I have a series of articles that I have entitled 'Why Do Catholics...". You can find the series listed among my Blog Contents to the left. I have many, many dear friends who are not Catholic and are either curious about our practices or have major misconceptions about Catholicism. Some of the questions I cover are: Ashes on the forehead, repetitive prayers, ,Crucifix, purgatory negating Christ's sacrifice, What is Advent?, Worshipping Statues , Sacramentals(not sacaraments) , Purgatory, Why do Catholics Call Priest Father? , The Eucharist, Purgatory, One More Time
Scriptures Dealing with Purgatory , Why Do Catholics Genuflect, Do Catholics Believe in Faith Alone?
I am about to cover a biggie for my non Catholic friends: Mary. Yes, I know that some people mistakenly think that Catholics put to much emphasis on the mother of Jesus. The first article in this series is found here: Mary, Mother of God , Mary part II,
Also, because of the popularity of the movie, Fireproof I have included an article about Kirk Cameron. Catholics need to be aware that he does not believe that they are Christians and his program, The Master's Way seeks to lead them away from the Church. Yes, Mr Cameron, Catholics Are Christian.
My goal is to write out several articles dealing with my Protestant(mainly Baptists) friends concerns in this area. Please be patient with me. I home school, even in the summer, and am busy with my family of four kids and three dogs. I will do my best to get these articles up quickly.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
29 comments:
Deb, thank you for visitting my blog and for your lovely comments. I look forward to reading your series on Mary. I am a former RC (now Protestant), but I can't give up my love for the Blessed Mother! Most of my Protestant friends think I'm a little crazy, but they indulge me :)
~Bethany
Replying to your comment on my blog. Nope I dont have the cookbook you mentioned, I will have to see if they have it at the library, thanks! Cooking from scratch is by far the biggest part of cooking without chemicals but you do have to watch the ingredients, for example, some brands of cocoa have chemicals while others dont or even meats. A lot of meat have fillers in them or are injected with chemicals, red potatoes can be dyed to make them brighter. Its crazy!!
bethany hudson, I will probably put up another article about Mary next week. So check back then. I am a convert TO Catholicism, so we have something in common only backwards. LOL
Retrohousewife, I did not know that about red potatoes. Its difficult to find completly chemical free food. My hubby and I are reading up on gardening so that we can have some more healthy foods next year.
I am woefully ignorant about the Catholic Church and have really enjoyed learning a bit more from your blog. Thank you for sharing! :D
P.S. I came to your blog from a comment you left on Anna's. It was nice to hear somebody else say that femininity and weakness are not one & the same, just as being a "strong woman" (which I would consider bad) is not the same thing as being a "woman of strength" which is true femininity in my humble little opinion. :o)
Mrs Amy I think that you are right. Being a woman of strength doesn't mean that a woman is acting like a man.
As far as the Catholic Church, a lot of people, including some poorly educated Catholics, have misunderstandings about what the Catholic Church teaches.
Hi, like Bethany, I was raised Catholic. I'm now a Lutheran, but will never lose a love and appreciation for the Catholic tradition. Thank you for posting answers to common questions about the Catholic faith. I feel like when we understand each other's points of view among Christianity, we can work together to restore unity and pursue the mission of the gospel :)
I am so glad to have you visit my blog'a dose of joy. What a lovely name.
I think that Christians sometimes get so caught up in how we are different that we can forget that there are nonChristians who need to hear the gospel!
Ive read this topic for some blogs. But I think this is more informative.
The doctrinal issues that divide Roman Catholics and Protestants aren't outward forms like terms of address for the clergy or rituals like ashes on the forehead. The real issues of the Reformation were (and remain) the five solas:
Sola scriptura ("by Scripture alone")
Sola fide ("by faith alone")
Sola gratia ("by grace alone")
Solus Christus ("Christ alone")
Soli Deo gloria ("glory to God alone")
If your plea for Protestants to return to the Mother Church is to succeed, then you must show where Protestantism errs in those five points -- and to succeed in proving those points, you must do it Sola Scriptura. That is to say, to convince those who believe only the Scriptures are inerrant, you must demonstrate that the Scriptures themselves teach that Scripture alone is insufficient to establish the Truth of Scripture.
Once you've established that the Bible says it needs validation from tradition and ecclesiastical authority, the rest is down hill.
Hello Bob, My intent with this blog is not to convince anyone to become Catholic-although that would be wonderful-, my intent is merely to explain Catholic beliefs to those who are curious. But because I was once Protestant I do try very hard to use Scripture in my articles. Thanks for coming to my website, by the way.:)
Mrs Deb,
I have a question for you:
"Is Jesus not enough?"
~Kade
thank you for your response Life savior and for visiting my blog. Perhaps you could clarify your comment a bit for me.
Sorry for the confusion.
