The Journey Home (Ecumenical)

Beggars All - Reformation and Apologetics ^ | August 30, 2008 | James Swan

[Ottofire]

Saturday, August 30, 2008

The Journey Home

I'm not overly fond of using conversion stories as an apologetic tool. The recent trend in Roman Catholic apologetics though, is. From time to time, I do listen to The Journey Home, where "Former non-catholics discuss their personal conversion stories and reveal how their search for truth has led them home to the Catholic Church." I came across a very interesting episode, "Baptism-Host - Marcus Grodi with guest Ken Guindon." You can also read about this man's journey to Roman Catholicism on the EWTN website, and also read his very interesting material on the Jehovah's Witnesses hosted on the Envoy website.

Ken Guindon has also recently written a book. A description of it states,

"The number of evangelicals joining the Roman Catholic or the Eastern Orthodox Church has markedly increased during the last thirty years. Church history definitely played an important role in their decision. This phenomenon is noteworthy because many of these converts are well-educated, former evangelical ministers. Following the apostles’ death, how did church life evolve under the influence of sacramental teaching and worship? This study provides a detailed discussion of the two great Christian sacraments: baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and of the ancient churches’ views concerning salvation, Mary, the saints and their images. Ken Guindon provides us with a passionate discussion of the questions Christians face today as they examine history for foundations for faith."

So what makes this man's new book and his "Journey Home" to Catholicism so interesting? The book description goes on to state,

"Written with a loving heart, this work is worth reading by everyone interested in authentic Christianity and is particularly helpful for anyone who is tempted to think that age and claims to infallibility are criteria of the true church."

Wait a minute...."age and claims to infallibility are criteria of the true church"? Why, those are the claims Roman Catholic apologists make about their church! Why would a Catholic convert want to dissuade people from such a criteria? You see, Ken Guindon is no longer a Roman Catholic. You can purchase Ken's book here.

Posted by James Swan at 7:26 AM

[Ottofire]

Brother, could you ping your list please?

Thanks!
Otto

[syriacus]

I love the show Journey Home.

[Lee N. Field]

You see, Ken Guindon is no longer a Roman Catholic. You can purchase Ken's book here.

Hmmm. Interesting. The Amazon description skips right over a return to the RCC.

Can someone provide a timeline of the author's life so we can get this straight.

Author Profile

Raised in the Catholic Church, Ken thirsted for God. He spent sixteen years in the Jehovah’s Witnesses and after months of spiritual struggle, Ken found Jesus Christ as his Savior. Baptized in the First Baptist Church of Van Nuys, California and later ordained to the ministry, he began a ministry to evangelize other religions and cults. In 1978, the Guindon family moved to France where he served as a missionary with the Torchbearer Fellowship and later with Baptist Mid-Missions. Ken trained catechists in Mexico and he spoke and wrote programming for Spanish language radio in the Los Angeles area. He is retired and lives in Florida.

[Lee N. Field]

Can someone provide a timeline of the author's life so we can get this straight.

Detailed in the link.

His journey was RC -> JW -> Baptist -> RC -> EO -> Plymouth Brethren iirc.

And we're all glad he's back he's back in a Trinitarian body.

More to the point is the James Swan's (the author's) comment:

You're missing the point, as I figured most Roman Catholics would.

Using "conversion stories" as primary apologetic tools are tenuous. If I recall correctly,The Journey Home, EWTN, and Envoy are all aware this man is no longer Roman Catholic, yet, they still promote him as a Catholic convert.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Wonder what his son, Daniel Guindon, a Catholic Priest, thinks about his father leaving the Church, again, and if his two siblings and mother, who all converted to Catholicism in 1986, when Kenneth reverted, did the same. I’m sure that if they had you would have gleefully reported that, wouldn’t you?

[Lilllabettt]

The problem with using conversion stories is the difficulty in determing the authenticity of the "conversion."

Is the decision a truly deep, lasting, movement of the soul, or is it a superficial choice based on emotions or aesthetic? This man converted to Catholicism in the super-charged religious atmosphere of a monastery.

Elizabeth Taylor married 8 times to 7 husbands. That makes me wonder if she was ever married at all. Did she have the proper appreciation and understanding of what marriage is that is necessary to marry anybody?

This man has "converted" so many times. And every time there's a new testimony or a new book. I would read his material to find out what not to base a conversion decision on, but not for anything else.

[vladimir998]

Ken Guindon has changed his religion and or church so many times it’s hard to keep up with. He’s been baptized at least 6 times by my count.

I think he has a problem in general.

[Lee N. Field]

He’s been baptized at least 6 times by my count.

I'd be guessing 4, if the sequence is accurate. Would the Orthodox redo someone with an RC baptism?

I think he has a problem in general.

Anyway, yeah. For most people, a single jump like he has done five times would be a wrenching, once (or nonce) in a lifetime thing.

[vladimir998]

You wrote:

“I’d be guessing 4, if the sequence is accurate. Would the Orthodox redo someone with an RC baptism?”

Some Orthodox do, some don’t. But if you read his first book (when he became Catholic AGAIN) you’ll see he was baptized as a Catholic, baptized as a JW, and then baptized four times as a Baptist. I always thought that that was weird - being baptized repeatedly by different Baptists, but it happened to him according to his book.

“Anyway, yeah. For most people, a single jump like he has done five times would be a wrenching, once (or nonce) in a lifetime thing.”

True. He has jumped from one group to another and from one extreme (in a sense) to another. Many of the groups he has been a member of have been VERY opposed to one another. I think their is a psychological problem there.

[vladimir998]

I just saw online that Guindon is now Eastern Orthodox again. I think the man is unstable (to say the least).

[don-o]

mark

I want to see how an ecumenical thread works.

[Lee N. Field]

Thread necromancy. Two can play that game, bwa-ha-ha! :-)

I just saw online that Guindon is now Eastern Orthodox again. I think the man is unstable (to say the least).

To say the least.