i am thinking about changing from christian to Catholic, just in case catholic is the real religion?

Question

I am christian, but not catholic, whats my best bet to avoid Hell? should i change to catholic? events such as crying statues and mircle at fatima means Catholic is the only true religion?

Answer 1

Why not cover all bases? Be both. It'll just be a pain on Sundays when you have to run from church to church.

Answer 2

Pastor Billy says: first off if you are serious, you aren't switching from Christian to Catholic you would become a more fulfilled Christian if you intend to practise your "personal relationship" in the Catholic faith.
Yes you should change if you are serious about Christianity and searching for greater truth, authority, authenticity, and Christian antiquity.

Events such as crying statues can be seen as miraculous but aren't necessarily the leading reason as to why people convert to Catholicism. You need to understand the Church teaching on private and public revelation. The miracle of Fatima or Lourdes etc do not involve crying statues. Both of these places have been associated with what is called public revelation and the Church does not decide this at a whim. Many well documented physical cures have occurred at Lourdes France associated with the original visitation of Mary to St. Bernadette you can examine them for yourself and how they were verified. Some lower-church Protestants such as Baptists hold to the heretical belief that miracles or gifts of the spirit died out with the first apostles. The irony with this idea is.... if it was truly the case the gift of wisdom and knowledge would have also died out and Baptists would not have any ability to interpret the biblical text much like the Eunuch of Acts. ( btw I believe Baptists don't have it anyway as they've chosen to reject the authoritative body of the Church as the rightfull interpreter of God's word with the help of the Holy Spirit)

You ask is Catholic the only true religion? For myself yes it is the only fully true form of the Christian religion all others have at best partial truth taught in them.

Answer 3

I tell you, there are many times I have been so angry with the Catholic church. Where I live (New York State) they keep closing churches and schools like they were IBM downsizing. Yet, nothing can kill my faith. I went to Catholic schools and see that the schools in my area treat the children far better than the public schools and give them a better education. The future of this church lies in people fighting to rebuild the schools and work with the youth. We need those schools in order to fight the public school monopoly system that we have created that is giving childen and families in many areas no choices! This is so vital to children who may be struggling in public middle & high schools. I hope some bishops are reading this!!!
Now, there is the FAITH and there are the RULES. The faith is what is in your heart. I believe in God, and the Saints. The Saints do hear you. The Catholic faith is less Bible based at its heart and really is based on you truly praying and believing. It is personal. I believe that priests should get married if they desire (aka root of all priest lawsuits), and I believe in birth control (we are to take care of the earth, not overpopulate it). Many of the rules are bad, yet the faith is good. Just go into a Catholic Church when no one is there. You can FEEL inside that there is something sacred there. I can't explain it. Other christian churches are just empty. I actually love the Latin mass far better than the post Vatican II version of mass. In many places you can find a Latin Mass Community. If you have never been to a Latin Mass you must go!! This will really make you feel something.
I don't know about hell. Who knows??? It all depends on what is right for you. But, Saint Jude always works!! I love the saints. I couldn't ever join another church because I do believe in them. They help us. If you dig deeper you'll see. You can embrace many things before you change the faith. You can always explore. All I know is that I have hated what many of the priests and leadership in my area has done, but this faith goes deeper than one person, one bishop, one building, or one pope. I can't say that there is one true religion. Don't confuse faith with religion. Faith is the only true religion. If there was one true religion it would be one that tooks all of the good parts of ALL religions and left out the bad.
Oh, The Catholic Bible is more interesting because King James chose to edit the Bible and left quite a bit out. That is what most Christians use and they lost some great books!

Answer 4

God's grace is working in your soul. The Catholic church is the only church founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ. The first Pope was St.Peter and his direct successor is Pope Benedict XVl. Our Lord founded His church on the Rock of Peter ( the Papacy) so that everyone would recognise His true church from the others that claimed to be His. This church is the only ark of salvation. Salvation cannot be found anywhere else since all other religions and denominations are man-made. Christ promised that His Church, the Roman Catholic church would last till the end of time no matter what the assaults of hell against It.

It is certainly through the Catholic Church that Our Lord has guided men to keep the deposit entrusted to the Apostles throughout the centuries. It is the Catholic Church that defeated the many heresies against the nature and person of Christ, long before Protestant denominations appeared, such as Arianism, Monophysitism, Monothelitism, Nestorianism, Pelagianism, Apollonarism, etc.. – all of these had to be opposed vigorously with the true doctrine before they were extirpated, and some still exist today. It is the Catholic Church that holds to the same doctrines that the Fathers, who had the words of the Apostles "resounding in their ears", taught and defended and which all but the schismatics reject today – auricular confession, veneration of images, the Real Presence in the Eucharist, the existence of seven sacraments, the Church as the final arbiter of all doctrinal disputes, and many more. It is only the Catholic Church that has not changed and it is only She that has existed since the time of Christ.

