This post is the first in a series entitled: Letting God Lead: My Journey Through Protestant and Catholic Belief. Click here to find out more about this series and to find a list of all of the posts. *This post contains affiliate links.
It started out innocently enough. My mother-in-law (a devoted Catholic) gave me the book Surprised by Truth, which is a compilation of 11 very different peoples’ Catholic conversion stories. At first, I didn’t really understand why she was (albeit very politely) trying to “convert me.” Didn’t she realize we were the same religion? I mean, we were both Christian and we both believed what I thought were the “essentials” (The trinity, Jesus died for our sins, Heaven, etc). So why did it matter if I was Catholic? Did she think I wasn’t Christian?
(My mother-in-law is wonderful. I wasn’t upset. Just confused. I didn’t understand what all the “fuss” was about.)
You see, faith has always been a very important part of my life. My mother was a preacher’s daughter and a lot of that commitment to church and to the faith was passed right on down to me. Growing up, my mom and I were at church pretty much every time the doors were opened it seemed–at least three times a week. And we usually showed up early and stayed late as well.
And we weren’t just “Sunday Christians” either. My mom and I both read our Bibles, read other Christian Living books, listened to Christian radio, prayed, helped others, etc etc very regularly. We both sang in the church choir and praise band and even attended the same Bible college (though not at the same time). I was helping out at church multiple times a week, was helping out in the community, and had just started a Christian blog. Not that any of these things MAKE you a Christian–they don’t. But if she needed to worry about “converting” anyone, it wasn’t me.
But hey, I enjoy reading about Christianity and Christian beliefs and I wasn’t really that busy at the time, so I figured, “Hey, why not?”
Love Catholic conversion stories? Find it on Amazon!
As I sat down to read Surprised by Truth, honestly, I struggled to make it through the first chapter. I seriously wanted to chuck the book at the wall. I’m a very logical type thinker. I’m not going to believe something “because someone says so.” I want proof. I want facts. I want Scriptural support. Not that faith isn’t important–it is–but first the person better prove to me that they’re worth listening to. And here, the first chapter was full of “I believed because it just felt right, and I came into the Catholic church rejoicing and shouting “Hallelujah” to saint whoever!” Please. Spare me.
I mean, if you enjoy reading conversion stories (like this one you’re reading now 🙂 ), then it’s a really good book. It just wasn’t what I thought it would be or what I was looking for. But I kept reading. Because “hey, why not?”
And as I kept reading and wading through all the fluff, it wasn’t long before certain sentences began to jump out at me (both good and bad), and I started learning new pieces of information that no one had ever told me before, although in snippets.
Sentences like: “To be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant.” Now I’ll be the first to admit, I knew VERY little about church history. If I knew more, would that change the way I saw things?
And then, three-quarters of the way through the book, I finally found an author with a similar background as mine (Baptist), who gave an account that wasn’t fluffy, but that was actually full of facts and support and that made a lot of sense. Suddenly, things I was once so sure of… I wasn’t so sure of anymore.
The real turning point happened, though, during a conversation with my husband. I’m not sure what we were talking about specifically, but suddenly it clicked that “Protestant” was derived from Martin Luther’s protest. Now, yes, I did know this before, but I had never really thought about it much. Except, this time, I did.
How–in the 16th century–could some guy suddenly decide he didn’t like the church so he was going to make a new one of his own? Now, I’m not arguing that the Catholic church was in the right. From what I’ve read since then, there was definitely some awful, sinful behavior going on that needed to be addressed. (No one’s perfect, not even the church.) BUT, what gave Martin Luther the right to pick the beliefs he wanted to pick and to abandon the rest? Who was he to get to say what was Scriptural or not?
It was at that moment I realized I couldn’t be Protestant anymore. I couldn’t support a man who left the church, took things into his own hands and decided for himself what truth should be. It just wasn’t Biblical. We’re called to repair, not divide.
Ceasing to be a Protestant wasn’t a problem for me. We did a lot of church-hopping when I was younger, and I can count NINE churches I’ve regularly attended in my life so far. I’ve never taken a denominational label–just called myself “Christian”–and I was still a Christian, so that was fine.
