THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: While I'm a firm believer that we should always be ready to give an answer for our faith, especially to Protestant objectors, our real targets of evangelism should be the growing number of faithless and unchurched young adults sprouting up all around us in the Western world.
Most Protestants, especially those who still practice, have a built in resistance toward anything Catholic. They're difficult to reach at best, and in most cases downright impossible. It's as if they've been fitted with blinders for the time being that makes it extremely difficult for them to understand or appreciate the Catholic faith.
What do you think? Should we forget the Protestants and stop trying to actively reach them? Should we totally refocus our evangelistic efforts toward the rising Heathen population? If so, how?
11 comments:
The Prots have anti-Catholicism drmmed into them from birth. Unless they have some sort of experiance(s) that disabuses them of it, it's very rare for them to give it up. That being said, we should focus our energies on the rising heathen population. Their lives are a shambles and they're looking for answers. The Prots, like the first century Jews, believe they have the answers, (as of 1517) so we shouldn't spend an awfull amont of cash on them. After all, their spiritual ancestors rejected God's church 493 years ago, and we turned to the gentiles just like the apostles did in the first century.
It took the Blessed Mother 20 years to bring me back home from my Protestant desert wanderings. She led me right to Her Son..I agree that Protestants are hard wired against Catholicism.
There is only one thing that speaks loudly to a Protestant ( and unbelievers for that matter) for which they have no comeback. That is.. a converted heart that demonstrates a life lived for Christ.
Prots are simple heretics. I find it's best to leave them alone and figure it out for themselves. I say prayers constantly for the conversion of my own Prot family members. They have made it expressively clear that they are not interested in anything I have to say. In fact, some of them are down right hateful calling us "ridiculous" and "laughable." I pray that Our Blessed Mother will lead them all to her Son. It's all we can do.
Sir Knight, their contempt for the Catholic church reaches new levels with each passing day. But "protestantism" is simply a vestige of any faith they once had (and borrowed mostly from Rome), and which is now simply secularism.
Pete Frey
I converted to the catholic church from an extremely anti catholic faith tradition. I used to hate the catholic church and blame them for all the division in the churches! By the grace of God I came across the early church fathers and God opened my eyes to the truth! Now I love the church a million times more than I ever hated it! Never give up on anyone! Whoever God puts in your path speak the truth about our faith. The person might not accept what your saying but the seed is planted!
I was baptized less than a year ago in a protestant church, and I read your blog regularly. I am very intrigued by Catholicism. The liberalism that protestantism has associated itself with (or perhaps inherently is) is repulsive. Catholic social/economic/political beliefs are incredibly sane, refreshing, and simply correct. My gut tells me the Catholic church might be the true church, but my intellect isn't there yet. When the weak liberalism of democratic capitalism is defeated by the strong liberalism of Marxism, many people are going to wonder what happened. Catholics can tell these people exactly what happened, and many of these people wondering will be protestants. If the Catholic church becomes a bold symbol of tradition and authority in the next decade, I think protestants might come.
Anonymous, you've just made the strongest argument I've seen yet for why Catholics should keep reaching out to Protestants. VERY IMPRESSIVE! Do you even realize what you just did? It's brilliant!!!
You've just tied together everything that is happening in the western world today with the future mission of the Catholic Church.
Western civilization is morally and socially collapsing, and nothing but a miracle can save it now. History tells us that as a civilization like ours goes through it's death throws it will inevitably attack the Church in a vain attempt to scapegoat it for all it's problems. Catholics have already suffered persecution in the West before at the hands of Protestant monarchs and Sectarian (Freemason) organizations. This time the persecution is likely to be much worse. I suspect at the very least financial, and at the very most prison time for clergy and laymen who dare to teach the faith on moral issues (abortion & homosexuality) in particular. I fully suspect this blog to be shut down someday during this persecution.
However, you point out a very astute observation. Once Western civilizations collapses, the Protestants will be left wondering what happened. The Liberal Protestants will be clueless of course, not even fully grasping what is going on around them. The Conservative Protestants (Evangelicals for example) will be wondering why their much anticipated "rapture" didn't happen. After all, isn't suffering and persecution something that only happens to Christians in other counties? We American Christians are special right? Surely God will take us in the rapture first. Right? (sic)
Both groups will be faced with a reality they are totally unprepared to cope with, and neither group will have substantive answers that explain the situation nor prepare the next generation to rebuild what was lost when the opportune time comes. This will be the time for Catholics to shine, as you point out, we are the only one's with real substantive answers to this present darkness and the inevitable future it will produce. Then, and only then, Protestants (en mass) will finally listen. Until then, it looks like we just preach to our own flock and pray for the rest.
