Testimonies from Ex-Roman Catholic Priests and Others

[Solo]

Testimonies from ex-Roman Catholic Priests

The following quotes are taken from the book "Far from Rome, near to God: Testimonies of 50 converted Roman Catholic priests," by Richard Bennet (Carlisle, Penn: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1997). They are quite interesting and valuable since they give an insight to Catholicism from those who were priests in the Catholic Church and then left it to find salvation in Jesus.

Following are excerpts from only a few of the fifty testimonies.

1. Henry Gregory Adams. Born in Saskatchewan, Canada. He entered the Basilian Order of monks and adopted the monastic name of "Saint Hilarion the Great." He was ordained as a priest and served five parishes in the Lemont, Alberta area.
   • Sacraments. "The monastic life and the sacraments prescribed by the Roman Catholic Church did not help me to come to know Christ personally and find salvation...I realized that the man-made sacraments of my church and my good works were in vain for salvation. they lead to a false security." (p. 3)[/*:m:358c0]
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2. Joseph Tremblay. Born in Quebec, Canada, 1924. He was ordained a priest in Rome, Italy and was sent to Bolivia, Chile where he served for 13 years "as a missionary in the congregation of the Oblate Fathers of Mary Immaculate."
   • Salvation by works. "My theology has taught me that salvation is by works and sacrifices....my theology gives me no assurance of salvation; the Bible offers me that assurance....I had been trying to save myself on my works...I was stifled in a setting in which I was pushed to do good works to merit my salvation." (pp. 9, 11-12) [/*:m:358c0]
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3. Bartholomew F. Brewer. He applied to the Discalced Carmelites, a strict monastic order. He received training of "four years of high school seminary, two years in the novitiate, three years of philosophy, and four years of theology (the last after ordination)." He was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary in Washington, D.C. He eventually served as a diocesan priest in San Diego, California and entered the Navy as a Roman Catholic chaplain.
   • Upon questioning Rome's Beliefs, "At first I did not understand, but gradually I observed a wonderful change in mother. Her influence helped me realize the importance of the Bible in determining what we believe. We often discussed subjects such as the primacy of Peter, papal infallibility, the priesthood, infant baptism, confession, the mass, purgatory, the Immaculate Conception of Mary, and the bodily assumption of Mary into heaven. In time I realized that not only are these beliefs not in the Bible, they are actually contrary to the clear teaching of Scripture." (pp. 21-22)
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   • Relying on works. He left the Roman Catholic Church, got married and through conversations with his wife and other Christians, "I finally understood that I had been relying on my own righteousness and religious efforts and not upon the completed and sufficient sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The Roman Catholic religion had never taught me that our own righteousness is fleshly and not acceptable to God, nor that we need to trust in his righteousness alone...during all those years of monastic life I had relied on the sacraments of Rome to give me grace, to save me." (p. 25) [/*:m:358c0]
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4. Hugh Farrell. Born in Denver, Colorado. Entered the Order of our Lady of Mount Carmel, commonly called the Discalced Carmelite Fathers. Ordained as a priest.
   • Priestly power to change elements: "The priest, according to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, has the power to take ordinary bread and wine, and, by pronouncing the words of the consecration prayer in the sacrifice of the Mass, to change it into the actual body and blood and soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. Hence, since one cannot separate the human nature of Christ from his divinity, the bread and wine, after being changed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ, are entitled to the worship of adoration." (pp. 28)
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   • Temporal punishment due to sins. "I knew from the teachings of the priests and nuns that I could not hope to go directly to heaven after my death. My Roman Catholic catechism taught me that after death I had to pay for the temporal punishment due to my sins. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that 'the souls of the just which, in a moment of death, are burdened with venial sins or temporal punishment due to send, enter purgatory.'" (p. 29)
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   • Penance. Regarding life in the monastery and doing penance. "These penances consist of standing with the arms outstretched to form across, kissing the sandaled feet of the monks, receiving a blow upon the face from the monks, and, at the end of the meal, lying prostrate before the entrance to the refectory so that the departing monks must step over one's body. These, and other penances, are supposed to gain one merit in heaven and increase one's 'spiritual bank account.'" (p. 36)
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   • The Mass and sorcery. "According to the teaching of the Roman Church the priest, no matter how unworthy he may personally be, even if he has just made a pact with the devil for his soul, has the power to change the elements of bread and wine into the actual body and blood, soul and divinity, of Jesus Christ. Provided he pronounces the words of consecration properly and has the intention of consecrating, God must come down on the altar and enter and take over the elements." (p. 39)[/*:m:358c0]
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5. Alexander Carson.Baptized into the Roman Catholic Church as an infant. His priesthood studies were at St. John's seminary, Brighton, Massachusetts. He was ordained by Bishop Lawrence Shehan of Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1955 and was a priest in Alexandria, Louisiana. Also, he was pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Rayville, Louisiana.
   • Bible or Tradition. "...the Holy Spirit led me to judge Roman Catholic theology by the standard of the Bible. Previously, I had always judged the Bible by Roman Catholic doctrine and theology." (p. 53)
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   • Mass contrary to scripture. "In my letter of resignation from the Roman Catholic Church and Ministry, I stated to the bishop that I was leaving the priesthood because I could no longer offer the Mass, as it was contrary to the Word of God and to my conscience." (pp. 54-55)[/*:m:358c0]
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6. Charles Berry. He entered the Order of Hermits of St. Augustine and became a priest after 17 years. He was given orders to continue studying until he achieved a Ph.D. in chemistry and was then "transferred to the headquarters of the Augustinian order in the United States."
   • superstition. "In the United States the Roman Catholic Church is on its best behavior, putting its best foot forward because of its critics and opponents. In a Roman Catholic country, where it has few opponents or critics, it is a very different matter. Ignorance and superstition and idolatry are everywhere, and little effort, if any, is made to change the situation. Instead of following the Christianity taught in the Bible the people concentrate on the worship of statues and their local patron saints." (p. 59)
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   • Idols and Statues. "When I met in Cuba a genuine pagan who worshiped idols (a religion transplanted from Africa by his ancestors), I asked how he could believe that a plaster idol could help him. He replied that the idol was not expected to help him; it only represented the power in heaven which could. What horrified me about his reply was that it was almost word for word the explanation Roman Catholics give for rendering honor to the statues of the saints." (p. 59) [/*:m:358c0]
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7. Bob Bush. He went to a Jesuit Seminary and studied for 13 years before being ordained in 1966. He entered a post graduate program in Rome.
   • Works: "When I entered the order, the first thing that happened was that I was told I had to keep all the rules and regulations, that to do so would be pleasing to God, and that this was what he wanted for me. We were taught the motto, 'Keep the rule and the rule will keep you.'" (p. 66).
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   • Salvation is by faith: "It took me many years to realize that I was compromising by staying in the Roman Catholic Church. Throughout all those years I continued to stress that salvation is only in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross and not in the infant baptism; that there is only one source of authority which is the Bible, the word of God; and that there is no purgatory but rather that when we die to either go to heaven or hell." (p. 69)
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   • Salvation by works: "The Roman Catholic Church then goes on to say that in order to be saved you must keep its laws, rules and regulations. And in these laws are violated (for example, laws concerning birth control or fasting or attendance at Mass every Sunday), then you have committed a sin....'individual and integral confession and absolution constitute the only ordinary way by which the faithful person who was aware of serious sin can be reconciled with God, and with the church' (Canon 9609)." (p. 75)
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   • "The Roman Catholic Church adds works, and that you have to do these specific things [keeping its laws, rule and regulations] ]in order to be saved, whereas the Bible says in Ephesians 2:8-9 that it is by grace that we are saved, not by works." (pp. 75-76)[/*:m:358c0]
   [/*:m:358c0][/list:o:358c0]As you can see, even Roman Catholic Priests can discover the truth found in God's word and escape the error of the Roman Catholic system of works righteousness. To God be the glory.
   
