Evangelicals Becoming Catholics :: Former Christianity Today Editor Mark Galli

Defenders of the Catholic Faith Ministry ^ | Sept. 18, 2020 | Steve Ray

[MurphsLaw]

Evangelical Protestant flagship periodical asks:
“Why do evangelicals convert to Catholicism and how should we respond?” by ED STETZER
Evangelicals Becoming Catholics: Former CT Editor Mark Galli

This Sunday, September 13, a man named Mark will become confirmed as a Catholic. Why is this significant?

Mark Galli, who will be confirmed under the name of St. Francis, is a former Presbyterian pastor and editor-in-chief for Christianity Today. Additionally, as RNS noted, for a few days last December, he was perhaps the best-known evangelical in the nation calling for the impeachment and removal of Donald Trump from the presidency.

Galli, however, says the timing of his conversion to Catholicism two months before the next election is for personal reasons. After 20 years in the Anglican Church, he believes moving to Catholicism is not a rejection of evangelicalism but instead taking his existing “Anglicanism deeper and thicker.”

His faith journey has taken him from Presbyterianism to becoming an Episcopalian, then Anglican, with a brief interlude of attending the Orthodox Church. This runs counter to trends in the U.S.; Currently for every one convert to Catholicism, six leave the tradition. But notable Protestants, from Elizabeth Ann Seton and John Henry Newman, to G.K. Chesterton, Francis Beckwith, and Tony Blair. The RNS article observed:

Some converts are drawn to the beauty of Catholic ritual. Others to the church’s rich intellectual tradition or the centrality of the Eucharist, the bread and wine used for Communion, which Catholics believe becomes the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

That was part of the reason for Galli, but his fatigue with evangelicalism contributed as well. “I want to submit myself to something bigger than myself,” He said, a dding:

One thing I like about both Orthodoxy and Catholicism is that you have to do these things, whether you like it or not, whether you’re in the mood or not, sometimes whether you believe or not. You just have to plow ahead. I want that.

Why do Evangelicals Become Catholics?

A CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE Beauty: In the National Catholic Register, an article on the book Evangelical Exodus: Evangelical Seminarians and Their Pathsto Rome noted beauty as one reason. No less than ten Southern Evangelical Seminary students contributed to this book, as did Francis Beckwith of Baylor.

Editor (and convert) Douglas Beaumont observed:

In Protestantism, there’s a tendency to dismiss any reason other than the intellectual. But as human beings, we’re both physical and spiritual creatures. In the Catholic Church, he found, intellect and reason are respected; but the Catholic Church is also more beautiful and more historical. There is an attractive package which draws the spirit, combining art and music and beauty, a long history, and tradition, with solid intellectual arguments.

Spirituality: Scott Hahn, another former evangelical now Catholic, in his chapter “Come to the Father: The Fact at the Foundation of Catholic Spirituality,” in Four Views on Christian Spirituality, notes the great diversity of expressions of spirituality from the . . . silence of the Trappists and the Pentecostal praise of the Charismatic Renewal; the rarified intellectual life of the Dominicans and the profound feeling of the Franciscans; the wealth of the knights of Malta and the elected poverty of the Missionaries of Charity; the strict enclosure of the Carthusians and the world-loving secularity of the Opus Dei; the bright colors of Central American devotional art and the austere blocks of the German cathedrals; the warrior spirit of the Templars and the serene pax of the Benedictines; Ignatian detachment and Marian warmth.

He argues this shows the richness of Catholic spirituality which “presents a forest indiscernible because of the variety and number— and even the age— of its trees.”

For the rest of the insightful conversion story written from an Evangelical Protestant perspective trying to understand why the editor of his magazine would convert to Catholicism—click here. - https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2020/september/latest-evangelicals-becoming-catholics-mark-galli.html

[daniel1212]

As the article states of the subject...Catholicism is not a rejection of evangelicalism but instead taking his existing “Anglicanism deeper and thicker.”

