How I Became A Baptist

[The Liturgist]

Hi, WebersHome.

I am certain that there are Catholic readers who are saying to themselves about most of what you wrote, "We teach that just as much as the Baptists do!"

But, no matter. If you have had the awakening that is needed, are now a confident believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that he died for you, and trust him for your salvation...

WE ARE HAPPY TO HEAR IT AND HAPPY FOR YOU.

Indeed; I would assume it was due to incompetent catechesis, because the way in which the OP articulates a belief in the Cross using very orthodox pan-Nicene Christian theology and soteriology is what the Roman Catholics and most other denominations teach. But I have encountered in some denominations evidence of poor catechesis regarding this, particularly these days in some of the mainline Protestant churches, but not all; even in the Episcopal Church you can still find priests who preach Christ crucified. And certainly it is the prevailing doctrine among most Roman Catholics, among the Orthodox, the Lutherans, traditional Anglicans like you, traditional Methodists, and so on. So most people who I have encountered who have switched denominations, for the reasons given in the OP, in my experience, from their narratives, had the misfortune of incompetent catechesis.

Because the Roman Catholic Church clearly does not teach that our Lord was the victim of unfortunate circumstances; I don’t think any genuinely Christian church would dare reduce the Passion to that. But if someone cannot articulate this core aspect of Christianity to the youth, it seems to require a rediscovery of the faith such as what we see with the conversion experience. There are indeed former Protestants who “swam the Tiber” for basically the same reasons given in the OP.

 

[BobRyan]

...I was loyal to Rome and its teachings up until 1968, then one day I was approached by a Conservative Baptist minister who asked me if I was prepared for Christ's return.

Well; I must've been either asleep or absent the day that the nuns talked about Jesus coming back because that man's question was the very first time in my whole life that I can remember somebody telling me.

My initial reaction was alarm because I instinctively knew that were I called on the carpet for a face-to-face with Jesus, it would not go well for me because I had a lot to answer for.

I don't remember any Catholic-oriented movies/stories about Jesus' return.

Well; I don't like being made to feel afraid so I became indignant and demanded to know why Jesus would come back. That's when I found out for the very first time that it was in the plan for Christ to take over the world. (I had somehow missed that in catechism too.)

Then the minister asked me if I was going to heaven. Well; of course I had no clue because Catholics honestly don't know what to expect when they pass away. I was crossing my fingers while in the back of my mind dreading the worst.

Then the man said; "Don't you know that Jesus died for your sins?"

Well; I had been taught in catechism that Jesus died for the sins of the world; that much I knew; but honestly believed all along that he had been a victim of unfortunate circumstances. It was a shock to discover that Jesus' trip to the cross was deliberate, and that his Father was thinking of me when His son passed away, viz: my sins were among the sins of the world that Jesus took to the cross with him.

At that very instant-- scarcely a nanosecond --something took over in my mind as I fully realized, to my great relief, that Hell could be easily avoided and Heaven was well within reach.

I notice that in classic "Passion of the Christ" you see a mix of "unfortunate circumcstances" mixed with the idea that "torment by Roman soldiers and Jews" was the "price paid" for the sins of mankind..

That was an amazing experience. In just the two or three minutes of conversation with that Baptist minister, I obtained an understanding of Jesus' crucifixion that many tedious years of catechism classes had somehow failed to get across. Consequently, my confidence in the Roman Catholic Church was shattered like a bar of peanut brittle candy dropped on the sidewalk from the tippy top of the Chrysler building.

Long story short; I eventually went with that man to his church

Indeed; I would assume it was due to incompetent catechesis, because the way in which the OP articulates a belief in the Cross using very orthodox pan-Nicene Christian theology and soteriology is what the Roman Catholics and most other denominations teach. But I have encountered in some denominations evidence of poor catechesis regarding this

Am wondering how many more "tedious years of catechism classes" it would have taken for "competent catechesis". It looks to me like the OP is contrasting years of years of catechism classes with "minutes" of discussion with a Baptist minister.