I meant that if you believe in purgatory, then that must mean that you think that Jesus is not enough for you, that He can not take away ALL your sin. That instead, YOU have to take away your OWN SIN by time in purgatory.
Romans 8:1
"Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
Romans 3:21 "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through FAITH IN JESUS Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 AND ARE JUSTIFIED freely by his grace through the redemption that came by CHRIST JESUS. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement..."
Sorry for the confusion. :)
Like your blog!
~Kade
Life Savior. Thank you so much for being gracious in your reply. I was a little bit worried that you would think that I was being rude in asking you to clarify.
Catholics do not believe that we are responsible for our own salvation. Nor do we believe that Christ does not take away all of our sin.
If you don't mind doing so, perhaps you could read back over my articles on Purgatory and comment on the individual sections. That way I could see how to improve the articles so that they don't cause confusion.
Deb thanks for visiting my blog.
My daughter Isa also has a form of Tourettes syndrome, she doesnt have vocal tics though. They call it a Chronic Multi Focal Tic disorder but the doc told me that now they are consider all tic disorders to be a for of Tourettes. I feel for you, the hyperactivity is crazy, we have had success in dietary treatments.
Hey Debra, I happened over here from a link on Luke Holzman's blog to your Halloween post. I read most of it :) I enjoyed it. I'm baptist, but I promise not to condemn you for being Catholic! : ) I know there are Caotholics that are saved and some that are not, same as if you go to any Baptist church you'll find some of both too! :D I use Sonlight too, have 3 boys and 3 DOGS (plus 2 cats and some fish!!!LOL!). Take care, Julie
oh good for you!!
a little over 5 years ago my husband decided to return to Catholicism...this began my education....or rather re-education. In my effort to support him I learned about Catholicism...and what I learned was that most Protestant "issues" with Catholic teaching are nothing more than mis-information that's been passed down from Protestant to Protestant. 5 bumpy years down the twisting path and here I am, attending RCIA, go figure!
Mighty Mom, I am a convert too.
Thanks for visiting my blog!
And thank you also for returning my visit, Bosnian Hijab Girl! I enjoyed looking at your photos.
Deb, you must be one of the sweetest ladies in the blogosphere! Thanks for your kind remarks on my blog, and I will be sure to check out your articles.
My husband had pretty poor catechesis at his Catholic high school, so I'm always looking for interesting articles on the faith to show him, since he is eager to come to a deeper understanding of the faith.
Thanks!
Thanks Deb, for visiting my site. I look forward to going through your articles here on your blog!
I just came back to the Catholic Church myself. I'm thoroughly enjoying learning and understanding the history. I'm reading about the catacombs at the moment. The writings on the tombs are the same we hear today. Then I'm going to start on the Church Fathers. I wish time would stand still as I've got so much to learn. It's totally awesome. I just didn't understand it as a kid.
You do know that as far as the Catholic church goes, people who believe like me are anathama.
I don't say that Cahtolics aren't Christians, since I can't judge each individual. A person is not a Christian just because they conform to all the teachings of the Roman Catholic church and keep all the sacraments.
I can say that the Roman system is wrong about my being anathama, and cut off from the grace of God. I am anathama to them, but not to my Heavenly Father who saved me by His grace in Jesus Christ.
I hold to the teachings of Luther and the rest of orthodox Protestantism on justification by faith alone in Christ alone.
Of that I am sure.
God bless,
Mrs. Webfoot
Hello Mrs. Webfoot,
What an interesting name that you have chosen, Webfoot. I like that.
Are you aware that Pope John Paul II called Protestants his seperated brethren?
Hold to what brings you peace. I am not passing judgement on you. :)
Hi, Deb,
Deb, I didn't think that you were judging me.
I wouldn't pass judgment on you, either. You seem like a delightful person.
Deb, I appreciate your sentiments, but I am not in the "separated brethren" category because I hold to the "heresy" of Luther. I know and understand what he taught about justification by faith alone, and I believe it. That puts me in the "anathama" category.
No, I don't think that you are judging me. I don't think that most Catholics are judging me, either.
Hey, it's nice to meet you. You seem like a really nice person. I love many aspects of the Catholic Chruch, but of course, am in strong disagreement with others. I love many of the church fathers' writings.
I have found that most Catholics are loving and kind to those who are in different churches. I appreciate that.
Why "Webfoot"? Well, it's a long story, but I like the name, too.
God bless you, Deb, and thank you for your kind welcome.
Peace to you, too, Deb,
Mrs. Webfoot
I don't know if you ever saw this really awesome website. http://www.catholicscomehome.org/
I used to e-mail Kirk cameron- he hated that I was Catholic lol
Just been reading your blogs and they are quite interesting. I would like to invite you to follow my blogs. Thanks and have a great night.
What a service your archive of articles answering basic Catholic questions is! Thank you for doing this. They are helpful not only to non-Catholics but to converted ones, as well.
Post a Comment