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.

[metmom]

It is you and Cynical Bear who have chosen to ignore the testimony of all who have come before you; to denigrate the witness of the Apostles and those martyrs who shed their blood so that YOU could besmirch their witness to the faith with the suggestion that they were ignorant and you are wiser than them. Sola Scriptura Is Not Taught in the Bible.

There are lots of things the Catholic church teaches as truth that are not found in the Bible.

Show me in the Bible where the word Bible is found. Show me in the Bible where the word Trinity is found.

So the Bible must not be “scriptural” and the Holy Trinity must not scriptural.

Then that must mean that these things are not Scriptural either.

catholic

pope

eucharist

sacraments

annulment

assumption

immaculate conception

mass

purgatory

magisterium

infallible

confirmation

crucifix

rosary

mortal sin

venial sin

perpetual virginity

apostolic succession

indulgences

hyperdulia

catechism

real presence

transubstantiation

liturgy

free will

"Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle." 2Thes:2:15

Just what are those traditions Paul was referring to that he handed down that we are to keep that were not included in Scripture?

How do you know?

How do you know they’re from the apostles, Paul in particular?

How do you know they’ve been passed down faithfully?

What is your source for verifying all of the above?

Please provide the sources for verification purposes.

[metmom]

Jesus would never have endorsed men like this, nor would He have allowed them to continue in their positions claiming to be His representatives on earth.

Top 10 Most Wicked Popes

http://listverse.com/2007/08/17/top-10-most-wicked-popes/

1. Liberius, reigned 352-66 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
2. Honorius I, reigned 625-638 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
3. Stephen VI, reigned 896-89 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
4. John XII, reigned 955-964 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
5. Benedict IX, reigned 1032-1048 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
6. Boniface VIII, reigned 1294-1303 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
7. Urban VI, reigned 1378-1389 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
8. Alexander VI, reigned 1492-1503 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
9. Leo X, reigned 1513-1521 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
10. Clement VII, reigned 1523-1524 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]

Top 10 Worst Popes in History

http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-worst-popes-in-history.php

1. Pope Alexander VI (1431 – 1503)
2. Pope John XII (c. 937 – 964)
3. Pope Benedict IX (c. 1012 – 1065/85)
4. Pope Sergius III (? – 911)
5. Pope Stephen VI (? – 897)
6. Pope Julius III (1487 – 1555)
7. Pope Urban II (ca. 1035 – 1099)
8. Pope Clement VI (1291 – 1352)
9. Pope Leo X (1475 – 1521)
10. Pope Boniface VIII (c. 1235 – 1303)

NO way any organization with men like this allowed to be in charge is the actual body of Christ.

Jesus removed churches from the lampstand in Revelation 2&3 for far less serious charges than what those *popes* participated in.

[metmom]

I suppose those who are part of the crowd could not and would not see the truth.

Those Catholic people I worked with also thought they were right and also justified their abominable behavior.

They can’t and won’t see it until they come out of it.

Neither will you.

[Elsie]

that he was saying that if you don't understand the "words" "bread" and "cup", you are taking them unworthily, and heap judgment down upon yourself?

I now see why I flunked Logic 101...

[Elsie]

You make kitty cry!

[Elsie]

Already in Revelation we see that "churches" had strayed from the right path.

Is it not AMAZING how they can IGNORE this fact and breeze right along as if the elephant in the room is not caving in the foundation.

[Elsie]

Already in Revelation we see that "churches" had strayed from the right path.

Is it not AMAZING how they can IGNORE this fact and breeze right along as if the elephant in the room is not caving in the foundation.

[Elsie]

Already in Revelation we see that "churches" had strayed from the right path.

Is it not AMAZING how they can IGNORE this fact and breeze right along as if the elephant in the room is not caving in the foundation.

[Elsie]

Already in Revelation we see that "churches" had strayed from the right path.

Is it not AMAZING how they can IGNORE this fact and breeze right along as if the elephant in the room is not caving in the foundation.

[Heart-Rest]

"You mean as in "thou shalt not eat the blood" and "refrain from eating blood"? Why do you insist on promoting the idea that Jesus broke those laws and caused others to do so?"

=============================================================

Those commands are talking about sacrificial animals, and animals for food, and their blood.    The Mosaic law also said this about those fleshly animal sacrifices:

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But the holy things which are due from you, and your votive offerings, you shall take, and you shall go to the place which the Lord will choose, and offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the Lord your God; the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the Lord your God, but the flesh you may eat.
Deuteronomy 12:26-27

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It said you have to pour the blood of those animal sacrifices on God's altar of sacrifice.   Do you do that, CynicalBear, or do you just observe certain parts you select from the Mosaic Law to obey?

