S
skonopka
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Have any of the Catholic Answers’ apologists responded to the ten questions posed to Catholic converts written by James White a few years ago? I recently responded to the questions myself – just for the challenge.
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Will you answer James White's questions for potential converts to Catholicism?
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Michelle_Arnold
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I can only speak for myself, and I believe this is the first time I’ve seen this list. I looked through it, thinking back to when I was considering becoming Catholic and considering what I would have thought then of this list.
In my case, my initial decision to become Catholic was rather emotionally-based. (You can read my conversion story online.) I didn’t wade through a pile of documents, weighing Catholicism and Protestantism in metaphorical scales. That would come later as I learned about the Church I had already decided to enter. This isn’t to say that I had no preconceived ideas about Catholicism – in fact, I came from a fairly anti-Catholic background – but neither did I set up myself as a juror weighing evidence and determining which side had the better case. Moments of grace rarely work that way. To give but one example – and please note that this is just an example drawn from Scripture and not intended to compare conversions – St. Paul did not weigh evidence either. He was knocked to the ground by the grace of a radical encounter with the risen Lord, and only later came to understand the Christian faith he later proclaimed to all the world.
What would I have thought of these questions at that point? To be entirely honest, I’d probably not have read them. I was not at a point then when I was interested in reading questions designed to shake my nascent faith. It would be years before my faith was developed enough to withstand such assaults. I suspect that many new converts would share the same approach. And, frankly, I still consider that to be a reasonable course of action. If you believe the Lord Jesus Christ is calling you to take a certain course of action, the best response is to follow, trusting that he’ll give you all the assurance you need at the time, and the grace to strengthen you later if need be.
Other converts have different journeys. Some had long intellectual treks, and questions like these might well be helpful for them in their journeys. The problem though is that White’s basic presumption is that he apparently believes that if someone does not reach the same conclusions he does from the questions he poses, then that person has never really considered the issues. For example, look at how he poses the questions (emphasis and commentary added):
My point here is that conversion is not a linear process by which people go from A to B to reach C. For some, like it was for me, conversion can be based initially upon subjective needs and only later reach intellectual maturity. For those converts, White’s questions are useless because they do not meet the legitimate needs these converts have at this point. Other potential converts, who come to the faith after long years of study, might be interested in White’s questions … until, after reading through them, such potential converts realize that neither their journeys to this point nor the hard intellectual work they have already done has been treated with respect and courtesy.
In my case, my initial decision to become Catholic was rather emotionally-based. (You can read my conversion story online.) I didn’t wade through a pile of documents, weighing Catholicism and Protestantism in metaphorical scales. That would come later as I learned about the Church I had already decided to enter. This isn’t to say that I had no preconceived ideas about Catholicism – in fact, I came from a fairly anti-Catholic background – but neither did I set up myself as a juror weighing evidence and determining which side had the better case. Moments of grace rarely work that way. To give but one example – and please note that this is just an example drawn from Scripture and not intended to compare conversions – St. Paul did not weigh evidence either. He was knocked to the ground by the grace of a radical encounter with the risen Lord, and only later came to understand the Christian faith he later proclaimed to all the world.
What would I have thought of these questions at that point? To be entirely honest, I’d probably not have read them. I was not at a point then when I was interested in reading questions designed to shake my nascent faith. It would be years before my faith was developed enough to withstand such assaults. I suspect that many new converts would share the same approach. And, frankly, I still consider that to be a reasonable course of action. If you believe the Lord Jesus Christ is calling you to take a certain course of action, the best response is to follow, trusting that he’ll give you all the assurance you need at the time, and the grace to strengthen you later if need be.
Other converts have different journeys. Some had long intellectual treks, and questions like these might well be helpful for them in their journeys. The problem though is that White’s basic presumption is that he apparently believes that if someone does not reach the same conclusions he does from the questions he poses, then that person has never really considered the issues. For example, look at how he poses the questions (emphasis and commentary added):
In other words, as these examples demonstrate, these questions are a product of White’s subjective estimation of the Church. They are not in any way an “objective” measure by which a potential convert can test his newfound faith.Have you read an objective history of the early church?** “Objective” in whose estimation?]** … Have you pondered what it means to embrace a system that teaches you approach the sacrifice of Christ thousands of times in your life and yet you can die impure, and, in fact, even die an enemy of God, though you came to the cross over and over again? [Who says this is an accurate description of Catholic belief?] … Have you considered how completely unbiblical and a-historical is the entire complex of doctrines and dogmas related to Mary? [Who determines what is “completely unbiblical and a-historical”?]
My point here is that conversion is not a linear process by which people go from A to B to reach C. For some, like it was for me, conversion can be based initially upon subjective needs and only later reach intellectual maturity. For those converts, White’s questions are useless because they do not meet the legitimate needs these converts have at this point. Other potential converts, who come to the faith after long years of study, might be interested in White’s questions … until, after reading through them, such potential converts realize that neither their journeys to this point nor the hard intellectual work they have already done has been treated with respect and courtesy.
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