Fog covering the Vatican
I share this from note of Leonard kasi ito din ang napansin ko kung paano makipagdebate ang mga protestante sa mga catholics
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KEVIN STACY: When I was a Baptist (anti-Catholic) I would debate Catholics all the time. Looking back, I cannot recall a single Catholic who condemned me because of my faith. They would disagree, ask questions, tell me what they believe, but never would they tell me I am gonna burn in hell. Now that I am on the opposite side of the debate, I have experienced so much anger and hatred from the Protestant side. I am not claiming all the Protestants I have debated are hateful or angry, but I have experienced more people telling me I am going to burn in hell and insult not only me, but my faith continually. To sum what I am saying (my opinion) I have experienced more insults and hate from Protestants than I ever did from Catholics. Mark 13:13 “And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”
LEONARD ALT: The reason that Catholics are not encouraged to judge the salvation of another is because the Catholic Bible forbids it. Paul says in Romans 10; don’t judge who is saved (GOING UP TO HEAVEN) and who is not saved (DOWN INTO THE ABYSS). “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will go up into heaven?’ (That is, to bring Christ down), or ‘Who will go down into the abyss (Hell)?’ (That is, to bring Christ up from the dead) (Rm 10:6-7).” By saying, who is burning in Hell, he is following a man-made practice strictly forbidden in Scripture because Paul says we are not to say who is going down to the abyss. It is better to follow Paul in Romans then to follow traditions that are in opposition to the Word of God.http://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&¬e_id=445286058854676
BILL DONAHUE: I love your stories…….I was Prot.and married a Catholic girl and just couldn’t believe how devout she was and is. I admired her actions and the way she carried herself so much and she has only gotten better as time goes on. I went to Mass with her for years and I think she noticed that I wasn’t progressing much in becoming a really good Christian. She asked me to go on a retreat to EWTN in Alabama. That changed things forever. I was so impressed with everyone there and I made some major changes in my life after that. I notice that a lot of the Prot. are very hateful towards Catholics and I sort of feel sorry for them in many ways. One of the reasons Prot. churches were started is out of hatred for Catholicism and it still continues today. There isn’t much that can be done so I just accept it. Here in the south it makes me feel a bit like a minority group member as there aren’t many Catholics here. As I have gotten older my temperament can be a bit touchy so if I am offended face to face about being Catholic there could be some problems for the offender. But anyway I still try to love everyone and try to behave as best I can.
MEL SMITH: I’ve had similar experiences since converting. Some got very angry.
RYAN PAUL POLY CARP: I was a Calvinist/Baptist and I also was an avid anti catholic very close to becoming a Baptist Preacher. I had grown up with a girl who was catholic and always admired her chastity (throughout high school anyway). Nevertheless I had a degree of respect for their convictions. I just didn’t understand why they didn’t read from the bible during service, prayed to Mary and recited prayers etc.. Only after studying the apostolic Fathers did I come to the True Catholic Faith. My family and church Brothers hated it and I sacrificed a lot and I am so glad to be able to be slandered for Holy Mother Church and defend the Church that enlightened me with the fullness of the Christian Faith.
TORQUEMADA TEQUILA: Actually, up here in Canada, my experience over the past decade is that most Evangelical scholars and theologians go to painstaking measures to present Catholic teaching fairly and accurately. They do the same with Orthodoxy… I know that it is not uncommon in the United States for graduates from academically substandard and unaccredited fundamentalist Bible Colleges and seminaries to misrepresent Catholic teaching. However, up here in Canada, where all major Evangelical seminaries are ATS accredited, misrepresenting Catholic or Orthodox teaching is not tolerated by faculty in student work.
