I Hated the Idea of Becoming Catholic

Aleteia ^ | JUNE 20, 2014 | ANTHONY BARATTA

[NYer]

It was the day after Ash Wednesday in 2012 when I called my mom from my dorm room at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and told her I thought I was going to become Catholic.

“You’re not going to become Catholic, you just know you’re not Southern Baptist,” she said.

“No, I don’t think so.”

A pause. “Oh boy,” she sighed.

I started crying.

I cannot stress enough how much I hated the idea of becoming Catholic. I was bargaining to the last moment. I submitted a sermon for a competition days before withdrawing from school. I was memorizing Psalm 119 to convince myself of sola scriptura. I set up meetings with professors to hear the best arguments. I purposefully read Protestant books about Catholicism, rather than books by Catholic authors.

Further, I knew I would lose my housing money and have to pay a scholarship back if I withdrew from school, not to mention disappointing family, friends, and a dedicated church community.

But when I attempted to do my homework, I collapsed on my bed. All I wanted to do was scream at the textbook, “Who says?!”

I had experienced a huge paradigm shift in my thinking about the faith, and the question of apostolic authority loomed larger than ever.

But let’s rewind back a few years.

I grew up in an evangelical Protestant home. My father was a worship and preaching pastor from when I was in fourth grade onwards. Midway through college, I really fell in love with Jesus Christ and His precious Gospel and decided to become a pastor.

It was during that time that I was hardened in my assumption that the Roman Catholic Church didn’t adhere to the Bible. When I asked one pastor friend of mine during my junior year why Catholics thought Mary remained a virgin after Jesus’ birth when the Bible clearly said Jesus had “brothers,” he simply grimaced: “They don’t read the Bible.”

Though I had been in talks with Seattle’s Mars Hill Church about doing an internship with them, John Piper’s book Don’t Waste Your Life clarified my call to missionary work specifically, and I spent the next summer evangelizing Catholics in Poland.

So I was surprised when I visited my parents and found a silly looking book titled Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic on my father’s desk. What was my dad doing reading something like this? I was curious and hadn’t brought anything home to read, so I gave it a look.

David Currie’s memoir of leaving behind his evangelical education and ministries was bothersome. His unapologetic defense of controversial doctrines regarding Mary and the papacy were most shocking, as I had never seriously considered that Catholics would have sensible, scriptural defenses to these beliefs.

The book’s presence on my father’s desk was explained more fully a few months later when he called me and said he was returning to the Catholicism of his youth. My response? “But, can’t you just be Lutheran or something?” I felt angry, betrayed, and indignant. For the next four months I served as a youth pastor at my local church and, in my free time, read up on why Catholicism was wrong.

During that time, I stumbled across a Christianity Today article that depicted an “evangelical identity crisis.” The author painted a picture of young evangelicals, growing up in a post-modern world, yearning to be firmly rooted in history and encouraged that others had stood strong for Christ in changing and troubled times. Yet, in my experience, most evangelical churches did not observe the liturgical calendar, the Apostles’ Creed was never mentioned, many of the songs were written after 1997, and if any anecdotal story was told about a hero from church history, it was certainly from after the Reformation. Most of Christian history was nowhere to be found.

For the first time, I panicked. I found a copy of the Catechism and started leafing through it, finding the most controversial doctrines and laughing at the silliness of the Catholic Church. Indulgences? Papal infallibility? These things, so obviously wrong, reassured me in my Protestantism. The Mass sounded beautiful and the idea of a visible, unified Church was appealing - but at the expense of the Gospel? It seemed obvious that Satan would build a large organization that would lead so many just short of heaven.

I shook off most of the doubts and enjoyed the remainder of my time at college, having fun with the youth group and sharing my faith with the students. Any lingering doubts, I assumed, would be dealt with in seminary.

I started my classes in January with the excitement of a die-hard football fan going to the Super Bowl. The classes were fantastic and I thought I had finally rid myself of any Catholic problems.

