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Magazine: Growing Trend--Evangelicals ‘Crossing the Tiber’ to Catholicism
TheSacredPage.com ^
| August 6, 2010
| Michael Barber
Posted on 08/07/2010 3:38:50 PM PDT by Salvation
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_NLydHsxn-mw/TFw-AnYOMVI/AAAAAAAABQ0/LfHW7UTRsYs/s400/st.+peter+basilica.jpg)
The magazine Religion Dispatches has a new piece up by Jonathan Fitzgerald, entitled, "Evangelicals Crossing the Tiber to Catholicism: Under the radar of most observers a trend is emerging of evangelicals converting to Catholicism."
As he points out, there are an increasing number Evangelicals coming into the Catholic Church. In fact, while my wife and I were at Fuller we witnessed this phenomenon firsthand. Indeed, students would come up and ask us if they could follow us to daily Mass (which was celebrated at a Catholic Church down the street). I went to Mass with many fellow students who had never experienced a Eucharistic liturgy. . . and, for many of them, once they started attending they couldn't stop.
Here's the story as Fitzgerald
reports it:
In the fall of 1999, I was a freshman at Gordon College, an evangelical liberal arts school in Massachusetts. There, fifteen years earlier, a professor named Thomas Howard resigned from the English department when he felt his beliefs were no longer in line with the colleges statement of faith. Despite all those intervening years, during my time at Gordon the specter of Thomas Howard loomed large on campus. The story of his resignation captured my imagination; it came about, ultimately, because he converted to Roman Catholicism. Though his reasons for converting were unclear and perhaps unimaginable to me at the time (they are actually well-documented in his book Evangelical is Not Enough which, back then, I had not yet read), his reasons seemed less important than the knowledge that it could happen. I had never heard of such a thing. . .
. . . [M]y parents never spoke ill of the Catholic Church; though the pastors and congregants of our non-denominational, charismatic church-that-met-in-a-warehouse, often did. Despite my firsthand experience with the Church, between the legend of my parents conversion (anything that happens in a childs life before he is born is the stuff of legends) and the portrait of the Catholic Church as an oppressive institution that took all the fun out of being saved, I understood Catholicism as a religion that a person leaves when she becomes serious about her faith.
And yet, Thomas Howard is only the tip of the iceberg of a hastening trend of evangelicals converting to Catholicism. North Park University professor of religious studies Scot McKnight documented some of the reasons behind this trend in his important 2002 essay entitled From Wheaton to Rome: Why Evangelicals become Roman Catholic. The essay was originally published in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, and was later included in a collection of conversion stories he co-edited with Hauna Ondrey entitled Finding Faith, Losing Faith: Stories of Conversion and Apostasy.
Thomas Howard comes in at number five on McKnights list of significant conversions, behind former Presbyterian pastor and author of Rome Sweet Home, Scott Hahn, and Marcus Grodi founder of The Coming Home Network International, an organization that provides fellowship, encouragement and support for Protestant pastors and laymen who are somewhere along the journey or have already been received into the Catholic Church, according to their Web site. Other featured converts include singer-songwriter John Michael Talbot and Patrick Madrid, editor of the Surprised by Truth books, which showcase conversion stories.
Would Saint Augustine Go to a Southern Baptist Church in Houston?
McKnight first identified these converts eight years ago, and the trend has continued to grow in the intervening years. It shows up in a variety of places, in the musings of the late Michael Spencer (the Internet Monk) about his wifes conversion and his decision not to follow, as well as at the Evangelical Theological Society where the former President and Baylor University professor Francis J. Beckwith made a well-documented return to Rome. Additionally, the conversion trend is once again picking up steam as the Millennial generation, the first to be born and raised in the contemporary brand of evangelicalism, comes of age. Though perhaps an unlikely setting, The Kings College, an evangelical Christian college in New York City, provides an excellent case study for the way this phenomenon is manifesting itself among young evangelicals.
The Kings College campus is comprised of two floors in the Empire State Building and some office space in a neighboring building on Fifth Avenue. The approximately 300 students who attend Kings are thoughtful, considerate and serious. They are also intellectually curious. This combination of traits, it turns out, makes the college a ripe breeding ground for interest in Roman Catholicism. Among the traits of the Catholic Church that attract TKC studentsand indeed many young evangelicals at largeare its history, emphasis on liturgy, and tradition of intellectualism.
Lucas Croslow was one such student to whom these and other attributes of Catholicism appealed. This past spring, graduating from The Kings College was not the only major change in Croslows life, he was also confirmed into the Catholic Church.
Croslows interest in Catholicism began over six years ago when he was a sophomore in high school. At the time, Croslows Midwestern evangelical church experienced a crisis that is all too common among evangelical churches: what he describes as a crisis of spiritual authority. As a result of experiencing disappointment in his pastor, Croslow began to question everything he had learned from him. This questioning led him to study the historical origins of scripture and then of the Christian church itself. Eventually he concluded that Catholicism in its current form is the closest iteration of the early church fathers intentions. He asks, If Saint Augustine showed up today, could we seriously think that hed attend a Southern Baptist church in Houston? The answer, to Croslow, is a resounding No.
