Why I will never 'go home' to catholicism

Recently, I've been interested in the merits of Protestantism as opposed to Roman Catholicism, and have been commenting on a Catholic blog that I found while searching for some information about a Roman Catholic priest who left the catholic church to become a protestant minister.

Debating with these Catholic ladies has caused me to dig deeper into the Bible and history to understand the differences between protestantism and catholicism and the truth of the claims of each to be the true church.

I have a personal interest in this also because several years ago I was shocked to learn that some close family members were in the process of joining the catholic church. As a baptist and admirer of many protestant heroes, such as Tyndale and the Waldenses and the Pilgrims, this was incomprehensible to me.

Here is a link to some messages I found that express the thoughts that have been solidifying in my mind as I study this issue; this Presbyterian minister of course is much more learned than I, and can express the truth much more effectively, but his conclusions are very similar to what I've concluded so far. These messages are by Rev. Robert S. Rayburn of Faith Presbyterian Church in Tacoma, Washington.

These messages state better than I can why I will never 'go home' to Roman Catholicism.

Before I go, let me say that I see many good things in Catholicism and many catholics are true believers in Christ. I see the attraction of it and applaud many of the stands that catholics take. Here is a quote from the last message by Rev. Rayburn:

In particular, the negative principle -- the pointing out of error -- may never be allowed to overwhelm the positive, the assertion of truth. The negative work is necessary, the Bible makes that clear enough, but it is all too possible for the negative, the denunciatory to begin to take the chief place in teaching about the Christian faith, and the results of that are never profitable. [Murray, Lloyd Jones, ii, 680]
John Newton described this danger in a more personal and homely way when he wrote, "There is a principle of self, which disposes us to despise those who differ from us." To give too much place to criticism, even theological criticism, is, therefore, an invitation to a hateful approach to those with whom we disagree, and hateful folk have never advanced the interests of the gospel, never protected the church from the inroads of error, and never persuaded others to abandon their errors to come home to the truth.
I do not want any of you, ever, to become a Roman Catholic. Over these last weeks I have told you why. But it will be an altogether pyrrhic victory if all we succeed at doing is making ourselves more anti-Catholic. As one old Reformed writer put it, "Faith is not the negation of errors, but the affirmation of the truth." [Francis

Burman, in Sepp, ii, 181]
After all, at the end of the day, as we said repeatedly over these past weeks the errors we believe we have demonstrated in the Roman Catholic system are, in kind, the same errors it would be easy enough to find in Protestantism, and, indeed, always lurking in our own hearts. To know a certain idea to be a mistake is not the same thing as embracing the truth and living by it.

A favorite Bible passage

One of my favorite Bible passages is Malachi 4:1-3.

Malachi 4
The Great Day of God 1 “For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” Says the LORD of hosts, “ That will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves. 3 You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this,” Says the LORD of hosts.



Enough said.

Psalm 49

Psalm 49
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. 1 Hear this, all peoples; Give ear, all inhabitants of the world, 2 Both low and high, Rich and poor together. 3 My mouth shall speak wisdom, And the meditation of my heart shall give understanding. 4 I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will disclose my dark saying on the harp. 5 Why should I fear in the days of evil, When the iniquity at my heels surrounds me? 6 Those who trust in their wealth And boast in the multitude of their riches, 7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him— 8 For the redemption of their souls is costly, And it shall cease forever— 9 That he should continue to live eternally, And not see the Pit. 10 For he sees wise men die; Likewise the fool and the senseless person perish, And leave their wealth to others. 11 Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever, Their dwelling places to all generations; They call their lands after their own names. 12 Nevertheless man, though in honor, does not remain; He is like the beasts that perish. 13 This is the way of those who are foolish, And of their posterity who approve their sayings. Selah 14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; Death shall feed on them; The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; And their beauty shall be consumed in the grave, far from their dwelling. 15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, For He shall receive me. Selah 16 Do not be afraid when one becomes rich, When the glory of his house is increased; 17 For when he dies he shall carry nothing away; His glory shall not descend after him. 18 Though while he lives he blesses himself (For men will praise you when you do well for yourself), 19 He shall go to the generation of his fathers; They shall never see light. 20 A man who is in honor, yet does not understand, Is like the beasts that perish.

This didn't have to happen

Here is a sad story about a young man named Jesse Kilgore who lost hope after reading a book by famous atheist and evolutionist, Richard Dawkins.
What is so sad is that the young man was a Christian, but after reading Dawkins' book 'The God Delusion' he became so hopeless that he took his own life, apparently without even speaking about this to his own father who might have given him guidance.
This story amazed me because of the fact that there is so much information available to someone who wants to find the truth about our origins (see answersingenesis.org); this DID NOT HAVE TO HAPPEN. WHY did Jesse just give up without asking for help from those who are wiser than he? Why did he just assume that the atheist, whom God in His word calls a fool, was right? Why did he give up his faith and his life instead of fighting to the end?
Here is a search page from my husband's website, exchangedlife.com, that links to messages my husband wrote about Richard Dawkins' books and articles refuting Dawkins' evolutionary teachings.
Just because someone like Dawkins sounds so sure of himself doesn't make him right.
There is no evidence for evolution, contrary to the BIG LIE you have may been taught in public schools. The evolutionists know how to sound sure of themselves (and maybe they are) but the facts don't support them if you are willing to keep looking for the truth ("Seek and you shall find" as the Lord Jesus said).

I'm reading some wonderful Church history

I'm reading some very interesting and wonderful Church history here. I'm interested in protestant history through the centuries as they opposed the Roman Catholic church as it arose and became a dominant institution rather than the living church of Jesus Christ. There is a mistaken idea propagated by the Catholic church that they were the only church for centuries and therefore must be the true church because 'God would not leave the world without any light,' as they like to say. Well, if you read this and many other protestant historians, you will see that there has always been a true church that by necessity had to protest against the Roman church in order to be obedient to Christ and hold up the light of the true gospel. Puritans, or 'cathari' as they were called in Latin, rose up even from the beginning of the Roman church and constantly were a problem to them all throught the centuries. The catholics don't like to admit this.
If you don't want to read the whole thing, I suggest you start with the section entitled "Reflections on the History of Christianity during the First Three Centuries" (starting on page 121) as I did, hoping to go back later and read the rest.
I think you will find it very encouraging if you are a believer.

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My first post; worse than a blank canvas

I'm writing this first post so people who read my comments on other blogs have a way to contact me if they want to.
Right now I can't think of anything exciting to say, except that being more of an artist than a writer, this blank window is worse than a blank canvas, because in filling it I'm revealing more of myself than in a drawing.
Anyway, I hope to have things to post on many subjects in the future.
See ya later.
Jen