Ever thought of the significance of Baptism? Priesthood? Anything?
Ever found it honestly strange, if I go into one Christian community, I will find one group kneel in front of Mary, and others decry her ever-virginity?
How I go to one place, and there is an altar, and the other, a stage?
And, yet, to some, this probably never sinks in, that how can Christianity be that way?
It's
like going to Biology class and in one pocket says, biology is only the
study of plants, the other says it is the study of animals, and the
last say it is the study of microorganisms ....
But the truth, it is the study of the plants, of the animals, and of the microorganisms....
Well .....
These questions have better answers than you may realize concerning Christianity
In protestantism, there is great and a singular theology centered on the Bible alone. Well, in one way, it makes the response easy: Ok, so the Bible alone, if you can show me how and why, I will believe you.
And depending where this leads, it will be quizzical. Should it start with history, i.e., the historical record of the Bible, they will be pointed to the Council of Rome where the apostolic Church convened to determine what scripture was and wasn't .... alas, the New Testament.
CHURCH FATHERS
Before circa 350, we have Christian writers, and we can use them to know much about the TRADITION of the early Church. In reading about this TRADITION we find many glorious things which point to the Catholic Church as well as an emphasis on TRADITION over a book.
How can we be sure that these traditions were kept? Well, we have accounts that they did indeed keep track: Tertullian defence against "The Fall of the Church"
We can sort of say it was the tradition before the tradition of the Bible.
For more contemporary solutions, listen to these converts
Former Protestant Minister, Marcus Grodi
Marcus currently hosts a show of people who found the truth as he did,
Here are two Jewish converts to the Faith which graced his program
Once a conservative Jew, Rosalind Ross is now a nun
Mark Drogin, found Truth in Jesus as a former Jew
After those, you may find it incredibly enlightening to here a one time Protestant historian, find that the story truly leads one way:
Dr. Anders: Protestant Theology
Then there is this last question:
Who founded your Church? Protestants often protest that Catholicism is man-made, and all the rules are also just man-made, but what is funny is we know exactly what 'man' made all branches of protestantism, it takes very little scholarship to find these out.
How Old Is Your Church? (EWTN)
If you are a Lutheran, your religion was founded by Martin Luther, an ex- monk of the Catholic Church, in the year 1517.If you belong to the Church of England, your religion was founded by King Henry VIII in the year 1534 because the Pope would not grant him a divorce with the right to remarry.
If you are a Presbyterian, your religion was founded by John Knox in Scotland in the year 1560.
If you are a Protestant Episcopalian, your religion was an offshoot of the Church of England founded by Samuel Seabury in the American colonies in the 17th century.
If you are a Congregationalist, your religion was originated by Robert Brown in Holland in 1582.
If you are a Methodist, your religion was launched by John and Charles Wesley in England in 1744.
If you are a Unitarian, Theophilus Lindley founded your church in London in 1774.
If you are a Mormon (Latter Day Saints), Joseph Smith started your religion in Palmyra, N.Y., in 1829.
If you are a Baptist, you owe the tenets of your religion to John Smyth, who launched it in Amsterdam in 1605.
If you are of the Dutch Reformed church, you recognize Michaelis Jones as founder, because he originated your religion in New York in 1628.
If you worship with the Salvation Army, your sect began with William Booth in London in 1865.
If you are a Christian Scientist, you look to 1879 as the year in which your religion was born and to Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy as its founder.
If you belong to one of the religious organizations known as 'Church of the Nazarene," "Pentecostal Gospel." "Holiness Church," "Pilgrim Holiness Church," "Jehovah's Witnesses," your religion is one of the hundreds of new sects founded by men within the past century.
If you are Catholic............... look it up, the founder of the Catholic Church is..........
I dare say: When time and mind is put on the question, there is but one conclusion:
God's Church is all of Catholicism, All of Catholicism is Christianity, and only some of Christianity is God's Church.
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103.htm
