None of my friends understand catholicism. What do i do?

Question

At my school, Catholics are a minority and Protestants are a majority. All my friends are protestant and basically do almost the exact same things at their churches. When i first talked about being catholic, they didnt even kno i was a christian and kept asking if i worshipped mary!! I remember in the eighth grade, after reading romeo and juliet, trying to tell them about purgatory and why catholics believe in it. They all ganged up on me and tried to shove their beliefs down my throat. Im usually good about locking up my emotions, but i started to get teary eyed b/c i couldnt believe how rude they were. Ive accepted what they believe in and have never questioned their faith...but they all act like its SOO weird to call the priest Father and why i dont memorize bible verses.....plleez help if youve been in a similar situation...and no im not going to dump my friends...i really love them all

Answer 1

Catholicism wouldn't be around today if it was weak in its theology. I think your best defense would be to learn as much as you can about the Catholic faith, its doctrine and dogma and its apologetics. You may also wish to study some debate tactics and logical fallacies that might help you with identifying some of the errors that your "opponents" may tend to make. It'll be good practice for you if nothing else, because you are going to get this kind of opposition throughout your life. And you get the added benefit of learning about your own faith. Keep your emotions in check, good luck, apologetics can be fun!

Answer 2

As a Christian I will only tell you that all Christian should beleive the same thing the Holy Bible, the infalible word of God. Any deviation from the word by a person or a church is wrong. Look up the following versus: John 17:17, 2 Timothy 3:16, Psalm 12:6-7, and 2Peter 1:19-21 for starters. You should be reading your Bible daily. I hope this helps some. You should search the scriptures for your answer, and remeber not all doctrine taught is scriptural.

Answer 3

Catholism is a false religion. I'm not saying that some Catholics are not saved. They are responsible for the killings of millions of Christians. The catecism states that Muslims worship the same God. Yet Muslims kill Christians & Jews and it is considered a form of jihad. Also Muslims don't believe Jesus was the son of God. Then their is the lent, and don't eat meat on Good friday which is just another doctrine that Catholics make up. Confessional is another area that is wrong. We are forgiven for are sin, only by the blood of Christ. Going and apologizing and doing the same sin over and over is not going to work. It is said many people will come to me in that day and say lord lord, and he will say depart from me you worker of inquity I never knew you. Being born again, is the only way to receive eternal life, God will not forgive sin, because of anyone being sorry. Just like a good judge at a court will not let murders get away with it. Then they call the preist father which is another thing wrong with catholics. God is our father, not the preist. Also the Virgin Mary should not be worshipped, that is completely wrong. And homosexuality is wrong its even in the New Testament.

In the bible Catholisim is mentioned believe it or not
Its in revelations the white horse
And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

We are also living in the last empire known as the holy roman empire which started when charlamane was crowned by Pope Leo. If you look at Daniels propehcy he told Nebuchadrezzar his dream was about a huge image made of various materials (gold, silver, brass, iron, and iron mingled with clay.) Notice Iron was the Roman Empire. The Iron mingled with clay is the empire we now live in. In the Holy Roman Empire their has always been a pope and a political leader. This means that the false prophet will be the pope. The Roman Papacy says the next pope will be evil. Because they have run out of symbols, He is called Petrum Romanum. This is just more evidence against Catholism.

I would say don't stick with that religion and become a protestant. Catholics rely on tradition, protestants are on fire for God.

Answer 4

This is why is some places it is best not to discuss religion. I am sorry that they treated you that way. If they are truly your friends it might be helpful when that happens to tell them that you love Jesus as much as they do and it hurts you deeply that they have said ... (such and such). And they look at them with compassion in your eyes and ask them "do you think that this is the way that Jesus would treat me?" That should make them feel guilt. And let them feel it. They need to learn.

Unfortunately some branches of the Protestant church have gotten so far from the truth that they have distorted the teaching of Christ so much that even He would not recognize them. Don't get into an argument with them. Just see them as ignorant and let it go. If you feel you must talk to them about religion do it one on one. When they are in a group they are going to feel the pressure of the group, but by them self they might be more receptive. Then explain that there are many ways to worship God and follow Christ, not just the ways that their Church teaches. If they are really your friend and really love Jesus they will understand and accept this. I have a couple of fundamentalist friends who are able to except that we don't agree. All the others I avoid.

Answer 5

Continue to love your friends.

Learn as much as you can about your faith. If they ask you questions about your faith that you do not know the answer to, simply say "I do not know, but I will find out for you." Then go to a priest or a learned Catholic teacher (Instant Messenger me if you want) and then tell your friend the answer that was given to you. If they cannot or will not accept your answer, then politely tell them that this is something that you will not be able to agree upon and the subject should be dropped.

