[HarleyD]

Why?

Someone who goes from being a Presbyterian to Pentecostal to Roman Catholic doesn't strike me as quite understanding the faith. To be fair, this is the problem I alluded to earlier with the synergistic view. Many confused Presbyterians THINK they understand the monergistic Reformed position but don't. They would never head to Rome if they truly did.

Scott Hahn represents a good person who believes in the synergistic view. They're confused as to what they believe. The Roman Catholic Church is just another denomination.

[wagglebee]

So, your basic contention is that Catholics who become Calvinists are thinking clearly, and Calvinists who become Catholic are simply confused?

[adiaireton8]

Well, I was raised Pentecostal, became Reformed just after college, received an M.Div. from a PCA seminary, then later became Anglican, and then later became Catholic.

You must think I am very confused. :-)

What do you think about the following? We want truth. If we just believed everything we heard, we might learn a lot of truths, but we would also accept many falsehoods (which we don't want). But if we don't believe anything we hear, the although we will successfully avoid treating falsehoods as true, we won't acquire truth. And acquiring truth is what we want. So we have to steer between gullibility (credulousness) on the one hand and close-mindedness on the other. If we merely listen to those with whom we already agree, we won't ever be challenged to discover whether we are wrong. This is why cults often forbid contact with those outside the cult. That kind of intellectual protectionism preserves error. But for this very reason, a genuine truth-lover never puts up a wall to challenges or opinions contrary to his own. He welcomes contrary opinions. He voraciously reads the opinions and arguments of those with whom he disagrees. Why? Because doing so is a win-win situation for him. If he finds out that he was wrong, then he has gained truth, which is a win for the truth-lover. But if in the process of reasoning or debating he is able to show that the other person's position is wrong, then he is confirmed in the truth of his own position, and that again is a win for a genuine truth-lover.

So, whether Hahn moved from Presybeterian to Pentecostal to Catholic, or whether he was a cradle Catholic, it shouldn't matter as regards whether we (as genuine truth-lovers) should be willing to listen to his evidence and argumentation. And likewise, genuine truth-loving Catholics should be willing to listen to the evidence and argumentation of Protestants. Right?

-A8