Catholic vs Calvinist (if you had to choose)

Is Catholicism more Scripturally Accurate than Calvinism?

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DrHuk&Duck said:
RC Sproul is widely regarded as one of the great contemporary theologians—and to boot, he was also a Calvinist. It doesn’t seem he shared your sentiments concerning Aquinas.
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That Aquinas was a significant philosopher and shaper of Western thought, who nonetheless said many wrong things, in particular, where it touched on Roman Catholic theology (e.g. justification, Mary, transubstantiation, etc.)? I daresay Sproul would agree with me there. That was the classical Reformed position: that he should be read and appreciated, but critically.

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Should We Read Thomas Aquinas? | Tabletalk

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Ransom said:
That Aquinas was a significant philosopher and shaper of Western thought, who nonetheless said many wrong things, in particular, where it touched on Roman Catholic theology (e.g. justification, Mary, transubstantiation, etc.)? I daresay Sproul would agree with me there. That was the classical Reformed position: that he should be read and appreciated, but critically.

tabletalkmagazine.com

Should We Read Thomas Aquinas? | Tabletalk

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You might be correct. I’d have to delve deeper into Sproul. I don’t know much about his beliefs other than he’s a very well-known theologian.
 
DrHuk&Duck said:
LOL. I mean c’mon…you really went through and cherry-picked my comments from various posts. I wasn’t exactly writing a defense treatise of the Catholic Church.
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Respectfully that is how it came across to me. It almost seemed you were trying to talk yourself into converting to the RCC.
 
Tarheel Baptist said:
Respectfully that is how it came across to me. It almost seemed you were trying to talk yourself into converting to the RCC.
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No, but I’m exploring the pros and cons of the Catholic Church. At this point I can’t say I’ll ever convert to Catholicism, but I can’t say I won’t. It’s not something I’d ever rush into and I’d have to really be convinced it’s where I belong. All I know is that I’ve been a Baptist for 45 years and I feel like my tank is empty.
 

DrHuk&Duck said:
No, but I’m exploring the pros and cons of the Catholic Church. At this point I can’t say I’ll ever convert to Catholicism, but I can’t say I won’t. It’s not something I’d ever rush into and I’d have to really be convinced it’s where I belong. All I know is that I’ve been a Baptist for 45 years and I feel like my tank is empty.
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Being a Baptist not your primary problem.
I’m not sure joining a quasi-cult is your answer.
 
DrHuk&Duck said:
All I know is that I’ve been a Baptist for 45 years and I feel like my tank is empty.
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Brother, you may want to spend some time asking yourself what was in your tank that is now gone. I dare say that the answer will not be found in any denomination. It won't be hiding in some doctrinal distinction. But I do believe that the best place for you to spend your research time is parked in front of Jesus. Concentrate on what He has to say about Himself. Allow yourself to be in a brand new place of awe. In the letters that He dictated to John in his revelation, the challenge was that the believers in those churches needed to return to their first love. You asked many very common questions. The concern that has been building for me has been the lack of a mention of God in a personal way. In other words it comes across as an academic exercise rather than a search for truth.


So I would like to encourage you, better yet urge you to go back to the beginning of your faith and ask Jesus to refill your tank. Without Him, your search may as well lead you to choose your church by the comfort of the pews.
 
subllibrm said:
Brother, you may want to spend some time asking yourself what was in your tank that is now gone. I dare say that the answer will not be found in any denomination. It won't be hiding in some doctrinal distinction. But I do believe that the best place for you to spend your research time is parked in front of Jesus. Concentrate on what He has to say about Himself. Allow yourself to be in a brand new place of awe. In the letters that He dictated to John in his revelation, the challenge was that the believers in those churches needed to return to their first love. You asked many very common questions. The concern that has been building for me has been the lack of a mention of God in a personal way. In other words it comes across as an academic exercise rather than a search for truth.


So I would like to encourage you, better yet urge you to go back to the beginning of your faith and ask Jesus to refill your tank. Without Him, your search may as well lead you to choose your church by the comfort of the pews.
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Huk, I had some similar thoughts as sub for awhile now. Take his admonition to heart.
 
Thank you all. I’ll take everything into consideration. I think it’s also possible that my life is just in a big transition stage right now and I’m searching for answers. Knowing to be patient and trust God is a lot easier than actually putting that into practice and doing it. It’s something I need to be better at.
 
Started reading this book last night and made it about 1/3 thru. So far, it's a very good read on this topic.
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In this video Ray Comfort met a young man named Thomas who was training to be a priest in the Catholic Church.

Ray: “Thomas, you just said something that made my ears perk up...you said you were training to be a priest.”
Thomas: “Yeah, I would go every other Wednesday to meet up with a priest...I was so extremely zealous for the traditions as Paul says because the day I received the gospel I felt like a heavy burden in my heart. I would ask questions to my mom because I would read my Bible and I would tell her, ‘Mom, if Jesus is the only mediator between God and man, why do I have to go to a priest?’ She would give me a silly answer and when I received the gospel, I knew it was true.”
Ray: “So what’s the difference between a Catholic and a Christian?”
Thomas: “I think it’s more of trusting in Christ instead of man. That’s where I was wrapped up in. I thank God for snatching me out of there...it was a huge burden for me to be reading my Bible and then I’ll show up at church and it will be something else. People would be telling me you have to go to confess [to a priest]. You had to go with everybody else because you’re so proud of being a Catholic.”

Another young man named Noah, seeing the seriousness of his sins after being confronted with the gospel wants to be forgiven. Ray asks him when he is going to ask God to forgive him and trust in Christ.
Noah: I’ll try to ask for forgiveness as soon as I can.
Ray: Today?
Noah: Yes
Ray: You don’t need a priest, you can go straight to God.
Noah: (With a look of total surprise) I don’t need a priest?

Christians should never hold any hatred towards Catholics or any other group but should love them enough to tell them the truth about the false system of religion they may have been brought up in. I have seen countless videos of Ray witnessing to Catholics and in every case it comes down to them believing their good works must outweigh their bad works in order to go to heaven.

 
Ransom said:
The title suggests a response to Protestants and Catholics Together from the 1990s, am I correct?
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He does mention Evangelicals and Catholics Together about midway thru his introduction, but did not specifically state that was the impetus for the book. I did finish reading it this evening, and I do think that document is what got the ball rolling in his mind.

Overall, it is a good read. Reinforced my belief that Roman Catholicism is built on philosophy, traditions, and rules - the very things that Colossians, Philippians, and Galatians warn against.

One thing in particular that stood out was the belief in transubstantiation goes against the human nature of Jesus. Human bodies can't be in multiple places at the same time, yet there are Masses happening at the same time in many places. If the bread truly is his body, it can't be a human body.
 
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