Why do Protestants become Catholic?

[catholicbudgie]

Firstly, please, TITL, could you not use blue? Really messes with my mind.

What pushed me over the edge (so to speak)? The issue of authority. The priest I was speaking to was ordained by someone who was ordained by someone, etc etc who was ordained by Peter to whom Christ gave the keys of Heaven.

What else? Feeling the real presence of Christ deep down inside somehow when I first walked into a Catholic Church - BEFORE the concept was explained to me.

Continuity of teaching. The ability to realise a problem and change it without falling apart. Let’s face it, most of Luther’s theses were valid concerns and the church has changed itself, through proper process, rather than disintergrating.

Vatican II. I would also not be a Catholic today if not for Vatican II. I thought that if an organization as big, as integrated, as stodgy as the Catholic Church could look at itself without imploding, the least I could do was take an unbiased look. That’s why I went to the Catholic Church I mentioned earlier - I looked it up in the phone book, went there, and asked the priest to tell me about it.

The breathtaking lack of consistency vis a vis doctrine, teaching and organization of the non-Catholic denominations. If Catholicism is wrong, as they assert, then one of them must be right. But, each of them says they’re right, as does Catholicism. So, the mere assertion of correectness in and of itself is not a relevant judgment point. It must be defined elsewhere.

So, a cursory glance of the history lead back to the fact that all the denominations had their formation because of a difference of opinion (either established or imagined) with the orthordoxy of the time.

Simply, that orthodoxy is: The Catholic Church.

IMHO

 

[NotWorthy]

NiceFundamental:

Yes, there lies the debate if Catholics are indeed Christian and filled with the Holy Spirit.

Really???

OK, bring it on!

Notworthy

 

[NotWorthy]

TrustInTheLord:

Like Purgatory. I don’t want to risk my soul. I know that there is only HEAVEN and HELL.

Don’t die in your sins! I wouldn’t want to gamble with my soul~ :nope:

Thanks for showing a complete misunderstanding of what the Church teaches. Where in the world did you get the idea that Purgatory is gambling with your soul? Please site where Catholics teach that!

TrustInTheLord:

And now believe in the Rapture. Catholic’s don’t talk about that stuff.

WALK IN LOVE :bible1:

That’s correct! We don’t follow Traditions of Men!

Good Luck!

Notworthy

 

[catholicbudgie]

Sorry, I should’ve explained. I’m not attacking anybody over the “blue” issue - it’s a colour blindness thing. There are Red / Green types, the most common, and ther are others of which I am one. I don’t fully understand it. I can’t read the blue - I select the quote option which takes the colour out.

Many thanks.

 

[VociMike]

NiceFundamental:

Could the error not have a “snow ball” effect?

The thing about snowballs is that at the beginning most of the snow on the hillside is not a part of the snowball. Likewise, when error begins in the Church, most of the Church is not involved in the error. Error does not spring up fully formed and universal, but small and local. Thus there will always be plenty of people to expose and counter error when it begins.

Now, back to my original question. Where is the evidence that the Church found error in Justin Martyr’s teachings, and exposed and countered that error?

 

[valient_Lucy]