   "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast," (Eph. 2:8-9).

1. 
   
   Retrieved from http://www.carm.org/catholic/testimonies.htm

 

[Solo]

MY TESTIMONY OF A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST

By Bettie Lee Simpson

I apologize if this is lengthy or even a little confusing. Being a fairly new Christian, this is the first time I have had to clearly map out my testimony and how I came to know Christ as I do today. As it was quite a gradual process with many facets, I thought it easier to gather my thoughts and keep things neat and orderly for the reader if I typed this out on my computer. I hope this is acceptable.

I was raised Roman Catholic and attended Catholic Parochial School until I was in grade eight. While I was taught about God, there was never any emphasis on receiving Jesus [No one comes to the Father except through me…JOHN14:6] and even in daily religion class I had never opened a bible. I could not tell you if we even had one in our house. My family never even attended church. My younger brother and I would be dropped off at church every Sunday and picked up when Mass was over. The emphasis (wrongly) was on rituals, completing the sacraments of the church and works. Eternal life was basically rewarded, or not, based on how pleased God was with you. I did well in school and went on to make my first communion and confirmation, neither of which I understood the concept or reason of at the time. I knew only that I had to complete these sacraments before I could attend the public school I so badly wanted to attend.

Upon going to public school, I quickly moved away from God and any religious or spiritual beliefs whatsoever. Eventually, in young adulthood taking interest (although not directly participating) in alternative worship such as nature based religions and astrology [Some have wandered away and turned to meaningless talk. 1 TIMOTHY 1:6]. I did continue to defend the Catholic religion, although I didn’t participate in it again for about 15 years. I drifted in and out of various beliefs and no beliefs at all. I was unhappy, depressed and nothing I did seemed to fulfill me. It never occurred to me to turn to Christ or even to others for help or guidance because I was raised not to. Catholics don’t talk to each other or other people about Jesus or religion. They don’t believe in testimony or witnessing [Go into the world and preach the good news to all creation. MARK 15:16]. I didn’t even know about receiving Christ and didn’t know how to talk to God. I knew only the memorized prayers of my youth that were mostly to Catholic saints.

When I was 26 I met a man, fell in love and married a year later. Randy was raised in a Mormon home, but never attended church. After going to Florida to attend a special mass for my Grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary, I was inspired to return to the Catholic Church. Randy then took Catechism classes and converted to Catholicism himself and we were married in the Catholic church since we were not considered married by our church without a Catholic wedding. We quickly became devout followers and got very involved in our church. As an adult and more able to understand and research the beliefs and rules of this faith, I came to a better understanding of what they teach as God’s plan for us and faithfully lived as was expected of me, but still felt that something was missing.

One day, while doing laundry at a coin laundry, I picked up a booklet that was left behind by a local church. It talked about accepting Jesus as your personal Savior and what it meant to be a Christian. I didn’t agree with it, as I was taught that we were Christians and pleasing to God by our deeds. These other ‘Christians’ were pushy, annoying, door-knockers and Jesus freaks who thought they were better than everyone else. Since Catholics believe they are the only Religion started by Jesus himself, we were the ones God loved. To us, the word ‘Christian’ simply meant that we believed that Jesus was the Son of God. We did not believe in being ‘saved’ and the term was used as a sort of joke.

Despite how I was raised to think and my loyalty to Catholicism, the idea of Jesus as personal Savior [I tell you the truth; whoever hears my word and believes he who sent me has eternal life…JOHN 5:24] stayed in the back of my mind. Little by little, I started secretly questioning what I had been taught was truth. It really hit me one night when I was teaching a class of sixth graders in my church’s religious education program and I was required to do a class on how the Bible was not historically accurate and that the Old Testament was mostly made up stories to teach us a lesson. If God essentially wrote the Bible through others, it made no sense that it would not be completely true. Why would God make up stories or not get the specifics of historical events correct? Although I stayed in the Catholic Church for another year or so, I was always questioning it in my mind and going back to what I had read about receiving Christ. I finally shared these thoughts and questions with my husband who basically thought I was crazy for doubting what we knew was right, so I stayed and remained faithful to the church.

Around this time, my life was completely turned upside down. My wonderful husband, who loved me so much and I thought I knew so well, was arrested for a crime that, while a misdemeanor, was terribly disturbing in its nature. Our church and priest were there for us both and a great comfort for a while. Randy ended up doing a few months in county jail during which time I lost our house, had to give our dog away, my step-son had to move back to Michigan to live with his family there and I had to move into a little apartment. I got a job and welcomed Randy home despite learning through this process that he had an extensive criminal record including several arrests for this particular crime. He seemed determined to heal emotionally and blamed his problems on a severely abusive childhood. To get a new start and be near his son, we moved to Allegan, Michigan and began counseling and joined St. Jude’s Church in Gobels. Things went well, but then Randy got arrested again and was sent back to Indiana to do eight months in jail. I remained faithful to him the whole time, although I was left with nothing…not even a car…and didn’t see him the whole time. I also continued to go to Catholic Church, although not as regularly.

Again, I welcomed him home and we went back to counseling. We were broke because he could not keep himself from acting out in inappropriate and illegal ways and so had decided to apply for disability. We went from making sometimes $1000 a week to living on welfare and getting food from Salvation Army. Again, Randy was arrested and was put in Allegan County Jail awaiting trial…charged this time with being a repeat offender as well. This carried a possible life sentence (he will actually serve 2-5 years in State Prison). Still I stayed faithful, visiting him every week and working to support myself in hopes that he would get out. I was taught that there was no viable reason for divorce in God’s eyes. Things just seemed to get worse and worse. I got very ill with a hormonal imbalance that kept me from being able to hold a full time job. My apartment got condemned and my landlord moved me into one that was worse than that one. And finally, Randy began an affair with a woman from within the jail that lasted even after I caught him, forgave him and still remained faithful.

I went to bed most nights praying that God would just take me. I had no place to turn (or so I thought), no friends or anything. I confided in my priest from Indiana, a man I respected and trusted, who told me to tough it out because no matter how unfaithful and depraved Randy was, no matter how alone, broke and sick I was, I was forbidden by God to abandon my husband. The last day I would consider myself Catholic was in summer of 2001. I went to church, and because I my desire to cut ties with my husband was so strong, I knew it was not allowed for me to accept Christ through the Eucharist. As I watched the others partaking in the body and blood of Christ, it suddenly occurred to me that I was essentially being told that if I literally escaped from an unsafe and unhealthy marriage that God didn’t love me as much and did not think me worthy of his gifts. I decided at that moment that I could not believe in a God that would force me to live with all this in order to earn his love. I never went back to Catholic Church after that.

While I still continued to be a source of support for Randy (and consider him a friend to this day as well as have regular contact with his son, now 19), I began divorce proceedings and started reading the Bible I had that I had never opened before […anyone who divorces, except for marital unfaithfulness (sexual immorality), and marries another commits adultery. MATTHEW 19:9]. I read everyday and started to pray to God in my own words…thanking him for his blessings and asking him for what I needed. I studied Christianity on the Internet and in library books. While I still didn’t completely understand the idea of asking Jesus to come into my life and giving myself to him, I had many tough lonely nights on my knees asking Jesus to save me from my life. To show me the truth. To end my confusion and give me strength through him. And even asking him what I had done that so bad that I deserved this life (still holding slightly to my childhood lessons that God was vengeful and punishing). It took me a while to realize that all of the hardships I went through were actually a blessing that brought me closer to God and to accept Christ.

