[NYer]

Fascinating

[Claud]

Oddly enough, this total tangent point jumped out at me:

So I immediately needed to know: is it required of Christians to believe that Genesis is to be taken literally? I asked people and looked around online, and quickly found that there was not unanimous agreement on this. I found people who laid out a pretty good case that, yes, it is required of Christians to believe that Genesis is a literal, blow-by-blow description of events that happened about 6,000 years ago; yet others made a good case that Christians should believe that it is truth conveyed through symbolism. I really couldn't tell who I should believe.

We are required to believe in the literal, historical truth of Genesis. Period.

What we are not required to believe, is that any particular exegete fully comprehends what that literal truth of Genesis actually is: what a "day" is, what kind of day you can have absent the sun, etc. That's all the Church's prerogative.

Genesis 1 was always acknowledged as an extraordinarily difficult text even before the advent of modern science, and St. Augustine famously wrote a book about it in which he sheepishly admitted that he had more questions than answers.

So trust the text absolutely; but be absolutely skeptical of all the exegetes. Until the Church sees fit to pronounce on this definitively, it is all mere speculation....I don't care what camp you are in.

[CarrotAndStick]

Ping.

[Claud]

Kudos to the author on a brilliant piece...so many issues resonated with my own reversion....among them the inability to trust ones judgment!

[Cheverus]

Hello,
Is the Sola Scriptura Comment in the original, because that’s not the gist I got. I got the gist of “search for authorative centralized theological postion leads atheist to Catholic Church”

[Between the Lines]

As always, please take this for what it is: the ramblings of some fool with an internet connection. :)

Duly noted.

[Between the Lines]

Jennifer did not trust the Bible, could not trust other Christians, so chose to trust the Church.

Jennifer you need only trust in God and believe in Jesus Christ. John 3:16

[Aquinasfan]

Great read. If you follow the truth wherever it leads, you’ll eventually end up in the Church.

[Remole]

The essay concludes with a quotation from Orthodoxy by GK Chesterton, a book he wrote in 1908—when he was an Anglican. But in context, he is speaking of authoritative Christian Orthodoxy, and by and large the point stands for the Catholic Church too.

[TASMANIANRED]

Bookmarking

[FourtySeven]

This girl "gets it". Good post in #3 Claud.

...Christian acquaintances telling me to let the Holy Spirit guide me...

Ironically, this is exactly what Catholics do every day when we put our trust in the Church. We trust that the Holy Spirit guides Her to all truth.

I don't know why that notion is so repulsive to so many non-Catholic Christians. (well actually I do have a pretty good idea why it is, but no sense in getting personal, and that's not a "dig" against anyone's intelligence; it's implying something far more "dark"). What everyone should remember though is exactly what this girl apparently realized, instinctually: Not everyone is appointed Pope.

Not everyone is given all the gifts the Holy Spirit has to offer. This is what, to me, many non Catholics seem to not realize. To suggest that there aren't "SOME apostles, SOME prophets, SOME teachers, etc", but rather, "ALL are apostles, ALL are prophets, ALL are (their own self) teachers" is clearly contrary to Scripture.

But again, that point seems to be lost on so many.

[Salvation]

Why I'm Catholic (Sola Scriptura leads atheist to Catholic Church)
From Calvinist to Catholic (another powerful conversion story) Rodney Beason
Good-bye To All That (Another Episcopalian gets ready to swim the Tiber)
Bp. Steenson's Letter to his clergy on his conversion to the Catholic Church>

Bishop Steenson’s Statement to the House [of Bishops: Episcopal (TEC) to Catholic]
Bp. Steenson's Letter to his clergy on his conversion to the Catholic Church
Bishop Steenson Will Become a Roman Catholic
Married man considers turn as Catholic priest
Pavarotti returns to the Catholic faith before dying

Searching For Authority (A Methodist minister finds himself surprised by Truth!)
Why I Returned to the Catholic Church. Part VI: The Biblical Reality (Al Kresta)
Why I Returned to the Catholic Church. Part V: The Catholics and the Pope(Al Kresta)
The Hail Mary of a Protestant (A true story)
Why I Returned to the Catholic Church. Part IV: Crucifix and Altar(Al Kresta)

Why I Returned to the Catholic Church. Part III: Tradition and Church (Al Kresta)
Why I Returned to the Catholic Church. Part II: Doubts (Al Kresta)
Why I Returned to the Catholic Church. Part I: Darkness(Al Kresta)
Conversion Story - Matt Enloe (former Baptist) [prepare to be amazed!]
THE ORTHODOX REVIVAL IN RUSSIA