See that your friends are actually doing you a favor in challenging your faith. By answering their questions, you are having to learn more about your faith and you will become a more devout Catholic. Do not be concerned if you cannot convince your friend that you are right. You probably will not be able to.

Above all, continue to love your friend. The love that you show them, even when they are attacking your faith, will show them more about your faith than thousands of words can.

Answer 6

Invite them to life teen meeting
Smile and accept them as they are
Parish social ask them to help

Get the book called " Catholic for Dummies " available at your local secular bookstore and help them read through it,
Catholicism is the Church founded by Christ through the Apostles. Christianity is founded in/on Catholicism. Fundamentalist have trouble understanding and accepting this facet of Christianity. The Catholic Church is composed of sinners seeking salvation and for that reason saints are highly acknowledged. Mary is the example of humanity.which acknowledged God is concerned with our life and makes request of us. Sometimes those request are challenging.

Main line Protestant acknowledge that the origin of their denomination are an outgrowth from Catholicism. Acknowledge started by a human as opposed to a Triune God.

As for The Bible there would be none without the Catholic Church. A Saint by the name of Jerome is the one who begun the editing of Scripture in the 4th century. As for memorizing line by line, Scripture is a story which challenge each generation to relate their life to God .You might remember that line but what was the value of the story which had impact upon your lifestyle!. The story of God is still going on, the scripture story has not ended --yet

Answer 7

Pastor Billy says: listen to me closely Nat if they weren't Protestant they would be Catholic. Do you get that? say it over and over in your head. Protestantism was started not by following Jesus but by being against Catholicism and even that isn't true. They got started by being against what they THOUGHT Catholicism was instead of what it really IS...authentic Christianity, the fulness of Christian faith.

As a Catholic you'll need to learn your faith in more detail goto any of sites listed below, listen to EWTN on radio or tv, listen to avemariaradio and study Catholic apologistics at biblechristiansociety.com.

Something extra for you, did you know William Shakespeare was most likely Catholic his father definitely died one. All his plays have messages on the truth of Catholicism as the authentic Christian Church. Anytime you read him using the word 'fair' he is writing about Catholicism, anytime you read him using the word brown or dark he was refering to the Puritan sect which over ran England and shaped a large portion of American Protestant Christianity.

As far a calling someone Father, ask your friends why in scripture does Jesus himself address Abraham as "Father Abraham" or why St. Paul refers to himself as a spiritual Father to those who receive the gospel from him. What they've been taught is taken out of context with that particular verse. Did you know the same verse instructs to not call anyone rabbi meaning teacher or more correctly doctor, does that mean your friends shouldn't call their pastors teacher or doctor? Does that mean they are against the bible if they call Pastor Billy Graham, Dr. Graham? no of course not like I've said before they've been taught an extremely watered-down version of biblical interpretation and therefore don't really know it or follow it correctly. Be mindful that quoting scripture or memorizing bible verse doesn't convey a knowablity of the text.

Hope this has helped I have lots of info so leave a message here and I'll give you additional sources if you'd like.

Answer 8

Have you spoken to and of them about this at all? If not, you might print out your yahoo question and the various answers and invite a discussion...? Or maybe, when one or more are giving you a hard time, just say, "I'll be glad to try to answer any questions you have but not if you are just making fun of me. That's not in keeping with my religion, and probably not yours. Besides, I'm a bit curious about your religions too. We probably still won't agree, but that doesn't really matter if we just respect each other's right to his or her own belief.

I know this is hard, especially when you are totally outnumbered, but if you want to keep these friends, you all need to improve the quality of your freindship.

Bless you and good luck.

Answer 9

I'm a Protestant-turned-Catholic, and I've always found that there are far more similarities between the two than differences. You could consider printing out a copy of the Creed for them to read. It is a pretty fair summary of Catholic beliefs and they can note for themselves how similar it is to theirs.

Good luck!

I believe in one God the Father Almighty
Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible:

And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds;
God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God;
begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father,
by Whom all things were made:
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from Heaven,
and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, and was made man:
And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried:
And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures:
And ascended into Heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father:
And he shall come again, with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead:
Whose Kingdom will have no end:

And I believe in the Holy Ghost the Lord, and Giver of Life,
Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son
Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified,
Who spake by the Prophets.
And I believe in One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church,
I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins.
And I look for the Resurrection of the Dead:
And the Life of the world to come. Amen.

Answer 10

Sorry! But in the USA unless in Louisiana they are mostly Protestant. They are called protestant because most of their surmon is to protest the Roma Catholic Church. If this makes you feel better if it weren't for the Roman Catholic Church The Mongols would have destroyes Europe and if not for the Pope the Huns would have destroyed Rome. Remeber that Jesus said that his church will never fall..

The Roman Catholic Church is the largest christian religion in the world because we can afford it and we have a strong belief system. Remember the Protestants some times brain wash their members heads against catholics.