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It is not only a common Protestant explanation but also a common Catholic explanation.
Not with any Catholic I've ever met. Still I suppose Catholics are capable of believing odd things Protestants say. I knew a Catholic who said we worship "Mary equal to Jesus" when a Protestant said we place her above him.
Not with any Catholic I've ever met. Still I suppose Catholics are capable of believing odd things Protestants say. I knew a Catholic who said we worship "Mary equal to Jesus" when a Protestant said we place her above him.
While watching EWTN (the television network), you can see some of the converts. The show is called The Journey Home. One of the more interesting episodes they aired was a convert who was originally Protestant and only had a few Catholic influences her whole childhood. The convert explained while he or she was in a Mass for a funeral or something her mother would explain all the "wacky" beliefs we had -- that we worshipped Mary, that we couldn't sing as much, etc., etc. Most of the time I don't think Protestants (to be fair, it applies to pretty much anyone, Catholics included) mean to deceive people. It's just that misconceptions are handed down and a lot easier to believe than the truth.
While watching EWTN (the television network), you can see some of the converts. The show is called The Journey Home. One of the more interesting episodes they aired was a convert who was originally Protestant and only had a few Catholic influences her whole childhood. The convert explained while he or she was in a Mass for a funeral or something her mother would explain all the "wacky" beliefs we had -- that we worshipped Mary, that we couldn't sing as much, etc., etc. Most of the time I don't think Protestants (to be fair, it applies to pretty much anyone, Catholics included) mean to deceive people. It's just that misconceptions are handed down and a lot easier to believe than the truth.
I agree it's got a lot more to do with misunderstanding than attacking. I grew up Protestant, and we always asked "Where do Catholics get this stuff from? It's not in the Bible." No one ever explained (or seemed to know) that this approach to understanding was invalid in the first place--that Catholics have Traditions in addition to the Bible and that they don't see the scriptures as the only source of their beliefs.
When I was an adult and working in a multicultural workplace, we used to have a lot of conversations amongst us about different races, cultures and religions. One of my coworkers was a devout Catholic (and still is the person I know who I would say walks the walk closer than any other Christian I've ever met of any denomination), but when I asked her the basic questions that Protestants ask--about Mary's status, about the papacy, about the concept of Purgatory, etc., she really did not know the answers either.
There was a Catholic bookstore next to a church near where we worked, and I'd gone in there a few times to buy sympathy cards and things. Browsing through the shelves, I found a book by the Catholic apologist Karl Keating, written for Catholics to answer those precise questions, especially when confronted by fundamentalists who worship the Bible. I learned more about Catholicism from that book than anywhere else. It had the answers to those questions. I didn't necessarily agree with them theologically, but there were reasons for the beliefs and they were well-explained and not just things pulled out of thin air. Ever since I read that book, I have a better insight into the beliefs of my Catholic friends and more respect for their church. A little knowledge goes a long way.
A priest is father of his parish and his wife is the Church (or maybe just his girlfriend? Christ's bride is the Church, technically). He's far too busy taking care of them to have another family; the community and the Church is his.
While watching EWTN (the television network), you can see some of the converts. The show is called The Journey Home. One of the more interesting episodes they aired was a convert who was originally Protestant and only had a few Catholic influences her whole childhood. The convert explained while he or she was in a Mass for a funeral or something her mother would explain all the "wacky" beliefs we had -- that we worshipped Mary, that we couldn't sing as much, etc., etc. Most of the time I don't think Protestants (to be fair, it applies to pretty much anyone, Catholics included) mean to deceive people. It's just that misconceptions are handed down and a lot easier to believe than the truth.
Sorry EWTN will rot your brain, they have been in trouble with the Church/bishop on more than one occasion
Ewtn is a neo-con Catholic group that hardly represents the main stream Catholic opinion.
Sorry EWTN will rot your brain, they have been in trouble with the Church/bishop on more than one occasion
Ewtn is a neo-con Catholic group that hardly represents the main stream Catholic opinion.
Please show me exactly where they've "been in trouble" and how they are against common opinion?
Please show me exactly where they've "been in trouble" and how they are against common opinion?
Mother Angelica did get into a skuffle with Roger Mahony. If that it it's a bit ironic, perhaps, that Ted would take the side of a Cardinal who reportedly sheltered sex abusers above a nun but he might be thinking of another argument she had.
Anyway from what I can tell Ted is a Progressive Catholic and likely sees that as the proper kind of Catholicism. Of what I know of his beliefs I see them as highly heterodox, bordering on not being Catholic at all. I imagine you're somewhere in between us two.
Mother Angelica did get into a skuffle with Roger Mahony. If that it it's a bit ironic, perhaps, that Ted would take the side of a Cardinal who reportedly sheltered sex abusers above a nun but he might be thinking of another argument she had.
Anyway from what I can tell Ted is a Progressive Catholic and likely sees that as the proper kind of Catholicism. Of what I know of his beliefs I see them as highly heterodox, bordering on not being Catholic at all. I imagine you're somewhere in between us two.
Hmm. Well, if it's any consolation, I'd rather agree with you than Ted.
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Most of the time I don't think Protestants (to be fair, it applies to pretty much anyone, Catholics included) mean to deceive people. It's just that misconceptions are handed down and a lot easier to believe than the truth.
