Home Forums Introductions NEED HELP DEFENDING OUR FAITH!!!!!

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  • #966
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Hi everyone, I’m new to the board, I’m looking for as many Catholics who are good at debate and would like to debate, I came upon a message board slandering the Catholic faith and I’ve gotten my friends at Catholic.com to come over and help but we still need help. If you are interested I will send you the link just send me an email and I’ll reply or private message me, its a baptist board and they have three discussions going basically about “Catholics worhip the Pope” “Catholics pray to Mary, the rosary, etc.” and How do Catholics know they are the first church and the chosen church, of course they want TONS of proof and they always have some dumb answer so the more to back up the Catholic claim the better.
    thanks everyone for taking the time to listen.
    Pea

    #3716

    Not sure how many people would be interested. I know defending our faith is important, but in those situations one needs to weigh the costs against the benefits.
    [b:kz6wqxw2] ¬? [/b:kz6wqxw2]Are those people going to understand?
    [b:kz6wqxw2] ¬? [/b:kz6wqxw2]Will it just create more tension?
    [b:kz6wqxw2] ¬? [/b:kz6wqxw2]Is it going to turn into a flame war?
    I would be interested in knowing which site this is. Feel free to PM me please.

    Welcome to About Catholics! <img decoding=” title=”Smile” />

    -Jon

    #3718
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    http://p207.ezboard.com/fdiscussingreformationfrm2

    Hi Jon, I am just emotionall spent from that board, now someone “Reformed Heart” asked the question “are Catholics Christian” and she did come back and apologize but she still states that she believes that Catholics are not Christians. It just cut me to the quick and I don’t think I can go back anymore, I was up half the night praying to God to give me the strength to not be bitter towards these people and not hold their ignorance against them, I don’t know what I was thinking, I thought maybe they would at least be willing to take back the words that Catholics are not Christian but they won’t and I’m just very sad becasue I don’t go around and spread lies about other faiths but I guess they do, you can check it out if you wish, I don’t know what good any of us can do, its sad. :cry:
    Thanks for writing though, I look forward to posting on this site and learning more about the Catholic Faith <img decoding=” title=”Very Happy” />
    Peace to you.

    #3719
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Peace be with you. I can understand how angry you must feel, to run across people who are so stubborn, ignorant, and insensitive.

    But sometimes there are times when fighting only makes things worse– I got really worked up once, and was absolutely embarassed to check back at the community a week later and see myself referred to as “That crazy religious nut”! I’ve definitely learnt that there is a time to be impassioned, and a time to take a step back and weigh the benefits before plunging into a debate.

    #3720

    [quote:1c256pgl]Peace be with you. I can understand how angry you must feel, to run across people who are so stubborn, ignorant, and insensitive.

    But sometimes there are times when fighting only makes things worse.[/quote:1c256pgl]
    This is what I was going to say.

    About 4 years ago I became actively engaged in online discussion forums defending the Catholic faith. I was very passionate about it, but the passion came out in a way that was probably more harmful than good.

    I was always bewildered as to how people could be so ignorant about Catholicism and when you show them what it’s really about they almost refuse to listen to you. This was a major source of frustration for me.

    I noticed that the online forum debate thing was consuming much of my time and was causing me to be more stressed out that usual.

    Online debate can become destructive at one point so it depends on how one goes about it.

    This is why I set up my website to be a non-debate forum. I just think it causes too much stress and and decisiveness. Discussion of a Catholic topic is not a problem for me, but it’s when it becomes debate that I don’t like.

    #3721
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I agree with you Jon, I’m just too emotional and I’m hurt that people can be so mean, maybe I’m just way too foolish, I try to think of everyone as being good and being of a christian nature toward eachother, I just want to see the good in people and when I see something else, I get so upset, I just take it all on my shoulders, you see I left the Catholic faith for just about four years, long story but the best part was that I realized that I had made a huge mistake in 2000 and I came back and repented my sins, I have been so blessed by God opening my eyes to the truth that it is really hard for me sometimes to actually understand how anyone can not be Catholic, I know that sounds very “nieve” (spell?) When I came to the utter realization of how the Catholic church is so totally the one true church, it really transformed me and changed my life and I’m probably over zealous in trying to reform everyone, is that stupid or what :!:
    I have to learn to let God be in control in every single situation but my human side just keeps jumping in front of me and makes me so impatient <img decoding=” title=”Wink” />

    #3722
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    [quote:17dm89xg]Peace be with you. I can understand how angry you must feel, to run across people who are so stubborn, ignorant, and insensitive.[/quote:17dm89xg]

    I agree with Candleflame. Most of the people I’ve encountered will defend their positions no matter how rational and well articulated your argument will be. Some people just can’t or don’t want to hear the truth. It’s frustrating to know that despite 2000 years of Church teaching, billions of people will never know the love of Christ.

    My solace is to hear or read testimonies of those who have found or returned to the Church. It gives me hope that the light of Christ is not being put out or shuttered completely even in this day and age of rampant secularism.