In, what I believe was an answer to my prayers, God sent me the most wonderful gift. One night, still not knowing anyone in the area, I was online and began chatting with a man from Grand Rapids who was a Christian. We grew to like each other quite a bit and began talking on the phone as well. I shared my struggle with him and he shared his knowledge of Christ with me and helped me to understand a little better what it meant to be saved. I continued to read the Bible and, now being legal for me to do so, I accepted a date from this man. The relationship grew gradually and I eventually got a job in Grand Rapids and moved up here from Allegan. I began attending Calvary Church and Barnabas Class with him and coming to a better and better understanding of the truth.

Suddenly it all seemed so simple to me. God loved me no matter what. Even if I was wrong and sinning. Even if I didn’t love him back. He loved me unconditionally forever, no matter what my works and deeds were. My past didn’t matter [And hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out his love into our hearts…ROMANS 5:5]. To get Eternal Life and be a true child of God, all I had to do was ask Christ to enter my life and receive him to do so. I can’t pinpoint exactly the moment I received Christ because I feel I did it in my heart, albeit somewhat gradually, over the course of a few years, but that Sunday night last May, I got on my knees, crying, and asked Jesus to be my Savior and to save me.

I never looked back. I am positive 100% that this is the way and the truth no matter what my family, ex-husband, or my friends from my old church in Indiana might think. I consider it a compliment to be called a ‘Jesus Freak’ or ‘Bible Banger’ by people at work. I am learning more and getting closer to God everyday. I find it thrilling to read the Bible and go to Bible Study. And despite how I was raised, I look for every opportunity I can find to talk to people about Jesus [I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. ROMANS 1:16] and the amazing changes in my life since I came to know him and how simple it would be for them to have the same gifts I am enjoying everyday.

The Lord has truly blessed me through the difficulties in my life [God does all these things to a man; twice, even three times; to turn back his soul from the pit that the light of life may shine on him. JOB 33:29,30] and if I had to go through it a thousand times more to get to where I am today, I would do it gladly. The changes in my life have been drastic. I am happy and joyful, I am in good health (having gained the desire to take steps to get well once I was not so lost and sad anymore), I have friends that I can pray with and count on, I am about to join an exceptional Christian family this June by marrying the Christian man I met online, and I can take great comfort that I will spend eternity with Christ.

Thank you for time and patience in reading this. I just felt that in order to really testify to where I am now with Christ, one would have to understand where I came from.
Retrieved from http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plai ... bettie.htm

 

[francisdesales]

In the vast majority of cases, I have found that those priests who fall away from the Church do so for romantic inclinations, not intellectual problems with the doctrines of the Church. That comes later to justify their decision to leave. It just doesn't sound very good when someone makes the claim they left Rome because of a romantic interlude, so they bring up the usual strawman arguments that can plainly be shot down by refering to the Catechism. Such posts are meant for people who are not aware of Catholic teachings, merely preying on the ignorant and uneducated.

I usually see such posts only AFTER some former Protestant gives a witness to how they have swam the Tiber. The reasoning is clear... Protestantism would dry up and die if people knew the Truth.

Regards

 

[ZeroTX]

Wow, it would take me a week to point out and rectify all of the fallacies in most of those statements.

Sorcery? Come on. Either these priests were poorly taught, are lying to make themselves justified or they simply never understood what they were doing.

Rome's Sacraments?... Any priest understands that these are from God, not "Rome" or any other city...

See thread on "Anti-Catholics." Hehe.

-Michael

 

[francisdesales]

In the vast majority of cases, I have found that those priests who fall away from the Church do so for romantic inclinations, not intellectual problems with the doctrines of the Church. That comes later to justify their decision to leave. It just doesn't sound very good when someone makes the claim they left Rome because of a romantic interlude, so they bring up the usual strawman arguments that can plainly be shot down by refering to the Catechism. Such posts are meant for people who are not aware of Catholic teachings, merely preying on the ignorant and uneducated.

I usually see such posts only AFTER some former Protestant gives a witness to how they have swam the Tiber. The reasoning is clear... Protestantism would dry up and die if people knew the Truth.

To imagine that Protestantism is rooted in priests, monks, and nuns indulging in sex seems rather narrow minded to me.

I never said that! There are VERY FEW former priests, monks, and nuns who are Protestant, percentage-wise. Certainly, Protestantism is NOT rooted in former Catholic religious...

And I don't imagine Catholics, as a whole, are ignorant nor uneducated, only just not very keen on personal Bible study.

Again, I didn't say Catholics were ignorant (although many are not up to date on their faith), but there are numerous Protestants who are ignornat about Catholicism. Such an article posted merely appeals to their misrepresentations of our faith and adds nothing to the search for truth. The article is chock full of misrepresenations - made by a "priest"?

Regards

 

[golfjack]

reply

The testimony that SOLO gave really touched my heart. My view is that there are many nice Catholics who indeed are Born Again Christians, and maybe still go to Mass for one reason or another. But, I know some who participate in what I would call an underground church. It seems to me these people are Pentacostal than me.

There are many Catholics and other Denominatios where the people sit in pews and are not saved yet. I guess they think if they go to a church, and are good, that is good enough to go to heaven. This is sad to me. It seems to me that Christians are to bound up with religious things and not the important things like preaching and teaching the Gospel as we are all commanded to do. All I can do is to tell you from what I have seen from the pulpit. Therefore, I believe God's business is very serious and will always preach to a lost and decaying world.

Well, Let me give you a little of my testimony. In no way do I mean to be critical of any denomination, as I will tell like it is.

I was born and raised a Catholic. I attended Catholic grade school, high school, and even Catholic University. During all this education, I was never told to read a Bible. I took religion classes, and learned nothing of any meaning. After graduating from college, I joined the Navy and served for 2 years during the Viet-Nam War. Then, I eventually was married and started a family, and have 3 children (please pray for their salvation, still ignorant Catholic's). After 11 years of marriage, we divorced, and married a second time. During all this time, I won't go into what kind of life I led, only to say that I was a heavy drinker, I just don't want to glorify the devil. By the way, most Catholic's like to drink, and my Father was an alcholic. I worked as a railroad engineer for about 34 years. During this time, I met a Baptist, and was saved in 1979. I went to a few Baptist Bible studies, but they were kind of arguing with the Pentacostals about the Holy Spirit. Had no idea what they were talking about. So, I decided to quit going, as I said to myself, too political for me. For 19 years I lived a ignorant and somewhat carnal life. My wife of 19 years started to run around on for 7 years. Eventually we divorced in 1999, as she left for another man. I eventually retired and moved to Arizona. Still was ignorant, but met someone who advised me to go to Bible study at her Church. I went, and really liked it, and to this day, I study God's Word every day. Four years ago I decided to go to Rhema Bible Institute training for Ministry. I was a traveling Preacher, but am somewhat retired now. I preach on occasions. My Ministry in my Church is Evangelistic, and really love it. Right now, I am asking God for direction for my next season, where I think He is leading me to Pastor a Church in Colorado. By the way, and some might critize this, I am a Charismatic Pentacostal, belonging to a Word of Faith Non-denominational Church.

There is much more to my testimony, but will stop now. Remember we must fight the good fight of faith. We can go from victory to victory, faith to faith, and glory to glory, to finish our race. Expect to see you all in heaven some day, and maybe pretty soon.


