Thank you so much! Always inspiring! I have been seriously contemplating converting to Catholicism after studying the early church fathers. I pray the rosary, and the liturgy of the hours, but I have yet to contact my local Catholic Parish. Please pray for me. I will be praying for you, and those going through deconstruction. ❤
I was raised Baptist and converted to the Catholic faith. It was without doubt the best decision of my life! Sadly, so many Protestants have been raised to have very negative ideas about Catholics so it never occurs to them that it's a possibility.
It sounds like you've already taken some great steps! You will absolutely be prayed for this weekend, Alicia. And thank you for praying for me! That's very kind. Take care.
Don't do that. They teach a false gospel, that will take you straight to hell. If you add any works to grace, it is no longer grace. Please run don't walk from that false church !
Hey! I had similar thoughts that led me to leave my Protestant faith for atheism in my teens. In my early 20s I had to rediscover God. When I decided that God had to be real and Christ is God (skipping a lot here), I knew that I needed to find THE historical church for any of this to make sense - what is eternally true must have been true 1500 yrs ago and today. That thought process led me to the Orthodox Church.I believe that your questions are valid in the framework you were raised (Protestant) and the Protestant churches have a difficult time answering them. For me, I will obviously say that the Orthodox Church will have the answers, but I think the Catholics will have answers for you too - especially regarding scripture. The Protestant view of scripture is not the historical view held for centuries. Good luck on your journey Also! Jonathan Pageau has been a great resource on RUclips for tapping into the historical Christian worldview.
I'm almost done reading St. Augustine's Confessions for the first time and it's helped me so much b/c there's a lot of similarities between him and I. It's a book one should read once every year and get something new out of it. St. Augustine became my Confirmation Saint on May 19, 2024!
This guy is one of many mostly unknown creators on RUclips, that provides excellent content. I feel like I'm in some sort of "secret club", for having found him, among all the garbage that RUclips attempts to throw in front of your eyes.
Protestantism’s best and brightest continue to convert to Catholicism including theologians, scholars, pastors, and the intellectually minded. There are many conversion stories online but I especially enjoy Steve Ray - an exBaptist ex anti Catholic. Many of Catholicism’s best apologists today are ex Protestants and they are very active on RUclips. Thank you for sharing your story. Welcome home!
Recently the question was asked “how many Protestant Pastors, Biblical scholars and Professors have converted to Catholicism and have been on The Coming Home Network/EWTN. And the answer was over 1500👍
@Lone_BrotherinChrist That's right, the absolute best and brightest. This video is one testimony to that but RUclips is full of their stories and you don't even have to look very hard. They appear on multiple channels. Many were staunch anti Catholics before because they were misled about the truth of Catholicism. Catholicsm is the only true Christianity. You might have elements of the truth (and likely many heresies) but you do not have the full truth of the one and only church Jesus Christ established in 33AD. Try The Coming Home Network on RUclips for starters: www.youtube.com/@cominghomenetwork
@Lone_BrotherinChrist That's right, the absolute best and brightest. Roger Maxson in this video is one testimony to that but RUclips is full of other stories and you don't have to look very hard. They appear on multiple channels. Many were staunch anti Catholics before because they were misled in false echo chambers about the truth of Catholicism. Catholicsm is the only and only true Christianity. You might have elements of the truth (and likely many heresies) but you do not have the full truth of the one and only church Jesus Christ established in 33AD. Try The Coming Home Network on RUclips for starters:
@Lone_BrotherinChrist That's right, the absolute best and brightest. Roger Maxson in this video is one testimony to that but RUclips is full of other stories and you don't have to look very hard. They appear on multiple channels. Many were staunch anti Cathol'cs before because they were misled in false echo chambers about the truth of Catholicism. Catholicsm is the only and only true Christianity. You might have elements of the truth (and likely many heresies) but you do not have the full truth of the one and only church Jesus Christ established in 33AD. Try The Coming Home Network on RUclips for starters: www.youtube.com/@cominghomenetwork
Yours has been the best subscription I have clicked in quite a while Roger so thank you for your thoughtful and compassionate talks. I grew up in a Church of England "Jam and Jerusalem" community in 1990s England where I remember as a child sitting in the pews privately wrestling with the fact that I did not believe any of it. Years later I asked my mother why we eventually stopped going to church and she told me it was because they didn't really believe either... it had been as much a social gathering for them as anything. Keeping up with the Joneses if you will. Later still, at those events like weddings and christenings, I came to realise actually hardly anyone there had real faith in the literal words being preached. But nevertheless I find there is something supremely comforting and emotionally bolstering in taking part in it. I've had a feeling for many years of wishing I had that real faith. Almost a sense that I was denied it somehow.. and it's very difficult to cast aside the secular, scientific paradigm so many of us are conditioned to. I've done my best to fill the "god shaped hole" with other comforting pseudo myths like Tolkien, as I have commented about in your video about that. I attended a local Baptist church a few times on the invitation of some good friends and met some lovely people, including a lady sat next to me who asked me how I had found Jesus... I think she could literally smell the secularism on me. To which I guiltily answered "Actually, I'm still looking". Maybe that sentiment struck a chord with a Baptist because she wanted to take me home with her that day and convert me any way she could 😂 She'd have had her work cut out doing so I suspect. Anyway that turned into quite a waffle... It would be interesting to hear your thoughts perhaps for a future video, for someone trying to "construct" rather than the other way around. That is if you don't consider such an endeavour to be a hiding to nothing 🙄