Conversion Story - David Finkelstein (former Jew)
Conversion Story - John Weidner (former Evangelical)
12 Reasons I Joined the Catholic Church
Conversion Story - Tom Hunt
The Tide Is Turning Toward Catholicism: The Converts

John Calvin Made Me Catholic
Journey Home - May 21 - Neil Babcox (former Presbyterian) - A minister encounters Mary
Going Catholic - Six journeys to Rome
My (Imminent) Reception into the Roman Catholic Church
A Convert's Pilgrimage [Christopher Cuddy]

From Pastor to Parishioner: My Love for Christ Led Me Home (to the Catholic Church) [Drake McCalister]
Lutheran professor of philosophy prepares to enter Catholic Church
Patty Bonds (former Baptist and sister of Dr. James White) to appear on The Journey Home - May 7
Pastor and Flock Become Catholics
Why Converts Choose Catholicism

From Calvinist to Catholic
The journey back - Dr. Beckwith explains his reasons for returning to the Catholic Church
Famous Homosexual Italian Author Returned to the Church Before Dying of AIDS
Dr. Francis Beckwith Returns To Full Communion With The Church
Catholic Converts - Stephen K. Ray (former Evangelical)

Catholic Converts - Malcolm Muggeridge
Catholic Converts - Richard John Neuhaus
Catholic Converts - Avery Cardinal Dulles
Catholic Converts - Israel (Eugenio) Zolli - Chief Rabbi of Rome
Catholic Converts - Robert H. Bork , American Jurist (Catholic Caucus)
Catholic Converts - Marcus Grodi
The Scott Hahn Conversion Story

FORMER PENTECOSTAL RELATES MIRACLE THAT OCCURRED WITH THE PRECIOUS BLOOD
Conversion Story - Rusty Tisdale (former Pentecostal)

[narses]

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[GoLightly]

I have a challenge to you & all other Christians around here, whoever reads this post. Rather than talking about converts, might be worthy use of some of our energy to work on converting someone.

I wandered over to YouTube yesterday & happened across a couple of potential candidates. The video was a Copt explaining the Trinity on al Jazerra (sp). On the surface, they look like they’d be resistant, but, something in the video drew them in. I think that taking the discussion to PM there would work better than getting into the public discussion.

http://www.youtube.com/comment_servlet?all_comments&v=rBCEnHOn1gI&fromurl=/watch%3Fv%3DrBCEnHOn1gI

[Zionist Conspirator]

I found the creation story fit surprisingly well with what we know of the origin of the universe through science, albeit in symbolic form. I could definitely believe that this was true. I could not, however, believe that it was a journalistic style account of events, like something you'd read in the newspaper. So I immediately needed to know: is it required of Christians to believe that Genesis is to be taken literally? I asked people and looked around online, and quickly found that there was not unanimous agreement on this. I found people who laid out a pretty good case that, yes, it is required of Christians to believe that Genesis is a literal, blow-by-blow description of events that happened about 6,000 years ago; yet others made a good case that Christians should believe that it is truth conveyed through symbolism. I really couldn't tell who I should believe.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why atheists become Catholics and not Fundamentalist Protestants!

Does she really believe that "real presence" stuff? Maybe science should investigate and make a definitive pronouncement (like they did on the creation of the universe)!

[VOA]

bump for publicity

[MEGoody]

So. . .this former atheist didn't feel comfortable with her ability to read and understand scripture, so instead of asking the source of scripture to teach her via the Holy Spirit, she fluffs her responsibility off onto someone else and just decides to embrace whatever that person says without question.

Got it.

[Diva]

Interesting conversion account. My first questions while a young So. Baptist centered around the purpose of communion, the grape juice and cracker thing we would have at our church on occasion. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why they even bothered to do it, it seemed silly. I read the Bible and talked to people and tried to understand why it was important, why would Jesus want us to remember something that seemed, excuse the expression, trite. When I began to take a look at the Catholic Church (mostly because I was intrigued by old movies like The Bells of St. Mary), and discovered that these people actually believed that there was a big point to Communion I was hooked. It took a few more years until I actually “Poped” and one of the reasons I was finally willing to offend my family was the thought that this Church has existed since the time of Jesus and so they have the experience. They’ve been around longer than the Baptists et al.

[Cvengr]

...I asked God to lead me to the right conclusion about all these questions, to speak to me through Scripture about everything...

Bingo. God provides. Place faith alone in Christ alone and let Him do all the work in salvation.

[kidd]

God reached a woman who wanted to be found.

So God used the Catholic Church to do this.

I find it odd that some on this thread are arguing that God didn’t use the right searchlight.