Too Much To Read....

[ironmonk]

[quote name='MichaelFilo' date='Aug 27 2004, 09:23 PM'] Were you influenced by church scriptual evidence, or did you just read it, and found the church that applyed [/quote]
That's kind of a tuff question... I was not influenced by Catholic teaching in regard to the Scriptures. I say this because some anti-Catholics have tried to say that I was brainwashed by the Church. I was baptized Catholic. I went to Catholic school from first to half of third grade. I don't remember much from Catholic School.

By the time I was 15, I realized after reading the bible a few times, that Christ made one Church and it was wrong that there were so many denominations that claimed to be Christian. So I started studying history to find out which Church was the One Church. So, I found that the Catholic Church was, and I was already Catholic, also I knew the bible very well so I was set.... it wasn't until the Church was attacked by an anti-Catholic, that asked me some questions that I could not answer because of my lack of knowledge of Sacred Tradition that I had a fire lit inside and spent roughly 20 hours a week defending the Church online. The way I learned was that I was invited onto an anti-Catholic board, and I started looking for the answers to the attacks which I did not know... It was my syllabus for what to study first... since I didn't know where to begin.


God Bless,
ironmonk

[jmjtina]

I think many of those who read alot (like me) have met many who just don't like to read. Whatever the reason may be, it's a good idea to also talk with your faith to many people, to defend it , share it. If you learn the faith, you are able to defend it, while if you don't know too much about the faith, or are unable to refute the basic misconceptions, it can cause you to doubt and even lose your faith. If you don't know the facts, how can you conform your mind to the the teachings of the Church? That's why reading is so important, but reading now comes in many different outlets....

I think it's important that many people find outlets to learn about their faith. Phatmass is one of them. It's dialogue and reading. If you ask a question, or present a thought, be prepared to read. It really isn't fair to ask a question or state a way of thinking if you aren't ready to do some reading and hear rebuttals.

There is also radio shows on [url="http://www.catholic.com/radio/calive.asp"]Catholic Answers LIVE Radio Show[/url] where they have taped Q&A online or EWTN or even, yes, Q&A phatmass chatroom. I personally have listened to 90% of the taped shows on Catholic Answers as I do homework or just clean my room.


The bottom line is wanting to learn about your faith. The thirst for more knowledge, because the more you get to know someone, the more you love them. If you learn more about Jesus, your love for him only intensifies. Learning what the Holy Mother teaches and why will only draw us closer to this awesome heavenly family we have and help us spread the Truth.

+jmj
God Bless

that was long......

Edited August 29, 2004 by jmjtina

[MichaelFilo]

[quote name='ironmonk' date='Aug 29 2004, 12:58 PM'] That's kind of a tuff question... I was not influenced by Catholic teaching in regard to the Scriptures. I say this because some anti-Catholics have tried to say that I was brainwashed by the Church. I was baptized Catholic. I went to Catholic school from first to half of third grade. I don't remember much from Catholic School.

By the time I was 15, I realized after reading the bible a few times, that Christ made one Church and it was wrong that there were so many denominations that claimed to be Christian. So I started studying history to find out which Church was the One Church. So, I found that the Catholic Church was, and I was already Catholic, also I knew the bible very well so I was set.... it wasn't until the Church was attacked by an anti-Catholic, that asked me some questions that I could not answer because of my lack of knowledge of Sacred Tradition that I had a fire lit inside and spent roughly 20 hours a week defending the Church online. The way I learned was that I was invited onto an anti-Catholic board, and I started looking for the answers to the attacks which I did not know... It was my syllabus for what to study first... since I didn't know where to begin.


God Bless,
ironmonk [/quote]
This is actually a very beautiful story. It is also very interesting. Reading the bible with an unbiased mind (as much as possible) does seem to lead to the Catholic Faith. Thanks for sharing Ironmonk. Sorry if I made you post a long one.

God bless,

Mikey