I really appreciate you sharing this. It still amazes me that someone from England would take the time to watch my videos. One of the good things about social media, I think, is getting acquainted with people I never would have otherwise met! Thank you for taking time. I'm sure your Baptist acquaintance was praying for you for days! Haha Have you heard of Holly Ordway? Her talks are often quite good. She's a Tolkien scholar. She grew up a non-believer and came to faith, in part, because of the truths she saw in literature, especially the Lord of the Rings and Narnia. The ideas in those books actually served to help her better understand concepts in Christianity. So, years later, after being a bit of an agressive atheist, she came, slowly, to faith. Later still, she became a Catholic. I think I can relate to what you mean by wanting to believe, but not quite believing. I'd have to think a bit about what it is that helped me. Perhaps I'll make a video later. I think a few elements might be to incorporate, if you're interested, prayer practices consistently into ones life. Catholic prayer was rather foreign to me, and I was skeptical for a long time. But, I knew there was truth there (intellectually, at least), and eventually began to pray traditional Catholic prayers, meditating on the words and mysteries, asking saints to pray for me. Now, those prayers seem more familiar, and I no longer find myself feeling out of place or doubting while praying. And, for me, worship in the Catholic church involves the body, which helps me. It speaks to the whole person, rather than just the emotions, or just the intellect, or just the body. Another element, for me, I think, was listening to passionate, but well read and intelligent Christian thinkers. C.S. Lewis, Bishop Baron, Scott Hahn, and the more philosophically minded (Peter Kreeft, Ed Feser, older thinkers like Coppleston). Yet, I think there really is something to story itself. Which is what Holly Ordway brilliantly tapped into. C.S. Lewis, as you probably know, knew the old myths well, and began to see traces of truth in them. Tolkien helped him to see that Christianity is the "true myth," and fulfills the true things in the old ones. To me, it's a fascinating and deeply true idea. I'll think more on it, Friend. I think you might enjoy listening to Dr. Ordway (and perhaps Michael Ward, a Lewis scholar, who worded well how to see meaning in the natural word, not just the mass and chemical composition). Have a great night!
Very heartening to hear you speak. It is of inestimable value to hear a young person offer up his thoughts as he struggles through the difficulties of faith. It is amazing how quickly an entire generation can go under the waves of pluralism and nihilism. Fight to keep your head above water and lead towards the light as many as might listen.
I grew up in a very legalistic Protestant cult that very much twisted scripture. It was very fear based and I have lots and lots of trauma from it. Everyone beat their kids, girls were married off young to men in their 30s, my pastor castrated himself. Really crazy stuff. Became an atheist as soon as I could and came back to God kicking and screaming but the Lord made us Catholic and wow I feel at ease in the magisterium and the catechism which will tell me what scripture means and it can't just be twisted by any old preacher. The Eucharist is everything. I'm also a millennial!
@@Jb11245 "impure thoughts" based on the Mathew 5:30 if your right hand causes you to sin cut it off..... 😬😬😬 He was unmarried. That was the best part, pastor had no kids and wasn't married but encouraged the church to beat their children....
I really enjoy when you pop up into my feed, for the simple reason that you are one of the few who makes me think, and often rethink, my positions on many things. For good or ill, I think like a digital engineer; everything is 0 or 1, not both nor anything else. Everything is either true or false. I have observed that many people have a basic difficulty separating the divine theological truths of the church (say, any Christian church) from that church's human implementation here on earth of those truths of God. A Catholic priest I was speaking to once apparently thought I was disillusioned (I really wasn't) and said, "Yes, the abuse crisis." We were not even talking about that. But, at lightspeed, I said, "No. The Church is the human implementation of Christ's church on earth, and we need his help. As evil as that crisis was, look back further....we've had popes with mistresses in the Vatican, financial abuses, officials with side businesses, affairs within the clergy. It's all evil and must be corrected, but it all also doesn't matter when we concentrate on the church's infallible dogmas. Every time I've questioned any church dogma, I've been wrong and the church has been right. Every time!" So, I have come to believe that my suggestion is that people try to separate their search for theological truths from all matter of human behavior in any church. Root out the bad behavior, of course, but keep it separate from whether the theology is completely true...or not. That is where the most real and best wrestling takes place. Dogma is, digitally, either true or false. Wrestle with it. Thanks for the video.