As for you anonymous, as a former Protestant myself I can tell you this. No Protestant is drawn to the Catholic Church by mere curiosity. It's impossible you see, and completely unnatural for a Protestant to wander toward the Catholic Church by chance. If you are "intrigued by Catholicism" as you say, than it is far more likely that the Holy Spirit Himself is the one doing the intriguing. Listen to God. Pay close attention to Him. It is not your "gut" that tells you this, but the divine one. The Spirit blows where he wishes, skipping over many and selecting a few. You do not know where He comes from, nor where he is going. Listen to him, and follow his lead.
That's the best advice I can give you on this matter.
Thanks for the advice. I think it was Whittaker Chambers (who I consider to be one of the last heroes of the modern world, along with Solzhenitsyn) who, though not himself a Catholic, wrote that the Catholic church is the only power left strong enough to challenge the forces before us. I don't think one needs to even be a Catholic to admit this one.
I have a question, as well. Where are the Whittaker Chambers, Alexander Solzhenitsyns, G.K. Chestertons, Helaire Belocs, J.R. Tolkiens, and C.S. Lewis's of the world? I see no public figure today that represents anything near the truth. Chesterton said that the distinguishing fact about the modern world is a lack of imagination. Has imagination totally died? Is there no one arguing the agrarian/distributist ideal? Is there no one who respects anything before 1776? The West is suffering from two awful diseases, and neither have ever been so bad. The first is intellectually arrogant confidence in the progress of society. We're living in post-civilization and we have no idea. The second is a complete lack of courage. Not only do we not see the cliff right in front of us, but even if we did we wouldn't do anything about it. Christians are still trying to pursue average careers (should I become a lawyer or a businessman?), when this is not what we are called to do, especially in these times.
We should always be willing dialogue with protestants when the opportunity comes up. I have found in my own experiences that for some, their particular "beliefs" are so in-grained that it would take something extraordinary to move them.
One such experience was a Baptist friend. In faith, we had so much in common such as "no divorce, no relations before marriage, etc". However he laughed at me when I told him that the Catholic Church was the true church. He maintained the Baptists were the true church. He stated that the Baptists were a "secret" community that went unnoticed for about 1840 years or so until they finally re-appeared. As funny as this last line may sound to us Catholics, he truly and utterly believed it. Now I tried to sell Catholicism as best I could and maybe something stuck. Maybe it didn't. At least I tried.
I hope many of the Anglicans coming in can accept the fullness of the Catholic Church without reservation. Many are coming in because things are becoming strongly unpalatable for them (homosexual marriage, etc). I don't want the Catholic Church to be the lesser of two evils to them.
As an Evangelical fascinated with the Church history and Church Fathers, I am always interested in the testimonies of former Protestants who became Catholics. It sounds like many of them found a way out of some problems typical for Western Evangelicalism: the perceived shalowness of worship, the simplistic attitude toward history, etc. But once they become Catholics, they acquire a whole new set of theological problems. And they seem to be very reluctant to talk about them. At the end of the day, their testimonies sound a bit triumphalistic -- as if conversion to Catholicism takes care of ALL your problems (the way tooth-paste in the TV commercials does). So I wonder if there are ANY aspects of Evangelicalism that former Evangelicals miss after becoming Catholics?
Dear Anonymous,
I am starting my Catechism classes this Monday. I'm a 40 year old convert from the Presbyterian Church. Although I know Protestant denominations very well. By the grace of God and our Lady, I started to read Holy Scripture almost daily about 10 years ago. Finally about 3 years ago, I started to read it, without any extra-biblical aids; i.e., no commentaries or study bibles. I read the psalms a lot and I started to develop an interest in the Catholic Monastic traditions and through that started to learn about the Catholic faith, finally in an unbiased way. So I went from a being a serious Calvinistic Dutch Reformed Presbyterian to now a Serious Marian Catholic who attends tradition Latin Mass by FSSP priests. :)That is probably the biggest and most ardent anti-catholic Protestant group there is.
Anyway, to answer your question; I myself do not have any regrets. When I finally decided to go and talk to a priest, there wasn't anything left for me in the Protestant faith. I still have friends and family and I still attend my old Church with my family, but there is nothing I look forward too except being with my family.
Once I developed a deep love for our Blessed Mother and for the Sacraments, the Protestant Church started to fade away. I have no animosity towards the Protestant Church, but now I am careful around them because they are greatly deceived and the Protestant Church is collapsing into relativism and universalism.
Dave
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