gospel and and study it in detail–doing Lectio Divina, and meditating on the readings. The following Lent you may choose another Gospel and so on. Of course we read all the Bible throughout the year–but this is a wonderful Lenten meditation. Personally, I choose St John every year.

Excellent!

 

[Thirst4Him]

AquinasXVI:

Thirst:

One of the beauties of the CC is that its depths are unplumbable that one can study it vigorously for the rest of one’s life and yet never exhaust it. The amount of material is staggering! And it’s still growing, never stagnant.

But as Fr. Corapi says, we already know enough to get to heaven, knowing is not the problem, it is the doing.

God bless.

in XT.

Ahh yes…Fr. Corapi. One of my favorite butt kickers. I say that lovingly. I agree, there is soooo much to learn. My wife got upset at me the other day because my Catholic book bill was unusually high last month. I guess I’ll have to discipline myself so that I don’t dig into my budget too deeply. But daggum, this is so much fun. I feel like I’m a hog at the trough…and it ain’t slop. It’s filet mignon. (except on fast days of course.) http://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon10.gif

 

[Mickey]

Thirst4Him:

Ahh yes…Fr. Corapi. One of my favorite butt kickers. I say that lovingly. I agree, there is soooo much to learn. My wife got upset at me the other day because my Catholic book bill was unusually high last month. I guess I’ll have to discipline myself so that I don’t dig into my budget too deeply. But daggum, this is so much fun. I feel like I’m a hog at the trough…and it ain’t slop. It’s filet mignon. (except on fast days of course.) http://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon10.gif

 

[magdelaine]

Thirst4Him, you make me laugh. It occurs to me, do you listen to Catholic Answers? You can get it on podcast now. I like to listen to that show so often I have to use an mp3 player so it doesn’t bug the family. And past shows are archived…

Now there’s a “trough” for you!!

God Bless!

(PS, if you can, try to attend the 1,2,3 punch of Good Friday (either a stations of the cross at your local church, do your own personal stations, or watching something like the Passion), Vigil Mass on Saturday, and Easter Mass on Sunday. It’s an incredible Journey.)

 

[deb1]

believers:

I was wondering when someone was going to post the Nicene Creed. I happen to know this one by heart. It’s all about believing in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Now, where in the prayer does it tell you that you must obey Jesus? It’s not good enough to just believe. Lukewarm refers to those believers who do not obey. Everyone needs to know that they must obey. That means to live the life of a faithful true believer in Christ every day and not just on Sunday. The Nicene Creed does not convey the true message of salvation.

I realize that this will sound insane-and I am not trying to offend you- but Believer you sound almost Catholic. Most Protestants I know, preach faith alone which is not biblical. Our faith must be an active faith that involves obedience.

Maybe instead of leaving the Catholic church you should return and try and correct the lukewarmness that you see among your family and friends.

 

[Thirst4Him]

magdelaine:

Thirst4Him, you make me laugh. It occurs to me, do you listen to Catholic Answers? You can get it on podcast now. I like to listen to that show so often I have to use an mp3 player so it doesn’t bug the family. And past shows are archived…

Now there’s a “trough” for you!!

God Bless!

(PS, if you can, try to attend the 1,2,3 punch of Good Friday (either a stations of the cross at your local church, do your own personal stations, or watching something like the Passion), Vigil Mass on Saturday, and Easter Mass on Sunday. It’s an incredible Journey.)

Yes, I plan to do the stations at home for sure. I like doing that occasionally anyway. Sure is tough on the old knees with all that kneeling and standing. http://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon10.gif I might do the Good Friday bit. I don’t mean to make light, but I’m still in the stealth mode. http://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon6.gif
BTW…this will make an interesting response from my wife. She’s already wondering if I’m becoming a Catholic and she’s not sure she likes it. So far her comment is…“It’s your thing.” Oh well, pray for this leaning Protestant.

 

[Thirst4Him]

NotWorthy:

I was wondering why you would find this hard to believe! Most people that study the early church and the bible realize that the early church is the Roman Catholic Church of today. We are the mustard seed that Jesus was talking about!

Notworthy

Hello NOT…You had an interesting quote that this old searching Protestant would like clarified. You said "Our Holy Mother Church:
To know her is to love her!
Better yet, to know her is to love Him!"
How do you view the “Mother Church?” I acknowledge that the Catholic church is an institution but don’t you see yourself as part of the church? As I understand it, and maybe it’s from a Protestant viewpoint, all who have expressed their faith in Christ and have been baptized are members of the body of Christ. We are the church on earth. It seems to me, to love the Mother church is to love all who are member’s of Christ’s body. We are one in Christ. The life I know live in the flesh I live by faith in the Christ who lives within me. It is a process of salvation that involves Christ living the kingdom through me, using my hands and feet to be, dare I say it, little Christ’s to the world desparately in need of his love. To love another is to love Christ, it seems to me. As we’ve done it to one of these, you’ve done it to me, I seem to hear him say.
Am I mixing apples and oranges? http://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon5.gif

 

[JSmitty2005]

Thirst4Him:

Hello NOT…You had an interesting quote that this old searching Protestant would like clarified. You said "Our Holy Mother Church:
To know her is to love her!
Better yet, to know her is to love Him!"
How do you view the “Mother Church?” I acknowledge that the Catholic church is an institution but don’t you see yourself as part of the church? As I understand it, and maybe it’s from a Protestant viewpoint, all who have expressed their faith in Christ and have been baptized are members of the body of Christ. We are the church on earth. It seems to me, to love the Mother church is to love all who are member’s of Christ’s body. We are one in Christ. The life I know live in the flesh I live by faith in the Christ who lives within me. It is a process of salvation that involves Christ living the kingdom through me, using my hands and feet to be, dare I say it, little Christ’s to the world desparately in need of his love. To love another is to love Christ, it seems to me. As we’ve done it to one of these, you’ve done it to me, I seem to hear him say.
Am I mixing apples and oranges? http://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon5.gif

Only Catholics are members of the Church. All others are outside.

(Oversized image removed as per forum policy)

 

[JSmitty2005]

“Only those are really to be included as members of the Church who have been baptized and profess the true faith and who have not unhappily withdrawn from Body-unity or for grave faults have been excluded by legitimate authority.”

(Pius XII, Mystici Corporis Christi)

If you would like to know more about the Body of Christ, I suggest reading the above encyclical in its entirety.