As always, there's wisdom in your words, Gary. Christianity is true, even when Christians are deeply flawed. And, by God's grace and Providence, the dogma of the Church is correct: a guide for us. Boy have I disagreed in the past, and boy have I been wrong!
Hi, quite interesting content you put out in this video. With regards to people having bad experiences with fundamentalist/literalist churches it is quite true that what happens is that those people tend to throw the baby out with the water, rejecting all of christianity all at once. Have you seen any of Jonathan Pageau's videos on biblical symbolism?
^ this right here. Had such a hard problem with the literalist YEC readings in evangelicalism for years, and Jonathan Pageau + his brother's book The Language of Creation finally resolved the issues for me. I'm just glad I made it out of that hot mess still a Christian. Still trying to figure out whether I want to become Catholic or Orthodox but currently leaning toward Byzantine Catholic.
I didn't grow up going to church, however, as a child I had no doubt that God was real. At 19 I was led to accept Christ by the Spirit of God. I experienced Jesus in my life in such a way that I can't put it into words. I am now 72 and have never had a doubt that Jesus is Lord and that He rose from the dead. But, my church experience was quite different from my "Jesus" experience. Like you I heard the "n" word used at times and found the doctrines set forth to be shallow. I have been intrigued for some time to convert to Catholicism. The intellectual outlook of history, science and philosophy that I have heard from Catholics on you tube is quite refreshing.
Evangelical and now an Anglican ( the best music of the Church!). 😅. Husband is our priest and pursed a PhD in Liturgics as an Evangelical. So glad to have gone back to the understanding and faith of the undivided Church. Blessings on your journey into a fuller understanding of the Church.
The Anglican tradition really does have some beautiful music and liturgy. Before we became Catholic (or knew we would), my wife and I visited St. Paul's in London. Beautiful building. And, since becoming Catholic, we've visited a parish in the Anglican Ordinariate (churches who re-join communion with the broader Catholic Church, but maintain Anglican liturgy.) Beautiful indeed! Thanks for serving our Lord! (And thanks for watching).
The best way to find a deeper, more integrated faith is to look at the ancient churches of east and west, Orthodox and Catholic, and see what they have to offer in relation to the incomplete and fragmentary world of fundamentalism.
At base, if we aren't converted to Christ we cannot bear his name in the world in a powerful way. I have been a life long member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints my whole life and have been very blessed by three teachings that have helped me maintain my faith through trials. 1. The fundamental tenet of our religion is the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets of the life death and resurrection if Christ. ALL other things are appendages to this. So hold to Christ and everything else will be made clear eventually. 2. God is the author of ALL truth. Therefore, if it appears science and scripture appear in conflict we haven't understood one or both. Therefore don't abandon what you know because of what you don't yet understand. 3. God loves ALL his children, even those who are currently making themselves His enemies. Therefore I must also love them to be consistent with His nature. And He will and has given to every culture and people as much of His Truth as they were ready to accept. Therefore I can learn more of Him from everyone.
Read Kierkegaard before you check out of the faith. Then move to the other side of the theological spectrum and read Teilhard. Whatever you do, don't abandon Christianity if your theology began and ended with C.S. Lewis. And before you jettison the Bible, spend a little time with NT scholar Dale Allison, a believer who sees the same problems with scripture that you do...and many, many more.
I watched your video. I agree with a lot of what you said. Some things need to be corrected. But overall, I encourage people to listen to what you have to say. Pockets of Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism definitely have problems. The age of the earth is one of those internal debates. Even with the scientific evidence, there are educated people on both sides. I lean old earth. When you read the Gospels, each person wrote from their point of view. They aren't meant to be perfect historical documents. Regarding those who used the "N" word or beat women and children need to be dealt with immediately. There is no room for that. The biggest problem is that many Christians just plain don't know how to rightly divide the word of God... They get spoon fed what they believe...