That is simply absurd. Except for some in African Anglicanism, to be Anglican is a rejection of evangelicalism, and Gill left the latter, though he seems ignorant as to why we chastened him for helping the Left.

when Mr. Galli published an explosive editorial on Dec. 19 arguing that President Trump should be removed from office. So many readers flocked to read the editorial online that the website crashed, overwhelming those whose job it was to keep it running...

On a very viral article, we might get 4,000 or 5,000 on the site at one time. Not only did this crash the site almost immediately, but when it came back on, there were between 15 and 17,000 people on our site for hours. I’ve kind of gotten in trouble with my IT department because they said, “Why didn’t you give us a heads up?” and I said, “I had no idea.”..

I’ve already been invited to write for The Los Angeles Times

[boatbums]

Galli, however, says the timing of his conversion to Catholicism two months before the next election is for personal reasons. After 20 years in the Anglican Church, he believes moving to Catholicism is not a rejection of evangelicalism but instead taking his existing “Anglicanism deeper and thicker.” His faith journey has taken him from Presbyterianism to becoming an Episcopalian, then Anglican, with a brief interlude of attending the Orthodox Church. This runs counter to trends in the U.S.; Currently for every one convert to Catholicism, six leave the tradition.

Doesn't look like it was that big of a deal to him. It has been trending that for every one person who "swims the Tiber", SIX swim out. I was one who left Roman Catholicism nearly fifty years ago and I have NEVER had the slightest desire to go back!

MurphsLaw, I know you are supposedly a newbie here, but you keep posting threads that have shown up here for years. What usually happens is Catholics take it personally when non-Catholic Christians dispute the claims these kind of threads make and they can't remain civil. Some of them get so enraged that they try to get others zotted or banned. When that doesn't work, they try to get the thread closed. Do you check to see if a thread has already been posted before? I've got a big list of articles I could post that I know Catholics wouldn't appreciate. I hold off because I don't want to intentionally provoke people to anger. Maybe think about that the next time you post threads like this. Check your motivations.

[Luircin]

Ya need to search for threads for reposts before putting up something, especially something provocative. Just sayin’.

[daniel1212]

Where do us Catholics go now that the Catholic Church has increasingly ceased to be Catholic? In fact, in the case of many of our leaders, I’m not sure they are even generically Christian, let alone in communion with the actual teachings of the Catholic Church. I went to mass again, after a break, and was greeting with teachings and a class about supporting BLM and a priest who hates me because I am a white English speaker. No thanks.

No, they are not Christian, and BLM is itself racist, but the main issue is not being in communion with distinctive teachings of the Catholic Church, but those of the NT church as manifested in the NT.

[Mark17]

Yes. It is big news when an “evangelical” gives up Christianity and becomes a Catholic. It’s not news when it goes the other way, because it happens thousands of time each day.

It does indeed sir. It happened to me too. The most beautiful experience of my life, was to leave. Some of my catholic high school classmates still give me a hard time about it. I just laugh it off, and say, call me when you have assurance of salvation. 😁👍

[metmom]

Hmmm, seems that the Jews of Jesus days were pretty Scripturally literate without the printing press.

Acts 17:2-3 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”

Acts 17:11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

Catholics work from a presumption of widespread illiteracy among the general populace and yet history does not support that.

There was too much commerce and too many libraries and historical documents left for us to support that contention.

Not everyone needs to own their own personal copy of Scripture to be able to access it. The synagogues had them as recorded in the gospels. And there is such a thing as memorizing it, so having a physical copy is not necessary.

I guess Satan's tactic of *Did God REALLY say....* is alive and well on this planet yet.

If God breathed, Holy Spirit inspired, Truth that Scripture is not good enough for Catholics, then nothing is. It is authoritative by it's very nature as being spoken by God.

[metmom]

Bad leadership can run any organization into the ground. Plenty of evangelical churches have been run into the ground in precisely the same way.

How's Francis working out for y'all?

[narses]

“Where do us Catholics go now that the Catholic Church has increasingly ceased to be Catholic?”

The Latin Mass. The Eternal Truth.

