catholicism made me protestant

These friends were devout, intelligent, and schooled in Christian history. Learn more about Protestantism in this article. They also spoke to the deepest needs of sinful souls. It concerns my near-conversion to and abiding affection for Catholicism, details why I eventually decided to remain Protestant, and reflects upon my discovery of the Protestant understanding of justification. . I've posted an excerpt of the piece, but… The Council of ­Nicaea assumed that Alexandria was on a par with Rome, and Chalcedon declared that the Roman patriarchate was privileged only “because [Rome] was the royal city.” In short, I began to wonder whether the Reformers had a legitimate claim to the Fathers. It should have been the happiest day of my life. 4 From the early centuries CE through the Middle Ages, Roman Catholic beliefs, traditions, practices, and institutions were the normative form of Christianity. . I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal saviour in March of 1978. When I arrived at the University of Chicago, I knew just enough about Calvinism to hold it in -contempt--which is to say, I knew very little. . I’ve read a book by a former Catholic, who is now a Protestant pastor, and he gives several reasons why Catholics become Protestant. Catholicism, which I took to be the Christianity of history, was a world waiting to be discovered. In his Apologia, Newman argues that man’s rebellion against God introduced an “anarchical condition of things,” leading human thought toward “suicidal excesses.” Hence, the fittingness of a divinely established living voice infallibly proclaiming supernatural truths. Even today, I think my father would admit that his deep Protestant heritage tugs at his heart from time to time. ought consistently to be interpreted by means of that development which was ultimately attained," I could not. I had finally discovered the true ground and power of Protestantism: "My beloved is mine, and I am his" (Song 2:16). This form of Christianity dominated my Midwestern hometown. Onsi A. Kamel is editor in chief of the Davenant Press. Richard Hooker interpreted the Church's traditions; Calvin followed Luther's Augustinianism, proclaimed the visible Church the mother of the faithful, and claimed for the Reformation the Church's exegetical tradition; Barth convinced me that God's Word could speak, certainly and surely, from beyond all created realities, to me. I had begun this arduous cooperation with God’s grace full of hope; by the time I sat in that dorm room alone, I was distraught and demoralized. During my first year of college, I became involved in campus Catholic life. Catholicism had taught me to think like a Protestant, because, as it turned out, the Reformers had thought like catholics. But this notion exploded upon contact with the Protestantism of history. The Anglican divine Richard Hooker quoted Irenaeus, ­Chrysostom, ­Augustine, and Pope Leo I as he rejected doctrines and practices because they were not grounded in Scripture. It’s snobbery against the religion of the masses and immigrants. When I arrived at the University of Chicago, I knew just enough about Calvinism to hold it in ­contempt—which is to say, I knew very little. Over 40,000 different/opposing views of what is and is not essential for salvation. My assumptions, and the issues that animated me, were those of the Church of history. They also spoke to the deepest needs of sinful souls. While I was discovering that Roman Catholicism could not be straightforwardly identified with the catholicism of the first six centuries (nor, in certain respects, with that of the seventh century through the twelfth), and as I was wrestling with Newman, I finally began reading the Reformers. I met faithful and holy Catholic priests--one of whom has valiantly defended the faith for years, drawing punitive opposition from his own religious superiors, as well as the ire of Chicago's archbishop. At Lumen Christi events, I heard about saints and mystics, stylites and monastics, desert fathers and late-antique theologians. Christ had joined me to himself. The implication is that reason is unreliable in matters of revelation. Now with Google Translator for non-English speakers. I had begun this arduous cooperation with God's grace full of hope; by the time I sat in that dorm room alone, I was distraught and demoralized. St. Thomas's doctrine of predestination, much to my horror, was nearly identical to the Synod of Dordt's. And at the time, though I wished to accept Newman's proposal that "the early condition, and the evidence, of each doctrine . Here was a man obsessed with the same questions that ate at me, questions of tradition and authority. I could not reliably interpret the Scriptures, history, or God's Word preached and given in the sacraments. Faith is assent to the incontestable, self-evident truth of God's revelation, and reasoning becomes an excuse to refuse to bend the knee. I debated tradition with my mother, sola Scriptura with my then fiancée (now wife), and the meaning of the Eucharist with my father. Faith is assent to the incontestable, self-evident truth of God’s revelation, and reasoning becomes an excuse to refuse to bend the knee. Onsi A. Kamel In 2012, there were more than 1.1 billion Catholics