I found reading The Archko Volume Archeological Writings of the Sanhedrim and Talmuds of the Jews very enlightening. I tend to think there’s a lot the church would rather not release, not because Jesus’s Godliness is in question; but it would humanize Him just a tad bit. More importantly it would “normalize” Joseph and Mary (Joseph much more so). Imagine 27BC being told your wife will bear a son that is not your own and you will have a famous son to a mother. It provides context, as to why Jesus said to Mary at Cana (impatiently?), “woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come”
My personal journey has been one of learning to stop trying to square circles, and many of those came from people divorcing the Old and New Testaments. In reconciling them, I came to the conclusion most sects have been unable to stick to the foundation of Christianity. Just recently I had an argument with a Calvanist where the basis of their argument relied on skipping over Genesis 1 (and would justify many anti-Christian arguments I've heard over the years). I am still Protestant, but non-denominational. Indulging my literary analysis side though, as far as Matthew and Luke's account of the temptation, Luke does not actually say the order the temptations occurred (there are no connecting words like 'then', at least in KJV). I forget who pointed it out, but Matthew tends to be more focused on the record keeping than the other gospels and each other one has its own focus. I often find that keeping this sort of interaction in mind does answer a fair number of tensions between the scriptures I run into.
Calling atheists “aggressive” is an odd choice. Christians dominate the political landscape and hold all the offices of power. It can be very aggressive, as we’ve seen especially in the last 8 years.Whereas I’ve only met one other self professed atheist in real life, and am aware of none in positions of American power. I am proselytized to often by theists, yet I have never heard of a proselytizing atheist. We typically keep to ourselves and let y’all do your thing. Good of you to at least acknowledge that we can be good people. I had to infer that from what you said about people who think differently. I think that intellectual atheists are among the most moral people, primarily because we are not beholden to Bronze Age superstitions about human behavior. Civil rights above all. Period. LGBT rights are human rights. This IS a neutral position. Do you think that Will and Grace is aggressive? How is it more aggressive than Friends? In what way? We ought to support one another, and see each other as people with value. We are a social species, after all, it is what differentiates us from other apes, and what makes us so successful. We thrive when we participate in communities. I feel better when I help others. It is baked into our DNA. PS WWII was started by a highly Christian nation. References to god are literally woven into Nazi uniforms and propaganda. Theism: when good people do bad things.
I think it's important to emphasize just how anomalous modern mega-church "seeker friendly" Evangelicalism is in the history of Protestantism let alone Christianity as a whole! Evangelicalism may seem like the default way of being Protestant today, but it's really not. I grew up in an evangelical church within a mainline denomination and so I think I had the best of both worlds, with folks who believed the bible without going to hyper-literalist excesses or young earth creationism. I always knew that abusive Fundamentalist churches existed but I saw them as inconsequential and as something that folks who "just wanna sin" trundle out as excuses. I have since returned to the Roman Catholicism of my grandparents, but I want people to know that, if the leap to Catholicism is too much for you, that there are healthy and bible believing mainline churches where worship is incarnate, where there are rigorous intellectual traditions, where you don't have to pretend that you are 100% happy every week, where they hate the sin but love the sinner, with a missional in focus without it eclipsing everything else, and where biblical male headship is maintained in a non-abusive manner. The confessional Protestant churches be they Presbyterian, Anglican, and Lutherans all have bible believing off-shoot denominations where it is my hope that you can find proper and holistic Christian discipleship
37:40 now a flat earth is actually a thing among Christians. If you carefully read Genesis 1, the firmament that seprates the water above it from the waters below it, and with the sun, the starts and the moon IN the frimament.... That's an old flat earth model. So there is a resurgence of this view among the Bible believers.
39:00 the biggest evidence, in my view, against the historicity of Jesus Christ is the so called, "Peter's Confession" narratives in the Bible. You find from the the confession (present in all Synoptic Gospels) narratives that the people of Jesus' day, thought that Jesus was John the Baptist raised from the dead, or some other prophet of old raised from the dead. It's very suspicious that the Jewish people could think this way, and that story also shatters the resurrection apologetic. Because here we have an example, right there in the gospel, of a wide spread belief in a resurrection of an individual who remained dead, yet, was thought to have risen from the dead. But I digress. The Peter's confession story is a clever way to explain why noone among the people has heard about Jesus. The confession "Who do the people say that i am?" implies that nobody really knows Jesus. And it's very telling, that Jesus warns his disciples not to tell anyone about him. Reinforcing the idea that any investigator should not expect to find historical Jesus among the people. They all think he was raised John the Baptist, Elijah, or some other prophet. Anyone but Jesus. And Jesus told his disciples to keep quiet about him too, so they most likely did.
I strongly suggest you order online the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Regardless of whatever denomination you might be, this book simply explains what Catholics believe and why. It is indispensable for all Christians who have questions about their faith. It touches on all topics of belief. It will likely not be what you expect. It's better.