    #3724
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    [quote:i7a1y4ib]its a baptist board and they have three discussions going[/quote:i7a1y4ib]

    Hi kamz. I wouldn’t grace what they have going with the term ‘discussions.’ They are lists of grudges which they have inflated into raging bushfires of ignorance and hatred. What me bitter and twisted? :rolleyes:

    Anyway all, kamz and I are new to this board. I am actually new to the board where kamz is: [url:i7a1y4ib]http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?p=478066#post478066[/url:i7a1y4ib] But it is a well rounded board. Soft places to land. Recreational places. As well as some robust debates. Come on over. If you can find me on a thread, then I will give you some tea.

    #3930
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    To my fellow Brothers & Sisters in Christ,
    May our father in heaven bless and peace to each one of you.
    Debating with the protestant is not the meaning of who we are as Catholic Christian. To follow Jesus Christ & to experience God in our every day life is on how we defend ourselves to many ignorant people. To follow the teaching of our Lord Jesus is where many protestant failed to understant. I debated in the past years of my life and truely thought that I was doing a noble thing and following God’s will, but I was dead wrong. I began to exault myself and no longer glorifying God. After 15 yrs have been away from Catholic faith, our Lord Jesus Christ have given me a new meaning in life. For the last 5 years through Jesus, God is working his wonders to many christians alike and coming back to the only church that Jesus of Nazareth in trusted to his apostles nearly 2000 years ago. The Catholic’s has nothing to be boast about, because God has it’s plan. We will not be judge base on our religion but on how we live our life according to the teaching of our Lord Jesus and the Prophets. By reading the scriptures from the Bible we gain knowledge and through knowledge we gain our faith. Don’t worry about missinterpretation just many Catholics fear about. If there something you do not understand, ask the priest, bishop and teachers of the church. When we teach about Catholic, be truthfull and be honest. Never judge others like some Catholics in the church. Above all, show the Love, Because this is the Greatest of all. See, the protestant, failed to understand that Jesus is not somekind of product to sell. Jesus is the Salvation and it is not for sale. Jesus is for everyone who accept him freely. Our responsibility is to live the authority of God gave us and to spread the Good News. I encourage everyone to start reading the Bible and ask the Holy Spirit for a guide. Through Jesus ask our Father in heaven to be the instrument of his peace. By all means, share our Catholic faith and let the Holy Spirit change their heart.. Be alert to those protestant that speak everything from the Bible. Because Jesus have warn us about the true and false teacher in Matthew 7:15-23.
    Good Bless. <img decoding=” title=”Smile” />

    #3931
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Welcome Kamz,

    I too feel it is not constructive to go to protest-ant boards for the purpose of debating them about our faith. They most often are not interested in learning something new about the catholic faith. Rather they seek to reinforce their beliefs among themselves. Only the Holy Spirit can change their hearts, not a heated debate. For them to say they are wrong would mean that they must look to the catholic church as the true church.

    I feel our examples of devotion to both God and man should speak for us. A wise saint (?) once said something like, “Spread the good news to all the world, and if necessary use words.” <img decoding=” title=”Smile” />

    #3934

    [quote:3qa8m3ji]A wise saint (?) once said something like, “Spread the good news to all the world, and if necessary use words.” <img decoding=” title=”Smile” />[/quote:3qa8m3ji]
    I believe that was St. Francis of Assisi. <img decoding=” title=”Smile” />

    #3939
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    <img decoding=” title=”Smile” /> Thanks Jon.

    #3953
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    You need patience beyond belief to deal with some anti-catholics out there.
    Online chatting and forums can deffinately have a strong affect on your emotions. Live debates seem to get more done if they done in a formal manner. Quick story for everyone.

    I was only a Catholic for about a year (now 5 years) when I got myself into a debate with a Church of Christ member. Apparently this fellow was used to Catholics not having answers to his questions. That wasn’t the case with me. :mrgreen: He evetually got frustrated because he wasn’t used to being on defense and directed me to his elder, and his elder eventually went to his pastor. Long story short, his pastor started to quote early chuch fathers (rare for Protestants to do) which eventually lead me searching for help. Come to find out that Tim Staples lives 5 miles away from me. :lol: So I gave him a call and it was set for him to come debate the pastor.

    Me, Evelyn (my wife), Tim, and Valerie (Tim’s wife) showed up on a Saturday evening to find a room full of COC members waiting to cheer their warrior on. Keep in mind that this pastor was extremely bright and was really good and debating. He used to be a lawyer. :shock: Anyways, the debate lasted about 6 hours and boy was that fun. The crowd got so mad that at times I felt like we were gonna get jumped for being Catholic. Tim Staples was amazing. He knew exactly where the pastor was getting his info from and stumped him several times on verses and early church fathers. Wish you guys would of been there. At 12:30 am we eventually got kicked out. Towards the end we must of talked about most all popular topics Protestants.

    The End

    ~Victor Mesina

    #3977
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I wish I could have been there too. <img decoding=” title=”Smile” />

    #3985

    I think that would have been something quite interesting to be in attendance at. I bet the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

    So, do you keep in contact with Tim Staples to this day?

    #3988
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Just email…last time I saw him was his little babies baptism.

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