To classify the LDS spiritual experience as simply a “warm fuzzy” is to belittle a process that ends up having a very strong and positive impact on the person having the experience.
It wasn’t meant to be pejoritive – please forgive me if you received it as such.
What I would like to ask Ryan is, How does a Catholic receive a testimony that the Catholic Church is the one true church?
There are many different ways. Some people have direct personal revelation, where someone (like Mary or Jesus) appears to them and tells them to get Catholic. Some people are emotionally overwhelmed by their first experience at mass and are convicted in that way. Some are extremely reluctant to become Catholic, but because of the mountain of historical evidence supporting the Catholic claims feel compelled to do so for the sake of intellectual honesty. Some simply never know anything else. And probably most have some combination of the above.
All of that is to say that there’s no particular way – all roads lead to Rome, so to speak.
Would his conversion be based only on an intellectual conclusion?
Some are, some are not.
Would prayer be involved in the process, and if so how would one recognize God’s response to the prayer?
Prayer
should be involved, and typically is. Recognizing God’s response is sometimes difficult. Sometimes God will smack you in the head with His response. Sometimes it’s more subtle. Sometimes it’s unanswered. Sometimes it’s the exact opposite of what you asked for. To try and formulate a single “method” would be dangerous, as God likes to surprise us and seldom does the expected.
So far the Catholic conversion process as explained in this forum is to study, study, study, study… And then once you are intellectually convinced this is the truth you may confidently join the Catholic Church.
This would be a good reason.
Peter’s conversion boiled down to a purely intellectual experience doesn’t resonate with me.
Me either – he was a pretty feisty guy.
Did he believe because he saw the miracles? Did he believe Christ is the Son of God because he was able to work it out rationally in his head? The Spirit was involved in there somewhere. Help me understand how.
I can’t tell you how, only that the Father revealed it to Peter (method unknown).
What I’m hoping to hear is that conversion and spiritual experience within the Catholic Church isn’t just in your head.
For some it is, for some it is not. We’re snowflakes – no two are exactly alike. Indeed, what a boring God we would have if we were!
If a young man feels it is his vocation to join the Priesthood but is unsure about the decision, I’m sure he will speak with counselors, parents, and priests in order to make the correct decision. Can he ask God his opinion about the decision?
He would be foolish not to.
If he does pray, can this young man receive a response from God?
Perhaps. Like I said, some prayers are answered, some are not. Usually (for me), the responses are surprising – either for what they are or for what they are not.
If yes, how may he expect to receive an answer?
He should receive his answer prayerfully and humbly.
And last of all, how might emotion be a part of the response?
I think relying on an emotional response would be dangerous. We’re human, which means we’re unbelievably fickle and have a tremendous capacity for self-delusion. (Think: “I can quit any time I want to.”)
However we’re also reasonable beings, capable of rational thought (intellect). We should use our intellects rather than our emotions whenever possible, though our emotions should not be discounted. If logic truly shows that a conclusion is true, it should be believed regardless of how we feel about it. If a preponderance of the evidence points in one direction, it’s likely that such is the case (by definition). “Just enough evidence to be believed” doesn’t seem to cut it, as it may still be outweighed by a preponderance of the evidence. That’s not rational faith, that’s irrational faith – even if it’s coupled with an emotive response. So the question then becomes is there a preponderance of the evidence which would support this emotive response? This would seem to be proper discernment.
Does that make sense?
God Bless,
RyanL