I certainly can’t speak for every single Protestant convert to Catholicism, but I can certainly speak for myself.
I first TRUELY became intesrested in Catholicism at the end of my freshman year of college… I say truely interested because in retrospect, I realize that I had certain interests and a certain degree of respect for the Church, even though I didn’t fully realize it at the time. At the end of my freshman year of college, I was bored one day, so I was surfing the Internet, the hobby of every college student with their own computer and fast internet connection. As I was searching the Internet, I stumbled upon several sites by Catholics arguing for the Perpetual Virginity of Mary. I was struck that several of them quoted from the Bible to argue their claims, since I didn’t think that Catholics ever read the Bible. I was also struck that several of them knew the verses Protestants use to argue against the Perpetual Virginity of Mary, and were able to refute them. Most of all, i was struck that somewhere out there in the world were Catholics who 1 knew what the Church taught, 2 believed what the Church taught, and 3 knew why the Church taught it. I had never met any Catholic like that in my entire life. I supposed on some level, I believed that even Pope John Paul II only believed in what the Church taught because he had never really thought about it, or had ever read the Bible. :whacky:
After this, I had to learn more. As I kept reading, I was amazed that many Catholic arguments were scriptual, ESPECIALLY the arguments for the Real Presence in the Eucharist. I was also introduced to the Early Church, which for a Protestant, is something that is practically non-existant. I learned that their beliefs were very Catholic, and not really what I had been taught as a Protestant. I was also struck by the idea that ALL Christians are totally dependent upon the Early Church to know what the New Testament Scriptures are. If the Early Church could be trusted for such an important issue, why couldn’t they be trusted for other issues? I also began to really think about the need for a teaching authority in the Church. Earlier that year, I was talking with my mom about my first year of college, and how I would have to find a church that taught “real biblical teaching,” which is difficult, because I knew that if I walked into 5 different Protestant churches, I’d hear at least 5 different interpretations of Scripture. I told her, “In some way, I envy the Catholics, because a Catholic can walk into any parish, whether in Rome, New York or Zimbabwe, and they KNOW exactly what that church teaches.” No other Church on earth has that kind of unity. I also had a terrifying thought. If the Church really did go into some kind of apostacy, then the Holy Spirit, which is supposed to guide the Church, is useless, and Jesus was a liar, and if Jesus is a liar, then he is not God, and certainly not worth my life or my obedience.
But I suppose, I ulitmatly am becoming Catholic (at the Easter Vigil this year!) because the more I read and studied the Church’s teachings, the more I fell in love with it. The teachings of the Catholic Church were not “drenched in fear and guilt,” as I thought, but rather, expressed the love and grace of God on a scale of which I had never known. I came to see the Sacraments as tremendous gifts from God, gifts which respected our physical human nature. I was overwhelmed by the Real Presence. God doesn’t dwell simply in Heaven, or on earth as some sort of spirit presence, but really and truely in the Blessed Sacrament. I can actually sit in the same building, the same room, with Christ’s presence, in a way I never could as a Protestant. The teachings of Mary and the Saints showed the Saints as God’s greatest creations, and ultimatly as what each of us is called to be, and showed me that Heaven is indeed a place of eternal life. Catholicism, rather than simply present a set of rules, has granted me the greatest freedom of all; the freedom to be a human being, and to worship as a human being.
Now, this does not mean that my journey has been easy (read my Post on the thread Why aren’t Protestant’s Catholic? for more information) but in the teachings of the Catholic Church, I fully appreaciate the greatness of God’s grace, and the inumberable gifts of His mercy and love.

 

[YahShuaMessiah]

Eden:

TERTULLIAN

"[N]o one can attain salvation without baptism, especially in view of the declaration of the Lord, who says, ‘Unless a man shall be born of water, he shall not have life’" (Baptism 12:1 [A.D. 203]).

Why doesn’t the Catholic Church hold to this “quote”? Why would the Church deviate from a teaching of an Early Church Father?

Why is there an excuse when obviously Tertullian stated “no one”. No one means no one. but, but, but…

Why the “flip flop” if I may?

 

[ComradeAndrei]

Why doesn’t the Catholic Church hold to this “quote”? Why would the Church deviate from a teaching of an Early Church Father?

Why is there an excuse when obviously Tertullian stated “no one”. No one means no one. but, but, but…

Why the “flip flop” if I may?

First things first, Early Church Fathers are not infallible (unless they are a pope, using the charism of infallibility in the proper senses) and Tertullian is one that eventually fell into heresy.

Secondly, the Church does believe that no one can be saved except through baptism-it is just that it isn’t so simplistic.

Everyone that will be saved, will be saved through the Catholic Church through baptism-either of water, blood or desire.

And now believe in the Rapture. Catholic’s don’t talk about that stuff.

That is because the “Rapture” is a lie.

Just be careful and just walk in love. That is all i can share with you. I just want you to know that the bible is the word of God, and not of men. We don’t make up or change the bible, we take what the bible says and that is it.

Except that most protestant bibles lack the Deuterocanonical books, so they did change the Bible. Second, you don’t “take what the Bible says”-you interpret it and follow whatever interpretation your pastor, or study group, or what have you interprets the Bible to be saying.

There is no praying to Mary, or other saints, confessing to the priest, or anything like that. I will pray for all who are lost.

What are the issues with these, that we “worship” Mary as a goddess? Or that we talk to dead people who can’t hear us because they are “asleep”? I think you better do a little more studying.

 

[rciadan]

Yes, i know i have alot to learn about the scriptures. By the way I was baptized as a baby. I was a Catholic, but now a Protestant.

First of all i can do whatever i want if i want to capitalize a word okay.

Second it really doesn’t matter to me if you get what i said or not. And last Walk In Love~

I am not going to judge you, only God will. You have no idea what is in my heart. God only knows. Thanks for your concern.

It is too bad you didn’t bother to learn about the Curch you were origionaly baptised into!
I pray for you and hope with all my heart that you are truly searching for the truth and studying the scriptures with only one intent; that being to find the Truth. If you are doing this, then I know that you will return one day into the arms of your true Mother, the Church that Jesus started, the Catholic Church.