May God bless, golfjack

 

[francisdesales]

Re: reply

There are many Catholics and other Denominatios where the people sit in pews and are not saved yet. I guess they think if they go to a church, and are good, that is good enough to go to heaven. This is sad to me.

Yes, it is, because the Church doesn't teach that we are saved in that manner. What is sad is that some Catholics do not know their faith better than a second grader would 50 years ago.

By the way, most Catholic's like to drink

This is not a problem, as long as you are not insinuating that Catholics are a bunch of alcoholics. Then you would be crossing the line. We believe in temperance - things done in moderation. If Jesus drank wine (as was noted by the Pharisees), then what's the problem? Drinking is not sinful until one drinks too often or too much.

Regards

 

[Solo]

In the vast majority of cases, I have found that those priests who fall away from the Church do so for romantic inclinations, not intellectual problems with the doctrines of the Church. That comes later to justify their decision to leave. It just doesn't sound very good when someone makes the claim they left Rome because of a romantic interlude, so they bring up the usual strawman arguments that can plainly be shot down by refering to the Catechism. Such posts are meant for people who are not aware of Catholic teachings, merely preying on the ignorant and uneducated.

I usually see such posts only AFTER some former Protestant gives a witness to how they have swam the Tiber. The reasoning is clear... Protestantism would dry up and die if people knew the Truth.

Regards

You suggest a strawman fallacy as you attack with the common ad hominem. If you are really to be taken seriously, you would have debated the issues brought up in the Ex-Roman Catholic testimonies instead of attacking them and protestants. Your response is a typical engrained Roman Catholic response however. Perhaps you would be so kind as debating the issues instead of the ridiculous critical thinking ad hominem fallacy. Surprise me. :wink:

 

[LittleNipper]

Re: reply

There are many Catholics and other Denominatios where the people sit in pews and are not saved yet. I guess they think if they go to a church, and are good, that is good enough to go to heaven. This is sad to me.

Yes, it is, because the Church doesn't teach that we are saved in that manner. What is sad is that some Catholics do not know their faith better than a second grader would 50 years ago.

By the way, most Catholic's like to drink

This is not a problem, as long as you are not insinuating that Catholics are a bunch of alcoholics. Then you would be crossing the line. We believe in temperance - things done in moderation. If Jesus drank wine (as was noted by the Pharisees), then what's the problem? Drinking is not sinful until one drinks too often or too much.

Regards

Yes, but does the Roman Catholic church preach the Gospel message so that a person sitting in their pews understand that salvation isn't hinged on one's performance or one's affiliation or tithe. Likely there are some very responsible ministers/priests who spell out salvation. But is that the requirement of the Roman Catholic church, or is it to collect income and exert social/political influence as its goal...

One of the things that stirred up Martin Luther was the selling of Indulgences. Martin Luther noted that his church was fairly empty for services and began to realize that the members were purchasing dispensation through the purchase of indulgences. This was the thing the Holy SPIRIT used to open his eyes to the apostacy which amounted to paganization of the church.

 

[Solo]

Another Ex-Priest for Biblical Christianity

Joseph Cherueheril

In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.†After many years as a Roman Catholic, I became convinced that my church is not in this way, and is not the truth and the life. That means that the Catholic Church is not in Christ! I wished to be in Christ. That is why I left the Roman Catholic Church and its priesthood.

According to tradition, the apostle, Thomas, was martyred in South India in the year 52 A.D. There is also a tradition that a merchant from Syria, Thomas of Cana, came to Kevala in 345 A.D. with 72 Roman Catholic families from which my family descended. Whether or not these traditions are true, I was brought up by my parents in the most strict discipline of the Roman Catholic religion. I was educated in Roman Catholic schools, adhering to all the rituals of the Catholic system. During my schooling I was attracted to the beauty of the mass and other ceremonies where the priests wore beautiful vestments. After graduating from high school, I was told that my vocation was to become a priest like my late uncle, Reverend Matthew, my father’s brother. Yes, I joined the seminary and after philosophy and theology, was ordained to the priesthood. I was a priest from the year 1972, December, administering the sacraments daily. Gradually, my faith in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, the validity of various practices such as infant baptism, auricular confession for the forgiveness of sins, veneration of images of saints, and worship of Mary as the Mother of God began to shake and I became spiritually unhappy, even miserable. The unbiblical dogmas such as the infallibility of the pope also disturbed me. I continued in such a state of mind, knowing fully well that I could be ostracized, persecuted, and even physically harmed by the Roman Catholic community and that with the blessings of the other priests and the bishop. However, the Lord, in His mercy, gave His special grace for me to learn of Biblical truth through my friend from India, Dr. Simon Kottoor, who now lives in San Jose, California and is a born-again, ex-Roman Catholic priest. He opened my eyes to the Word of God and sent me gospel tracts and books from Mission To Catholics International, Inc., in San Diego, California. The director, Bart Brewer, is another ex-priest and a great friend of Simon. The testimony of his conversion from Roman Catholicism after serving as a Carmelite friar for many years, is described in a book, Pilgrimage From Rome. This book touched my heart and gave me courage to flee from the darkness which encircled me for years.

I arrived in Bangalore two years ago and settled down not knowing what to do, but giving myself entirely into the hands of Jesus, who died for me. Dr. Brewer introduced me to a great man of God in Bangalore, Dr. Jacob Chelli. He is the director of Berean Baptist Bible College and Seminary here. This Biblical ministry surpasses every other ministry for the salvation of souls through the Word of God. Dr. Chelli became my “light†into the Word of God and I got fully convinced of the need for receiving believers baptism as commanded by Jesus in Mark 16:15-16 and John 3:3, 5, & 7.

Praise God, on July 6, 1997, Dr Chelli baptised me, and also my wife, at the Bible college chapel. Oh! What a glorious victory for us in the Lord. We do not care for anything now. We leap for joy for the grace and light we have in us now. The words of Jesus in Luke 6:22 & 23, give us added strength, courage, and consolation to face all the forces against us. (By the way, the Lord, in His love and mercy, gave me a partner for life when I left the Roman Catholic system. Her name is Mercy. She too was brought up in the strictest discipline of a Roman Catholic family, but was not spiritually happy with all the man-made doctrines. She took many lessons in the Word of God and, as I said, was baptised along with me. Our first child, Lance, was born October 23, 1996.)

Please join me in thanking God for the grace bestowed on me and my family. I praise God that we are new creatures in Christ. May God grant us His abundant grace to be faithful in living for Him and serving Him. As we do, please pray for the conversion of Roman Catholics to Biblical Christianity.

 

[stray bullet]

Well, no wonder these men left the Church, they had no idea what it taught. I don't think one testimony complained about the Church for what it actually did or believed.

I guess it's good they aren't priest anymore.

 

[stray bullet]

Re: reply

The testimony that SOLO gave really touched my heart. My view is that there are many nice Catholics who indeed are Born Again Christians, and maybe still go to Mass for one reason or another. But, I know some who participate in what I would call an underground church. It seems to me these people are Pentacostal than me.

There are many Catholics and other Denominatios where the people sit in pews and are not saved yet. I guess they think if they go to a church, and are good, that is good enough to go to heaven. This is sad to me. It seems to me that Christians are to bound up with religious things and not the important things like preaching and teaching the Gospel as we are all commanded to do. All I can do is to tell you from what I have seen from the pulpit. Therefore, I believe God's business is very serious and will always preach to a lost and decaying world.

What did you see from the 'pulpit'?

