Not "mysterious". I know the definition of the words. And there's nothing to be gained by "feeling." There was a desire to know the truth. Actually, it was more than desire - desperate need is better.
Here was a man, taught by the Apostle John, telling me something about the belief that he held. A man who would soon die for his faith. I thought his testimony worthy of further investigation.
In fact, finding out about Ignatius and Polycarp and many other opened a new world to me. I got to learn for myself what my sola teachers would not and could not teach me. The more I learned, the more I saw the misrepresentation of church history that I had believed all my life.
It was hard. I have never prayed as much as I did in those days.
“Desperate need” is known to lead people onto paths they might not under normal curcumstances take...oftentimes it is the wrong path. Again anyone is free to believe writers from days of old over the scriptures all that they want. But if what they believe does not stand up to the authority of the scriptures truth they would be mistaken in their belief.
The scriptures are the final authority to judge truth and falsehood. More will be deceived as these last days come and the deceptions multiplied. MAny were deceived in the past....the enemy of mens souls tactics remain in play to this day.
Example....a Christian man now believes in New age beliefs because the gurus of old convinced Him of reincarnation and what they have written. The more he learned the more he found that Christianity misrepresents the status of men and has not given the eastern religions their rightful place among men. It was hard for him as well.....and yet he now believes.
This is often used as justification, but which places the infallible words of men above the infallible words of God, which commends common men for examining the very apostle’s preaching by the then-existing Scriptures. (Acts 17:11)
This reliance upon post-apostolic (Biblically speaking) sources also infers there was unanimous consent among the fathers on RC doctrine, which there was not, (http://www.equip.org/PDF/DC170-3.pdf) and that none support the primacy of Scripture (http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/sola-scriptura-earlychurch.html) and that terms such a “tradition” did not evolve in their meaning . (http://www.christiantruth.com/articles/livingtradition.html)
As God has affirmed the Scriptures as the only objective authority which is 100% inspired of Him, that is what must be the supreme doctrinal authority, versus holding an office to be infallible, based upon its infallible declaration that it is infallible when speaking according to its infallibly defined formula.
And plenty of pray before becoming Mormons or the like, and then there are the contrary testimonies from Rome to evangelical faith. (http://www.christiantruth.com/articles/Testimony.html)