Fixin' To Apologize Me Some Protestants

[Arpy]

Eh. It could have gone better. I think I did a good job representing, but I was all over the place and didn't really have a single focus. Plus I think I'm not the best public speaker. I was feeling really freaked and stressed out about it afterward, but I figure that was just the devil trying to make me feel bad about sharing my faith. I think I did have some unrealistic expectations going into it (i.e. I'm going to do a great job on my first time), and this definitely helped put things in perspective. I didn't convert anyone right off the bat, certainly, but I hopefully got some people thinking.

[thessalonian]

Arpy planted Bob watered, but the Lord made it grow. Don't sweat it. I am sure you did fine. We plant seeds and leave it to the Lord. Who knows what goes on in the hearts of men. In acts 17 Paul went to the Thessalonians and they rejected him. Yet later we see from the two books of Thessalonians that communities did get established there. We are vessels that God uses along the way. I heard it said that the average convert had Christ preached to them 7 times before they committed to him.

[Hilde]

So what are the parameters of the task?

[phatcatholic]

yo thess .... a long time ago i downloaded the debate between you and james mccarthy, but i never got around to listening to it. well, i opened my library in windows media player today and just let it play and to my surprise i'm listening to your debate! you did a great job man. i was impressed.

that said, arpy, don't get discouraged. when i first got into apologetics, i felt so insecure b/c i couldn't explain things as well as Jimmy Akin could and i kept having to go back to articles at catholic.com to figure out what to say. but i just kept at it, kept reading, kept purposefully entering into conversations with protestants and one day it hit me that i was actually doing this (!!), i was defending my faith! you'll get better at it over time, as long as you don't give up.

props to you for getting up there and preaching the truth to the best of ur ability.

pax christi,
phatcatholic

[thessalonian]

Thanks Phat!

Arpy, when you do this stuff it's spiritual warfare. Hang in there. It will come with time and learning. I've been doing this for 10 years and after my debate had those same thoughts.

Edited March 3, 2009 by thessalonian

[thessalonian]

Here is the debate if anyone wants to listen.

[url="http://www.kkmslive.com/MP3/17092208-GHunt&JMcCarthy.MP3"]http://www.kkmslive.com/MP3/17092208-GHunt&JMcCarthy.MP3[/url]

[LouisvilleFan]

On the topic of Protestant ecumenism... I'm curious, has anyone here taken classes at a Protestant seminary? There's a course at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary on "Roman Catholic Theology" that I'm thinking about signing up for. I know a number of Baptist seminarians (including one who's in RCIA ) and I hear the professor is a pretty cool guy. I'm sure they've had a number of Catholics take the course before, so I know I'm not crossing into uncharted territory by any means. But just looking at where God has placed me, it seems like a logical next step.

Of course, before that happens, I need to get serious about paying off these darn credit cards... blah.

[Hilde]

Yes, I'm taking classes at a mainly Lutheran university. But I have been taking some classes by and for Catholics. They have the same for Pentecostal and Methodist theology.

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='Hilde' post='1799222' date='Mar 6 2009, 07:08 PM']Yes, I'm taking classes at a mainly Lutheran university. But I have been taking some classes by and for Catholics. They have the same for Pentecostal and Methodist theology.[/quote]

That's interesting... is it Lutheran affiliated, or just in name only? I was raised in an ELCA church. This guy I just met the other day was lead to Catholicism by a friend who converted. The day it finally "clicked" for him was the same day he found out he was accepted into a Baptist seminary... what luck! Sounds like God's timing though.

[Hilde]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' post='1799237' date='Mar 7 2009, 01:19 AM']That's interesting... is it Lutheran affiliated, or just in name only? I was raised in an ELCA church. This guy I just met the other day was lead to Catholicism by a friend who converted. The day it finally "clicked" for him was the same day he found out he was accepted into a Baptist seminary... what luck! Sounds like God's timing though.[/quote]Most teachers and students are members of The Church of Norway. Like f you chose a theology master, it's Lutheran so it's pretty clear that's the mainstream one. But luckily you can replace some of the Lutheran ones.