 

[Lewis]

39 Popes Married
Women Priests in the Early Catholic Church
And much, much more in this link.
http://johnshuster.com/thirtynine_popes.htm

And Peter was never a Pope
http://www.bible.ca/cath-peter=pope.htm


First of all Peter was not the first Pope or ever a Pope. But here is a list of Popes that were married, when they became Popes.

The quick answer to this question is "yes." However, there were none who married after they became pope.

There's not much detailed information about the early popes. For many years of the Church's history, celibacy was considered optional.

Based on the customs of the times, it is assumed by many that like Peter, most of the Apostles were married and had families. Author Richard O'Brien writes in Lives of the Popes that "from Paul's reference to the fact that Peter and the other apostles took their wives along on their apostolic journeys, (1 Corin 9:5) the apostles did not 'put away' their wives."

In the Vatican document, Priestly celibacy in patristics and in the history of the Church, Roman Cholij writes, "It is clear from the New Testament (Mk 1:29-31; Mt 8:14-15; Lk 4:38-39; 1 Tim 3:2, 12; Tit 1:6) that at least the Apostle Peter had been married, and that bishops, presbyters and deacons of the Primitive Church were often family men."

"It is also clear from epigraphy, the testimony of the Fathers, synodal legislation, papal decretals and other sources that in the following centuries, a married clergy, in greater or lesser numbers was a normal feature of the life of the Church. Even married popes are known to us."

Mandatory celibacy was enforced because there was so much political and economic power attached to the papacy especially during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Church has adopted celibacy as a matter of discipline, not as a matter of doctrine.

St. Felix III (II) and St. Hormisdas
St. Felix III (II)
Birthdate:
St. Felix was born in Rome.

Death:
St. Felix died on March 1, 492. He was buried in St. Paul's Basilica, in a family crypt close to his father, his wife, and his children.

Background:
St. Felix was an Italian from Rome. He was the son of a priest in an aristocratic family.

Marriage:
St. Felix III was a widower when he was selected as pope.

Children:
St. Felix had two children who are said to be the ancestors of Agapitus I and Gregory I also known as Saint Gregory the Great.

Selected 48th Pope:
March 13, 483

Feast Day:
March 1

---------------------------------------------------

St. Hormisdas
Birthdate:
Unknown.

Death:
St.

St. Silverius
Birthdate:
He was an Italian, from Frosinone, and the son of Pope Hormisdas.

Death:
St. Silverius supposedly died on December 2, 537.

Occupation:
Subdeacon.

Marriage:
That St. Silverius was married to Antonia is debated.

Selected 58th Pope:
June 8, 536; deposed on March 11, 537 and exiled to Patara. He abdicated on November 11, 537 while on the island of Palmaria in the Gulf of Gaeta.

Feast Day:
June 20

St. Agatho
Birthdate:
He was born in Sicily, c. 577.

Death:
St. Agatho died on January 10, 681 in Rome, Italy.

Occupation:
Agatho was a successful businessman before he became a monk at Saint Hermes' monastery in Palermo, Sicily.

Marriage:
Reportedly, Agatho had been married for 20 years before entering the monastery.

Children:
One daughter.

Selected 79th Pope:
June 27, 678.

Feast Day:

Hadrian II
Birthdate:
Hadrian II also known as Adrian II was born in 792 in Rome, Italy.

Death:
Hadrian died in late 972.

Background:
He came from an aristocratic family.

Occupation:
Cardinal priest.

Marriage:
Hadrian had married Stephania and had a daughter before he became a priest. His wife and daughter were still living when he was selected to be pope and resided with him in the Lateran Palace.

Children:
One daughter, who was carried off, raped, and murdered by former antipope Anastasius's brother, Eleutherius. Her mother was also killed by Eleutherius. He stabbed them both to death.

Selected 107th Pope:
December 14, 867

Boniface IX
Birthdate:
Born Pietro Tomacelli in Naples, Italy c.1350.

Death:
October 1, 1404.

Background:
His family were aristocratic but impoverished.

Occupation:
Cardinal priest.

Marriage:
The tradition is that he dispensed himself from celibacy in order to marry.

Selected 207th Pope:
November 2, 1389.

Clement IV
Birthdate:
Born Guy Foulques (also known as Guide Le Gros) on November 23, c. 1195 at Saint-Gilles on the Rhones in France.

Death:
November 29, 1268 at Viterbo.

Occupation:
Soldier, lawyer, lay jurist, secretary to Louis IX of France, Cardinal bishop.

Marriage:
Yes. When his wife died, Guy took Holy Orders.

Children:
Two daughters.

Selected 184th Pope:
February 5, 1265

Felix V
Birthdate:
Duke Amadeus VIII of Savoy was born December 4, 1383 in Savoy.

Death:
Felix died on January 7, 1451 at Ripaille.

Occupation:
Duke

Marriage:
Felix married Maria of Burgundy.

Children:
One son, Ludwig.

Selected as an Antipope:
October 30, 1439. Served for six years before submitting in 1449 to Nicolas V. He received the title of Cardinal of St. Sabina, and was appointed permanent Apostolic vicar-general for all the states of the house of Savory and for several other dioceses.

Notes:
Felix formed the Order of St. Maurice in Ripaille on the Lake of Geneva.
http://marriage.about.com/od/historyofm ... dpopes.htm

39 Popes Married
Women Priests in the Early Catholic Church
And much, much more in this link.
http://johnshuster.com/thirtynine_popes.htm

 

[Solo]

Ex-Priest Richard Bennett's Life Testimony


Born Irish, in a family of eight, my early childhood was fulfilled and happy. My father was a colonel in the Irish Army until he retired when I was about nine. As a family, we loved to play, sing, and act, all within a military camp in Dublin.

We were a typical Irish Roman Catholic family. My father sometimes knelt down to pray at his bedside in a solemn manner. My mother would talk to Jesus while sewing, washing dishes, or even smoking a cigarette. Most evenings we would kneel in the living room to say the Rosary together. No one ever missed Mass on Sundays unless he was seriously ill. By the time I was about five or six years of age, Jesus Christ was a very real person to me, but so also were Mary and the saints. I can identify easily with others in traditional Catholic nations in Europe and with Hispanics and Filipinos who put Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and other saints all in one boiling pot of faith.

The catechism was drilled into me at the Jesuit School of Belvedere, where I had all my elementary and secondary education. Like every boy who studies under the Jesuits, I could recite before the age of ten five reasons why God existed and why the Pope was head of the only true Church. Getting souls out of Purgatory was a serious matter. The often quoted words, "It is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from sins," were memorized even though we did not know what these words meant. We were told that the Pope as head of the Church was the most important man on earth. What he said was law, and the Jesuits were his right-hand men. Even though the Mass was in Latin, I tried to attend daily because I was intrigued by the deep sense of mystery which surrounded it. We were told it was the most important way to please God. Praying to saints was encouraged, and we had patron saints for most aspects of life. I did not make a practise of that, with one exception: St. Anthony, the patron of lost objects, since I seemed to lose so many things.

When I was fourteen years old, I sensed a call to be a missionary. This call, however, did not affect the way in which I conducted my life at that time. Age sixteen to eighteen were the most fulfilled and enjoyable years a youth could have. During this time, I did quite well both academically and athletically.

I often had to drive my mother to the hospital for treatments. While waiting for her, I found quoted in a book these verses from Mark 10:29-30, "And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life." Not having any idea of the true salvation message, I decided that I truly did have a call to be a missionary.

