Why do some Protestants spread lies about the Catholic Church?

[fellowChristian]

AAhhh but what about why do some Catholics spread lies about Catholics?

I agree. Some people just don’t know any better.And maybe they just want to be right. They “feel” right.

 

[Pax_et_Caritas]

Please note, that this does not pertain to all Protestants. I do like to note that there are some Protestants who spread lies against the Catholic Church. I never understand why the speak lies as if they are true about the Catholic Church.

These lies are contrary to Teachings of Jesus Christ.

The answer is simple: they don’t know they are spreading lies about the Catholic Church. Many of them have been deceived into believing what they do. The Bible speaks of those who are “erring and leading into error”, or “deceiving and being deceived”. The anti-Catholic Protestants belong to that group. Their initial leaders were deceived by the devil, or by their own false interpretation of the Bible, and then passed on their errors and lies to their followers.

Subjectively they aren’t lying, since they are saying what they believe to be true; but since what they are saying is false, they are telling an objective lie.

Many Protestants are of a good will, but ignorant of the truth and deceived; others are of a bad will and are resisting the truth. The former should be treated with great kindness and patience, but never should the truth be withheld under a misguided fear of offending them.

A good example will make them curious about the Church, and incline their will in the right direction, just as kindness and gentleness will help to open their heart to the truth.

Arguing only works on a small percentage of them, whereas a good example and kindness goes a long way with most.

 

[guanophore]

Please note, that this does not pertain to all Protestants. I do like to note that there are some Protestants who spread lies against the Catholic Church. I never understand why the speak lies as if they are true about the Catholic Church.

One example, is that the Catholic Church never existed until 325 AD.

There are others list that many Former Protestant turn Catholic might know.

These lies are contrary to Teachings of Jesus Christ.

We suffer nothing that has not been common since the beginning. Here is a passage from one of the early fathers, Justin Marytr:

“I excuse and forgive you, my friend,” I said. “For you know not what you say, but have been persuaded by teachers who do not understand the Scriptures; and you speak, like a diviner, whatever comes into your mind. But if you are willing to listen to an account of Him, how we have not been deceived, and shall not cease to confess Him,—although men’s reproaches be heaped upon us, although the most terrible tyrant compel us to deny Him,—I shall prove to you as you stand here that we have not believed empty fables, or words without any foundation but words filled with the Spirit of God, and big with power, and flourishing with grace.”
Dialogue with Trypho

 

[estesbob]

You guys don’t seem to understand – if I, genuinely and honestly, have studied the Catholic church and believe with all my heart that it isn’t God’s “one true church”, then why would I believe that it has every detail of truth?

Then you must believe that God let his church slide into serious error for 1,500 years ,condeming millions of people to hell for accepting the false doctrines of the Catholic Chuch

It would seem that given the absurdness of believing God would allow this the logical concluion is your “personal” studies led you to a false conclusion.

 

[YinYangMom]

You guys don’t seem to understand – if I, genuinely and honestly, have studied the Catholic church and believe with all my heart that it isn’t God’s “one true church”, then why would I believe that it has every detail of truth?

You have studied the Catholic church and have come to believe with all your heart that it isn’t God’s “one true church” means only that your intellect is dominating your heart. Your belief in your position is founded in your intellectual pursuit of the topic, and I really understand how firmly your heart can be convinced by the intellect that the Catholic church is not THE church. It is only through the grace of God than any of us are able to see the Truth He has set before us.

Please pray to the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to this Truth you are so convinced cannot be, because it is only through His will that the intellect and the heart will finally be aligned in Truth as He is the one who can reveal it to you.

Start with the premise that the Catholic church is the one true church and pray to Jesus and the Holy Spirit to help you comprehend this Truth when everything in your heart and mind are telling you it is not. It is only through their guidance that you will definitely know the Truth, that is, the Catholic Church is the one, holy and apostolic church Christ established to guide all men and women to come to know, love and serve Him until He comes again.