But investigating the Catholic Church’s beliefs was a much longer and more tumultuous journey. A journey which involved a lot of questioning, a lot of struggling and a lot of tears. A journey which I hope to cover throughout this series.
So whether you are Protestant or Catholic or something else all together, I hope and pray you will join me with an open heart and an inquisitive mind. I’m not seeking to convert you or to say that one side is right and the other is wrong. At the time of this writing, I’m neither Catholic or Protestant, and I’m still unsure as to how this journey will end.
But what I DO know is it’s been quite an enlightening year and I’ve learned a lot. And I’d like to share some of what I’ve learned with you. Because honestly, wouldn’t you like to know if what you believe is true? I hope so. And I hope you’ll continue to join me every Wednesday throughout this series to find out more.
As we start this series, I’d like to know: Are you a Protestant or Catholic? Did you grow up that way or did you switch?
Ready to read more? Don’t miss the rest of the posts in the series!
The Day I Realized My Religion Got it Wrong
10 Common Catholic Church Myths that Critics Believe
Is the Eucharist Really Just a Symbol?
Who has the Ultimate Authority? A Biblical Look at Sola Scriptura
A Brief Look at the History of Christianity
What All Christians Should Know About Priests, the Pope and Confession
What Do Catholics Really Believe About Mary, Saints and Statues?
Infant Baptism or Believer’s Baptism? Which is Correct?
What is Purgatory? What are Indulgences?
Why Do Catholics….? Honest Answers to Your Burning Questions
I was Catholic,and protestant and Catholic again but today I am Christian only,following JESUS TEACHING, and the apostles, after seing the monuments in the vatican and the story of Nimrod and Baal and Semiramis, written on the history of humanity and Babilonia.no more religions or churches made by man,i was healed and restaured by the name of Jesús.
Two questions for you to ponder: What about Jesus’ teachings that weren’t written down? Because not all of what he said was recorded. And secondly, what if one of Jesus’s teaching was to give man the authority to make some teachings of their own? Just some food for thought.
Hi, Clara! Just wanted to make sure you saw a couple of posts I published that might clear things up for you a little bit. Here are the links: https://equippinggodlywomen.com/faith/faith-alone-enough/ and https://equippinggodlywomen.com/faith/who-has-the-ultimate-authority-a-biblical-look-at-sola-scriptura/
I am so proud of you for doing this! I was born and raised Catholic. I have also lived smack dab in the middle of the Bible Belt my entire life, so I get asked many questions about my religion frequently. I am still a devoted and practicing Catholic, and I love my religion! My husband and I were married in The Church even though he is Methodist. He is prayerfully considering conversion but I don’t want to push him. It must be of his own desire to convert, not my desire for him. We attend Catholic Church every week and practice Catholic life practices (such as the sign of the cross, Catholic prayers, Lenten rules, etc.). He is very smart and knows the history but he says he’s waiting for something to really move him to conversion and this series of posts may be it. I know that the Catholic Church has made mistakes in the past and Martin Luther was brave. I don’t know that he even intended for the split that followed. His original intentions (if my studies are correct) were to merely correct the Church, not create new churches that were so divided. I so look forward to seeing your journey studying all about The Catholic Church.