Trying To Earn Salvation I left my family and friends in 1956 to join the Dominican Order. I spent eight years studying what it is to be a monk, the traditions of the Church, philosophy, the theology of Thomas Aquinas, and some of the Bible from a Catholic standpoint. Whatever personal faith I had was institutionalized and ritualized in the Dominican religious system. Obedience to the law, both Church and Dominican, was put before me as the means of sanctification. I often spoke to Ambrose Duffy, our Master of Students, about the law being the means of becoming holy. In addition to becoming "holy," I wanted also to be sure of eternal salvation. I memorized part of the teaching of Pope Pius XII in which he said, "...the salvation of many depends on the prayers and sacrifices of the mystical body of Christ offered for this intention." This idea of gaining salvation through suffering and prayer is also the basic message of Fatima and Lourdes, and I sought to win my own salvation as well as the salvation of others by such suffering and prayer.

In the Dominican monastery in Tallaght, Dublin, I performed many difficult feats to win souls, such as taking cold showers in the middle of winter and beating my back with a small steel chain. The Master of Students knew what I was doing, his own austere life being part of the inspiration that I had received from the Pope's words. With rigor and determination, I studied, prayed, did penance, tried to keep the Ten Commandments and the multitude of Dominican rules and traditions.

Outward Pomp -- Inner Emptiness

Then in 1963 at the age of twenty-five I was ordained a Roman Catholic priest and went on to finish my course of studies of Thomas Aquinas at The Angelicum University in Rome. But there I had difficulty with both the outward pomp and the inner emptiness. Over the years I had formed, from pictures and books, pictures in my mind of the Holy See and the Holy City. Could this be the same city? At the Angelicum University I was also shocked that hundreds of others who poured into our morning classes seemed quite disinterested in theology. I noticed Time and Newsweek magazines being read during classes. Those who were interested in what was being taught seemed only to be looking for either degrees or positions within the Catholic Church in their homelands.

One day I went for a walk in the Colosseum so that my feet might tread the ground where the blood of so many Christians had been poured out. I walked to the arena in the Forum. I tried to picture in my mind those men and women who knew Christ so well that they were joyfully willing to be burned at the stake or devoured alive by beasts because of His overpowering love. The joy of this experience was marred, however, for as I went back in the bus I was insulted by jeering youths shouting words meaning "scum or garbage." I sensed their motivation for such insults was not because I stood for Christ as the early Christians did but because they saw in me the Roman Catholic system. Quickly, I put this contrast out of my mind, yet what I had been taught about the present glories of Rome now seemed very irrelevant and empty.

One night soon after that, I prayed for two hours in front of the main altar in the church of San Clemente. Remembering my earlier youthful call to be a missionary and the hundredfold promise of Mark 10:29-30, I decided not to take the theological degree that had been my ambition since beginning study of the theology of Thomas Aquinas. This was a major decision, but after long prayer I was sure I had decided correctly.

The priest who was to direct my thesis did not want to accept my decision. In order to make the degree easier, he offered me a thesis written several years earlier. He said I could useit as my own if only I would do the oral defense. This turned my stomach. It was similar to what I had seen a few weeks earlier in a city park: elegant prostitutes parading themselves in their black leather boots. What he was offering was equally sinful. I held to my decision, finishing at the University at the ordinary academic level, without the degree.

On returning from Rome, I received official word that I had been assigned to do a three year course at Cork University. I prayed earnestly about my missionary call. To my surprise, I received orders in late August 1964 to go to Trinidad, West Indies, as a missionary.

Pride, Fall, And A New Hunger

On October 1, 1964, I arrived in Trinidad, and for seven years I was a successful priest, in Roman Catholic terms, doing all my duties and getting many people to come to Mass. By 1972 I had become quite involved in the Catholic Charismatic Movement. Then, at a prayer meeting on March 16th of that year, I thanked the Lord that I was such a good priest and requested that if it were His will, He humble me that I might be even better. Later that same evening I had a freak accident, splitting the back of my head and hurting my spine in many places. Without thus coming close to death, I doubt that I would ever have gotten out of my self- satisfied state. Rote, set prayer showed its emptiness as I cried out to God in my pain.

In the suffering that I went through in the weeks after the accident, I began to find some comfort in direct personal prayer. I stopped saying the Breviary (the Roman Catholic Church's official prayer for clergy) and the Rosary and began to pray using parts of the Bible itself. This was a very slow process. I did not know my way through the Bible and the little I had learned over the years had taught me more to distrust it rather than to trust it. My training in philosophy and in the theology of Thomas Aquinas left me helpless, so that coming into the Bible now to find the Lord was like going into a huge dark woods without a map.

When assigned to a new parish later that year, I found that I was to work side-by-side with a Dominican priest who had been a brother to me over the years. For more than two years we were to work together, fully seeking God as best we knew in the parish of Pointe-a-Pierre. We read, studied, prayed, and put into practise what we had been taught in Church teaching. We built up communities in Gasparillo, Claxton Bay, and Marabella, just to mention the main villages. In a Catholic religious sense we were very successful. Many people attended Mass. The Catechism was taught in many schools, including government schools. I continued my personal search into the Bible, but it did not much affect the work we were doing; rather it showed me how little I really knew about the Lord and His Word. It was at this time that Philippians 3:10 became the cry of my heart, "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection...."

About this time the Catholic Charismatic movement was growing, and we introduced it into most of our villages. Because of this movement, some Canadian Christians came to Trinidad to share with us. I learned much from their messages, especially about praying for healing. The whole impact of what they said was very experience-oriented but was truly a blessing, insofar, as it got me deeply into the Bible as an authority source. I began to compare scripture with scripture and even to quote chapter and verse! One of the texts the Canadians used was Isaiah 53:5, "...and with his stripes we are healed." Yet in studying Isaiah 53, I discovered that the Bible deals with the problem of sin by means of substitution. Christ died in my place. It was wrong for me to try to expidite or try to cooperate in paying the price of my sin.

"If by grace, it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace.." Romans 11:6. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6).

One particular sin of mine was getting annoyed with people, sometimes even angry. Although I asked forgiveness for my sins, I still did not realize that I was a sinner by the nature which we all inherit from Adam. The scriptural truth is, "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10), and "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). The Catholic Church, however, had taught me that the depravity of man, which is called "original sin," had been washed away by my infant baptism. I still held this belief in my head, but in my heart I knew that my depraved nature had not yet been conquered by Christ.

"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection..." (Philippians 3:10) continued to be the cry of my heart. I knew that it could be only through His power that I could live the Christian life. I posted this text on the dashboard of my car and in other places. It became the plea that motivated me, and the Lord who is Faithful began to answer.

The Ultimate Question

First, I discovered that God's Word in the Bible is absolute and without error. I had been taught that the Word is relative and that its truthfulness in many areas was to be questioned. Now I began to understand that the Bible could, in fact, be trusted. With the aid of Strong's Concordance, I began to study the Bible to see what it says about itself. I discovered that the Bible teaches clearly that it is from God and is absolute in what it says. It is true in its history, in the promises God has made, in its prophecies, in the moral commands it gives, and in how to live the Christian life. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (II Timothy 3:16-17).

This discovery was made while visiting in Vancouver, B.C., and in Seattle. When I was asked to talk to the prayer group in St. Stephen's Catholic Church, I took as my subject the absolute authority of God's Word. It was the first time that I had understood such a truth or talked about it. I returned to Vancouver, B.C. and in a large parish Church, before about 400 people, I preached the same message. Bible in hand, I proclaimed that "the absolute and final authority in all matters of faith and morals is the Bible, God's own Word."

