I follow several Protestant blogs. Some of them are quite anti-Catholic, including one called Triablogue which seems to be run by a guy named Steve. Now, of the anti-Catholic Protestants blogs out there, they all seem to attack the Church from different angles. Steve seems to like to constantly beat the drum of modernism in the church. With Taylor Marshall’s book out(which I reviewed on my last post), he naturally used this as an opportunity to bring up the liberal and sodomite control of large portions of the Church.
Steve noted that Marshall was a convert and said the following:
An idealistic convert belatedly mugged by Catholic reality, once the puppy love stage wore off, and the sense of betrayal kicked in.
Here’s the source of this quote:
https://triablogue.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-astroturf-is-greener-on-other-side.html
Now, I’ve only started to get into Taylor Marshall’s stuff recently so I don’t know how much he knew when he converted. I can however speak for myself. I’m not a convert, but a cradle Catholic. My mom’s family is Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic and I was fortunate enough to inherit Catholicism from them. My dad’s side is German, so they’re naturally Lutheran.
I’m fairly up to date on current events in the Church so I know about all the ugly stuff that Steve does and probably much more. Here is my open letter to Steve on why I stay in the Catholic Church,
Steve,
Let me tell you that I live in a very old neighborhood. What does that mean? It means that there are churches on every block. Within walking distance alone I have dozens of churches I could attend, including a Reformed Baptist Church that follows the 1644 London Baptist Confession of Faith. I could also go to a Lutheran Church and live out the faith of my paternal ancestors, the church founded by Martin Luther himself.
Within walking distance are two Eastern Orthodox churches. One of them is a ROCOR parish and I personally knew the last priest, who recently left. I was probably over at his house a dozen times and we had many pleasant conversations about theology, philosophy and church history. The other Orthodox Church is Ukrainian which would have been the faith of my very distant ancestors before they became Uniates. I also have two Oriental Orthodox churches within walking distance in case I decided that Chalcedonian Christology wasn’t doing it for me anymore. Steve, what I’m trying to point out is that I have options.
But why do I stay when my church is full of liberal and sodomite clergy? Let me use a Biblical analogy since you’re a believer in Sola Scriptura. In the Old Testament, we read about the Kingdom of Israel in the time of Elijah. We know that at one point there were only 7,000 of the Israelites who kept the faith. We read:
Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Ba′al, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
– 1 Kings 19:18
Can you imagine an Egyptian passing through the land and talking to one of these 7,000? He would probably ask the Israelite why he continues to follow the religion of Moses since 99.9% of the nation didn’t believe in it anymore. Well Steve, I should point out that the Israelite and I would have the same answer for why we stay in our respective faiths. I’m sure that Israelite didn’t like the corruption and false teachings floating around his faith anymore than I do. I think you’ve figured out the reason by now.
Now, if I ever came to believe that perseverance of the saints, justification by faith alone, and believer’s baptism are true, I’ll gladly start sampling the Protestant smorgasbord. After all, you now know the reason why I stay; you can deduce from this the only reason that would make me leave.
God bless,
Allan Ruhl
The trouble is is that it is all religion and all religion is dead. It is you must do this this and this and not do this this and this. That is not a relationship it is a bunch of rules. That goes with the protestant faiths too.
God who is eternal and who is perfect created us because He had a need . He did not like being alone. To have a relationship you need to need that person and vica verca. The RC church does not promote this relationship it promotes itself and its rules and rituals.
I suspect that you will label me a RC hater but that is not the case i just dont like religion because it achieves nothing certainly not salvation.
Hi Richard,
I just have a question for you. Have you ever studied the lives of any Catholic saints? St. Anthony of Padua, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Therese of Lisieux, or some of the many others?
Allan
Hello Allan, i saw the film brother son sister moon which i enjoyed not that i think it has much bearing on things we are discussing. That is the extent of my knowledge of those you mention. However i have read things such as Thomas a Kempis and i suspect they are all in a similar vein. My main connection with the RC faith is that my sister married one and had her children raised as nominal ones my mother ( an ex austrian nazi ) also would have identified as one and i live next to a RC monastery here in London and often go in there for compline to hear the monks chant. It is usually empty at that time . None of my family or my sisters children have any relationship with God whatsoever nor did my mother until i came to belief . That soured my view of all religions really.
The monastery and abbey i live next to has a full licenced bar that is open every evening and does a brisk trade. That has always struck me as incongruous. Anyhow when i came to a faith in God at the age of 53 , 12 years ago my wife, a life long RC had never read the bible in her life. I developed a great interest in the bible which my wife has also developed. Her lack of interest in the bible up to that point was probably a trait that 95%+ of all Rc share and that is a problem for me.
A lot of what you say is true. I won’t deny that for a second. It really bothers me how Catholics don’t know the Bible. Contrary to popular belief, we’re not discouraged from reading it, though we’re not encouraged either. Now, this is standard practice from the pulpit but on paper, the church wants us to read the Bible. Did you know that there are indulgences available for reading the Bible 30 minutes a day?
I would encourage you to study the lives of the Saints more. I’ll pray for you on your journey.