Thanks, Hannah! Hope you both enjoy the series and learn a lot 🙂
Thanks for the post, I was born and raised Catholic, but it wasn’t until college that I started to really embrace my faith. I always told all my friends that it was a horrible idea to date a protestant (no offence), simply because I didn’t think it was fair for the children to have two parents who were both strong in their faith arguing all the time. I also saw how hard it was on my own mother to have a strong faith, but not be able to turn to my dad to share some of the deep moments of encountering God through the Catholic Church because he wouldn’t understand. Well God had a different plan for me and I ended up dating a protestant my senior year in college. We both thought it was crazy we were going to date because of the religious differences, but felt a strong call from God to pursue our relationship. We went into it saying we would seek God’s truth and pray that if we were meant to get married God would unite our beliefs (which was tricky because I fully believed that the Catholic Church was the truth and had no room for doubt in my heart, where as he believed protestantism was the truth, but as a protestant they are taught to follow where the Bible leads them so he was more open to exploring to the truth of the Bible, and of course he assumed that may mean a different branch of protestantism, but for sure not the Catholic Church). We went to each others’ churches and he would come to adoration with me. Going to his church was a big eye opener. It helped me to see how protestants could believe certain things and the ways that they were taught to read certain text and how that could seem to logically disprove the Catholic Church. For a while the relationship could be painful, what we both loved the most, God, seemed to be what also separated us the most. I remember nights sitting on the stairs crying as he told me I worshiped Mary and that lead me away from Christ and how it was so painful that I couldn’t express how Mary only drew me closer to Christ. .. Sorry this is way longer than expected. Anyways, at times our relationship seemed hopeless, I deeply loved him because he was such a man of God, but we didn’t know what to do. Eventually he started going to RCIA classes because he figured that either way he would get to know what the Catholic Church really taught, and that would either lead him to believe the Catholic Church was the truth, or at least he would know how to better argue against Catholics because he knew their real beliefs and not myths. Through those classes and talking to a missionary who knows Greek and was able to sit down with him and open up the Bible and show him scriptural support through the Greek and a closer study of Jesus’ actual words, he has fallen in love with the Catholic Church. It is still a shock to me, and very hard on him because so many people doubt him and think he is only doing it to marry me. When in fact I am proud to say, I think he is more in love with the Catholic Church than I am and can quote half the Bible to prove his beliefs. It is such a lesson to both of us that we have to follow Christ no matter who disagrees with us or turns away from us. I wish you well on your journey, and know that God will lead you to His truth which will only produce a more fruitful and deep relationship with Him! God Bless!
lol. No offense taken. Being non-denominational Protestant and Catholic was never a real issue for us. People would ask how we could be married when we didn’t believe the same thing, but honestly, all of the day-to-day things ARE the same. Whether or not the Eucharist is real, confessing to a Pope is necessary or praying to Mary is right… none of that really impacted our lives Monday through Saturday. (Is that bad?) Those were all just details to me. And I was fine raising our boys Catholic. I never was anti-Catholic, just saw all the denominations as variations of the same thing. We both believed in the trinity, Jesus’s birth, death and resurrection, Heaven someday, helping others, etc etc… and that was enough for me.
Love your story! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Hi Brittnay,
I am actually very excited to read about your journey, especially that I feel like I am questioning those same things. I was adopted at 9 into a very loving christian family and have been a nondenominational Christina ever since. My parents put me into a private school that “prepared” us to go out into the world and be able to defend our faith…kind of. Unfortunately, that teaching crumbled my first semester in college when I took a philosophy course and ever since I have not been able to get to the way things used to be. Somehow I still have not lost my faith and belief in God despite being persuaded by atheist friends and professors towards other beliefs. I will admit that my beliefs have definitely changed and I am actually glad that I went through all the trials that I did, unfortunately, now I feel like I am in limbo. I still call myself a Christian but I never feel at home. To add to this my boyfriend of almost 3 years is Catholic and we are pretty serious about our futures together but my family does not approve of him being Catholic. He has been teaching me more about the catholic way and I am very open to learning. Honestly, I have no problem attending mass with him and I’ve actually realized that we aren’t as different as I used to think in a lot of the beliefs we have been taught, major ones at least. (I can go into detail about a lot of things that I still don’t understand too and that still bother me from time to time but I won’t. Although, it does make me sad sometimes when I can’t participate in communion when I have done it so many times at my own church – I understand why but still.) I have also realized that I’ve started to really dislike the teachings of my previous church (one I grew up in and the one my parents have been active in for the last 20 years and still are – nondenominational church) that has also added to my questioning of everything that I have been taught so far. It also doesn’t help that for some unknown reason my parents dislike the Catholicism so much. Please don’t get me wrong, they are good and loving people and I love them with all of my heart, but it has been hard to see their reactions whenever I say that I’m going to mass with my boyfriend instead of their church, which I left as soon as I came back from college. It has not been easy dealing with any of it and I still haven’t really decided on anything, I’m trying to figure it out like you. I’m just glad to hear that I’m not the only one searching for truth though, so thank you for starting this. I can’t wait to see what happens to you on your journey as I try to figure out mine lol. Sorry for the length of this comment btw.
Julia
It’s okay, I completely understand! My parents haven’t expressed disapproval… they just haven’t really said much of anything at all. Hopefully we’ll both learn a lot through this series and find some sort of peace at the other side. But hey, at least we’re in it together, right? 🙂
Hello, Julia.