 

[PC_Master]

Then you must believe that God let his church slide into serious error for 1,500 years ,condeming millions of people to hell for accepting the false doctrines of the Catholic Chuch

Hmm, well, aside from begging the question of what the mind of God is, let’s assume you’re right for a second. Then, you must believe that God has let millions of people, who are truly trying to follow hiis will, go astray in all of these horrible protestant denominations.

Either way, millions of “good people” are going to hell for believing falsely, despite their best intentions.

It would seem that given the absurdness of believing God would allow this the logical concluion is your “personal” studies led you to a false conclusion.

Not at all – I don’t hold your premise to be true. Supposing the mind of God is a serious fallacy.

You have studied the Catholic church and have come to believe with all your heart that it isn’t God’s “one true church” means only that your intellect is dominating your heart. Your belief in your position is founded in your intellectual pursuit of the topic, and I really understand how firmly your heart can be convinced by the intellect that the Catholic church is not THE church. It is only through the grace of God than any of us are able to see the Truth He has set before us.

I see – so you believe God would not establish things in a logical fashion that is understandable by a person who is trying to seek the will of God? Hmm, I guess that means that all the logic that is found from the creation of the universe, is against God’s nature? That doesn’t seem sensible to me at all. Saying that intellect is contrary to God’s will is saying that God made a mistake in giving intellect to mankind.

Please pray to the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to this Truth you are so convinced cannot be, because it is only through His will that the intellect and the heart will finally be aligned in Truth as He is the one who can reveal it to you.

I should pray that God will convince me of something I know to be false? Wouldn’t it be better to just continue as I have, praying that the truth would be shown to me? I think so. Praying for something that I know to be wrong seems rather oxymoronic.

Start with the premise that the Catholic church is the one true church and pray to Jesus and the Holy Spirit to help you comprehend this Truth when everything in your heart and mind are telling you it is not. It is only through their guidance that you will definitely know the Truth, that is, the Catholic Church is the one, holy and apostolic church Christ established to guide all men and women to come to know, love and serve Him until He comes again.

Uh, no. You start with what you believe is true, not with what you believe is false, as being truth. From there, you ask God to make the truth known to you, and if you do so with an open heart (which I’m not always perfect in doing), he will guide you to that, in his timing. Asking God to convince you of a particular thing as being truth…who in their right mind would do that? For instance…

“God, please convince me that this cup is full. My mind knows it to be empty, but I know my mind (that you gave me) must be totally wrong, because Bob said so. Therefore, I’m asking you to show me how right Bob is.”

Would anyone do that?

 

[Cat]

Several years ago, after many very frustrating experiences in our E Free church, my husband and I asked God to lead us to a church where the truth was taught and the people were serious about their faith. That’s all. Very simple and straightforward.

And of course we didn’t mean a Catholic Church! We never dreamed of becoming Catholic. We assumed that God would direct us to some really cool Protestant church that we never knew existed!

Instead He led us down the street to the Catholic Church! We obeyed, even though it didn’t make sense to us. But we asked, He answered, we obeyed.

(BTW, for those who have read my history on this Forum, we prayed this prayer BEFORE we were kicked out of our E Free church. It was only after we had been kicked out of our church and had been attending the Catholic Church for a year or so that we realized-duh!–that the Lord had answered our prayer and sent us to the Catholic Church! We argued with Him for a few days because we thought we were misunderstanding His leading, but He kept pointing straight to the Catholic Church! One thing we had learned as evangelical Protestants was to Trust and Obey, so we did, and we’re glad we did!)

PC Master, Catholics don’t believe that all Protestants are going to hell. That’s not what the Catechism teaches at all. The doctrine of “invincible ignorance” (in the Catechism) applies here. If you have studied the Catechism, you know that the Catholic Church doesn’t teach that you and all the other well-meaning Protestants are going to hell.

It’s my opinion that any Protestant who will take an honest look at the Catholic Church–and that means attending Mass, not just studying books about the Church–will see the truth in the Catholic Church. It’s straight out of the Bible. But that’s JMO.

