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bbarrick8383
Guest
You havent heard? Catholics and Cowboys all over the Bible belt mid-west are converting.
Why does virtually every non-Catholic religion target Catholics for conversion?
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Peter_J
Guest
Are you sure they are targeting Catholics specifically? I would have thought that other religions, Islam for example, would just try to convert Christians in general without caring whether they are Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant.
I hadn’t thought about non-Christians. Good point, they probably don’t care what brand of Christian you are.
Jon
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Peter_J
Guest
gcnuss, I hope it isn’t presumptuous of me to say this, but I take issue with the idea that you are of a different religion. I would consider you to be of the same religion as me – Christianity. (But I do respect the opinion of Evangelicals and other who say that Catholicism and Protestantism are 2 different religion.)
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Peter_J
Guest
Dude, is your brain like wired to a computer or something?
Edit: That was in reference to the speed of response. Sorry, my sense of humor can be a little quirky sometimes.
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Cat
Guest
To answer the OP: because they think that Catholics aren’t saved, and they want them to be saved.
It has to do with semantics and use of “Protestant-speak” and “Catholic-speak.” We speak two different languages of faith, and don’t realize that we’re saying the same thing.
So here’s a little translating:
A lot of evangelicals that I know believe that I am “saved” only because I asked Jesus into my heart to be my Personal Savior when I was seven years old.
ANY Catholic who has asked Jesus into their heart to be their Personal Savior is SAVED. That’s their understanding of what it means to be “saved.”
Well, Catholics do that! They don’t call it that, but that’s what they do when they receive Holy Communion. They “receive Jesus.”
So my suggestion to Catholics is tell your evangelical friends, when they ask, “Yes, I have received Jesus into my heart to be my Personal Savior and Lord. I am on my way to heaven.”
That’s what they want to hear. That will reassure them that you really are saved.
After all, you asked Jesus into your heart and accepted Him as your Personal Savior at your First Holy Communion. Or perhaps you didn’t understand at that time, but when you were confirmed, you made a decision, “Yes, I want Jesus to be in charge of my life.”
Or maybe you didn’t understand then, but as you got older, something happened in your soul and you made a decision that “Yes, I want to follow Jesus Christ! I want Him to be the Lord and Savior of my life.”
Tell your evangelical friends about those “decisions” that you made. Tell them that when you were just a child, you invited Jesus into your life, but then later when you were teenager, you rededicated your life to Jesus at your confirmation, and you rededicated your life again when you became an Adult, and even now, you find yourself occasionally rededicating your life to Jesus and reaffirming that commitment to Jesus.
Protestants do that, too. They believe that the initial decision was THE important decision. But many Protestants can testify that they “rededicated their lives to Jesus during an altar call or during some other special time in their lives.”
They may ask why you are staying in the Catholic Church. Tell them because you believe that it is the most Biblical church. If they ask you to explain why, tell them to come to Mass and bring their Bibles and study it for themselves.
It’s all about language. They don’t believe you are “saved.” Use their own language to explain to them that you ARE indeed, saved.
It has to do with semantics and use of “Protestant-speak” and “Catholic-speak.” We speak two different languages of faith, and don’t realize that we’re saying the same thing.
So here’s a little translating:
A lot of evangelicals that I know believe that I am “saved” only because I asked Jesus into my heart to be my Personal Savior when I was seven years old.
ANY Catholic who has asked Jesus into their heart to be their Personal Savior is SAVED. That’s their understanding of what it means to be “saved.”
Well, Catholics do that! They don’t call it that, but that’s what they do when they receive Holy Communion. They “receive Jesus.”
So my suggestion to Catholics is tell your evangelical friends, when they ask, “Yes, I have received Jesus into my heart to be my Personal Savior and Lord. I am on my way to heaven.”
That’s what they want to hear. That will reassure them that you really are saved.
After all, you asked Jesus into your heart and accepted Him as your Personal Savior at your First Holy Communion. Or perhaps you didn’t understand at that time, but when you were confirmed, you made a decision, “Yes, I want Jesus to be in charge of my life.”
Or maybe you didn’t understand then, but as you got older, something happened in your soul and you made a decision that “Yes, I want to follow Jesus Christ! I want Him to be the Lord and Savior of my life.”
Tell your evangelical friends about those “decisions” that you made. Tell them that when you were just a child, you invited Jesus into your life, but then later when you were teenager, you rededicated your life to Jesus at your confirmation, and you rededicated your life again when you became an Adult, and even now, you find yourself occasionally rededicating your life to Jesus and reaffirming that commitment to Jesus.