It is always wonderful to hear what the Lord is doing in our lives.
I am going to provide a link for various Catholic videos that are easy to follow and are filled with precious information. There are different topics, such as Deep in History, Deep in Scripture, and then general conversion stories that cover a multitude of backgrounds and topics.
Also beware that, since this is YouTube, there may be some links provided that are NOT 100% faithful to the Catholic Church, although they may seem that way. Anyway, anything from https://www.EWTN.com and The Coming Home Network is solid stuff. There are plenty of others, such as https://www.Catholic.com and also http://www.SalvationHistory.com
I hope this, along with what Brittany will be sharing for the next weeks will be very helpful to you in your journey.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIDebJFlV5aIsFs2jzxASrQ
Hi, Julia! I’m just going through some old comments on this series to make sure that everyone’s questions and concerns were address. Were you able to follow along with this series? Did it answer your questions or do you still have any other questions or concerns we could discuss?
I just posted the conclusion post this last week, and there’s a 3-book giveaway set I thought you might be interested in if you are wanting to learn more!
I am anxious to follow your journey. I think its very exciting. To those of you who say all you have to do is read your bible, well, the bible wasn’t put together until 400 yrs after Jesus rose from the dead. It didn’t just fall from the sky. Besides, if you only have to read the bible, then why are there so many different churches all teaching different things. They can’t all be true. They can have some truth, but only one can contain all truth. Jesus came and vhose 12 to start His church, as He said. We need to find which one that is. Jesus came with authority from the Father, who did He give His authority to? It even says in scripture, that some parts are hard to understand unless you have an interprter. I don’t think its as easy as just reading the bible, because, we don’t understand all the background. Yes, this will be very interesting.
I’m glad to have you here too, Kay 🙂
I was raised Freewill Baptist and came home to the Catholic Church when I was in my late 20’s. I think my mother’s utter disdain toward Catholic’s prompted me to find out more….little did I know, the truth would reveal itself slowly through my investigations.
Things I had been told as a child about Catholics were twisted and untrue, easily done when someone doesn’t fully understand the faith (for example, Laura’s post above, “From what I can recall, it was always about duty. If you do this, then you get to heaven. If you follow these rules, then God will love you.”)
I’ve come to learn that the Catholic church has worked diligently to preserve the teachings of Christ for thousands of years, vastly different from Protestantism. Just “reading the Bible” as Jill Levenhagen claims you should do, doesn’t give you the fullness of Christ’s teachings which include the beautiful traditions, the Holy Eucharist, and the Holy Family and saints that Jesus has given us as role models to live our lives like (and for those Protestants who are about to fall off their rocker because I used the word “traditions”, please know how to decipher between man-made traditions and traditions that have been carried on from the days of Christ). I Corinthians 11:2 says, “I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the traditions, just as I handed them on to you.” and 2 Thessalonians 2:15, “Stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.”
I’m so excited for you as you make this journey, there’s so much to learn and I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
There IS a lot to learn. And completely not the things I thought it would be either. I thought the Eucharist and Mary were the big stumbling points. Turns out you guys have a WHOLE culture and lingo that I am NOT familiar with! lol. I’m learning, though, slowly but surely. And thanks, I’m excited to continue learning too 🙂
Hey. Just wanted to comment and say thanks for putting this up. I’m in a similar weird place right now; was raised Baptist but been to RCIA about a time and a half now and I’m really questioning some things. Looking forward to your journey. I pray that you find the Truth, whatever that is.
Thanks. I hope you learn a lot through this series too 🙂
I have read that book too. When I re-discovered the Catholic faith I started with a lot of conversion type stories; reading them helped me re-appreciate what I always had but some stopped caring about/lost interest in my teen years.
I would love to hear you talk about the Church’s teaching on birth control because I know that is SUCH a misunderstood teaching for even Catholics. Also I’m excited to hear you talk about the Mass and the Eucharist…Eucharistic adoration is what brought me to my knee’s and really draw me back in.