I just want to say something else. This might turn you off but I firmly believe in this. Ritual is important. Christ commanded all of us to be baptized. That’s a ritual. He also told us about the Eucharist. That’s a ritual as well. Now, faith is required but faith alone by itself is not enough. One must grow in grace through rituals like the Eucharist. I look forward to every Sunday when I can consume the Lord.
Cheers Alan ( as they say in the abbey bar ). I give myself and my wife communion in the quiet and sanctity of our own home we do it with great solemnity and deference. I believe that we as believers are priests and saints and see nothing to prevent us taking the wine and bread in remembrance of Christ.
Interestingly i used to give my mother communion in her last few months of life but when the local roman catholic priest came to see her about 2 weeks before she died , it was the first time in my living memory of a priest attending her and he did so at my request, she refused to take communion from him. She was suffering a small amount of confusion by that time so that may explain it . However the sacrament of the RC communion apparently meant nothing to her sadly.
Anyhow thank you for your good wishes and i like your posts. I collect very rare bibles and Christian books from the 16-18th c and i am in the process of trying to aquire a very interesting RC new Grfeek new testament and will let you know if i am succesful
Hey Richard,
Can I recommend one book that I think might help. I would recommend the biography of St. Francis de Sales. This is the book right here:
https://www.amazon.ca/St-Francis-Sales-Biography-Gentle/dp/0895557096/ref=sr_1_29?keywords=francis+de+sales&qid=1559753644&s=books&sr=1-29
Oh that’s so interesting about the books. One of my most treasured possessions is my family Bible from the 1800’s. It’s a German Martin Luther translation. Still, that’s probably nothing compared to what you have.
God bless,
Allan
–God who is eternal and who is perfect created us because He had a need . He did not like being alone.–
I can suggest that you read up on Christian theology. Beginning from the early church fathers all the way to modern, Internet-savvy writers… Many of them realized that YHWH did not ‘need’ to create anything for companionship, because YHWH is triune. The Father has loved the Son has loved the Spirit since all eternity.
This is in fact also used as a polemic against Unitarian concepts of God, such as the Islamic one – how could Allah be eternally just or merciful BEFORE anything was created? Allah would have nothing to be just or merciful towards.
Then that God is impossible to love because He is an angry God . So you have the situation where you have the Angry God the Father and then you have the Holy Spirit holding the Fathers Jacket while He gets ready to give us a good whipping while Jesus is holding Pa from zapping us and you wonder why the jews dont believe . I try to be a Christian believer . I think even 3 people in eternity would be pretty lonely and unexciting . I now believe in the Hassidic view of Adam and Eve ( and i am not a hebrew roots bod although i hope i am not ) that when God asked Adam and Eve ” did you eat from the tree i told you not to eat from ” He did not say it in a booming voice of anger and rage . I think he just asked them the question calmly and softly. I beleive that He was glad that they did that they had accepted the mission God had for them they chose not to stay in Eden where they were safe and would have lived forever they chose to go to the lowest of the worlds because they had free will and it would please God even the triune God . How does that square with original sin and atonement etc ? That is a God i could conceivably love but that is not a God religion will accept as that means their religions are redundant.
–Then that God is impossible to love because He is an angry God . So you have the situation where you have the Angry God the Father and then you have the Holy Spirit holding the Fathers Jacket while He gets ready to give us a good whipping while Jesus is holding Pa from zapping us and you wonder why the jews dont believe–
You are not being coherent here.
How did you conclude from ‘A Triune God who doesn’t need to create in order to love’ to ‘Therefore, the Triune God is angry!’???
And how is the monad God of modern Judaism LESS angry, since there is no Holy Spirit or Jesus to ‘calm him down’? After all in modern Judaism, there was never an atoning sacrifice to remove God’s wrath.
–I beleive that He was glad that they did that they had accepted the mission God had for them they chose not to stay in Eden where they were safe and would have lived forever they chose to go to the lowest of the worlds because they had free will and it would please God even the triune God–
I’m sorry, but now you’re cmaking assumptions that go directly against the text of the Bible.
Whatever background for the intepretation or view, I can accept if it does not contradict the actual text.
Your family bible will be as valuable as anything i have. Indeed one of my favorites was a bible from the late 1700,s that i bought for a fiver and had it rebound and gave it to my sister in the hope that she may read it one day. They are fascinating items as they are history in our hands of the development of the Christian belief in our country ( the UK ). I am restoring an Elizabethan bible slowly, it will probably take me years to complete but when ever i work on it it makes me think about what was going on at that time as far as the countries understanding of whom God was. It is humbling and a privilege to steward what is really an invaluable treasure .
I’m not sure what this means? Do you just mean that you know what “ugly stuff” goes on among Protestants? Or are you specifically saying you have dirt on Steve Hays?
Hello,
I was referring to the ugly stuff in the Catholic Church exclusively, not Hays or any other Protestant.
God bless,
Allan
Btw everyone,
Steve Hays has responded to this. Here’s the link. Apparently I’m a “RadTrad or sedevacantist”.
https://triablogue.blogspot.com/2019/07/playing-church.html
Enjoy folks!