Yeah!
I'm glad you are Catholic. Me too (a convert).
I used to argue with my cousin (who was and is also a Catholic Convert) about the Bible. I was a really zealous Protestant who loved Jesus and therefore automatically believed whatever the other people who loved Jesus told me was true.
I think that is the main problem. People have been ingrained in certain beliefs for generations. Some of it they see as being true from their own research, and others just accept things as if it is part of their culture.
After I became Catholic, I realized that Protestants have a certain "culture of the Bible" if you will. It involves not only their "canon" of scripture, but also certain written and unwritten ways of interpreting scripture. Protestants even pronounce MANY words in the Bible differently than Catholics!
I would say that the main difference definitely boils down to authority and as a natural offspring, the next difference becomes unity. Even though Protestants have cast off the authority of the Church, they still hold to the authority of their churches and above that the Bible. When you begin to question most protestants about the origins of the Bible or question them about controversial (to protestants) theology, they sometimes become nervous but ALWAYS fall back on the concept that the Bible (their version) is the Word of God and the final authority etc.
But which translation? What happened to the Apocrypha? (give proof that the Scriptures the Bereans "searched diligently" was the Greek Septuagint containing the Apocrypha and they will most likely say all your sources are wrong)
I don't get it to be honest. It's all one big tangled up mess that makes me frustrated. No wonder Jesus' last prayer was that we be
one. The good news though, is that many many protestants are returning home. Mainly Anglicans and Lutherans, but many many others as well.
For me, 3 of my cousins, 1 aunt, myself and my 3 daughters are all Catholic converts. In my husband's family, his mom and dad converted a few years ago and his brother is now in RCIA, planning to be confirmed this Easter.
It's also hard to not sound arrogant when talking to Protestants because you want them to understand so badly.
A lot of mainstream denominations are actually starting to fall apart so hopefully the remnants will turn to the Catholic Church. We need to be praying for them so that when the strong winds blow they will not turn away from Jesus altogether, but instead come home.
Also for the Orthodox brothers and sisters too. My husband is a convert to Eastern Orthodoxy and I used to pray God would make us the same "faith". Now I pray that God would reunite the Orthodox and Catholic Churches so that my husband and I won't have to change.
teresa