[metmom]

When you can't read, it's easier to fall back on the belief that half the truth can come from tradition (Catholicism). When you can read and you take advantage of that by reading Scripture, you learn that some of what's taught as "truth" by tradition contradicts the Bible.

I found that to be the case when I started reading Scripture.

I got saved at a time when I wasn't attending a church and as soon as I accepted Christ, I knew I needed to start attending church, giving, and reading the Bible.

Nobody told me I was supposed to start doing that. I just knew it, as if it was the natural thing to do.

The only church I knew was Catholicism, having been raised in it, so that's where I went back to.

But as I read Scripture and observed what was said in the mass, I saw more and more inconsistencies.

THAT is what led me to find an Evangelical church, one that preached out of the Bible and where people actually lived it.

So after a few months of sticking with the Catholic church, I made the break and never looked back.

And it was solely based on that, not moral issues as so many FRomans here accuse me of.

[metmom]

Plenty of Catholics read just fine, and can easily see through the logical and historical contradictions of sola Scriptura.

So just what are the logical and historical contradictions of sola scriptura?

[daniel1212]

So just what are the logical and historical contradictions of sola scriptura?

That is easy: You begin with the premise that since men such as the apostles could speak as wholly inspired of God and provide new public revelation thereby (2 Thessalonians 2:15) and that Christ did far more things than what is written, (John 21:25) and never commanded them to be written, and founded a church, not a book, then this supports Catholic oral tradition (or traditions, seeing as the RC and the EOs have disagreements on it).

And that since Scripture needs defining and authoritative explanation, and there is no verse that teaches SS, and few people could read or access the Bible for most of history, then SS is both unscriptural and non-historical.

Of course, the facts are that while men such as the apostles could speak as wholly inspired of God and provide new public revelation thereby, yet popes and ecumenical councils do not speak or write as wholly inspired of God in declaring what the word of God is

And that SS does not require widespread literacy or access to the Bible, otherwise SS preachers could hardly evangelical unreached people groups. Nor does SS hold that it contains all that can be known from Christ. But the Cath argument ignores is that God manifestly made writing His most-reliable means of authoritative preservation. And that as written, Scripture became the transcendent supreme standard for obedience and testing and establishing truth claims And which provided the doctrinal and prophetic epistemological foundation for the gospel and thus the church. And Scripture formally and materially provides what is needed for salvation and growth in grace, and which includes helps, and councils, the Spirit's illumination of Scripture and gifts, etc.

And what is not provided is the Cath alternative of sola ecclesia, with its novel and unScriptural premise of ensured perpetual magisterial infallibility as per Rome (and basically in primary cults).

[Elsie]

One thing I like about both Orthodoxy and Catholicism is that you have to do these things, whether you like it or not, whether you’re in the mood or not, sometimes whether you believe or not. You just have to plow ahead. I want that.

This is sure a compelling reason.

---

[Elsie]

And that is attractive to many....

A Masochist can ALWAYS find a Sadist to beat then.

[Elsie]

NARSES?

Back in the religion forum?

I thought you wuz DEAD!

[boatbums]

>>One thing I like about both Orthodoxy and Catholicism is that you have to do these things, whether you like it or not, whether you’re in the mood or not, sometimes whether you believe or not. You just have to plow ahead. I want that.>>

This is sure a compelling reason.

Really! Nothing like being the religion where one must earn and merit their salvation to holding onto a captured audience. They sprinkle helpless newborns then convince them they belong to "the church" and MUST remain or they will go to hell. "Plowing ahead"...indeed!

I praise Almighty God that He led me OUT of that false religion and its accursed gospel and into the light of His glorious salvation by grace through faith and not works.

[infool7]

For those wondering just how Catholic they already are.

Just add up all the points and see where you stand.

RCIA is just starting, check with your local parish for when classes meet.

I am sure there is plenty of room for you in the...

The One True Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church founded by Christ Jesus
                                                                                                                            , that built Christendom(western civilization.)