If you have honestly studied Catholicism and attended Mass regularly for several months and still don’t agree with Catholicism, you must follow your conscience, of course.

 

[TheApologist]

Hmm, well, aside from begging the question of what the mind of God is, let’s assume you’re right for a second. Then, you must believe that God has let millions of people, who are truly trying to follow hiis will, go astray in all of these horrible protestant denominations.

Well, in the Bible it does say Christ’s Church would one, it would be led into all truth by the Holy Spirit, and it would be the pillar and foundation of the truth. It also says that Jesus was like a wise man who built his house on a rock(Matthew 7:24) and that the gates of the netherworld would never prevail against the Church(Matthew 16:18).
What we’re assuming is that God would not let his Church go a stray for 1500 years if he promised it to be one, be led into all truth, to be the pillar and foundation of the truth, to be built by Jesus on a rock(whatever you presume the rock to be), and to never be overtaken by the gates of the netherworld.

Also, Scripture assures us that there will be those who apostize. So, naturally, we believe that God has let millions used their free will and leave the Catholic Church. Saying protestantism’s existence proves that the Catholic Church is one or led by the Holy Spirit…etc. is kinda illogical. It’s like saying the existence of pain and suffering’s existence disproves the existence of God. We believe protestants have been allowed to protest for a reason(I myself believe it’s because it makes Catholics more zealous for their faith. Also, I believe converts from Protestantism are some of the most zealous Catholics.)

Also, why wouldn’t God let us exercise our free will to deny His Truth? Or our free will in the Garden, when pain and suffering came into the world?

Either way, millions of “good people” are going to hell for believing falsely, despite their best intentions.

We’re not presuming that. Although “no salvation outside the church” is a dogma of the Catholic faith, there are those “through no fault of their own” have not been taught Christ’s true Gospel and so are not responsible for their opposition or refusal of the true Gospel(whatever you presume that to be). Those with the best of intentions would surely fall into “through no fault of their own” field.

Not at all – I don’t hold your premise to be true. Supposing the mind of God is a serious fallacy.

Like I said, we’re just reading and interpreting Scripture.

I

see – so you believe God would not establish things in a logical fashion that is understandable by a person who is trying to seek the will of God?

Huh? Where did this come from? Anyway, if one’s view is obstructed by prejudice(towards or against interpretation or accepted beliefs), how could they follow the logical pathway? I, myself, think that God has established things in a logical fashion for those trying to the seek His will. Did someone say something to make you think we thought otherwise?

Hmm, I guess that means that all the logic that is found from the creation of the universe, is against God’s nature? That doesn’t seem sensible to me at all. Saying that intellect is contrary to God’s will is saying that God made a mistake in giving intellect to mankind.

I don’t think anyone said intellect is contrary to God’s will, did they?

I should pray that God will convince me of something I know to be false? Wouldn’t it be better to just continue as I have, praying that the truth would be shown to me? I think so. Praying for something that I know to be wrong seems rather oxymoronic.

No, you have the right way, of praying for the truth. It would be illogical to pray for the acceptance of something you believe to not be the truth.

Uh, no. You start with what you believe is true, not with what you believe is false, as being truth. From there, you ask God to make the truth known to you, and if you do so with an open heart (which I’m not always perfect in doing), he will guide you to that, in his timing. Asking God to convince you of a particular thing as being truth…who in their right mind would do that? For instance…

“God, please convince me that this cup is full. My mind knows it to be empty, but I know my mind (that you gave me) must be totally wrong, because Bob said so. Therefore, I’m asking you to show me how right Bob is.”

Would anyone do that?

Nope. Praying to see the Catholic Church as the Truth would probably only come for those converts who are accepting, but have certain places where they don’t understand or are incapable(for the time being) of accepting certain things.

I think you have the right way of thinking.

 

[Mannyfit75]

Hmm, well, aside from begging the question of what the mind of God is, let’s assume you’re right for a second. Then, you must believe that God has let millions of people, who are truly trying to follow hiis will, go astray in all of these horrible protestant denominations.