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='Hilde' post='1800668' date='Mar 8 2009, 07:32 PM']Most teachers and students are members of The Church of Norway. Like f you chose a theology master, it's Lutheran so it's pretty clear that's the mainstream one. But luckily you can replace some of the Lutheran ones.[/quote]

Okay, so you're in Norway... I know a guy who's moving there, if he hasn't already. He's really into heavy metal music and apparently it's hugely popular in that area. Church of Norway is definitely "mainstream" there... as I understand it, citizens by default are registerd with the Church of Norway unless you choose otherwise? From what I've read and what my friend has said, there aren't many practicing Christians compared to the U.S. (though the U.S. has its own variances, should you compare Seattle to Dallas).

The reason I ask about the university's affiliation is that there are private universities and even seminaries here are not affiliated with a church or religion, though they might maintain a loose identity with the church they used to be affiliated with. The legalese I'm sure can be a bit hairy

[Archaeology cat]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' post='1799099' date='Mar 6 2009, 09:03 PM']On the topic of Protestant ecumenism... I'm curious, has anyone here taken classes at a Protestant seminary? There's a course at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary on "Roman Catholic Theology" that I'm thinking about signing up for. I know a number of Baptist seminarians (including one who's in RCIA ) and I hear the professor is a pretty cool guy. I'm sure they've had a number of Catholics take the course before, so I know I'm not crossing into uncharted territory by any means. But just looking at where God has placed me, it seems like a logical next step.

Of course, before that happens, I need to get serious about paying off these darn credit cards... blah.[/quote]
Sounds like it could be interesting. I did get a bit irritated with Southern a few months ago, though. My best friend's sister is doing a MA programme there, and was talking to me about one of her classes, which had clearly gotten some hieroglyphs wrong (talking about Moses' name). Being that my MA is in Egyptology, it irritated me. But that's really the only experience I've had with Southern.

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='Archaeology cat' post='1801385' date='Mar 9 2009, 02:48 PM']Sounds like it could be interesting. I did get a bit irritated with Southern a few months ago, though. My best friend's sister is doing a MA programme there, and was talking to me about one of her classes, which had clearly gotten some hieroglyphs wrong (talking about Moses' name). Being that my MA is in Egyptology, it irritated me. But that's really the only experience I've had with Southern.[/quote]

Interesting... makes you wonder what else they might get wrong, at any seminary. I'm sure some of the Catholic theology is presented in an unfair slant and I was surprised at some of the Scriptural arguments I saw, which are easily refuted (i.e. Jesus' brothers and sisters; Jesus calling his mother "Woman"). But in areas like our cooperation with grace, there is a real and substantial difference in theologies that has proven very difficult to reconcile, and that would be the fun stuff to learn about.

I feel a bit of the same irritation when priests comment on economics or some other field outside of faith and morals. I know our morality affects economics, but when a priest says capitalism isn't working, I'd like to know just what he thinks capitalism is. Fact is, the busting of a bubble is exactly how capitalism works.

[Archaeology cat]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' post='1802295' date='Mar 10 2009, 04:44 AM']Interesting... makes you wonder what else they might get wrong, at any seminary. I'm sure some of the Catholic theology is presented in an unfair slant and I was surprised at some of the Scriptural arguments I saw, which are easily refuted (i.e. Jesus' brothers and sisters; Jesus calling his mother "Woman"). But in areas like our cooperation with grace, there is a real and substantial difference in theologies that has proven very difficult to reconcile, and that would be the fun stuff to learn about.

I feel a bit of the same irritation when priests comment on economics or some other field outside of faith and morals. I know our morality affects economics, but when a priest says capitalism isn't working, I'd like to know just what he thinks capitalism is. Fact is, the busting of a bubble is exactly how capitalism works. [/quote]
Oh yeah, I'm sure that mistake wasn't necessarily unique to Southern, just the only example I had. Just irritated me as a student of Egyptology.