          The Nicene Creed
          I believe in one God,
          the Father almighty,
          maker of heaven and earth,
          of all things visible and invisible.
+10 One God
          I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
          the Only Begotten Son of God,
          born of the Father before all ages.
+15 Christ Jesus
          God from God, Light from Light,
          true God from true God,
          begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
          through him all things were made.
+ 1 Consubstantial with the Father
          For us men and for our salvation
          he came down from heaven,
+ 1 For our salvation
           and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
          and became man.
+ 1 Virgin Birth
          For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
          he suffered death and was buried,
          and rose again on the third day
          in accordance with the Scriptures.
+10 Suffered, Died and Rose
          He ascended into heaven
          and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
+ 1 Ascended, Seated
          He will come again in glory
          to judge the living and the dead
          and his kingdom will have no end.
+10 Come Again in Glory to Judge
          I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
          who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
          who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
          who has spoken through the prophets.
+10 Holy Trinity
          I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
+10 One Visible Church
          I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
+ 1 One Baptism
          and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
          and the life of the world to come.
+10 Resurrection of the Dead

          The Ten Commandments:
          1. I am the LORD your God. You shall worship the Lord your God
              and Him only shall you serve.
          2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
          3. Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.
          4. Honor your father and your mother.
          5. You shall not murder.
          6. You shall not commit adultery.
          7. You shall not steal.
          8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
          9. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.
          10.You shall not covet your neighbor's goods.
+10 The Ten Commandments

          The Greatest Commandment
          1. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy
               whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength
          2. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
+ 2 The Greatest Commnadments

          The Seven Sacraments Catholic Church:
          1. Baptism.
          2. Eucharist.
          3. Confirmation.
          4. Reconciliation.
          5. Anointing of the sick.
          6. Marriage.(XY+XX, Till death do us part)
          7. Holy orders.
+ 7 The Seven Sacraments

          The Precepts of the Catholic Church:
          1. You shall attend Mass on Sundays and on holy days of obligation
               and rest from servile labor.
          2. You shall confess your sins at least once a year.
          3. You shall receive the sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the
              Easter season.
          4. You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by
               the Church.
          5. You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church.
+ 5 The Precepts

          The seven chief corporal works of mercy:
          1. To feed the hungry.
          2. To give drink to the thirsty.
          3. To clothe the naked.
          4. To visit the imprisoned.
          5. To shelter the homeless.
          6. To visit the sick.
          7. To bury the dead.
+ 7 Corporal Works

          The seven chief spiritual works of mercy:
          1. To admonish the sinner.
          2. To instruct the ignorant.
          3. To counsel the doubtful.
          4. To comfort the sorrowful.
          5. To bear wrongs patiently.
          6. To forgive all injuries.
          7. To pray for the living and the dead.
+ 7 Spiritual Works

          Pro-Life - From Conception Until Natural Death
+10 Pro-Life

          _____ How Catholic am I?
                                   >15 Praise God!
                                   16-87 Good Candidate for RCIA
                                   88-100 Impressive
                                   > 100 You are on the Way.

There are not a hundred people in America who hate
the Catholic Church. There are millions of people who hate
what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church
— which is, of course, quite a different thing. - Fulton J. Sheen

Lord, keep us strong. Keep us bold and filled with love for our
enemies and for all those who are troubled and in need of healing.
Never allow us to hide or to be concerned for our own safety, but
rather concerned only that your glorious and Holy Name
bring healing and grace, conviction for our sins, repentance, and
therefore mercy.
Help us, Lord, to stay faithful, courageous, and bold no matter the threats,
the hardships, the persecution, and even the ruthless attempts at suppression.
May no one who looks at us conclude anything less than
that we “have been with Jesus."
           -Dr. Mary Healy

Amen

                                                            * Click the pic to learn how to say it in Latin
Please note that this image is merely an artistic depiction of Saint Michael the Archangel
and Satan in human like form and may or may not be an accurate resemblance to their actual
forms or all accounts of forms in which they may or may not have actually appeared either
separately or together.

