What's a Red Headed Step Child to do in this World?

Jennifer Hartline Has Had Enough and Me Too

I am sick and tired of the stubbornness of heart of many of our brothers and sisters in Christ who are too determined to be right to ever listen to the truth.  They have a love of the bible, but because they lack the Magisterium of the Church, and a teaching authority with generations of building up of faith by studying the Word of God, they do not have sufficient foundation to accept that the Catholic Church contains the full deposit of faith.  Rather, they are blissfully prepared to wander on their own path to salvation, in the mean while slamming those of us who are on our path to meet the Saviour, but are doing so in the Catholic Church.

So, they listen to the fatuous ramblings of Boettner, Chick and others, who also lacking foundation have decided that the Catholic Church is unbiblical, and if that doesn't do it for you, the Whore of Babylon.  They would not bother to read Scott Hahn, an ordained Protestant minister, who together with his wife preaches the Gospel and the truth of it now in the Catholic Church.  If there ever was a fundamentalist grinding his axe against the Catholic Church, Scott Hahn was him.  They wrote "Rome Sweet Home: Our Journey to Catholicism", about their search for truth, and finding it in the Catholic Church.  They could also read "The Biblical Basis for the Catholic Faith" by John Salza.  But, frankly they won't.

If our friends knew and believed the truth about the Catholic Church, they would have to abandon their present churches, because only in the Catholic Church can we find the fullness of the Gospel, with the sacraments for grace, and the full history of the Church that Christ created.

I have hoped that we could journey side by side, but my tolerance for being slammed by ignorant people, even though well intentioned is coming to an end.

My day has been like Jennifer's, reading what one born again ex-Catholic has been insinuating about the Catholic Church because he reads and interprets the Word of God all by his little self, with input only from others of his own ilk.  Anyway here is what she added this afternoon to her original piece I copied this morning:

I'm really not sure why this is so stuck in my craw today, but I have no patience right now for those who would perpetuate falsehood about the Catholic faith and not even be man enough to discuss it when they are confronted with their misinformation.

Why are we supposed to smile and quietly tolerate the load of crap that is bundled up by Protestants as "Catholic" beliefs? Why are we dismissed and ignored when we defend the faith and correct the erroneous statement? People put forth their ideas about Catholic faith and the errors they think it contains, but when they are challenged to discuss it, evaluate it further, or explain where/how/why they came to their misinformed conclusions, they shut down. It's cowardly.

If you're going to insist you know what my faith teaches about salvation, grace, works, faith, forgiveness of sin and eternal life, then back it up. And be prepared to listen as I explain where you're mistaken. Otherwise, you're a coward.

I'm tired of one-way respect. I do not question the salvation of fellow Christians, nor their state of grace of lack thereof. I do not question their sincerity, their relationship with Jesus, their understanding, and I do not insult them by declaring they're not even Christians.

Been a frustrating day on the blogosphere...and boy, oh boy -- the wounds in the Body of Christ run so deep. We are making bridges to close the gaps between us, but even so, sometimes it feels like the canyons between us are impassable. It's no wonder the rest of the world disdains Christianity. If I weren't one already, I'm not sure I'd be terribly impressed or inclined to "join" this group.

What a lousy job we're doing. Jesus, help us.