Oh yes! Actually, Brant Pitre wrote a book called "The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ." It's sort of an all-in-one survey. It discusses which genre of literature the Gospels are, when they were written, and the New Testament picture of Christ. There are more in-depth books, but this is a good one to have on the shelf. Pope Benedict XVI wrote an Introduction to Christianity. Read the blurb before you order it, but if I recall in that book he argues well against a too destructive, critical method of scholarship. He really was a brilliant and gifted theologian.
I did listen. I'll keep it 100% real, once I heard you say racist I already marked you out as one to distance from and not listen too. Calling racism in the generic scenes has been so over done that the burn out from hearing the term is major. If you could communicate events, people and things that took place in your words without using the term racism you could actually get your thoughts, your mind and heart revealed to others. At this point using the term racism is racist.
I'm a Black woman who has also dealt with racism in white southern churches in my younger years. Therefore, I do understand what Roger means because I have lived it and seen it first hand. It doesn't matter your religion, occupation, etc. There will always be bad eggs, as well good eggs, in every social group. Unfortunately that goes for religious ones too. I highly appreciated the fact that someone can relate to my experience, or empathize with the experience of others. I don't feel so alone in my hardships when understandings such as this are achieved between different cultures or peoples. As a black woman, I have to deal with racism way more than what I expected to in 2024. We are no longer in the 1960s. It is very exhausting for me. But it is still happening.
@@ttlala886 Yes, I hear you and understand. You are talking about an era that has for all practical purposes disappeared in general. I've lived in California, Texas and Georgia. I'm well aware its not 2024 and the sins of the past are so far gone. New sin has arrived and its not the old ones people speak of. The folly today is to label anyone racist: today. A now worthless label that has been so over used it has no value and is for many a sign that one is disingenuous at best and a race baiter at worst. One would be far more fruitful to not using the N-Word, not use the R-Word and simple speak to things that took place years ago or even today without injecting terms that inandof themselves label the speaker as a pejorative. Yes it is worth nothing history and yest it is worth knowing the day in age in which we live is not that of 50, 100, or many more years ago.
@neoturfmasterMVS No obviously you didnt listen at all, Roger acknowledged that the term is often overused yes. But that doesnt follow that racism doesn't exist at all and havent existed in churches. If church pastors using the n-word derogatorily is something you stand behind, well thats on you.
@@waffle.23 Yes I did listen. I listened from first to last. I am not you and therefore as it may come to a shock for you: I have different thoughts and conclusions from listening to the same one speak. I never said racism doesn't exist. I said the use of the term racism is exhausted. Don't use that term and if you do you use it at risk of alienating the majority of people. If you study language, in sense of proportion of history, you maybe, though may not, come to understand a word can be so over used as to have no meaning and label the speaker as one to distance from. I say this with love and kindness, you are a poor listener which sadness me. We, I live in an era of fools, who speak as they know and have listened. What a wrecked place to be.
36:00 I grew up in an evangelical home. But I was deathly afraid of God, hell, judgment and punishment. So, I don't get how it's "Christian" to care for LGBTQ+ people or for people in general. Jesus seemed very flippant about people not agreeing with his teachings. John 6:61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you-they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” 66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
Much depends on what is meant by care. We are called to love our enemies, but that does not mean ignoring the sinful aspect of their lives. We do not take the duty of punishing sin into our own hands, but we do not shy away from the fact that it is sin. Jesus was also rebuking people following him, not going up to a random group of people and yelling at them. These were people who claimed to be his students, but balked at his teachings. Other instances of fierce rebuke were for the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law, people whos' duty was to know the scripture. Note that such harshness was not brought against the standard Roman. Even Pilate himself, who had attempted to prevent the crucifixion, was not rebuked while Peter was.
@@Auron3991 Good points, Jesus seemed very critical of the people following the Bible the closest. Perhaps he'll be more welcoming of atheists in the afterlife compared to the Christians? Jesus also never spoke against gays. Now, the first paragraph, about ignoring sinful life, is very tricky to understand in light of the New Testament. According to James 4:17, understanding that one ought to do good and not doing it, is a sin. Basically, the sin of not doing enough good is a sin too! Also in James, 2:10 whoever breaks one commandment is guilty of breaking the whole law! So, everyone has a sinful aspect of their lives. Even the most pious people.
Be careful, scripture has no errors and all of it, every iota is dictated by the Holy Spirit, that said, it uses human authors and human modes of expressions. It is simultaneously human and simultaneously divine. The difficulties in scripture are in part to test our faith but also to invite us to a deeper understanding of faith. As newman said a thousand difficulties do not make one doubt.