Since you look at miracles, have you heard of the Incorruptibles of the Roman Catholic church? These are bodies of saints that have not decayed. What could be greater proof of God's true church. Since only God has power over life and death.
http://www.livingmiracles.net/Incorrupt.html

For more information about Christ's Catholic church versus other churches do go to the link below. It might help clear your doubts.
http://www.olrl.org/apologetics/

All the best! Ask Our Lady to guide you in your confusion and lead you to Her Son's true church.

Answer 5

There is no real religion. You are letting the fears that the churches preach get to you. The best you can do is to follow your heart into a good and decent life and if you want to be part of a religious organization, do it because of the social aspect of family and friends that you can fellowship with and because you like what the doctrine says. But never let any religion pigeon hole you to an exact set of beliefs because this world and everyone in it is always changing and circumstances change and you can not justifiably have a doctine/law/rule that if it is followed will create holiness or goodness or righteousness.
Example: the Bible says we should never lie but there are times that a person should lie if you are really a righteous person. To spare someone's feelings. Or suppose you were hiding some soldiers in your basement and the enemy came to your house to look for them, and asked you have you seen these soldiers, would you not lie to protect them. Would you not steal if you or someone you love were starving, would you not murder someone if they were trying to harm you or your family or a whole country? It takes being in a circumstance and knowing in your heart what is right to know what the right thing to do is, you can not prearrange the rules for every circumstance as religions have a tendancy to do. This is if you genuinely want to be righteous. You need to be brave enough to not believe in hell so that you can sort out what makes sense and what is right and good. The concept of hell really muddies up for people what is right and good. Every religion believes that every other religion is going to hell, who are you going to believe, what if you're wrong, will God send you to hell for not knowing, is that just? Be brave.

Answer 6

I once saw a question on Yahoo Answers claiming that the Catholic Church is the only Christian Church that experiences the crying statues, visions of Mary, and that sort of thing.

I have no idea if that claim is true but is does suggest that the Catholic Church seems to "attract" an increased level of supernatural attention, implying that there is indeed something more to the Catholic Church.

I'm glad to see that you are considering a coversion to the Catholic Faith. In doing so, I hope that you discover, as I have, that the Catholic Church is the One, True, Holy, Universal, and Apostolic Church.

Answer 7

with out having all theological, quoting aspects and such, i'm purely going to impart some nutrition for nevertheless: The Catholic Church boasts the Fullness of revealed actuality. the different Christian denominations demonstrate decrease than the completed actuality. this does not mean non-Catholic Christianity is undesirable - some distance from it, in actuality. whether, it does reason one to evaluate the question: Why settle for decrease than the completed actuality once you may desire to connect a denomination that boasts the Fullness of revealed actuality?

Answer 8

Thanks DIRT for that link on the new cult that I've heard about that has visited my area.

Now on to answering this question posted: I would not join anything just in case. There are Catholic book stores why not visit one and do some research. A priest can give you information as well. Also learn about other faiths until you decide what to do. Start off by reading the Bible and reading the books of John and Romans. Also read Ephesians 2:8-10 that says we are to walk by faith not by works. Read John 3:3 where it says we must be born again to see the kingdom of God. Learn what faiths believe in being born again and start from there.

Answer 9

God knows your heart and your true intentions! Just knowing that should make you feel good! I was raised in several different religions, the Catholic religion made more sense to me in the long run. I am considered a convert, but have not yet been baptized, but I truly can't wait to be baptized. I just felt that is where I belonged and a light was turned on, and I could see more clearly! And remember satan can make statues cry just as easily as GOD! Satan is always fighting for our souls so you must be aware of an anti-christ! Like I said in the beginning God knows your heart and your true feelings and intentions! Follow the narrow path, the one not so smooth, for it will lead you to glory!

Answer 10

If you weren't a troll, I'd point out that Catholics ARE Christian. Just because there are a few doctrinial variations doesn't mean the essentials are ignored. If you were being honest, you would research the facts, and your entire question would be transformed.

Your question makes me question your christianity. Where is the love?

Answer 11

First, God bless you and welcome home!

The events you speak of - crying statues, miracles at Fatima, etc. - are signs. They are continuous signs even in our modern day showing us the reality of heaven and God's call for us to repent and follow Him. Obviously, when the signs you cite are statues of the Virgin Mary crying and sightings of her by others, it strongly gives a hint to God's original, true Church, the Roman Catholic Church.

However, we should not base our faith on signs or miracles. These may start us on the way of faith, but our base, our stronghold should be on Jesus. The catechism teaches this. We must look ever more firmly to Jesus. Everything in the bible and in His Church points to Him. He is our Faith. He is our salvation.

You should consider speaking to a priest about attending RCIA. I'm a convert also, and I can tell you without a doubt it was the best decision of my life. Nothing has been the same since.

Again, God bless you, and welcome home.