Wednesday, November 6, 2013
EDUC 2120 Blog #7
I was raised in Southern Baptist churches and I am a current active member of one in Dahlonega. People think that Catholicism is pretty much the same as Baptist, Methodist, etc., but they are very wrong. There are slight differences between the Baptist and Methodist denominations, but Catholicism "branches out" the most between the three. Going into the Catholic service I had preconceived notions and beliefs about Catholicism and I quickly noticed that what I believed was very true. I was raised to have a personal relationship with the Lord, but Catholics do not believe that. They base their faith on good works and deeds instead of the personal relationship. They believe that doing and saying good things their whole life will give them a spot in Heaven instead of accepting Christ as their Savior. Another belief I had that was reinforced was that they do not speak directly to God, but through a priest. They use the priest as a middle man to confess sins, ask forgiveness, etc., instead of going straight to the Lord. Again, this goes back to not having a personal relationship with Christ. The last thing I noticed was that Catholics consider Saints to be very important and sometimes even pray to them. While I appreciate any person who has had an impact on Christianity and religions in general, Baptists do not necessarily believe in holding Saints, or anyone, to the level that Catholics hold them. Baptists believe that in doing so, it takes away the importance and value of Christ as our Savior. Those were the three main differences that I saw between Catholicism and Baptists/Methodists. The dress was the same and people were very friendly and definitely welcomed me. I did enjoy worshiping with the Catholic church even though I don't necessarily believe in some of their practices.
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I'm glad you had such nice experience with another denomination of the same faith. Being raised as a non-denominational christian gave me the opportunity to analyze the same aspects of Protestantism and Catholicism that you have. I came to a lot of the same conclusions as you did in my time as a christian but I think it's important to truly understand why Catholics hold different practices to the same tenets. Since that was really the purpose of the whole assignment. Catholics don't have a direct relationship with god because like protestants they have an unyeilding love and devout respect for the lord. But it goes even further than that. In Catholicism we see a specific relationship with god that is one of reverence for him, (and Jesus) what he has done for man, and his power. This is translated in the bible as "the fear of god" Ecclesiastes 12:13 is a great example "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. Priests are important to the adherence of this reverence because of how they gave up their worldly freedoms to study the word and be more like god (sinless) than their congregation in order to be a 'Shepard' This is why congregations speak to god through them. Now that we have analyzed the relationship between god and man in reverence to god we can look at why action and deeds are so important. Good words and deeds are essential to Catholics because of the stance they take on how to preserve and promote god to others. In doing this they make his creation (the world) a better place, more akin to his desires. Once again this mindset comes from their absolute devotion. My favorite verses on this subject would probably be Hebrews 10:24 'And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works' and 2nd Timothy 3:17 'That the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.' Saints are people throughout History who have kept to this mindset and honored god in the best way by making the world a better place for gods creation. Most Saints gave their lives for the same tenets you hold as a baptist. People pray to these saints so that they might embody the amazing things they have done for the god they all love, fear, and worship. I'm not Catholic or Christian but I have studied Divinities for a while and I just wanted to point out the reasoning behind their practices. I'm glad you experienced something different and I hope it helped you on your walk with Christ.
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