But just a few weeks later, I ran into more doubts. We were learning about spiritual disciplines like prayer and fasting and I was struck by how often the professor would skip from St. Paul to Martin Luther or Jonathan Edwards when describing admirable lives of piety. Did nothing worthwhile happen in the first 1500 years? The skipping of history would continue in many other classes and assigned reading. The majority of pre-Reformation church history was ignored.

I soon discovered I had less in common with the early Church fathers than I thought. Unlike most Christians in history, communion had always been for me an occasional eating of bread and grape juice, and baptism was only important after someone had gotten “saved.” Not only did these views contradict much of Church history but, increasingly, they did not match with uncomfortable Bible passages I had always shrugged off (John 6, Romans 6, etc).

Other questions that I had buried began to reappear, no longer docile but ferocious, demanding an answer. Where did the Bible come from? Why didn’t the Bible claim to be “sufficient”? The Protestant answers that had held me over in the last year were no longer satisfying.

Jefferson Bethke’s viral YouTube video, “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus,” was released during this time. The young man meant well, but to me he only validated what the Wall Street Journal called “the dangerous theological anarchy of young evangelicals,” attempting to remove Jesus from the confines of religion but losing so much in the process.

Ash Wednesday was the tipping point. A hip Southern Baptist church in Louisville held a morning Ash Wednesday service and many students showed up to classes with ashes on their forehead. At chapel that afternoon, a professor renowned for his apologetic efforts against Catholicism expounded upon the beauty of this thousand year old tradition.

Afterwards, I asked a seminary friend why most evangelicals had rejected this beautiful thing. He responded with something about Pharisees and “man-made traditions.”

I shook my head. “I can’t do this anymore.”

My resistance to Catholicism started to fade. I was feeling drawn to the sacraments, sacramentals, physical manifestations of God’s grace, the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. No more borrowing, no more denying.

It was the next day that I called my mom and told her I thought I was going to become Catholic.

I didn’t go to classes on Friday. I went to the seminary library and checked out books I had previously forbidden myself to look at too closely, like the Catechism and Pope Benedict’s latest. I felt like I was checking out porn. Later, I drove to a 5pm Saturday Mass. The gorgeous crucifix at the front of the church reminded me of when I had mused that crucifixes demonstrated that Catholics didn’t really understand the resurrection.

But I saw the crucifix differently this time and began crying. “Jesus, my suffering savior, you’re here.”

A peace came over me until Tuesday, when it yielded to face-to-windshield reality. Should I stay or leave? I had several panicked phone calls: “I literally have no idea what I am going to do tomorrow morning.”

On Wednesday morning I woke up, opened my laptop, and typed out “77 Reasons I Am Leaving Evangelicalism.” The list included things like sola scriptura, justification, authority, the Eucharist, history, beauty, and continuity between the Old and New Testament. The headlines and the ensuing paragraphs flowed from my fingers like water bursting from a centuries-old dam. 

A few hours later on February 29, 2012 I slipped out of Louisville, Kentucky, eager to not confuse anyone else and hoping I wasn’t making a mistake.  

The next few months were painful. More than anything else I felt ashamed and defensive, uncertain of how so much of my identity and career path could be upended so quickly. Nonetheless, I joined the Church on Pentecost with the support of my family and started looking for work.

So much has changed since then. I met Jackie on CatholicMatch.com that June, got married a year later, and celebrated the birth of our daughter, Evelyn, on March 3rd, 2014. We’re now in Indiana and I’m happy at my job.

I’m still very new on this Catholic journey. To all inquirers out there, I can tell you that my relationship with God has deepened and strengthened. As I get involved in our parish, I’m so thankful for the love of evangelism and the Bible that I learned in Protestantism.

I have not so much left my former faith as I have filled in the gaps. I thank God for the fullness of the Catholic faith.

[delchiante]

I don’t converse in Spanish and yet, I was taught Spanish so if ever I needed to communicate in Spanish, I have the ability to at least muddle through. If I lived in Mexico, it would be a bigger deal..