worldwide. Without either of these commitments, I simply could not find a plausible reason to speak of “development” rather than “disjuncture,” especially because what came before so often contradicted what followed. Protestantism, movement that began in northern Europe in the early 16th century as a reaction to medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices. I recognized the absurdity of a twenty-year-old presuming to adjudicate claims about the Scriptures and two thousand years of history. . The Anglican divine Richard Hooker quoted Irenaeus, ¬Chrysostom, ¬Augustine, and Pope Leo I as he rejected doctrines and practices because they were not grounded in Scripture. Are the Poor and Minorities Really Better off under Progressive Policy? . By the time my parents were ­living in ­twenty-first-century Illinois, their families’ historic Reformed commitments had been replaced by non-denominational, ­Baptistic ­evangelicalism. I think most people would say Catholicism. I devoured his Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine and his Apologia pro Vita Sua. It started with the excitement of, “I am engaged! I know, I’m full of questions today. I found in the Church a spiritual mother and the mother of all the faithful. Hence, the fittingness of a divinely established living voice infallibly proclaiming supernatural truths. From high school into college, Dr. B— introduced me to Catholic thought and graciously helped me work through my doubts about Christianity. I've recently had an essay published in the October edition of First Things. The Church of Rome could not be straightforwardly identified as catholic. St. John Chrysostom’s teaching on repentance and absolution—“Mourn and you annul the sin”—would have been more at home in Geneva than Paris. ought consistently to be interpreted by means of that development which was ultimately attained,” I could not. In this state, I picked up my copy of that arch-heretic Luther and read his explanation of Thesis 37: "Any true Christian, whether living or dead, participates in all the blessings of Christ and the church; and this is granted him by God, even without indulgence letters." St. Ambrose’s doctrine of justification sounded a great deal more like Luther’s sola fide than like Trent. I was captivated by the holy martyrs, relics, Mary, and the Mass. Like all accounts of God's faithfulness, mine begins with a genealogy. Newman's arguments against private judgment therefore had a prima facie plausibility for me. The ­magisterium of prior ages only multiplied the texts one had to interpret for oneself, for living bishops, it turns out, are as bad at reading as the rest of us. Did Calvinism make God the author of evil? Article excerpt. Read preview. At that moment, the joy of my salvation poured into my soul. My ¬conversion would have to be rooted in my private ¬judgment--but, because of Rome's claim of infallibility, conversion would forbid me from exercising that faculty ever again on doctrinal questions. I loved Catholicism because Catholics taught me to love the Church. I had learned just how wretched a sinner I was: No good work was unsullied by pride, no repentance unaccompanied by expectations of future sin, no love free from selfishness. Did he expect me to forfeit the faculty by which I adjudicate truth claims, because that faculty is fallible? This priest was and is to me the very model of a holy, righteous, and courageous man. I recognized the absurdity of a twenty-year-old presuming to adjudicate claims about the Scriptures and two thousand years of history. Finally, the infighting among traditionalist, conservative, and liberal Catholics made plain that Catholics did not gain by their magisterium a clear, living voice of divine authority. In retrospect, I see that Newman’s need to construct a theory of doctrinal development tells against Rome’s claims of continuity with the ancient Church. These friends were devout, intelligent, and schooled in Christian history. In the sixteenth century, the Protestant Reformation began. For years, I had attempted to live out this model of justification. Martin Luther, John Calvin, Richard Hooker, Herman Bavinck, Karl Barth--they wrestled with the concerns of the Church catholic and provided answers to the questions Catholicism had taught me to pose. Catholicism Made Me Protestant by Onsi A. Kamel. But this notion exploded upon contact with the Protestantism of history. 3:21--23). Newman’s arguments against private judgment therefore had a prima facie plausibility for me. And I just want to know, you know, how is it that…you know, cause I understand, I think the apologist online actually was…not a Pentecostal, but some sort of Protestant. How could a man who was bound and determined to prove the Catholic Church wrong ever be persuaded otherwise? I asked her like what??? Because I usually wear my heart on my sleeve, this friend and I had gotten to talking about my journey toward Catholicism. I assume you are asking which is older, Roman Catholicism or Protestantism. Through the influence of the Catholic student group and the Lumen Christi Institute, which hosts lectures by Catholic intellectuals, my theologically inclined college friends began converting to Catholicism, one after another. I am a protestant and i would like