Among numerous other superceded laws, here are just a few of many possible examples showing how the Mosaic Law also declared the following obsolete laws, which the New Covenant of Jesus Christ did away with:

------------------------------------------------------------

If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall purge the evil from Israel.
Deuteronomy 22:22

If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor’s wife; so you shall purge the evil from the midst of you.
Deuteronomy 22:23-24

For every one who curses his father or his mother shall be put to death.
Leviticus 20:9

If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them.
Leviticus 20:13

A man or a woman who is a medium or a wizard shall be put to death; they shall be stoned with stones, their blood shall be upon them.
Leviticus 20:27

When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing.   If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him.    If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s and he shall go out alone.
Exodus 21:2-4

When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.
Exodus 21:7

You shall not permit a sorceress to live.
Exodus 22:18

Whoever sacrifices to any god, save to the Lord only, shall be utterly destroyed.
Exodus 22:20

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When was the last time you obeyed any of those Old Covenant laws, CynicalBear?   (Or do you just like to pick and choose which of the many laws in the Old Mosaic Covenant you are willing to obey?)

(You are espousing and living under the old, defunct Mosaic Covenant (at least part of it), which you obviously "pick and choose" from for yourself, obeying some of those laws, and rejecting the others.    As Jesus said, He brought us a "New Covenant" to live by, and it is not the same as the "Old Covenant".)

Many times, even before the "Last Supper", Jesus said, "You have heard it said...but I say...", and He changed (by His Sovereign Will) some law or precept from the old Mosaic covenant.    Our Lord also commanded us to "eat His flesh", and "drink His blood".    It is very arrogant and foolish to disregard those solemn commands which came directly from the mouth of Our Lord.

[Elsie]

Already in Revelation we see that "churches" had strayed from the right path.

Is it not AMAZING how they can IGNORE this fact and breeze right along as if the elephant in the room is not caving in the foundation.

[Heart-Rest]

"I now see why I flunked Logic 101..."

=============================================================

Elsie, have you ever posted anything that was honest and true?

[metmom]

So, are you then saying that drinking HUMAN blood is OK since The OT Law did not specifically prohibit it?

[metmom]

Acts 15:12-29 And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,

“‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.’

Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”

Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, with the following letter:

“The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

[metmom]

Those commands are talking about sacrificial animals, and animals for food, and their blood. The Mosaic law also said this about those fleshly animal sacrifices:

The complicating factor here is that the VERY FIRST prohibition against eating blood came long before the Mosaic law was given.

So Catholics cannot use the *It's only under the Law* tactic any more.

Genesis 9:4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life , that is, its blood.

[editor-surveyor]

>> “Is it not AMAZING how they can IGNORE this fact...” <<

.
You can say that again!

And again...

And again...

[Heart-Rest]

"So, are you then saying that drinking HUMAN blood is OK since The OT Law did not specifically prohibit it?"

=============================================================

No, what I am saying is that we (including you) should obey Jesus Christ (who is God), and He commanded (not suggested) us to eat His glorified body and drink His glorified blood, in a Sacrament He instituted during the "Last Supper", which entails a great mystery which no human can fully understand (because God's ways are so far above our ways), but which we should take by faith, as Our Lord God said it, and it was handed down by God's Apostles (including the Apostle Paul, who told us in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29 that if we don't discern the body of Our Lord in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, we profane the body and blood of Our Lord).

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is not the same as the symbolic sacrificial animals talked about in the Mosaic Covenant.    We worship Jesus, but nobody was ever supposed to worship any of those Mosaic sacrificial animals.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Because He was telling the truth. It's not for me to say "Your Body? I don't think so...." or presume to explain "How He did that."

I am convinced in my heart that when Jesus says "This is My Body," the only fitting response is, "Amen."

[CynicalBear]

>>You have been told the truth,<<

No, all any of us hear from Catholics is the corruption and twisting of scripture that the Catholic Church puts out. We hear the additions of what they call "traditions" either not supported by scripture or directly contradicting it.

>>It is now up to the Holy Spirit to change your heart and mind.<<

It's the Holy Spirit that has revealed to me the true meaning of scripture and the corruption and apostasy of the Catholic Church.

[CynicalBear]

>>Please provide the sources for verification purposes.<<

Putting their faith in fallible man will lead to sad results for them.