KELLY REEVES-DOMINGUEZ: It isn’t uncommon for them here in the US. They go to great efforts to bash the church, in their own ignorance. It happens especially in smaller churches and in the Deep South “Bible Belt” where I live. Truthfully, they just don’t know the first thing about the church. It’s really sad. When I was in my conversion, I had called my old church (missionary Baptist I attended in my hometown as a child and teen) to get my baptismal certificate. I was told, “We don’t give those out for other denominations.” Uh okay. It’s mine and belongs to me, not you. Then I was proceeded to be told by the pastor (who I actually grew up with), you need to drop out of your classes immediately and find a New Testament church. Really? Um, okay! I still laugh by butt off every time I think of that. I guess he was meaning New Testament like when their church was formed circa 1800’s. Hehe I couldn’t even be upset over that stupid comment, it’s so sad.
Truth! They literally despise Catholics. Never once have I heard in mass/church/talking with Catholic friends one thing about protestants. There is a hate I just can’t understand. I have sympathy for them because through their anger and blindness they are missing out on something just so special. I’m the only catholic in my Baptist family. It’s actually quite amazing how we get along. My 95 year old grandmother thinks me being catholic is just the most awesome thing in the whole world…lol She loves the sacraments. And my sister actually came to my defense with my baptismal record.
TORQUEMEADA TEQUILA: I won’t deny that I have encountered some of that. In fact, I encountered that recently from a local pastor of a dying congregation composed mostly of his extended family. He was condemning me as a heretic for not believing in Young Earth Creationism. His theology degree is from an unaccredited college. And he doesn’t dialogue; he goes into long rants threatening fire and brimstone whenever he is contradicted by facts… In contrast to that, the pastors of the three largest local Evangelical congregations are all friends of mine, are all very respectful toward Catholicism and Catholics, and all have MDiv’s from ATS-accredited Evangelical Seminaries. We don’t always agree, but we are always respectful when discussing our differences, taking pains to listen and insure we understood the other correctly.
LEONARD ALT: I believe in most cases, people have been unwittingly taught hatred towards the Church and don’t realize it. They believe they are doing the right thing. I always found it interesting that when someone becomes Evangelical who was previously Catholic; they tend to trash their previous Catholic faith, claiming it was a cult or even Pagan. And when Evangelicals become Catholic, they affirm their Evangelical past seeing it as real Christianity. I believe it has to do with what converts have been taught when becoming Catholic and what converts are taught when becoming Evangelical. One of the things I always liked about being Catholic is that I wasn’t encouraged to trash anybody’s faith even if they were trashing mine. And it really didn’t matter if they were sending me to Hell because they were not the just judge any way. I find that I am more tolerant of the short comings of Protestants then with the short comings of Catholics because I believe somehow the Catholics should know better.
One of the first anti-Catholics, in Christianity, was the Apostle Paul (Saul) who went around persecuting and imprisoning Christians. He was involved with the murder of the first Christian martyr “The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul” (Acts 7:58). In his anti-Catholic fervor “he was trying to destroy the whole church” (Acts 8:3). Saul in his spiritual blindness did not see that he was persecuting Jesus by persecuting His Church. And so he was given the infirmity of physical blindness so that eventually he may see his spiritual blindness (Acts 9:8). Saul did not see the evil he was doing, never-the-less, Jesus must have seen something good in Saul and he was later converted.
The anti-Catholics of today are like Saul in his blindness. They are persecuting the very Catholic Church that Jesus founded “Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me” (Acts 9:4). If God can see something good in one of the first anti-Catholics, then I can see something good in today’s anti-Catholics. And eventually, when the scales (Acts 9:18) fall from their eyes, they will see clearly as well.
It is interesting to note that some of the more extreme anti-Catholics are actually vulnerable to becoming Catholic. This is because they believe that virtually all things taught in Catholicism are false. Once they come to a realization that one or more things are right in the Catholic faith, the walls begin to fall and they find themselves falling in love with the very Church they were taught to hate.
RHONDA BRICKER: You feel at Home, because it is your Home……..I come from a Jewish family, through my mother Leah. I converted to the Church and then my mother died 2 years later. What you seek is right in front of you.