I don’t have a job that runs on the world’s system (HalleluYah! ) anymore so it has allowed me to focus on new moon days, six work days and His Sabbath as Ezekiel 46 details.
It was a voluntary removal from the world.. didn’t know it would move me so far away from what was deemed comfortable, but He has

The world’s system tells me that Jews keep today (saturns’day ) as holy.. some Christians do too..
The world’s system tells me that Christians keep tomorrow (sun’s day) as holy.

Saturn’s’ day , according to Ezekiel 46, is a work day this month- His fifth day of the week.
Sun’s day, according to Ezekiel 46, is a work day this month- His sixth day of the week.

His seventh day Sabbath, according to Ezekiel 46, is a gregorian MonDay for a couple more weeks.

Then a new moon will appear, and the cycle continues... and that New moon will be seen on a Monday at sunset or the next day Tuesday..
Then the New Moon Day would be the next day.. and then six work days and then His Sabbath. And His Sabbath will appear to move even though it hasn’t gone anywhere.. It only moves in relation to the world’s calendar.

People who keep the pope’s calendar never has a change in their Sabbath.
Neither does the one with its template found in Ezekiel and its components found in His sky.

The Sabbath always will follow six days of work. And those six days of work will start after the New Moon Day.

I have very little business to do with the world anymore. I used to..
I don’t know of any church that observes this calendar.

It isn’t a calendar that plays well in business, schools or religions..

Tough to keep His Sabbath holy when the world says its a work day..

And a calendar in scripture puts to bed the debate of Saturday/Sunday or any day sabbath.

He has a Sabbath.. and it hasn’t changed. He taught it to Israel for 40 years in the wilderness..
He wasn’t only feeding them, He was teaching them His time.. and then His Son came and fulfilled that time perfectly..

It isn’t a surprise the enemy would not want all that made known..

[af_vet_1981]

By immediate context, the "partakers of the heavenly calling" are never associated with falling away.

I don't accept that. They were the ones the author was warning so they do not fall away. The risk is not that they never had faith. The risk is that they stop believing (parable of the sower). Frank, the son of Frances and Edith Schaeffer, may be example of this aspect of Hebrews, absent being a Jew. In the parable of the sower, three of four people received the word and only one of four remained fruitful. In Hebrews there is no possibility of repentance, only certain judgment. If they were unsaved they would, in the common Evangelical view, be able to repent and believe the Gospel to be saved. In the Calvinist Gospel such salvation is impossible because only the elect can be saved. The unelect are forever lost no matter what they believe and do. The author of Hebrews says the audience are holy brethren and partakers, therefore they were saved, if they can be savedm if they will continue to believe.

He comes to King Saul in a ministration of prophecy.

From 1 Samuel: The LORD anointed (and uses word for Messiah) Saul, sent the Holy Spirit to him, and gave him another heart (similar to Ezekiel 36 and Jeremiah 31). Saul was a partaker and saved. After his disobedience God rejected him from being King and punished him with death. Saul went to join the prophet Samuel in Hades. In 1 Kings, another King, Solomon, sinned against the LORD. I think both these kings were saved and hope both they found mercy and will be in heaven.

Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?

And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man. And let it be, when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve thee; for God is with thee.

And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day. And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? And one of the same place answered and said, But who is their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets? And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place.

Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? And the Lord hath done to him, as he spake by me: for the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine hand, and given it to thy neighbour, even to David: Because thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord, nor executedst his fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore hath the Lord done this thing unto thee this day. Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.

Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.

And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

[editor-surveyor]

In your case, the expectations were:

[Resettozero]

Usually the color red is reserved in Bibles for the passages spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blue is a fine fine color for highlighting text, if dark enough blue to be read clearly.

You’re a contrary kind of person, ain’t ya?

[Resettozero]

I can GUARANTEE that it WILL be between 2 and 3 AM!

Is that during the third watch or the fourth watch?

[editor-surveyor]

The hour is supposedly calculable, but God doesn’t do it that way. He requires the new moon to actually be visible, so cloud cover often has played a part in Yom Teruah.

Once Antichrist makes his stand on the mercy seat, every believer in the world will be able to count out the 1335 days prophesied by Daniel to his coming.

Non believers will be on their own, even if they think they are believers, based on the lies they have heard from the pulpit.