Yes, I do not believe the Scriptures teache error. The Catholic Church, of course, teaches that it does not. The problems come, I think, when some Christians (who often later become atheists) read ancient literature as though it's modern literature. Which, of course, it is not. It's rather like genre confusion.
If people permanently don't persevere in THE faith, it is because the Lord Jesus didn't persevere their faith - i.e., they weren't saved to begin with.
Thank you so much! Always inspiring! I have been seriously contemplating converting to Catholicism after studying the early church fathers. I pray the rosary, and the liturgy of the hours, but I have yet to contact my local Catholic Parish. Please pray for me. I will be praying for you, and those going through deconstruction. ❤
I was raised Baptist and converted to the Catholic faith. It was without doubt the best decision of my life! Sadly, so many Protestants have been raised to have very negative ideas about Catholics so it never occurs to them that it's a possibility.
It sounds like you've already taken some great steps! You will absolutely be prayed for this weekend, Alicia. And thank you for praying for me! That's very kind. Take care.
Go to mass. Don’t wait to contact your local parish. It will leave you feeling changed.
Don't do that. They teach a false gospel, that will take you straight to hell. If you add any works to grace, it is no longer grace. Please run don't walk from that false church !
@@markjohnson9402Catholics believe we are saved by grace alone.
Hey! I had similar thoughts that led me to leave my Protestant faith for atheism in my teens. In my early 20s I had to rediscover God. When I decided that God had to be real and Christ is God (skipping a lot here), I knew that I needed to find THE historical church for any of this to make sense - what is eternally true must have been true 1500 yrs ago and today. That thought process led me to the Orthodox Church.I believe that your questions are valid in the framework you were raised (Protestant) and the Protestant churches have a difficult time answering them. For me, I will obviously say that the Orthodox Church will have the answers, but I think the Catholics will have answers for you too - especially regarding scripture. The Protestant view of scripture is not the historical view held for centuries. Good luck on your journey
Also! Jonathan Pageau has been a great resource on RUclips for tapping into the historical Christian worldview.
I'm almost done reading St. Augustine's Confessions for the first time and it's helped me so much b/c there's a lot of similarities between him and I. It's a book one should read once every year and get something new out of it. St. Augustine became my Confirmation Saint on May 19, 2024!
This guy is one of many mostly unknown creators on RUclips, that provides excellent content. I feel like I'm in some sort of "secret club", for having found him, among all the garbage that RUclips attempts to throw in front of your eyes.
He has helped me so much, glad you found him.
Protestantism’s best and brightest continue to convert to Catholicism including theologians, scholars, pastors, and the intellectually minded. There are many conversion stories online but I especially enjoy Steve Ray - an exBaptist ex anti Catholic. Many of Catholicism’s best apologists today are ex Protestants and they are very active on RUclips.
Thank you for sharing your story. Welcome home!
Recently the question was asked “how many Protestant Pastors, Biblical scholars and Professors have converted to Catholicism and have been on The Coming Home Network/EWTN. And the answer was over 1500👍
Keith Nestor is another example
@Lone_BrotherinChrist That's right, the absolute best and brightest. This video is one testimony to that but RUclips is full of their stories and you don't even have to look very hard. They appear on multiple channels. Many were staunch anti Catholics before because they were misled about the truth of Catholicism. Catholicsm is the only true Christianity. You might have elements of the truth (and likely many heresies) but you do not have the full truth of the one and only church Jesus Christ established in 33AD. Try The Coming Home Network on RUclips for starters:
www.youtube.com/@cominghomenetwork
@Lone_BrotherinChrist That's right, the absolute best and brightest. Roger Maxson in this video is one testimony to that but RUclips is full of other stories and you don't have to look very hard. They appear on multiple channels. Many were staunch anti Catholics before because they were misled in false echo chambers about the truth of Catholicism. Catholicsm is the only and only true Christianity. You might have elements of the truth (and likely many heresies) but you do not have the full truth of the one and only church Jesus Christ established in 33AD. Try The Coming Home Network on RUclips for starters:
@Lone_BrotherinChrist That's right, the absolute best and brightest. Roger Maxson in this video is one testimony to that but RUclips is full of other stories and you don't have to look very hard. They appear on multiple channels. Many were staunch anti Cathol'cs before because they were misled in false echo chambers about the truth of Catholicism. Catholicsm is the only and only true Christianity. You might have elements of the truth (and likely many heresies) but you do not have the full truth of the one and only church Jesus Christ established in 33AD. Try The Coming Home Network on RUclips for starters:
www.youtube.com/@cominghomenetwork
Audio is so much clearer now - glad you got the new mike. I need to catch-up on your videos - they're always good!
