Protestant Thoughts on Catholicism

I am a Protestant. Baptized as a child in the United Brethren church, who later merged with Medodists to form the United Methodist denomination. Born again at a Billy Graham Crusade. Most recently in my life I have attended Assemblies of God and Foursquare Churches, all of which are vastly different than Catholicism.

However, about a year ago, I decided that I wanted to attend a Catholic church, and I chose a local parish. I attended out of curiosity, interest, and to better understand Catholicism. I purchased Catholic books, went to mass regularly, attended some RCIA classes, joined a home fellowship group that met monthly for dinner, and talked to the priest often regarding Catholicism. What did this experience teach me? Read on.

As I became immersed in the Catholic faith, my first thought was as Protestants we've thrown the baby out with the bath water! (Hopefully, it wasn't baby Jesus.) I was stunned at how little I knew about Christian history, tradition, the Christian calendar, feasts, and saints embodied in the Catholic faith. Why hadn't I been taught all those things as a Protestant? Sure not all of church history is pretty. There have been some pretty bad popes, people burned at the stake, dark ages, torture, inquisition, and the big split through Martin Luther. But how can we understand where we are headed as the body of Christ if we don't look at the foundational roots behind us? Kudos to the Catholics for keeping our Christian history preserved, taught, and celebrated. Teaching of church history and tradition rarely exists in mainline evangelical and charismatic Christian circles, unless you're attending Bible college. It's a part of our faith that could definitely enrich us as Protestants.

I'm the first to admit as a charismatic evangelical Protestant my Christianity is pretty much based totally on the spiritual side of things. Not much to touch and see in the Protestant sanctuary I visit to worship. Just pews or chairs, a bare pulpit, and if I'm lucky, a cross over the baptismal. In the Catholic church, however, I'm bombarded with sight, sound, and smell. All of my senses, not only my spirit, are touched by the many facets of being a Christian.

Easter in the Catholic church is the most beautiful time of the year. It's filled with touching and exciting masses for Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, the Stations of the Cross at Noon, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter morning. Holy Saturday's wondeful act of the lighting of the candle in the darkened sanctuary, baptizing new converts and accepting those brought into the Catholic faith, is truly moving. In the Catholic church I just didn't just think about Easter, I walked it (by waving palm branches), I lived the passion (by participating in the stations of the cross), I breathed it (when incense was burned to signify the Holy Spirit), I reflected upon it and I cried through it (when I bent my knee and touched a wooden cross in adoration), and I participated in the resurrection and joy of Easter morning.

Catholicism is truly the sense touching side of Christian worship, while Protestants are more focused on the spiritual side. Interesting though we still walk in the flesh, so why do we surpress our senses in regards to Christian worship too? I understand that God seeks those to worship Him in Spirit and in truth, but to awaken the Spirit in us, we sometimes need encouragement. I know as Protestants we historically turned away from items that might be thought of as idols, but in doing so, we've replaced them with other idols in our lives. We've shunned away from what we thought were empty traditions, but replaced them with our own traditions. Did we miss something?

I greatly respect the sense of community and oneness, the presence of the Lord at Mass, and the sincerity of faith shown by those in the Catholic faith that I had the pleasure to meet. They are devoted people to both family and the Lord. They show a great compassion to love and reach the community around them with Christian acts of charity. They also know the meaning of devotion. To be a devote Catholic takes great devotion, which I seldom see in Protestant circles.

Communion. Though I went up for a blessing every Sunday, I never felt part of the community as a whole because I was unable to partake of the Lord's communion. I've been taught as a Protestant that the table of the Lord should be open to all who believe. It's a place of remembrance of what Christ's blood and body provides for me in the way of forgiveness. However, to exclude non-Catholics or those who may be in sin in the Catholic faith, negates the purpose of the sacrifice for that which is given to us from God.

I fully understood the sanctity of the Eucharist in Catholic faith believing that it becomes the body and blood of Christ. I respected that belief of my Catholic friends, and I strangely felt the Lord's presence every time I approached it. However, I was never able to partake of it, which left an extreme excluded, sad and empty feeling.

The other thing I found lacking in the Catholic church is Biblical teaching on an ongoing basis. Though scripture is read during mass, I became hungry for more of the Word of God and there were no Bible teaching classes offered.

Also because I was divorced, I felt there was no opportunity for me to be a fully participating Catholic should I remarry. The obstacles of getting an annulment seemed an overwhelming process and expensive, even though I had cause to be given an annulment, and having my marriage judged by legal authorities in the Church made me uncomfortable.

Well, the age old controversies between Catholics and Protestants are still there. The biggest obstacles I see still remain in the adoration of Mary, the praying to saints, and confession.

In the Catholic parish I attended, there was very little acknowledgement of Mary, though she was spoken of occasionally. I'm sure it differs between parishes. Protestants understand who she is and her role in bringing Jesus into the world, but Catholics revere her more highly.

The saints of the church embody a very rich Christian history. When you read about their lives, why they are honored by Catholicism, what they gave up for Christ is truly inspiring. As a Protestant, we don't pray to them because we believe there are human and cannot hear us in heaven. Catholics believe because they are in heaven, they can hear us and intercede for us. Hense the split in belief.

Confession. The biggy. Frankly, I think a good dose of confessing our sins one to another in the Protestant faith might clean up things a bit. We have little accountability for our sins, and as we can see from many prominent evangelicals in the pasts, unconfessed hidden sin has a way of making the public news. Where we ultimately obtain that forgiveness from, still comes from God. But if I had to confess my sins as often as devote Catholics do to another person, I'd probably clean my act up a lot faster and keep it clean. Sin leaves the body through confession, and I think it's a cleansing experience and a Biblical guideline to confess our faults one to another and pray for one another that we may be healed.

The Christian church consists of a variety of denominations, beliefs, and personalities all rolled into one. Who's right? Who's wrong? Which denomination embodies the entire truth? Probably none of us, however, maybe some of us are closer than others. Only God knows. I do know, however, that the church belongs to Christ and not to me, and He is fully able to see his prayer in John 17:21 come to pass that we may be one.

In the Catholic song book I found an interesting prayer in the front cover. It's a prayer I've never seen in a Protestant song book. Simply stated, it welcomes me there as a Protestant. It thanks me for coming to celebrate with my other brothers and sisters in Christ. It prays that our common baptism and the action of the Holy Spirit will draw us closer, and that the sad divisions that separate us will be dispelled until we are all one in Christ.

In response to that prayer, I say AMEN.

This may prove to be an explosive and controversial Hubpage. My prayer is, however, that the comments section will not turn into a battle ground, so I will monitor the posts.

What is the bottom line in all this? There are many flavors of Christianity in the world. There is the Orthodox church from the east, the Roman church from the west, and the various worldwide denominations and freestanding churches not affiliated with any denomination. What God desires of all of us, however, is to seek his Son, Jesus. That is the common ground for us all. It's a place where God comes to meet us as individuals and accept us all as His children, regardless of whether our theology is right on or not. It's a place called the foot of the cross.