Protestants do that, too. They believe that the initial decision was THE important decision. But many Protestants can testify that they “rededicated their lives to Jesus during an altar call or during some other special time in their lives.”
They may ask why you are staying in the Catholic Church. Tell them because you believe that it is the most Biblical church. If they ask you to explain why, tell them to come to Mass and bring their Bibles and study it for themselves.
It’s all about language. They don’t believe you are “saved.” Use their own language to explain to them that you ARE indeed, saved.
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promethius
Guest
While I can understand why a few people would accept using protestant terminology rather than correct liturgical language from God’s church in order to avoid a conflict, I certainly can’t agree with the wording you’ve offered here as a substitute. The protestant mental construct as Christ being your “personal savior” is a heretical idea based off of election of the few. That is not the case. We know doctrinally that Christ came and died for all of us, that Grace might be available for ALL of God’s children. It is OUR choice as to whether or not we accept God’s Grace. The language is destructive to the doctrinally sound teaching of Christ’s Paschal Sacrifice.
Remember, it is Christ, Savior of the World, and not Christ, personal savior.
Got it.Dude, is your brain like wired to a computer or something?
Edit: That was in reference to the speed of response. Sorry, my sense of humor can be a little quirky sometimes.
Jon
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Marsha_Adams
Guest
In terms of Seventh-Day Adventists, they try to convert everybody, but that take a very special pride and joy in converting Catholics. This is probably because their entire eschatology is based upon the Anti-Christ (pope), the Mark of the Beast (Sunday worship) and the Whore of Babylon (guess who?)
Many fundamentalist Protestants see the Church in the same way (A-C, WoB) and then of course they never got over what they view as persecution by the Catholics during the dark and middle ages (talk about holding a grudge, yeeesh!)
But as a previous poster said, it all comes down to, if the Church is right, what does that make the Protestants?
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Marsha_Adams
Guest
Many Protestants do not consider Catholics to be Christians either. I have heard many Protestants say things like, “Well, I wasn’t always a Christian, I was raised Catholic.”
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Muslim_Woman
Guest
In the name of Allah , Most Gracious, Most Merciful
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you won’t like her comments
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emeraldcoast
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Peter_J
Guest
True. It can make conservation rather confusing. E.g. if a Catholic were to ask Protestants “Do you belong to the same religion as me?” a substantial portion (possibility as much as half) of them would say no. If the question asked was “Are you Christian?” then virtually all of them would say yes.
I’m starting to think that the best approach is to simply avoid asking questions like “Do you belong to the same religion as me?”
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stthomas
Guest
This is very easy to answer: If you cannot denounce the Catholic Church you must join it. We are who we say we are or we are liars…and if liars then Jesus is a liar too! Thank you Jesus for your Church and pray that the hearts and minds of all who seek truth will find it the Blessed Easter season.
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stthomas
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distracted
Guest
it varies from person to person, organization 2 organization… but i think it boils down (usually) to ignorance…
*heck, Catholics dont’ even know their faith… aren’t catechized well when growing up…
How can we expect those OUTSIDE the Church to get it right?? *
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Truth
Guest
Is that a feather in a muslim’s cap (or other head covering?)
With Islam I would think that it wouldn’t matter. But for other Prots and especially Evangelical’s, converting Catholics is a particular pleasure!
JonNC;5047668:
we do makes Christ a liar!
JON, I am not sure I understand your response. Basically, all non- Catholic Christians base their entire beliefs on how ‘they’ interpret the Holy Scriptures. Catholics do not. We have the promise of Jesus that the Holy Spirit with be with us until the end of the world. All truths that Prots hold dear are only truth if the Catholic Church’s teachings say so. Division is the act of sin, it is partaking of the forbidden fruit, it is wanting to be like God. I pray for all my non-Catholic brethren that they continue to seek truth and then respond when they find it.
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Of course, I would disagree with the exclusivity claimed here. It is a non-starter for dialogue. But I do not consider you a liar for believing it, and that was my point. Lutheranism bases its belief on scripture, the creeds and early councils, and the ECF’s. My personal interpretation is irrelevent when it comes to articles of faith.
So, neither of us is a liar, as neither of us is intentionally trying to deceive the other.
I pray we all continue, together, to seek the truth.
And btw, the rules prohibit terms like “Prots”.
Jon
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gcnuss
Guest
Peter,
Sorry if I was unclear. I believe quite firmly that Christianity is the religion to which Catholic and non-Catholic Christians belong.
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