 

[rciadan]

valient Lucy:

I certainly can’t speak for every single Protestant convert to Catholicism, but I can certainly speak for myself.
I first TRUELY became intesrested in Catholicism at the end of my freshman year of college… I say truely interested because in retrospect, I realize that I had certain interests and a certain degree of respect for the Church, even though I didn’t fully realize it at the time. At the end of my freshman year of college, I was bored one day, so I was surfing the Internet, the hobby of every college student with their own computer and fast internet connection. As I was searching the Internet, I stumbled upon several sites by Catholics arguing for the Perpetual Virginity of Mary. I was struck that several of them quoted from the Bible to argue their claims, since I didn’t think that Catholics ever read the Bible. I was also struck that several of them knew the verses Protestants use to argue against the Perpetual Virginity of Mary, and were able to refute them. Most of all, i was struck that somewhere out there in the world were Catholics who 1 knew what the Church taught, 2 believed what the Church taught, and 3 knew why the Church taught it. I had never met any Catholic like that in my entire life. I supposed on some level, I believed that even Pope John Paul II only believed in what the Church taught because he had never really thought about it, or had ever read the Bible. :whacky:
After this, I had to learn more. As I kept reading, I was amazed that many Catholic arguments were scriptual, ESPECIALLY the arguments for the Real Presence in the Eucharist. I was also introduced to the Early Church, which for a Protestant, is something that is practically non-existant. I learned that their beliefs were very Catholic, and not really what I had been taught as a Protestant. I was also struck by the idea that ALL Christians are totally dependent upon the Early Church to know what the New Testament Scriptures are. If the Early Church could be trusted for such an important issue, why couldn’t they be trusted for other issues? I also began to really think about the need for a teaching authority in the Church. Earlier that year, I was talking with my mom about my first year of college, and how I would have to find a church that taught “real biblical teaching,” which is difficult, because I knew that if I walked into 5 different Protestant churches, I’d hear at least 5 different interpretations of Scripture. I told her, “In some way, I envy the Catholics, because a Catholic can walk into any parish, whether in Rome, New York or Zimbabwe, and they KNOW exactly what that church teaches.” No other Church on earth has that kind of unity. I also had a terrifying thought. If the Church really did go into some kind of apostacy, then the Holy Spirit, which is supposed to guide the Church, is useless, and Jesus was a liar, and if Jesus is a liar, then he is not God, and certainly not worth my life or my obedience.
But I suppose, I ulitmatly am becoming Catholic (at the Easter Vigil this year!) because the more I read and studied the Church’s teachings, the more I fell in love with it. The teachings of the Catholic Church were not “drenched in fear and guilt,” as I thought, but rather, expressed the love and grace of God on a scale of which I had never known. I came to see the Sacraments as tremendous gifts from God, gifts which respected our physical human nature. I was overwhelmed by the Real Presence. God doesn’t dwell simply in Heaven, or on earth as some sort of spirit presence, but really and truely in the Blessed Sacrament. I can actually sit in the same building, the same room, with Christ’s presence, in a way I never could as a Protestant. The teachings of Mary and the Saints showed the Saints as God’s greatest creations, and ultimatly as what each of us is called to be, and showed me that Heaven is indeed a place of eternal life. Catholicism, rather than simply present a set of rules, has granted me the greatest freedom of all; the freedom to be a human being, and to worship as a human being.
Now, this does not mean that my journey has been easy (read my Post on the thread Why aren’t Protestant’s Catholic? for more information) but in the teachings of the Catholic Church, I fully appreaciate the greatness of God’s grace, and the inumberable gifts of His mercy and love.

Praise be to God! I will celebrate 8years as a Catholic this Easter Vigil! I am a convert from atheism. I too studied the early church fathers and learned so much from them! (I still do!)

I am constantly re-convinced that if anyone really takes the time to make sure they understand what the Catholic Church actually teaches, they will know they have found the one true bride of christ!

 

[jim1130]

TrustInTheLord:

And now believe in the Rapture. Catholic’s don’t talk about that stuff.

WALK IN LOVE :bible1:

Peace.

Isn’t the Rapture a 20th century phenomenom? What is the Rapture evidence for the past 2000 years?

Peace.

 

[jim1130]

catholicbudgie:

Sorry, I should’ve explained. I’m not attacking anybody over the “blue” issue - it’s a colour blindness thing. There are Red / Green types, the most common, and ther are others of which I am one. I don’t fully understand it. I can’t read the blue - I select the quote option which takes the colour out.

Many thanks.

Peace.