Three days later, the archbishop of Vancouver, B.C., James Carney, called me to his office. I was then officially silenced and forbidden to preach in his archdiocese. I was told that my punishment would have been more severe, were it not for the letter of recommendation I had received from my own archbishop, Anthony Pantin. Soon afterwards I returned to Trinidad.

Church-Bible Dilemma

While I was still parish priest of Point-a-Pierre, Ambrose Duffy, the man who had so strictly taught me while he was Student Master, was asked to assist me. The tide had turned. After some initial difficulties, we became close friends. I shared with him what I was discovering. He listened and commented with great interest and wanted to find out what was motivating me. I saw in him a channel to my Dominican brothers and even to those in the Archbishop's house.

When he died suddenly of a heart attack, I was stricken with grief. In my mind, I had seen Ambrose as the one who could make sense out of the Church-Bible dilemma with which I so struggled. I had hoped that he would have been able to explain to me and then to my Dominican brothers the truths with which I wrestled. I preached at his funeral and my despair was very deep.

I continued to pray Philippians 3:10, "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection...." But to learn more about Him, I had first to learn about myself as a sinner. I saw from the Bible (I Timothy 2:5) that the role I was playing as a priestly mediator -- exactly what the Catholic Church teaches but exactly opposite to what the Bible teaches -- was wrong. I really enjoyed being looked up to by the people and, in a certain sense, being idolized by them. I rationalized my sin by saying that after all, if this is what the biggest Church in the world teaches, who am I to question it? Still, I struggled with the conflict within. I began to see the worship of Mary, the saints, and the priests for the sin that it is. But while I was willing to renounce Mary and the saints as mediators, I could not renounce the priesthood, for in that I had invested my whole life.

Tug-Of-War Years

Mary, the saints, and the priesthood were just a small part of the huge struggle with which I was working. Who was Lord of my life, Jesus Christ in His Word or the Roman Church? This ultimate question raged inside me especially during my last six years as parish priest of Sangre Grande (1979-1985). That the Catholic Church was supreme in all matters of faith and morals had been dyed into my brain since I was a child. It looked impossible ever to change.

Rome was not only supreme but always called "Holy Mother." How could I ever go against "Holy Mother," all the more so since I had an official part in dispensing her sacraments and keeping people faithful to her? In 1981, I actually rededicated myself to serving the Roman Catholic Church while attending a parish renewal seminar in New Orleans. Yet when I returned to Trinidad and again became involved in real life problems, I began to return to the authority of God's Word. Finally the tension became like a tug-of-war inside me. Sometimes I looked to the Roman Church as being absolute, sometimes to the authority of the Bible as being final. My stomach suffered much during those years; my emotions were being torn. I ought to have known the simple truth that one cannot serve two masters. My working position was to place the absolute authority of the Word of God under the supreme authority of the Roman Church.

This contradiction was symbolized in what I did with the four statues in the Sangre Grande Church. I removed and broke the statues of St. Francis and St. Martin because the second commandment of God's Law declares in Exodus 20:4, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image...." But when some of the people objected to my removal of the statues of the Sacred Heart and of Mary, I left them standing because the higher authority, i.e., the Roman Catholic Church, said in its law Canon 1188: "The practise of displaying sacred images in the churches for the veneration of the faithful is to remain in force."

I did not see that what I was trying to do was to make God's Word subject to man's word. My Own Fault While I had learned earlier that God's Word is absolute, I still went through this agony of trying to maintain the Roman Catholic Church as holding more authority than God's Word, even in issues where the Church of Rome was saying the exact opposite to what was in the Bible.

How could this be? First of all, it was my own fault. If I had accepted the authority of the Bible as supreme, I would have been convicted by God's Word to give up my priestly role as mediator, but that was too precious to me. Second, no one ever questioned what I did as a priest.

Christians from overseas came to Mass, saw our sacred oils, holy water, medals, statues, vestments, rituals, and never said a word! The marvelous style, symbolism, music, and artistic taste of the Roman Church was all very captivating. Incense not only smells pungent, but to the mind it spells mystery.

The Turning Point

One day, a woman challenged me (the only Christian ever to challenge me in all my 22 years as a priest), "You Roman Catholics have a form of godliness, but you deny its power." Those words bothered me for some time because the lights, banners, folk music, guitars, and drums were dear to me. Probably no priest on the whole island of Trinidad had as colorful robes, banners, and vestments as I had. Clearly I did not apply what was before my eyes.

In October 1985, God's grace was greater than the lie that I was trying to live. I went to Barbados to pray over the compromise that I was forcing myself to live. I felt truly trapped. The Word of God is absolute indeed. I ought to obey it alone; yet to the very same God I had vowed obedience to the supreme authority of the Catholic Church. In Barbados I read a book in which was explained the Biblical meaning of Church as "the fellowship of believers." In the New Testament there is no hint of a hierarchy; "Clergy" lording it over the "laity" is unknown. Rather, it is as the Lord Himself declared "...one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren" (Matthew 23:8).

Now to see and to understand the meaning of church as "fellowship" left me free to let go of the Roman Catholic Church as supreme authority and depend on Jesus Christ as Lord. It began to dawn on me that in Biblical terms, the Bishops I knew in the Catholic Church were not Biblical believers. They were for the most part pious men taken up with devotion to Mary and the Rosary and loyal to Rome, but not one had any idea of the finished work of salvation, that Christ's work is done, that salvation is personal and complete. They all preached penance for sin, human suffering, religious deeds, "the way of man" rather than the Gospel of grace. But by God's grace I saw that it was not through the Roman Church nor by any kind of works that one is saved, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

New Birth at Age 48

I left the Roman Catholic Church when I saw that life in Jesus Christ was not possible while remaining true to Roman Catholic doctrine. In leaving Trinidad in November 1985, I only reached neighboring Barbados. Staying with an elderly couple, I prayed to the Lord for a suit and necessary money to reach Canada, for I had only tropical clothing and a few hundred dollars to my name. Both prayers were answered without making my needs known to anyone except the Lord.

From a tropical temperature of 90 degrees, I landed in snow and ice in Canada. After one month in Vancouver, I came to the United States of America. I now trusted that He would take care of my many needs, since I was beginning life anew at 48 years of age, practically penniless, without an alien resident card, without a driver's license, without a recommendation of any kind, having only the Lord and His Word.

I spent six months with a Christian couple on a farm in Washington State. I explained to my hosts that I had left the Roman Catholic Church and that I had accepted Jesus Christ and His Word in the Bible as all-sufficient. I had done this, I said, "absolutely, finally, definitively, and resolutely." Yet far from being impressed by these four adverbs, they wanted to know if there was any bitterness or hurt inside me. In prayer and in great compassion, they ministered to me, for they themselves had made the transition and knew how easily one can become embittered. Four days after I arrived in their home, by God's grace I began to see in repentance the fruit of salvation. This meant being able not only to ask the Lord's pardon for my many years of compromising but also to accept His healing where I had been so deeply hurt. Finally, at age 48, on the authority of God's Word alone, by grace alone, I accepted Christ's substitutionary death on the Cross alone. To Him alone be the glory.

Having been refurbished both physically and spiritually by this Christian couple together with their family, I was provided a wife by the Lord, Lynn, born-again in faith, lovely in manner, intelligent in mind. Together we set out for Atlanta, Georgia, where we both got jobs.

A Real Missionary With A Real Message

In September 1988, we left Atlanta to go as missionaries to Asia. It was a year of deep fruitfulness in the Lord that once I would never have thought was possible. Men and women came to know the authority of the Bible and the power of Christ's death and resurrection. I was amazed at how easy it is for the Lord's grace to be effective when only the Bible is used to present Jesus Christ. This contrasted with the cobwebs of church tradition that had so clouded my 21 years in missionary garments in Trinidad, 21 years without the real message.