Yours has been the best subscription I have clicked in quite a while Roger so thank you for your thoughtful and compassionate talks. I grew up in a Church of England "Jam and Jerusalem" community in 1990s England where I remember as a child sitting in the pews privately wrestling with the fact that I did not believe any of it. Years later I asked my mother why we eventually stopped going to church and she told me it was because they didn't really believe either... it had been as much a social gathering for them as anything. Keeping up with the Joneses if you will. Later still, at those events like weddings and christenings, I came to realise actually hardly anyone there had real faith in the literal words being preached.
But nevertheless I find there is something supremely comforting and emotionally bolstering in taking part in it. I've had a feeling for many years of wishing I had that real faith. Almost a sense that I was denied it somehow.. and it's very difficult to cast aside the secular, scientific paradigm so many of us are conditioned to. I've done my best to fill the "god shaped hole" with other comforting pseudo myths like Tolkien, as I have commented about in your video about that. I attended a local Baptist church a few times on the invitation of some good friends and met some lovely people, including a lady sat next to me who asked me how I had found Jesus... I think she could literally smell the secularism on me. To which I guiltily answered "Actually, I'm still looking". Maybe that sentiment struck a chord with a Baptist because she wanted to take me home with her that day and convert me any way she could 😂 She'd have had her work cut out doing so I suspect.
Anyway that turned into quite a waffle...
It would be interesting to hear your thoughts perhaps for a future video, for someone trying to "construct" rather than the other way around. That is if you don't consider such an endeavour to be a hiding to nothing 🙄
I really appreciate you sharing this. It still amazes me that someone from England would take the time to watch my videos. One of the good things about social media, I think, is getting acquainted with people I never would have otherwise met! Thank you for taking time.
I'm sure your Baptist acquaintance was praying for you for days! Haha
Have you heard of Holly Ordway? Her talks are often quite good. She's a Tolkien scholar. She grew up a non-believer and came to faith, in part, because of the truths she saw in literature, especially the Lord of the Rings and Narnia. The ideas in those books actually served to help her better understand concepts in Christianity. So, years later, after being a bit of an agressive atheist, she came, slowly, to faith. Later still, she became a Catholic.
I think I can relate to what you mean by wanting to believe, but not quite believing. I'd have to think a bit about what it is that helped me. Perhaps I'll make a video later. I think a few elements might be to incorporate, if you're interested, prayer practices consistently into ones life. Catholic prayer was rather foreign to me, and I was skeptical for a long time. But, I knew there was truth there (intellectually, at least), and eventually began to pray traditional Catholic prayers, meditating on the words and mysteries, asking saints to pray for me. Now, those prayers seem more familiar, and I no longer find myself feeling out of place or doubting while praying. And, for me, worship in the Catholic church involves the body, which helps me. It speaks to the whole person, rather than just the emotions, or just the intellect, or just the body. Another element, for me, I think, was listening to passionate, but well read and intelligent Christian thinkers. C.S. Lewis, Bishop Baron, Scott Hahn, and the more philosophically minded (Peter Kreeft, Ed Feser, older thinkers like Coppleston).
Yet, I think there really is something to story itself. Which is what Holly Ordway brilliantly tapped into. C.S. Lewis, as you probably know, knew the old myths well, and began to see traces of truth in them. Tolkien helped him to see that Christianity is the "true myth," and fulfills the true things in the old ones. To me, it's a fascinating and deeply true idea.
I'll think more on it, Friend. I think you might enjoy listening to Dr. Ordway (and perhaps Michael Ward, a Lewis scholar, who worded well how to see meaning in the natural word, not just the mass and chemical composition).
Have a great night!
@@rogermaxson2512 Many thanks, Roger, for taking the time to reply so thoroughly. There is a lot there for me to think about.
Very heartening to hear you speak. It is of inestimable value to hear a young person offer up his thoughts as he struggles through the difficulties of faith. It is amazing how quickly an entire generation can go under the waves of pluralism and nihilism. Fight to keep your head above water and lead towards the light as many as might listen.
I grew up in a very legalistic Protestant cult that very much twisted scripture. It was very fear based and I have lots and lots of trauma from it. Everyone beat their kids, girls were married off young to men in their 30s, my pastor castrated himself. Really crazy stuff. Became an atheist as soon as I could and came back to God kicking and screaming but the Lord made us Catholic and wow I feel at ease in the magisterium and the catechism which will tell me what scripture means and it can't just be twisted by any old preacher. The Eucharist is everything.
I'm also a millennial!
That’s crazy! Why did he castrate himself? Good you managed to escape.
