Becoming Catholic - Help!
Submitted by russwills on Mon, 06/28/2010 - 3:31pm
To Dr. Bill and anyone else with advice:
In another thread I mentioned that I have toyed with the idea of converting to the Roman Catholic Church. I have some major hesitations, and at this point in my journey I don't plan to make the move. I want ask some questions, though. Here's one of my bigger questions. All input is welcome.
From what I hear, when a person converts to Catholicism, he/she agrees to uphold all the teachings of the Church. (I'm not positive "agrees" is the correct word, but it's something along those lines.)
I teach Scripture any chance I get (college courses, church settings, home groups, whatever else), but some of what I teach does not agree with the teaching of the RC Church. There are also quite a few things outside of anything I teach that I question about the RC Church. I'm not out to be "right" about interpreting Scripture, and I do my best to avoid proving other people's viewpoints wrong. (I'm sure a great deal of what I currently believe is wrong!) But I'm not sure I could agree to uphold certain teachings of the Church when I make vows before a congregation.
I don't expect to find any denomination that I agree with completely, and I certainly don't desire to bash the Church's teaching or publicly disagree with the Church's doctrine or the Catechism. It's more about my own public profession. I don't want to take it lightly. Hope that makes sense. It's not about particular issues as much as it's about making and keeping vows with integrity.
Hmmm, I said this was a question and so far I haven't asked anything, huh? I guess my question is more like a request for advice. I see the beauty of the RC Church and I think the Church is right on in quite a few areas, but I also struggle with a lot of other areas. Some of the things I struggle with are pretty important to the RC Church, and some of them are pretty important to me personally as well.
So any advice anyone in the community can give is welcome. Thank you in advance! And Dr. Bill, thank you for be willing to hear these questions and hear me vent! :)
-Russ
In another thread I mentioned that I have toyed with the idea of converting to the Roman Catholic Church. I have some major hesitations, and at this point in my journey I don't plan to make the move. I want ask some questions, though. Here's one of my bigger questions. All input is welcome.
From what I hear, when a person converts to Catholicism, he/she agrees to uphold all the teachings of the Church. (I'm not positive "agrees" is the correct word, but it's something along those lines.)
I teach Scripture any chance I get (college courses, church settings, home groups, whatever else), but some of what I teach does not agree with the teaching of the RC Church. There are also quite a few things outside of anything I teach that I question about the RC Church. I'm not out to be "right" about interpreting Scripture, and I do my best to avoid proving other people's viewpoints wrong. (I'm sure a great deal of what I currently believe is wrong!) But I'm not sure I could agree to uphold certain teachings of the Church when I make vows before a congregation.
I don't expect to find any denomination that I agree with completely, and I certainly don't desire to bash the Church's teaching or publicly disagree with the Church's doctrine or the Catechism. It's more about my own public profession. I don't want to take it lightly. Hope that makes sense. It's not about particular issues as much as it's about making and keeping vows with integrity.
Hmmm, I said this was a question and so far I haven't asked anything, huh? I guess my question is more like a request for advice. I see the beauty of the RC Church and I think the Church is right on in quite a few areas, but I also struggle with a lot of other areas. Some of the things I struggle with are pretty important to the RC Church, and some of them are pretty important to me personally as well.
So any advice anyone in the community can give is welcome. Thank you in advance! And Dr. Bill, thank you for be willing to hear these questions and hear me vent! :)
-Russ
Finding our place in the family of God is never easy. Like any family, the Church is profoundly disfunctional! If we look for the "perfect" denomination we will never find it. The problem is: no matter where we go, there we are. The church is made up of us--in all our brokenness and foibles. Again, C.S. Lewis is pretty good at discussing all this. I've always felt very uncomfortable with those who have "all the answers"in nice, neat packages. That is not how life works: it is much more messy than that. What matters is our authenticity, our genuine concern for what is right. It's important that we don't fixate on minor issues: they baptize by sprinkling, rather that immersion; they believe in Purgatory; they pray to Mary. These are secondary issues, having nothing to do with our salvation, but rather having to do with living out our salvation in the family. Good stuff to think about.