I agree with you on the color issue. Stick with black color, and also use the Arial or Times Roman fonts. Easier to read.

Peace.

 

[JSmitty2005]

YahShuaMessiah:

Why doesn’t the Catholic Church hold to this “quote”? Why would the Church deviate from a teaching of an Early Church Father?

Why is there an excuse when obviously Tertullian stated “no one”. No one means no one. but, but, but…

Why the “flip flop” if I may?

The Church has always taught the absolute necessity of baptism for salvation. Plus the Church Fathers aren’t always right about everything. Even though Tertullian was correct here, he later went into heresy.

 

[MariaG]

x4us:

Protestants who convert to the Catholic Church are seekers of Truth who will follow the Way, the Truth, and the Light, even when they are taken very far out of their comfort zones!

I know this was way back at post 22 or so, but it is so true I just had to quote it again.

I was led to the Catholic Church because before I read my Bible, I would ALWAYS ask God to lead me to all truth no matter where that truth would lead me.

God Bless,
Maria

 

[NotWorthy]

MariaG:

I know this was way back at post 22 or so, but it is so true I just had to quote it again.

I was led to the Catholic Church because before I read my Bible, I would ALWAYS ask God to lead me to all truth no matter where that truth would lead me.

God Bless,
Maria

So True! In my Renew Class last night, this woman was raised Protestant. She started studying the early Church. She had acquired vast amounts of anti-catholic literature. But when she started comparing the anti-catholic literature to what the Catholic Church teaches (I mean, c’mon people, our Catechism in on-line!!!), she realized she may have been a bit mis-led. Then when she compared the Catholic teachings of today with the teachings of the early Church, she knew she had only one choice. It was a joy to see someone who has walked the walk that I’ve read about so many times in the past.

Notworthy

 

[djrakowski]

Why am I becoming Catholic? Too many inconsistencies in Protestant theology:

1. What is the pillar and foundation of truth - the Bible, or the Church? (1 Timothy 3:15) NOT sola scriptura.
2. Jesus prayed that all those who believe in Him would be one (John 17:20-21)
3. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth (John 16:13)
4. The various Protestant sects cannot agree on the essentials of the faith, violating point #3 (there can’t be totally different versions of the truth), and point #2 (if they can’t agree on the truth, then there is no unity).

In short, I’m converting because of TRUTH!

 

[valient_Lucy]

NotWorthy:

So True! In my Renew Class last night, this woman was raised Protestant. She started studying the early Church. She had acquired vast amounts of anti-catholic literature. But when she started comparing the anti-catholic literature to what the Catholic Church teaches (I mean, c’mon people, our Catechism in on-line!!!), she realized she may have been a bit mis-led. Notworthy

When I picked up a Catholic book about Mary years ago, I kept looking for the part where they talked about how she was God and they worshipped her, or about how they liked her better than God. I was dissapointed.

 

[Hope75]

figuredeslarmes:

I was wondering if you could tell me some of the major reasons why a Protestant, Evangelical, or Fundamentalist converts to the Roman Catholic Church. Thank you!

I grew up in a strong, faithful Lutheran (MO synod) home. I attended Lutheran grade school and high school. Then, while in college I met this guy… He was the first Catholic I could ask questions of and he either knew how to answer, or he would look it up and tell me about it. Other Catholics I would talk with didn’t know their faith well, and I felt like I would “win” the argument.

My boyfriend and I had many many serious discussions and debates. It was difficult for me to learn that what I thought Catholicism was, wasn’t. I felt like I had been deceived my whole life. (Not necessarily intentionally, but I believe out of ignorance.) So, I wanted to learn more about the Catholic faith for myself. The more I learned, the more it made sense.

Because my faith was always such an important part of my life I knew that I wanted to marry someone of the same faith back ground. While my boyfriend and I were first dating, I remember thinking, “I bet he’ll become Lutheran.” Little did I know! I joined the Catholic Church just short of two years from meeting him. And we were married in the Catholic Church shortly afterward. We have had 6 beautiful years of marriage so far.

I love the Catholic Church! I also teach couples NFP! I fully embrace the Church’s teachings. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without the fullness of the faith.

Thank you to everyone who prays for converts, it sure helped! It was a very emotional and difficult process. I had many friends, not to mention my family, who did not understand my decision. I pray that they’ll come to understand someday, and join the Church too.

 

[Julia1]

What I want to know is why do Catholics become Christians? Whatzup with that, do you suppose?

 

[djrakowski]

Julia1:

What I want to know is why do Catholics become Christians? Whatzup with that, do you suppose?

*Nothing *is up with that, considering that Catholics *are *Christians.