Why would anyone become Catholic?

https://www.indiegogo.com ^ | October 2, 2014 | Indiegogo

[NKP_Vet]

Why would intelligent, successful people give up their careers, alienate their friends, and cause havoc in their families...to become Catholic? Indeed, why would anyone become Catholic?

As an evangelist and author who recently threw my own life into some turmoil by deciding to enter the Catholic Church, I've faced this question a lot lately. That is one reason I decided to make this documentary; it's part of my attempt to try to explain to those closest to me why I would do such a crazy thing.

Convinced isn't just about me, though. The film is built around interviews with some of the most articulate and compelling Catholic converts in our culture today, including Scott Hahn, Francis Beckwith, Taylor Marshall, Holly Ordway, Abby Johnson, Jeff Cavins, Devin Rose, Matthew Leonard, Mark Regnerus, Jason Stellman, John Bergsma, Christian Smith, Kevin Vost, David Currie, Richard Cole, and Kenneth Howell. It also contains special appearances by experts in the field of conversion such as Patrick Madrid and Donald Asci.

Ultimately, this is a story about finding truth, beauty, and fulfillment in an unexpected place, and then sacrificing to grab on to it. I think it will entertain and inspire you, and perhaps even give you a fresh perspective on an old faith.

[Rides_A_Red_Horse]

Look, on the one hand, there is the incorrupt body of Bernadette Soubirous:

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So the Church didn't choose to make a chandelier out of her bones? Good for her!

[daniel1212]

I think we are witnessing the gradual process by which the Catholic Church distanced itself from the truth of scripture in the meeting they currently have underway.

Well, it Rome certainly is a deformation of the NT church, while more conformity to which remains a goal for true churches. Meanwhile, considering what V2 effected, or was a result of, Rome could redefine/reinvent itself to be more like its medieval distortion if circumstances allowed.

But that seems unlikely.

Q. 540. How did the Pope acquire and how was he deprived of the temporal power?

A. The Pope acquired the temporal power in a just manner by the consent of those who had a right to bestow it. He was deprived of it in an unjust manner by political changes. - http://baltimore-catechism.com/lesson12.htm

"....Constitutions can be changed, and non-Catholic sects may decline to such a point that the political proscription [ban] of them may become feasible and expedient. What protection would they have against a Catholic state? What protection would they then have against a Catholic State? The latter could logically tolerate only such religious activities as were confined to the members of the dissenting group. It could not permit them to carry on general propaganda nor accord their organization certain privileges that had formerly been extended to all religious corporations, for example, exemption from taxation. [But] the danger of religious intolerance toward non-Catholics in the United States is so improbable and so far in the future that it should not occupy their time or attention." — The State and the Church (1922), pp.38,39, by Monsignor (and professor) John Augustine Ryan (1869–1945), imprimatur of Cardinal Hayes (http://maritain.nd.edu/jmc/etext/sac002.htm).

78. “[It is error to believe that] Hence it has been wisely decided by law, in some Catholic countries, that persons coming to reside therein shall enjoy the public exercise of their own peculiar worship.” -- Allocution "Acerbissimum," Sept. 27, 1852. Pope Pius IX, The Syllabus (of Errors), Issued in 1864, Section X (http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius09/p9syll.htm)

There was a reason(s) why Founders in America were wary of RCs, and of RC rulers.

Secular authorities, whatever office they may hold, shall be admonished and induced and if necessary compelled by ecclesiastical censure, that as they wish to be esteemed and numbered among the faithful, so for the defense of the faith they ought publicly to take an oath that they will strive in good faith and to the best of their ability to exterminate in the territories subject to their jurisdiction all heretics pointed out by the Church; so that whenever anyone shall have assumed authority, whether spiritual or temporal, let him be bound to confirm this decree by oath.

But if a temporal ruler, after having been requested and admonished by the Church, should neglect to cleanse his territory of this heretical foulness, let him be excommunicated by the metropolitan and the other bishops of the province. If he refuses to make satisfaction within a year, let the matter be made known to the supreme pontiff, that he may declare the ruler’s vassals absolved from their allegiance and may offer the territory to be ruled lay Catholics, who on the extermination of the heretics may possess it without hindrance and preserve it in the purity of faith;....

Catholics who have girded themselves with the cross for the extermination of the heretics, shall enjoy the indulgences and privileges granted to those who go in defense of the Holy Land. (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/lateran4.asp)

[af_vet_1981]

I do agree that the translation one uses influences their take on the Scripture. For this reason I rely upon the 4th Edition United Bible Societies for the Greek and NASB for English. The USB is recognized for its scholarly accuracy while the NASB is the closet word for word translation currently available.