[Religion Moderator]

Disscuss the issues, do not make it personal.

[editor-surveyor]

I refuse to acknowledge Satan's authority over what is the word of God; that, I'm sure is the difficulty you may have experienced.

My devices are the Holy Spirit, and the high comprehension of the word that he delivers to me. They should be yours too.

Allowing one’s mind to be influenced by the nicolaitan at the pulpit has cost many their chance at eternal life.

One should heed the apostle Paul's revelation of the keepers of the Oracles of God, and stop looking elsewhere for his instructions to us. Failing to heed the “First Principles” contained therein leaves one having “become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.”

.

[editor-surveyor]

This one seems to have partaken of improper quantities of certain substances.
.

[af_vet_1981]

You are my witnesses.

Sat Dec 06 2014 23:09:16 GMT+0000 (GMT) · 1,024 of 1,025 Resettozero to af_vet_1981 Usually the color red is reserved in Bibles for the passages spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Blue is a fine fine color for highlighting text, if dark enough blue to be read clearly.

[editor-surveyor]

>> “I can GUARANTEE that it WILL be between 2 and 3 AM!” <<

.
Disturbing! God’s word tells us that it should be approximately at sunset. That is when believers have watched for Yom Teruah since it was revealed at Sinai, and Sinai was Yom Teruah too.
.

[Resettozero]

Back in my youthful Velikovsky and prophecy preoccupation days, the sort of knowledge that has captivated your interest was the kind of special knowledge I sought out.

Years later, I heard the Lord’s instructions and believed Him and settled in for the long haul.

Keep watch for no man knows the hour of His appearing. Only the Father in Heaven does. And His coming will be as a thief would come. Namely, when the thief is not expected. Otherwise, the thief’s mark would keep watch and not have his house broken into. And still...and yet...we are instructed to keep the good lookout always, not only at the times of the fall feasts.

[delchiante]

7:25 comes out of the 4th beast. That, according to history,

1. Babylon
2. Medo/Persia
3. Greece
4. ROME

Something from that 4th beast would think to change Times and Laws..

Rome, today, not in the future, has been the giver of the Julian calendar(named after a roman emperor) and now the Gregorian, named after a religious figure.

Rome, today, has a different set of ten commandments compared to what is shown in Exodus and Deuteronomy.

Times and laws have been changed,. By the 4th beast.. and it has happened over hundreds and thousands of years.

The Messiah himself did away with the offerings and sacrifices.. when He came in the middle of the last seven and laid His life down for us.
Israel rejected Him.. then also killed the first martyr, Stephen..
Israel was given 70 sevens.. the Savior came in the last seven of that 70. He came down here to make a special, personal plea to the lost house of Israel. And they rejected Him, His prophets, apostles and then got sacked , just like the prophet Jonah warned Ninevah, our Savior warned Israel.

If people are waiting for an Antichrist to make a pact with Israel and then do away with the sacrifices, that sounds like Hollywood left behind stuff..

Considering there is a movie out there now with an actor that played a part in those left behind films that is defending ‘Christmas/December 25’ , I wouldn’t put much stock in his spiritual discernment..

I am thinking those people at that seminary you referenced think today is Saturn’s Day.
And tomorrow is their worship day..not because the bible says.. it because Rome says.

And that is how Satan can possibly deceive the whole world, just like scripture says..

And not only that, get people who call themselves elect, to defend it..

That is why we hear and see scripture detailing a narrow path.. and of virgins being locked out.. and where we can see the verse saying, I never knew you, get away from me, you who worked lawlessness..

No man gets the glory for what He has taught me.. It is the work of His Holy Spirit.. no seminary or church would teach this because they would start to realize just how much of that beast they share in their own faith.

We all meet Him as the Greco roman Latin savior named Jesus.our bibles even use that name. He didn’t let me stay there.
I know Him as the Messiah of Israel.. His english name is Joshua.. it is a name of one of the books of the old testament and is located in the prophets.

My concordance says the name Joshua isn’t used in the new testament. Apparently, the translations today disagree with the concordance with acts 7:45 and Hebrews 4:8..

