Wherever God the Holy Spirit leads you to learn about God and follow Jesus and live His way of life and love. Both are offshoots of the church Jesus began.
the issue is imputation versus infusion. Protestants believe Christ's righteousness is given immediately upon true faith; Rome says it is slowly infused through practicing the sacraments.
"What harm would it do, if a man told a good strong lie for the sake of the good and for the Christian church ? a lie out of necessity, a useful lie, a helpful lie, such lies would not be against God, he would accept them." - Martin Luther
o Cited by his secretary, in a letter in Max Lenz, ed., Briefwechsel Landgraf Phillips Des Grossmuthigen Von Hessen MIT Bucer, vol. 1. Source: Sissela Bok, Lying: Moral Choice In Public and Private Life?, New York: Pantheon Books, 1978, p. 47. German text of the quote.
"Reason should be destroyed in all Christians." -- Martin Luther
Do your own homework, get the bible and get Protestant writings and get a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Do some study of the early Church and the lives of the saints.
Then make up your own mind, seek the truth and fit yourself to the truth instead of finding a Church that fits your weaknesses.
Good Luck and God Bless your Search.
Catholics are Protestants have a common enemy, the Devil, and we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. Be wary of people that bear false wittiness against others.
Maybe. One night in Northern Ireland Pat O'Brien is walking home from the pub. Suddenly a man in black with a balaclava jumps out and shoves a pistol in his back.
" Tell me quickly boy! What are you, Catholic or Protestant?"
Got to act quickly Pat thinks. If I say I'm Catholic he might be Ulster Defense or the Black and Tan... but what if I say I'm Protestant and he be IRA or Sein Fein?
Hell no sir cries Pat, I'm Jewish!
Boom, boom, boom! Pat lies dead on the sidewalk in a big pool of blood... shot by the Hamas representative to the IRA!
The reason isn't anything to do with whether one is good or bad, but that we are united firmly in Holy Communion, which is not available in Protestantism. I would wish that there was a healing of rifts, but we must all make our own mistakes....and I'm not speaking from a lofty position, since I have not attended mass in quite some time.
I simply believe that Jesus is the Manna in the desert of our souls, and the Last Supper initiated that Manna to continue to fall from heaven into our souls for our benefit, and not for our condemnation. We all have to look beyond the pomp and ritual and see more deeply the Christ hidden in all that.
He is there for us. We are not there for Him. If we needed no healing, He would not have needed to come here.
I'm a Catholic Christian because that's the spiritual path that's right for me. I love the Mass and the Sacraments, particularly the Holy Eucharist.
Edit:
Fireball, you might want to take a look at the history of your own church before you cry "Legalism" about anyone Else's beliefs. Methodists weren't supposed to dance, drink, play cards, go to the movies, etc. Just because 99% of today's Methodists do all those things and see nothing wrong with them doesn't mean that those prohibitions didn't exist.
I'm an ex-Methodist, and I've read the history of the denomination. Now either those things were wrong in the beginning (and by extension, Methodism itself was wrong and changed its mind) or else they should still be observed by faithful Methodists.
While I belong to one group, I do not play down the truths taught by the other; We share much in common in belief; we have a tragic history of enmity. Our enmity is the the underlying cause for the secular development of tolerance and it is a lesson we have both learned. There are those among us who crave secular power; the rest of us will stand against them.
My mother was catholic, my father was protestant. They had an agreement that the girls would be raised catholic and the boys protestant. They had 3 girls and they never made a big deal of religion. I went to catholic elementary school and protestant high school.Neither made a big deal of it.
God created man and man created religion. As long as you believe in God what religion you are is irrelevant. It is what kind of a man you are that matters.It is what choices you make everyday that count! " I give to you everyday good or evil. You choose" God tell us.And really that is all that counts.
And yes I believe in the Christ but accept that some people may not. That is their God given right of free will. When they are ready they will - even if it not in this life..
Catholicism or Protestantism?