Either way, millions of “good people” are going to hell for believing falsely, despite their best intentions.

Good people don’t go to hell base on falsely. They are just plain uninformed about the truth. I believe the Catechism clearly states that individuals can be saved.

Catechism of the Catholic Church states,

817 In fact, "in this one and only Church of God from its very beginnings there arose certain rifts, which the Apostle strongly censures as damnable. But in subsequent centuries much more serious dissensions appeared and large communities became separated from full communion with the Catholic Church - for which, often enough, men of both sides were to blame."269 The ruptures that wound the unity of Christ’s Body - here we must distinguish heresy, apostasy, and schism270 - do not occur without human sin:

Where there are sins, there are also divisions, schisms, heresies, and disputes. Where there is virtue, however, there also are harmony and unity, from which arise the one heart and one soul of all believers.271

818 "However, one cannot charge with the sin of the separation those who at present are born into these communities [that resulted from such separation] and in them are brought up in the faith of Christ, and the Catholic Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers . . . . All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church."272

819 "Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth"273 are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: "the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements."274 Christ’s Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him,275 and are in themselves calls to "Catholic unity."276

I know Jack Chick claim his tracts about the Catholic Church to be true, dispite what we Catholic told him that his conception about the Catholic Church are untrue. He does it out of the love of Jesus Christ, but he is just as hard headed as anyone else.

I see – so you believe God would not establish things in a logical fashion that is understandable by a person who is trying to seek the will of God? Hmm, I guess that means that all the logic that is found from the creation of the universe, is against God’s nature? That doesn’t seem sensible to me at all. Saying that intellect is contrary to God’s will is saying that God made a mistake in giving intellect to mankind.

God established us to be intectually human beings. He gave us a free will. Free will itself is a gift from God. These days, this gift is abused.

I should pray that God will convince me of something I know to be false? Wouldn’t it be better to just continue as I have, praying that the truth would be shown to me? I think so. Praying for something that I know to be wrong seems rather oxymoronic.

I do know one thing. Jesus did established a Church and he build on Peter and promised the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. There is only one Church that claims this and that Church is Catholic. History shows that Early Christian is Catholic. I believe this to be Truth because Jesus established it. I doubt he would miss lead any of us who dearly loved him.

Uh, no. You start with what you believe is true, not with what you believe is false, as being truth. From there, you ask God to make the truth known to you, and if you do so with an open heart (which I’m not always perfect in doing), he will guide you to that, in his timing. Asking God to convince you of a particular thing as being truth…who in their right mind would do that? For instance…

“God, please convince me that this cup is full. My mind knows it to be empty, but I know my mind (that you gave me) must be totally wrong, because Bob said so. Therefore, I’m asking you to show me how right Bob is.”

Would anyone do that?

What we Catholic believe is Truth because it was handed down from us from the Apostles. The doctrines we believe developed overtime. Just much as an infant grows into adulthood. Yet, the major doctrines of the Catholic Church remain unchanged. She has taught consistent teachings on faith and morals.

 

[Mannyfit75]

In addition to what I said,

I like to quote the following from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

846 How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers?

335 Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:

Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.336

847 This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:

Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation.337

848 "Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men."338

Link: scborromeo.org/ccc/p123a9p3.htm#848

 

[Shlemele]

What about Catholics who spread lies about Protestant churches? It all boils down to ignorance. I have Catholics tell me I’m going to hell because I didn’t believe in Mary. I grew up in a very traditional hispanic community so misconceptions like this were pretty common although the local Catholic church had a great priest at the time…

Boils down to this; some poeple are just ignorant.

 

[mayra_hart]

i will imagine that a protestant will spread lies because that was the way it was educated. but on the same token i have witness excatholic spreading lies about the catholic church an that is sad. they are so possess and so close minded that they don’t want to see the truth. “May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be Adored, Glorified, Loved & Preserved throughout the world, now & forever. Sacred Heart of Jesus, please pray for me. Saint Jude, Worker of Miracles, please pray for me. Saint Jude, Helper of the Hopeless, please pray for me. Amen.”