To explain the abundant life of which Jesus spoke and which I now enjoy, no better words could be used than those of Romans 8:1-2: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." It is not just that I have been freed from the Roman Catholic system, but that I have become a new creature in Christ. It is by the grace of God, and nothing but His grace, that I have gone from dead works into new life.

Testimony to the Gospel of Grace

Back in 1972, when some Christians had taught me about the Lord healing our bodies, how much more helpful it would have been had they explained to me on what authority our sinful nature is made right with God. The Bible clearly shows that Jesus substituted for us on the cross. I cannot express it better than Isaiah 53:5: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (This means that Christ took on himself what I ought to suffer for my sins. Before the Father, I trust in Jesus as my substitute.)

That was written 750 years before the crucifixion of our Lord. A short time after the sacrifice of the cross, the Bible states in I Peter 2:24: "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."

Because we inherited our sin nature from Adam, we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. How can we stand before a Holy God -- except in Christ -- and acknowledge that He died where we ought to have died? God gives us the faith to be born again, making it possible for us to acknowledge Christ as our substitute. It was Christ who paid the price for our sins: sinless, yet He was crucified. This is the true Gospel message. Is faith enough? Yes, born-again faith is enough. That faith, born of God, will result in good works including repentance: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

In repenting, we put aside, through God's strength, our former way of life and our former sins. It does not mean that we cannot sin again, but it does mean that our position before God has changed. We are called children of God, for so indeed we are. If we do sin, it is a relationship problem with the Father which can be resolved, not a problem of losing our position as a child of God in Christ, for this position is irrevocable. In Hebrews 10:10, the Bible says it so wonderfully: "...we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

The finished work of Christ Jesus on the Cross is sufficient and complete. As you trust solely in this finished work, a new life which is born of the Spirit will be yours -- you will be born again.

The Present Day

My present task: the good work that the Lord has prepared for me to do is as an evangelist situated in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S.A. What Paul said about his fellow Jews I say about my dearly loved Catholic brothers: my heart's desire and prayer to God for Catholics is that they may be saved. I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based in God's Word but in their church tradition. If you understand the devotion and agony that some of our brothers and sisters in the Philippines and South America have put into their religion, you may understand my heart's cry: "Lord, give us a compassion to understand the pain and torment of the search our brothers and sisters have made to please You. In understanding pain inside the Catholic hearts, we will have the desire to show them the Good News of Christ's finished work on the Cross."

My testimony shows how difficult it was for me as a Catholic to give up Church tradition, but when the Lord demands it in His Word, we must do it. The "form of godliness" that the Roman Catholic Church has makes it most difficult for a Catholic to see where the real problem lies. Everyone must determine by what authority we know truth. Rome claims that it is only by her own authority that truth is known. In her own words, Cannon 212, Section 1, "The Christian faithful, conscious of their own responsibility, are bound by Christian obedience to follow what the sacred pastors, as representatives of Christ, declare as teachers of the faith or determine as leaders of the Church." (Vatican Council II based, Code of Canon Law promulgated by Pope John-Paul II, 1983).

Yet according to the Bible, it is God's Word itself which is the authority by which truth is known. It was man-made traditions which caused the Reformers to demand "the Bible only, faith only, grace only, in Christ only, and to God only be the glory."

The Reason Why I Share

I share these truths with you now so that you can know God's way of salvation. Our basic fault as Catholics is that we believe that somehow we can of ourselves respond to the help God gives us to be right in His sight. This presupposition that many of us have carried for years is aptly defined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994) #2021, "Grace is the help God gives us to respond to our vocation of becoming his adopted sons...."

With that mindset, we were unknowingly holding to a teaching that the Bible continually condemns. Such a definition of grace is man's careful fabrication, for the Bible consistently declares that the believer's right standing with God is "without works" (Romans 4:6), "without the deeds of the Law" (Romans 3:28), "not of works" (Ephesians 2:9), "It is the gift of God," (Ephesians 2:8). To attempt to make the believer's response part of his salvation and to look upon grace as "a help" is to flatly deny Biblical truth,

"...if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace..." (Romans 11:6). The simple Biblical message is that "the gift of righteousness" in Christ Jesus is a gift, resting on His all-sufficient sacrifice on the cross, "For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:17).

So it is as Christ Jesus Himself said, He died in place of the believer, the One for many (Mark 10:45), His life a ransom for many. As He declared, ...this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:28). This is also what Peter proclaimed, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God..." (I Peter 3:18).

Paul's preaching is summarized at the end of II Corinthians 5:21, "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.." (II Cor. 5:21).

This fact, dear reader, is presented clearly to you in the Bible. Acceptance of it is now commanded by God, "...Repent ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15).

The most difficult repentance for us dyed-in-the-wool Catholics is changing our mind from thoughts of "meriting," "earning," "being good enough," simply to accepting with empty hands the gift of righteousness in Christ Jesus. To refuse to accept what God commands is the same sin as that of the religious Jews of Paul's time, "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." (Romans 10:3)

Repent and believe the Good News!

Richard Bennett

Retrieved from http://www.members.tripod.com/sword_of_ ... t/id60.htm

 

[golfjack]

reply

I think Peter was the leader of the Jersulem Church, and Paul was the leader of the Gentile Church. I don't think the word Pope is mentioned in the Bible. Also, I think James was the first Bishop of Rome, as he according to the Book of Acts, made the definitive statement for all at the Council of Jersulem.


May God bless, golfjack

 

[Vic C.]

Golf,

James was the leader of the Jerusalem congregation.

 

[Solo]

I recognize the ease at which one can divert direction of a thread by chasing relevant rabbits that get scared up as I am guilty of the same, but this thread is for the testimonies of Ex-Roman Catholic Priests and others who have left the Roman Catholic Church after being born again. Please keep this thread for that purpose so that arguments do not ensue, and this thread being moved to the "dead thread" forum.

Please stay on topic.

Thanks.

 

[Vic C.]

At this time, I must move this thread since it also doesn't meet the qualifications of posting in this Forum, which is:

This is where you can discuss and ask questions concerning these Christian Faiths

This topic is better suited for the Apologetics thread.

 

[Lewis]

Everybody needs to read the shocking true story of Sister Charlotte.

http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/charlot1.htm

 

[Imagican]

http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/charlot1.htm[/url]

That is beyond insulting and I really don't see what you can reconcile your hatred and attacks with your devotion to Jesus.

Do you attack us and our Church in Christ's name? Is he proud of you?[/quote:7692b]
Why is that shocking ? When it is true and that kind of stuff has been going on for years. And I don't hate Catholics, believe it or not I love them.
I just don't agree with them. But I would let no harm come to any of you if I could help it, I would put myself on the line for you. But I don't have to agree with you.[/quote:7692b]

Amen Lewis,

So often those of the CC accuse others of hate for simply offering the 'truth'. There is NO need for hate for one to offer the 'truth'. What is to ponder is that those that follow would be SO ashamed of the 'truth' that they would offer ANY subversion to distract from it REGARDLESS. Even to the point of accusing those that offer the 'truth' of being 'hate filled' etc.........

I don't know of ANYONE that is FORCED to follow the CC ANYMORE. There was a 'time' that one could use THIS as an 'excuse' for their faith. No longer. If you are willing to follow such a 'religion', be willing to ACCEPT the 'truth' of it and MOVE ON. Otherwise, you make it apparent by your attempts to deny and defend that there is SOMETHING VERY WRONG with this teaching.

MEC