to know more about catholism, as it seem very diffirent from protestantism, i am thinking of converting to catholism, but im not sure, i would like to pick the one that "suits" me the most, i mean, that i agree the most with. FIRST THINGS In my own journey, I can check off certain boxes and say, definitively, yes, that made me become a Catholic. For me it wasnt about proving Catholicism wrong, it was the fact that i could not find a unified Protestant voice to prove Protestantism right. I had been assigned Luther's Explanations of the Ninety-Five ¬Theses, and I expected to find it facile. One could only justify such assumptions if one were already committed to Roman Catholic doctrine and Rome's meaningful continuity with what came before. Along with Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, Protestantism became one of three major forces in Christianity. Not long after this, I began to notice discrepancies between Catholic apologists’ map of the tradition and the terrain I encountered in the tradition itself. 3:27; 1 Cor. For the first time in my life I am on board in my heart and mind. The issue of ecclesiastical authority was trickier for me. Like their pope-aligned opponents, they had asked questions about justification, the authority of tradition, the mode of Christ's self-gift in the Eucharist, the nature of apostolic succession, and the Church's wielding of the keys. 30 AD. The Church of Rome could not be straightforwardly identified as catholic. I debated tradition with my mother, sola Scriptura with my then fiancee (now wife), and the meaning of the Eucharist with my father. The edict reversed concessions made to the Lutherans with the approval of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V three years earlier. Finally, the infighting among traditionalist, conservative, and liberal Catholics made plain that Catholics did not gain by their magisterium a clear, living voice of divine authority. Lots of great Catholic links too. I found in the Church a spiritual mother and the mother of all the faithful. His was not an uncertain mercy; his was not a grace of parts, which one hoped would become a whole; his was not a salvation to be attained, as though it were not already also a present possession. For years, I had attempted to live out this model of justification. So, naturally, I wanted to help others to avoid a similar fate. John Henry Newman became my crucial interlocutor: More than in Ratzinger, Wojtyła, or Congar, in Newman I found a kindred spirit. Six princes of the Holy Roman Empire and rulers of fourteen Imperial Free Cities, who issued a protest (or dissent) against the edict of the Diet of Speyer (1529), were the first individuals to be called Protestants. I am dumbfounded as she went through 12 yrs of Catholic school and 2 yrs of bible study goes to Mass most Sunday’s. A year or two prior, I had decided that Trent was right about justification: It was entirely a gift of grace consisting of the gradual perfecting of the soul by faith and works--God instigating and me cooperating. Catholicism had taught me to think like a Protestant, because, as it turned out, the Reformers had thought like catholics. Catholicism had taught me to think like a Protestant, because, as it turned out, the Reformers had thought like Catholics. At that moment, the joy of my salvation poured into my soul. My evangelical upbringing had led me to believe that Protestantism entailed the rejection of these concerns. I was sitting in my dorm room by myself. My Protestant Husband Led Me Back to the Catholic Church. They received from the past a set of magisterial documents that had to be weighed and interpreted, often over against living prelates. Ask a serious Protestant today what is the biggest threat to orthodox Christianity today, and he might mention cultural hostilities, the sexual revolution, or nominalism in our churches. If you want to really understand Christianity, you need to understand its various groups. The Council of ¬Nicaea assumed that Alexandria was on a par with Rome, and Chalcedon declared that the Roman patriarchate was privileged only "because [Rome] was the royal city." Catholicism vs Protestant – What Are the Differences and Similarities Introduction Have you ever wondered what the differences between Catholics and Protestants? If you want this website to work, you must enable javascript. Catholicism and Protestantism have distinct views on the meaning and the authority of the Bible. Catholic Bible 101 - Catholic & Protestant - Catholicbible101 is the website that explains Catholic teachings in plain, easy to understand English. Through Catholicism, I came into an inheritance: a past of saints and redeemed sinners from all corners of the earth, theologians who illuminated the deep things of God, music and art that summon men to worship God “in the beauty of holiness,” and a tradition to ground me in a world of flux. I had gone to Mass regularly, prayed the rosary with friends, fasted frequently, read the Scriptures daily, prayed earnestly, and sought advice from spiritual directors. Catholicism will make a … Like their opponents, Protestants had appealed to Scripture and tradition. I set about exploring, and I tried to bring others along. 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