A Protestant Historian Discovers the Catholic Church – Conversion Story of A. David Anders, Ph.D.

chnetwork ^ | February 05, 2015 | A. David Anders

[Iscool]

As Benedict XVI explained in his famous Regensburg address, Catholicism is braided by both faith and reason.

And of course he's talking about faith in your religion and flawed human reasoning...I appreciate the honesty of Benny...He was honest enough not to throw the words of God, the Bible, into the mix...

When a parade of prominent Protestant theologians, authors, and preachers head for the exits based on their lifetime research and scholarship,

So imagine that...Those Catholics who developed enough gumption to do some research (in the bible, history of the early church fathers) found that your/their religion didn't line of with history nor the word of God and they started Protesting...

then the center collapses, and Protestantism collapses into the anarchy of the individual.

Hardly...Protestantism didn't collapse...Protestantism resulted in the greatest Reformation the world has seen, bringing the truth of God and his scriptures to the worldwide masses...Billions of them...

We have seen this Joel Osteen, David Koresh, Jim Jones, Billy Graham, Joseph Smith, Martin Luther, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and the list continues.

There's not a Catholic pope, ever, worthy enough to clean the dog crap off Billy Graham's shoes that he might have stepped in...And don't claim the apostle Peter...He was never a pope...He was never a bishop...

[elhombrelibre]

No, I just don’t know why you’re so vile in your approach to other Christians. You and others seem to dish it out pretty good, but not too keen on getting it back. Anyway, we’re done. I never read the parts of the Bible where Jesus told his followers to hector others with quotes from the KJV, like a pedantic expert.

[elhombrelibre]

You’re an Ian Paisley type bigot pure and simple.

[Elsie]

No, I just don’t know why you’re so vile in your approach to other Christians.

You can, at any time, search through this thread and re-post my vileness for all to see.

[Elsie]

I never read the parts of the Bible where Jesus told his followers to hector others with quotes from the KJV, like a pedantic expert.

Well; it is OBVIOUS that 'Jesus' told the Catholic Church to compile the Bible; and there are all kinds of examples to be found in it that concerns 'contending for the faith', 'rebuking', 'stopping false teaching'.

I'm not sorry at all if you find those things to be offensive to your delicate nature.

---

 

Acts 17:18-19
 18.  A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
 19.  Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?

 

Acts 18:11
    So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

 

 

 

 

 

Romans 15:4
 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

 

 

Romans 16:17
   I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.

 

 

1 Corinthians 4:17
   For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

 

 

1 Corinthians 11:2
 2.  I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings,  just as I passed them on to you.

 

 

Ephesians 4:14-15
 14.  Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
 15.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

 

 

2 Thessalonians 2:15
   So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings  we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

 

 

2 Thessalonians 3:6
  In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching  you received from us.

 

 

1 Timothy 1:3-4
 3.  As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer
 4.  nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work--which is by faith.

 

 

1 Timothy 1:7
  They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

 

 

1 Timothy 2:7
   And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle--I am telling the truth, I am not lying--and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.

 

 

1 Timothy 4:1-2
 1.  The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
 2.  Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.

 

 

1 Timothy 4:6
   If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.

 

 

1 Timothy 4:11
  Command and teach these things.

 

 

1 Timothy 6:3-5
 3.  If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching,
 4.  he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 
 5.  and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.

 

 

2 Timothy 1:13
  What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.

 

 

 2 Timothy 2:15-17
 15.  Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
 16.  Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.
 17.  Their teaching will spread like gangrene.

 

 

2 Timothy 3:16-17
 16.  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
 17.  so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

 

 

 2 Timothy 4:3-4
  3.  For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
  4.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

 

 

Titus 1:11
   They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach--and that for the sake of dishonest gain.

 

 

Titus 2:1
  You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.

 

 

Titus 2:15
  These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

 

 

 Hebrews 13:9
 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.

 

 

 2 Peter 2:1-3
 1.  But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves.
 2.  Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
 3.  In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

 

 

2 John 1:10
  If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him.

[Elsie]

No, I just don’t know why you’re so vile in your approach to other Christians.

You’re an Ian Paisley type bigot pure and simple.

