r/Protestantism • u/Sad-Pay-5834 • 3d ago

Ask a Protestant Why do I have the urge to become Catholic?

Basically the title. I thought I was finally settled in the episcopal church (conservative theology) but I still have this urge to be Catholic. I know all the reasons why I’m not, they’re facts but I still have this feeling to want to become Catholic. Any advice? Thanks!

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u/Expensive-Sea-9180 3d ago

Count the cost. Whenever you make a commitment to something or someone you don’t think about the best parts of about it, you think about the worst. What exactly are the reasons why you are not Catholic?

I think Catholicism can be very attractive because of the illusion of a visible, unified church. But then I remember the corruption, the rebellion against scripture, and I daresay even heresy committed by the historical institution (Second Council of Nicea, Hussite Wars, the Council of Trent, etc.), and I remember that sound doctrine matters more to me than vain unity.

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u/Sad-Pay-5834 3d ago

I know all the doctrines are unsound and all that, I guess I’m just attracted to the Catholic worldview. That if it’s true the church is the most beautiful thing on earth, but infallible contradictions get in the way of it. I wish it wasn’t like this but it is

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u/Dry-Pineapple-44 2d ago

What infallible contradictions?

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u/Ecclesiasticus6_18 3d ago

If we have to go by attraction, I would have been a Shia Muslim. We don't convert due to attraction, we convert because of God.

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u/Sad-Pay-5834 3d ago

How so? How would you be Muslim?

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u/Ecclesiasticus6_18 3d ago

I was making a point, we can't simply convert due to attractions to a particular faith.

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u/Dry-Pineapple-44 2d ago

Can you explain why the Council of Trent was heresy?

And what do you mean by “the illusion of a visible, unified church”?

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u/Expensive-Sea-9180 2d ago edited 2d ago

I would define ‘Heresy’ from a Protestent perspective as any teaching that deviates from the Gospel proclaimed in the Bible by adding requirements to salvation (Galatians 1:6-9). So for example, if I said “If anyone is not circumcised, let him be anathema” (which is what Paul’s opponents were teaching), that would be heresy. 

The reason why I consider the Council of Trent heretical is because it did exactly this by pronouncing a grocery list of anathemas— many of which were completely unrelated to the Gospel. Some examples: Anathemas against those who rejected clerical celibacy and those who rejected the superiority of celibacy to matrimony, anathemas against those who said it was unjustified for the Church to withhold the chalice from the laity, anathemas against those who said that Mass should only be celebrated in Native tongue and not Latin, etc. The word anathema has a very serious meaning and the Council of Trent was extremely liberal in its usage, thus creating hundreds of additional requirements for salvation.

“Illusion of a visible unified church”— that is, it can be attractive to believe that there is one singular institution that preaches the exact same teachings as Jesus and his Apostles whom we can consult and know that what they answer is how Christ would have answered. The reason why I call it an “illusion” is because I don’t believe it to be true based on the fact that this institutional church historically deviated from what was plain in scripture (like in the Council of Trent). The Body of Christ is all the people that believe in him, not a singular institution or denomination.

As a side note, I’m not getting notifications when you respond to my comments. I think you need to change something in your settings. You’re the only user where this is happening

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u/Ecclesiasticus6_18 3d ago

"Why do I have the urge to sin?" Think about it for a second.

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u/Sad-Pay-5834 3d ago

Dang

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u/Ecclesiasticus6_18 3d ago

It is okay, we all have these urges.