. . .
You can read the rest
here.
TOPICS: Apologetics; Catholic; History; Theology
KEYWORDS: catholic; catholiclist; converts; evangelical; freformed
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To: Quix
You're quite welcome, dear brother in Christ!
To: Alamo-Girl
the maps suggest that when a conservative religious body is dominant in a county that voted liberal, the members need to put more effort into their outreach, i.e. to get the conservative values across to their members and to the community. LOL, of course but it may take some effort to put together a strategy on how to spread the word on something so complex and diverse to so many people in so many counties. I wish you well on that and I think that it would eventually pay off if you can put it together.
I think the political parties get into things on that scale.
202
posted on
08/07/2010 9:22:08 PM PDT
by
ansel12
(Mitt: "I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I'm not trying to return to Reagan-Bush")
To: vladimir998
Its not an opinion. Its a fact - the SBC was started to uphold the life of slavery and racism. Totally missed the point! What is in the heart? Of the person? Today? Now? The past is gone, your church cannot claim innocence in the past, but what matters is now and the Southern Baptist faith, IMO, is far closer to the gospel of Christ than many, many older ones.
203
posted on
08/07/2010 9:22:32 PM PDT
by
boatbums
(God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to him.)
To: Salvation
The big cities kill our elections dont they?
I certainly agree. In Illinois, Chicago has such a huge population the rest of the state hardly counts at all.
To: Alamo-Girl
Chicago has such a huge population the rest of the state hardly counts at all. But each individual only gets one vote regardless of where he lives.
205
posted on
08/07/2010 9:26:28 PM PDT
by
ansel12
(Mitt: "I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I'm not trying to return to Reagan-Bush")
To: narses
Now WHO needs to read the whole Bible? THe Scripture I gave you came AFTER PENTECOST, narses. It came in ACTS CHAPTER 9.
now who appears so inadequate in Bible facts...And if you read the WHOLE Bible, YOU should have known that..
206
posted on
08/07/2010 9:28:13 PM PDT
by
smvoice
(smvoice- formally known as small voice in the wilderness. Easier on the typing!)
To: ansel12
I wish you well on that and I think that it would eventually pay off if you can put it together.
There's nothing I can do about it. The dominant conservative religious body in a county - whether Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Mormon - needs to be aware of these things and get to work. It is evidence of the ineffectiveness of their ministries if their conservative values are not shared in the community they dominant.
To: ansel12
But each individual only gets one vote regardless of where he lives.
Indeed. But some of these cities are so large - and so out of step with the rest of their state - they are in effect a city-state.
To: surroundedbyblue; Salvation
By the way if all Catholic democrat voters are automatically excommunicated then why do conservative Catholics push to excommunicate someone like a Pelosi, since we can assume that she votes Democrat isn’t she already excommunicated and remove from Catholic membership totals?
To what year (which election) does that excommunication rule go back to?
209
posted on
08/07/2010 9:32:08 PM PDT
by
ansel12
(Mitt: "I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I'm not trying to return to Reagan-Bush")
To: LiteKeeper
Deeds still end up being in there somewhere :-)
210
posted on
08/07/2010 9:32:48 PM PDT
by
Tribune7
(The Democrat Party is not a political organization but a religious cult.)
To: metmom
The penalty for sin was paid but that doesnt mean that sin was eliminated. Which is why work is still required, right?
211
posted on
08/07/2010 9:35:43 PM PDT
by
Tribune7
(The Democrat Party is not a political organization but a religious cult.)
To: Alamo-Girl
One thing about that map is that it merely shows the largest single denomination in the county, if the county is absolutely diverse with hundreds of churches and one particular denomination claims one member more than any of the others, then it is painted as THE church of that county.
212
posted on
08/07/2010 9:37:29 PM PDT
by
ansel12
(Mitt: "I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I'm not trying to return to Reagan-Bush")
To: smvoice
So? The concept seems to have blown right by you. What a shame.
213
posted on
08/07/2010 9:37:53 PM PDT
by
narses
( 'Prefer nothing to the love of Christ.')
To: surroundedbyblue
SBs believe that life begins at conception and that it is God given at that point. And we believe that abortion is murder of an innocent baby. I can not quote their statement word for word but it ends with saying that when that baby is born it is born into the whole world which God created. I know many couples at my church who go the way of adoption. We have some wonderful, beautiful, loved children by that means. They are a blessing to their parents, grandparents, other relatives and their friends who treasure these blessing from another country.
214
posted on
08/07/2010 9:40:44 PM PDT
by
MamaB
To: ansel12
The religious body of the counties marked with a dot are dominant (50%+ of the population) the others have a majority but are not dominant (<50%).
