Replies

I find that Protestants who convert to the Catholic Church are much more at peace with themselves than Catholics who go the other route.Why is that?

First of all, I don't personally know any former RCs, now Baptists, who aren't utterly delighted to be out of RCism. They have what the Bible calls the "peace which passes understanding."

And I know lots and lots of Baptists who are former RCs. They are pretty common down here in Texas.

But I do recognize that there are some folks who start out in RCism; who don't know the Lord from Adam; who abandon RCism as unsatisfying; who join Protestant churches (often under pressure from spouses--many of whom were Christians who never should have married unbelievers in the first place); who still don't know the Lord from Adam.

I don't know any such individual personally, since they have never turned up in any Reformed Baptist church with which I have been associated, but I do know enough about bad "inter-faith" marriages to be generally aware of this phenomenon. And I am aware that bad situations like this do tend to get worse.

So, even I can believe that there are cases which seem to fit your scenario, I stand by what I said at the top of this post. Of the many RCs I know, I don't personally know anyone who fits your scenario of RCs becoming Baptists and winding up with less peace as a result. My observations are just the opposite.

Wait a minute: I just thought of an interesting exception. I know an ex-RC who is a Baptist, a single fellow, and who is invariably pretty miserable around his own human family when he visits them ever year over the Christmas holidays. His departure from RCism has created a lot of resentment in that family. And I wouldn't be surprised if his family members misinterpreted his pain.

***

In the next place, I believe that there probably are a few ex-Protestants who are more comfortable in RCism. I suspect that these individuals are pretty rare compared to the number of folks who leave RCism. I have not personally met any ex-Protestant RCs, even if I am aware that they exist--for example, here on FR.

In any case, I flatly believe that they are unregenerate. Their experience means nothing to me. They need to read the Bible.