[elhombrelibre]

In your mind, Wesley set God’s Church straight? He got it back to being an anti-Catholic religion, like the KKK and such. You’re the Ian Paisley person.

[Steelfish]

Don’t take my word for its- the collapse of Protestantism is all around you. It lacks solid theological and intellectual foundation. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry and their grandmother have their own conflicting view of Scripture. So Benny Hill is ok on his theology because he is “honest” as if we all know that folks like Joel Osteen; Rev. Schuller; Billy Graham; David Koresh; Jim Jones; were/are all “honest” despite the personal and family fortunes these individuals have made peddling their own brand of Bible Scripture.

So Benedict’s Regensburg Address is “flawed” reasoning because he is talking about “Catholicism” and never mind his address is widely studied in the theological departments of major universities. Are we supposed to cut some slack on Bible Christians because they are bereft of real scholars and theologians, and the more reputable ones have ditched their brand of Protestantism and converted to Christianity. Indeed, the great John Henry Newman is a convert to Catholicism. Of Course, and here I am guessing, 99.99% of Protestants have never bothered to read his works. Those who do apparently convert to Catholicism.

Catholics with “even gumption” What does this mean? Augustine, Aquinas, Newman, Benedict XVI are cowards? intellectually dishonest? Richard Neuhaus, America’s foremost Lutheran scholar and pastor who converted to Catholicism and become a Catholic Priest converted because of “gumption” or was it because Protestantism and all its multi-brands to thinking-people is a shallow and bankrupt faith?

Protestantism resulted not in the “greatest Reformation” but more appropriately in the words of one of the renowned English essayists, Hillaire Belloc, Protestantism “spawned a cluster of heresies.”

[Iscool]

Indeed, the great John Henry Newman is a convert to Catholicism. Of Course, and here I am guessing, 99.99% of Protestants have never bothered to read his works. Those who do apparently convert to Catholicism.

They all say the same things...Nothing new...They just keep repeating each other...Besides, I have no interest reading anything from a queer Catholic, or a queer Protestant...But you help yourself...

[elhombrelibre]

Eamon Duffy on John Henry Newman: “He came to see Evangelicalism, with its emphasis on religious feeling and on the Reformation doctrine of justification by faith alone, as a Trojan horse for an undogmatic religious individualism that ignored the Church’s role in the transmission of revealed truth, and that must lead inexorably to subjectivism and skepticism.”

[elhombrelibre]

His diary entries show he was attracted to women. So you're safe and needn't fear he'll convert you to homosexuality. To help you out, here is a link to some of his books. They're free now, and since you're aware that you're not reading a queer's books, you can open your mind. Enjoy!

http://manybooks.net/authors/newmanj.html

[Steelfish]

Nothing new in your post. Bible-Christians drown when challenged to swim into the deep end of theological pools. Since reading major theological works is out of the question for Bible Christians getting them to read the cogent arguments contained in a small paperback like Hillaire Belloc’s “Great Heresies” is too much effort.

Indeed, truth be said, even having Bible Christian engage in a careful read of David Anders’ article is too much. Theological depth and historical scholarship is not their game, and those Protestant theologians and scholars who embark on such a lifelong soul-searching journey to prove Catholicism wrong end up converting to Catholicism!

[Steve0113]

bookmark

[MARKUSPRIME]

And yet you still have a pope which is unbiblical, think mary is a queen in heaven(which is unbiblical and blasphemous), have idol worship and pagan ritutals, have numerous pagan symbols in your church, oh and still let rome and their traditions, and ill gained riches, influence be the center of your faith and not Christ and the holy word. I follow the bible not your priest or pope who you all call father which is also unbiblical. So keep bowing to the pope kissing his ring, thinking that saying hail mary’s and praying to saints is biblical(it is not they are human not God) and that they are a mediators besides Christ(which is also unbiblical, and blasphemous). Ill stay a Baptist, read the word and not follow a corrupt system like that is catholic church.

Inqusition, Borgias , support for Islam(you all worship the same God according to your Catholic texts), the list is endless. So cheers to you statue bowing, blasphemous idolotry loving intellectuals. Jesus and the Word is all you need God help you all.

[Carthego delenda est]

I know this is an ‘old’ thread, but I stumbled upon it and want to thank you for posting the article. It made my night. Thanks!