Too long and misses the whole point. Protestants go Catholic because the Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church in Word and Sacrament in all its fullness. IOW, Catholic Christianity is the One, True Christianity. The psychoanalysis of Catholic converts is quite unnecessary. The truth is plain.
-Theo
So you are saying that my Protestant Presbyterian belief is false?
I could go with this argument if the Catholic Church hadn't changed some of it's teachings, beliefs, and practices from time to time. It was the perverse teaching of paying indulgences that initially began Luther's path out of the Catholic Church.
What do you do with Jesus' statement that those who worship Him do so in "spirit and in truth"? This was in response to the Samaritan woman's question about where believers should worship God. She was looking for the place of true worship. Jesus didn't answer her as she expected, but said that worship comes from the inside out, not from the outside in, nor from the top down. Brought forward, the question would be, "Where should we worship God? In the Catholic Church, or in the Protestant church?" A: "You shall worship God in spirit and in truth."
I have a problem with the argument for the supremacy of the authority of the Catholic Church which stems mainly from the tradition of the Catholic Church. Seems like circular, self-serving logic to me.
John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. 20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,
I believed in Jesus through THEIR (the Apostles) MESSAGE.
We are the ones who teach that. It's that simple.