I would actually love to talk about birth control. I just listened to a CD on it lately that I found absolutely fascinating. I doubt it will make it into this series though 🙂
In reading glasses this post, I believe that you are coming to an opinion that the changes begun by Martin Luther were not his to make despite the corruption within the Roman Catholic Church of the 16th century. I would encourage you to dig deeper into history and explore the original, living church, Eastern Orthodoxy. In the view of EO, the RC have also drifted away from the true church.
Good luck on your journey and may Christmas make clear your path.
Thanks, Jennifer. I definitely plan on diving into these matters further! In fact, I have a post on church history scheduled for next Wednesday.
I find it interesting that you could not allow yourself to support a man who decided for himself what the truth should be. Here is the true divide between Catholics and Protestants. While both value TRUTH and UNITY; Catholics value UNITY most, and on the flip side Protestants value TRUTH.
I could never follow a group of men calling themselves “The Church” who create a environment that allows for the worship of Mary & the Saints or the selling of indulgences.
Martin Luther read fluently in Latin – he was trained to interpret the Bible by The Church. The real issues that lead him to severe ties with the RCC were not flippantly made. Common people were not able to read scripture and couldn’t understand what was being read to them in Mass. People didn’t believe in Jesus, they worshiped Mary’s statue, believed THE CHURCH and memorized the Hail Mary. Luther and others gave the Western World much more than a new Denomination. If it wasn’t for Luther – there may have never been a ‘reformation’ in the RCC – and you might not read the Bible in English probably wouldn’t even Catechize your children.
I am a Southern Baptist rich in history, who begs to differ with your opinion (only since I didn’t see many on the last comments section I read from your second post). Well written and very interesting. Just make sure that if you are trying to write from an unbiased point of view – you read unbiased. I praise you for wanting to learn and know more – and especially for listening to your elder (mother in law) and husband. However, in your next post you mention that now I (a protestant) ‘know’ the TRUTH I will be held accountable in eternity.
You haven’t cleared up the main issue with the RCC for me. Jesus came to fulfill the old – he is our new HIGH PRIEST. Why then does the RCC set up a new system? Instead of sacrificing at the temple, we now pray to Mary and repent to a Priest? Traditions can be beautiful, but if a Tradition makes it difficult for people to really hear the GOSPEL, then a Tradition is misplaced. The Gospel wins – it has to win – or what is the point? Jesus’ death and resurrection is the POINT, not Traditions – not my right to hold my hands up in worship – etc. If the GOSPEL doesn’t trump all of this – then non of it matters.
I think both sides seek and value truth–they just go about finding it in different ways. For instance: Protestants only believe the Bible and completely disregard official church teaching, while the RCC places heavy emphasis on both. In other words, Catholics follow the Bible, but not every teaching is included in the Bible (and the church didn’t even HAVE a Bible for hundreds of years) so they listen to the teachings of the apostles which they have handed down as well. See this post on why the Bible is awesome, but not the ONLY source of authority: https://equippinggodlywomen.com/faith/who-has-the-ultimate-authority-a-biblical-look-at-sola-scriptura/.
And yes, the church has made some huge mistakes (on both sides), but there is a big difference between what Christianity (in any denomination) actually teaches and what it’s followers actually choose to do. My interest in this series isn’t to condemn the entire set of beliefs because a few people messed up and didn’t follow them, but to examine the Bible and beliefs on both sides to see where real truth lies.
Ouch! “The Bible is awesome, but not the ONLY source of authority”?! Oh. My. Goodness! Please tell me you did NOT just say that! I don’t understand this. I seriously don’t know how someone who claims to be a Christians believes that God’s Word (the Bible) is not enough. How is this even possible? I’m so sorry that you feel this way. WHY?
I would love to discuss this with you, but PLEASE read my post Who is the Ultimate Authority? A Biblical Look at Sola Scriptura. It is based on Scripture, and it should explain a lot! Trust me, I love the Bible as much as the next person and I definitely believe it to be the flawless, inspired and authoritative Word of God. It is always going to be the #1 source for me. BUT you have to love it for what it IS, not for what we’ve all grown up thinking it is. This post should really shed some light!
If you truly believe that God’s Word is not enough, then I cannot continue to discuss any of this (below) with you as it will be a futile waste of time. 🙁
Beautiful, well-written, scripturally-based, educated response, Tiffany! 🙂