To: narses
That’s not the actual shame, narses. The actual shame is evidently ignoring God’s Word if it doesn’t mention Peter. And believing that Jesus Christ spoke no more after He spoke to Peter. Even if you just follow the “red words” in your Bible they should be there, after Peter, in Acts, Chapter 9. He spoke to someone else after He spoke to Peter. That concept seems to have blown right by you. And that is a true shame.
216
posted on
08/07/2010 9:42:40 PM PDT
by
smvoice
(smvoice- formally known as small voice in the wilderness. Easier on the typing!)
To: ansel12; Alamo-Girl; Amityschild; Brad's Gramma; Captain Beyond; Cvengr; DvdMom; firebrand; ...
I realize we have to work with realities . . . and unless and until it was super overwhelmingly clear that a 3rd party would swamp one and a half of the other parties . . . we must work with the GOP.
However, we must also realize that
—the leaders of the GOP
—including the major stars in the GOP ‘stable,’
ARE ABOUT AS MUCH DYED-IN-THE-WOOL TRAITOROUS GLOBALISTS AS TEDDY KENNEDY AND TED TURNER.
THEY HAVE BEEN DEMONSTRATING THIS IN SPADES NOW THAT OTHUGA HAS BEEN SELECTED.
They can only be trusted to be traitorous and destructive . . . only slightly less horrific than the DIMRATS . . . or maybe not at all less destructive . . .
just more of a silly smile and softer music as they press the guillotine button.
THE BOSSES OF BOTH PARTIES are these blokes:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2519352/posts?page=2#2
And THEY are NOT remotely interested in the welfare of the country. They are interested in the UTTER DESTRUCTION of their own nest—the US OF A . . . IN ORDER FOR THEIR LITERALLY SATANIC PRETEND UTOPIAN GLOBAL ORDER TO REIGN SUPREME AND UNFETTERED BY THE NATIONALISM OF THE USA.
They are convinced they have sufficient lavishly stocked and appointed bunkers that they can ride out the chaos and come out on top of the meager numbers of serfs left on the surface after the dust settles.
BOTH parties consider themselves the ruling elite DESERVING of treating the rest of us as slaves. They don’t believe in the divine rights of former kings. They believe that their born with gold spoons status or as self-made billionaires—that their own unique wonderful qualities entitle them to be our slave masters.
They have no awareness at all that God has a different destiny in store for them a lot sooner than they’d ever imagine.
However, they will be able to spread a lot of death, suffering, mayhem for at least several years far too long.
GOD ALONE IS WORTHY OUR EFFORTS. ONLY WHAT’S DONE FOR CHRIST WILL LAST. ONLY WHAT’S DONE FOR CHRIST WILL BE OF ANY MERIT AND ANY BENEFIT TO THE U.S. OF A.
IF God is directing political efforts, then, let them be whole heartedly as unto God. However, avoid being deceived. The political scene will wax largely worse and worse until after the literal Armageddon.
There is SOME possibility that God will have some sort of other dimensional or preserved unto Him or some such sort of OTHER government operating out of HIS SAFE HAVENS. But that is total wild fantasy conjecture—and highly doubtful at that. I don’t really expect such to operate until after Armageddon—at least not very widely. I just won’t be surprised if I’m wrong.
In any case, the only strength, wisdom, protection, resources, energy, supply, knowledge etc. of any lasting impact will be via GOD ALONE. ALL ELSE WILL FAIL. ALL THE ARMS OF FLESH WILL FAIL. They will fail the USA. They will fail individuals and families. They will fail businesses. All arms of flesh will fail utterly.
GOD ALONE WILL BE SUFFICIENT FOR LIFE, FOR EFFECTIVE IMPACT IN ANY RESPECTS IN ANY SPHERE OR LOCALE.
Adjust your thinking accordingly.
This ain’t Kansas. And it’s not going to be Kansas ever again—least wise not any time soon and not ever quite as before.
THAT’S REGARDLESS of how effective tea parties et al might be etc. etc. etc. And I’ve attended and support them and likely will again.
217
posted on
08/07/2010 9:52:00 PM PDT
by
Quix
(THE PLAN of the Bosses: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2519352/posts?page=2#2)
To: Alamo-Girl
Thanks I didn’t even notice the dots in some of the counties or the mention of them on the right, on my little 1990s screen.
218
posted on
08/07/2010 9:53:27 PM PDT
by
ansel12
(Mitt: "I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I'm not trying to return to Reagan-Bush")
To: Tribune7
Deeds demonstrate the reality of your faith. But, it earns NOTHING in the eyes of God. Our salvation is purely the grace of God, and of works.
219
posted on
08/07/2010 9:57:34 PM PDT
by
LiteKeeper
("It's the peoples' seat!")
To: Alamo-Girl
Again thanks for those added parameters of what the black dots mean. Very telling!
220
posted on
08/07/2010 9:57:47 PM PDT
by
Salvation
("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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