Sáncte Míchael Archángele,
Saint Michael the Archangel,
Sahn tay Me kale ark ann ja lay

defénde nos in proélio,
defend us in battle.
de fen day nos en pro leo

cóntra nequítiam et insídias diáboli ésto præsídium.
Be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil.
contra neh-queet ee um et in cid e ah s dee ob lay esto pray sid ee um

Ímperet ílli Déus,súpplices deprecámur:
May God rebuke him we humbly pray;
Im pair et ee lay Day-ews soup-lay-chase day-pray-che-more

tuque, prínceps milítiæ cæléstis,
O Prince of the Heavenly host
too quay pren-cheps may-lee-tea-a che-lace-tees

Sátanam aliósque spíritus malígnos,
Satan and all evil spirits
Say tan um ah lee o squeece spear ee toose mah ling nos

qui ad perditiónem animárum pervagántur in múndo,
who wander through the world for the ruin of souls
quee ard per dits ee own um ani mon um prev a gon tour en mundo

divína virtúte,
by the divine power of God,
day vee nay ver-toot-tay

in inférnum detrúde.
thrust into hell
en in fair num day-too-tay

Ámen.

                                                                                                            * Click the pic

7

[MurphsLaw]

Matt 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

If you really were a Baptized Catholic as you say, than you learned very little of Christ’s Church whilst you were in Mass and in repentant Confession. The only thing “false” is your assertion of what you think the Church teaches or believes- and I assume that extends to more than just the tired “works” falsity.

If you were “led” out somewhere, it was most likely by those who still believe God got it wrong for 1500 years and had allowed error by the Holy Spirit in his visible Church on Earth- only to be saved by a German priest, who despised Italians and decided he wanted a wife and a more secular life - and fulfilling an ego that controlled him His entire life.

Mark Galli’s conversion story is very current - just happened this past week, not 3 years ago as you inaccurately started - is powerful testimony to those who can trustingly give themselves to God when finding the deeper levels of Faith in the Sacraments. Receiving the Sacramental Graces through the Church that was scriptural instituted in offering the Fullness of Christ’s truth is what Christ wanted for us. Not 5,000 do-it-yourself denominations all proclaiming their own truth.

As far as “motivations” go ... if reading a conversion story troubles you then don’t. I can only ask what your “motivation” is in denying someone like Mark Galli who on his heart knows he has found a deeper Faith, and wants to share that joy with others. I would check your motivation in opposing that first.

[boatbums]

Don't know how you managed it, Murph, but you got something wrong in every single paragraph of your comment! You want me to illustrate?

We can start with the fact that I NOWHERE said anything about when Galli's conversion happened. Nor did I deny his sincerity or motivation for giving his testimony. Instead, it is YOU who denies and impugns mine! I can guess at your motivations for why you keep posting threads that intentionally needle non-Catholic Christians - elitist, anti-Protestant and more than a little bit of envy. That's neither light nor glorifying to God.

[MurphsLaw]

I only responded to what had posted. Only a responding to your Disagreeing perspective.

my paragraph 1 response to:
MurphsLaw, I know you are supposedly a newbie here, but you keep posting threads that have shown up here for years....Do you check to see if a thread has already been posted before?
But not the post in question? I’m not a mind reader...

My paragraph 2 response:
I praise Almighty God that He led me OUT of that false religion and its accursed gospel
Your words, which I think anyone could see impugned Mr. Galli’s conversion story...

My paragraph 3 response:
you keep posting threads that intentionally needle non-Catholic Christians
While you personally can’t see the value In what I post, I’m really not concerned if some disagree or would rather not have to read about it - but this conversion story is amazing...and many people need to understand the power behind it.

I've got a big list of articles I could post that I know Catholics wouldn't appreciate. I hold off because I don't want to intentionally provoke people to anger. And..... You’d be surprised to learn of the rather high ratio of negative Catholic posts to the few positive ones here on FR everyday. That negativity is neither light nor Glorifying God.

[Elsie]

You’d be surprised to learn of the rather high ratio of negative Catholic posts to the few positive ones here on FR everyday. That negativity is neither light nor Glorifying God.

These guys were offended; too.

You’d be surprised to learn of the rather high ratio of negative Pharisee/Saducee posts to the few positive ones found in the bible. That negativity is neither light nor Glorifying God.