Maybe the name is in fact a vital piece..
It describes who, when, where we worship..

Jesus, December 25, easter and Sunday is Rome..
It is the core for most of Christendom.

The seminary you referenced doesn’t deny those because if they did, they would be out of business..or not be considered christian..
Seminaries may deny Sunday or have a negative look to December 25.

Not sure any seminaries have issues with easter.

If you don’t have December 25, easter or Sunday, you don’t have Rome..
Does one still have Jesus?

Is Jesus married to December 25, easter and Sunday?
Can one reject all of that and still believe in Jesus?
Sure.. but it wouldn’t be the Roman Jesus..

How many Jesusese are there? One for each denomination that differs with Rome or just one ?

Maybe the name Joshua, which isn’t married to December 25, easter or Sunday is an option that differentiates with Rome.

it at least allows one to reject Rome’s version and worship..there would be one jesus ,a Roman one... and one Joshua, the Israelite that was shadowed in the old testament.

Each person is on a personal journey.. I can see how Jehovah’s witnesses and Mormons and catholics and protestants , etc can arise and have their own versions of truth..

I can’t associate with any of those because they begin with the premise that Rome has any truth..
Rome looks and feels like truth..I had no reason to doubt it until I read the promises Mary gives for the rosary.

If one starts studying it all, then one can see why so many daughters and off shoots have been born.
Not immaculately so..

[Resettozero]

You omitted the full quote. Here's the remainder:

You’re a contrary kind of person, ain’t ya?

That was the main point of my post you partially quoted for some reason only known to yourself.

[Hot Tabasco]

I’m assuming this post is here to help begin a healthy dialogue about Catholicism versus Christianity?

Not knowing what to believe in the realm of Christianity, I've got a supply of popcorn and will lurk this thread anticipating the cat fight that is sure to follow.........

[af_vet_1981]

"I have heard of by grace are ye saved through faith and that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. I have not heard of saved by grammar."

Well I heard "there is no God" - it says so right in the Bible!

In reality, anyone can pull snippets and words and phrases out of the Bible and pretty much make it say whatever they want. The only problem - and this may be why you don't post references(?) - is that people who care about the truth can go to the Bible and see that such claims are usually bogus. The Bible cannot contradict itself seeing as the same Holy Spirit inspired it all. The truth of the gospel is that we are saved by grace through faith and not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. That is found in Ephesians 2:8,9 in case you were wondering.

Occasionally I will post markers to make a point, but I usually don't post references because I assume those I'm addressing either love the scriptures and already have them written in their hearts and minds, or need to study more and not the uninspired chapters and verses added much, much later, but the very words and phrases, For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Memorizing chapters and verses profits nothing; having the actual words and phrases in your heart and mind, on your walls and on your gates, is profitable for you.

Now as to the scripture that troubles you. Notice the word "that."

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Some mistakenly emphasize the grace to the diminishment of grace and imagine that faith is the gift of God rather than grace. We are commanded to believe. Faith is our cooperation with God's grace. The grace is God's gift. "That" is neuter while "faith" is feminine. "Grace" is also neuter.

[af_vet_1981]

You omitted the full quote. Here's the remainder: You’re a contrary kind of person, ain’t ya? That was the main point of my post you partially quoted for some reason only known to yourself.

I omitted it to spare you.

[editor-surveyor]

>> “Keep watch for no man knows the hour of His appearing.” <<

Did that go completely over your head?

By giving us that ancient Hebrew idiom, he told us that those that “watch” for Yom Teruah will be ready, the rest will be in the shape that the parable of the virgins offers for the foolish virgins.

Yehova has never kept his elect in the dark, and this is no exception. Yeshua thereby informed his elect that he was coming at Yom Teruah, and the losers that aren’t his anyway will be able to smugly repeat “man knows the hour of His appearing.”
.

[editor-surveyor]

Correction:

and the losers that aren’t his anyway will be able to smugly repeat “no man knows the hour of His appearing.”
.

[Resettozero]

You are aware that your posts don’t always make good sense?

Such as this one.