I interpret this to mean you have rejected the Greek Textus Receptus of the Protestants and Fundamentalists and think the 4th Edition is the best latest and greatest available. It seems to me that concedes to larger point on inspiration of the scriptures to Catholic Church, and completely abandons the Fundamentalists, this one verse notwithstanding. If you reject the Latin Vulgate, hold that better manuscripts have been found recently, it suggests you have neither had the complete Bible until now, and since other manuscripts may be found in the future, you may not have it now. Forth edition you say ? How many editions will it take to settle the original manuscript issue ? I think there is one frequent poster who believes all the original manuscripts were written in Hebrew. With that position, one could do what you are essentially doing, but by projecting what thee Hebrew was like that the Greek was based on and forming doctrine based on those hypotheses, a risky proposition.

[Elsie]

Interesting comment considering all the times Catholics have been accused of pagan idolatry based on appearances.

Don't blame us Prot's!

we inherited your compilation and found THIS in it:

Avoid all APPEARANCE of evil..."

[Elsie]

I’ve always been curious about the mentality that God’s word is not sufficient when it says it is.

I'm amazed at the SILENCE when Catholics are asked, begged and pleaded with to PLEASE show us just what TRADITIONS they have that are NEEDED for Salvation.

I've yet to see any response.

[Elsie]

You left out poor catechesis, this is covered under ignorance.

I am not surprised by this error on the part of a prot.

Nope; poor teaching; this is indicative of ineptitude.

I am not surprised by this avoidance on the part of a mackerel snapper.

[Elsie]

I think we need to have, in common, a more adequate definition of the word "agree" and the word "authority."

Good luck with that!

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'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone,

' it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.'

'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.'

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master - that's all.'  

[narses]

[Elsie]

Funny how the Christians who actually spoke Greek as their native language all their lives, and who studied the Greek Scriptures in the original, for 1500 years agreed with the Biblical doctrine that Mary is the "Panagia" --- based on "Kecharitomene."

 

Most Eastern Orthodox churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary are called Panagia; the standard western Christian designation of "St. Mary" is rarely used in the Orthodox East, as Mary is considered the holiest of all human beings and therefore of higher status than the Saints, literally a "Saint in the superlative".

 

Kecharitomene “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you” ( Lk 1:28).

 

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Using the EO terminology?

Strange...

[Elsie]

Got any examples of BINDING?

How about LOOSING??

[Elsie]

No so?

When I replied to your statement of... Not to dominate, but to be shepherds like Christ, Who especially appointed Peter, personally, to the role of chief shepherd when He told him three times to "feed my lambs," "tend to my lambs," and "feed my sheep"; and also when He called him, personally, to "strengthen the brethren."

Show us WHERE Peter is the Chief.

[Elsie]

It's a wonderful Sunday when I can come back from 8:00 Mass and find seven to twelve messages in a row from Elsie on my breakfast plate!

And not a bit of it cereal!! ;^)

[CynicalBear]

The depth of your theological acumen is ......well......amazing.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

Yeah, I think we are watching that “infallible Church dogma” develope in the meeting now going on.

Is infallible Church Teaching whatever you think?

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

Got any examples of BINDING? How about LOOSING??

Every time a priest hears a confession, Christ, acting through the person of the priest, may bind or loose people from their sins.

"Binding and loosing" is a phrase which comes from the rabbis. It refers to the authority to make decisions binding on the people of God. This authority includes interpreting and applying the Word of God and admitting people to and excommunicating them from the community of faith. For the Jews this meant the community of Israel. For Christians this means the Church. In Matthew 16:19 Jesus gives this authority over his Church to Peter: "Whatever you bind on Earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on Earth shall be loosed in heaven." In Matthew 18:18, he gives the power to all the apostles: "Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on Earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on Earth shall be loosed in heaven." This singling out of Peter to bestow on him an authority which is later to be given to all the apostles shows Peter's preeminence within the apostolic college. What the apostles as a whole possessed as leaders of the Church, Peter possessed as an individual. Of course, he, as the earthly head of the Church, also possessed powers which all the other apostles, even collectively, didn't possess: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 16:19).

"If he will not listen to the church, treat him as a pagan or tax collector" --Jesus

[Elsie]

At this time, I have come to regret the harsh, inconsiderate, and flippant comments I’ve made to other posters on this thread and other FR threads in the past. I could have, and should have done a finer job of communicating my conviction that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that He alone is the One and Only Founder of His Church.

I doubt you'd find Anyone posting here that disagrees with your conclusion.

What we are fussing over is HOW do we get to Him, what is necessary to DO, and what is not.

I, too, regret these things; but not ALL of them.

Once in a while a 2*4 has to be used to get someones attention.

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2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

(Anyone notice that TRADITION was NOT mentioned?)

[Elsie]

Tony Hillerman.

[Elsie]

Would that be a fair characterization of Protestantism?

At least SOMETHING about it is found in the Bible!

Mark 16:18
...they will pick up snakes with their hands;

[Elsie]

... "the holy bodies of holy martyrs and of others now living with Christ...

Living?

Just WHO are the DEAD in Christ that your Scripture compilation mentions?

[Gamecock]

Tradition begats tradition.