@@Jb11245 "impure thoughts" based on the Mathew 5:30 if your right hand causes you to sin cut it off..... 😬😬😬 He was unmarried. That was the best part, pastor had no kids and wasn't married but encouraged the church to beat their children....
I really enjoy when you pop up into my feed, for the simple reason that you are one of the few who makes me think, and often rethink, my positions on many things. For good or ill, I think like a digital engineer; everything is 0 or 1, not both nor anything else. Everything is either true or false. I have observed that many people have a basic difficulty separating the divine theological truths of the church (say, any Christian church) from that church's human implementation here on earth of those truths of God. A Catholic priest I was speaking to once apparently thought I was disillusioned (I really wasn't) and said, "Yes, the abuse crisis." We were not even talking about that. But, at lightspeed, I said, "No. The Church is the human implementation of Christ's church on earth, and we need his help. As evil as that crisis was, look back further....we've had popes with mistresses in the Vatican, financial abuses, officials with side businesses, affairs within the clergy. It's all evil and must be corrected, but it all also doesn't matter when we concentrate on the church's infallible dogmas. Every time I've questioned any church dogma, I've been wrong and the church has been right. Every time!" So, I have come to believe that my suggestion is that people try to separate their search for theological truths from all matter of human behavior in any church. Root out the bad behavior, of course, but keep it separate from whether the theology is completely true...or not. That is where the most real and best wrestling takes place. Dogma is, digitally, either true or false. Wrestle with it. Thanks for the video.
As always, there's wisdom in your words, Gary. Christianity is true, even when Christians are deeply flawed. And, by God's grace and Providence, the dogma of the Church is correct: a guide for us. Boy have I disagreed in the past, and boy have I been wrong!
Hi, quite interesting content you put out in this video. With regards to people having bad experiences with fundamentalist/literalist churches it is quite true that what happens is that those people tend to throw the baby out with the water, rejecting all of christianity all at once.
Have you seen any of Jonathan Pageau's videos on biblical symbolism?
^ this right here. Had such a hard problem with the literalist YEC readings in evangelicalism for years, and Jonathan Pageau + his brother's book The Language of Creation finally resolved the issues for me. I'm just glad I made it out of that hot mess still a Christian. Still trying to figure out whether I want to become Catholic or Orthodox but currently leaning toward Byzantine Catholic.
I didn't grow up going to church, however, as a child I had no doubt that God was real. At 19 I was led to accept Christ by the Spirit of God. I experienced Jesus in my life in such a way that I can't put it into words. I am now 72 and have never had a doubt that Jesus is Lord and that He rose from the dead. But, my church experience was quite different from my "Jesus" experience. Like you I heard the "n" word used at times and found the doctrines set forth to be shallow. I have been intrigued for some time to convert to Catholicism. The intellectual outlook of history, science and philosophy that I have heard from Catholics on you tube is quite refreshing.
Thanks bro.... appreciate your work
Thanks, Mark! And thanks for taking time to watch.
Everything you said resonated exactly with my thoughts and experiences too.
Evangelical and now an Anglican ( the best music of the Church!). 😅. Husband is our priest and pursed a PhD in Liturgics as an Evangelical. So glad to have gone back to the understanding and faith of the undivided Church. Blessings on your journey into a fuller understanding of the Church.
The Anglican tradition really does have some beautiful music and liturgy. Before we became Catholic (or knew we would), my wife and I visited St. Paul's in London. Beautiful building. And, since becoming Catholic, we've visited a parish in the Anglican Ordinariate (churches who re-join communion with the broader Catholic Church, but maintain Anglican liturgy.) Beautiful indeed!
Thanks for serving our Lord! (And thanks for watching).
The best way to find a deeper, more integrated faith is to look at the ancient churches of east and west, Orthodox and Catholic, and see what they have to offer in relation to the incomplete and fragmentary world of fundamentalism.
Well done 🕊👏
Thank you, Friend.
At base, if we aren't converted to Christ we cannot bear his name in the world in a powerful way.
I have been a life long member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints my whole life and have been very blessed by three teachings that have helped me maintain my faith through trials.
1. The fundamental tenet of our religion is the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets of the life death and resurrection if Christ. ALL other things are appendages to this. So hold to Christ and everything else will be made clear eventually.
2. God is the author of ALL truth. Therefore, if it appears science and scripture appear in conflict we haven't understood one or both. Therefore don't abandon what you know because of what you don't yet understand.
3. God loves ALL his children, even those who are currently making themselves His enemies. Therefore I must also love them to be consistent with His nature. And He will and has given to every culture and people as much of His Truth as they were ready to accept. Therefore I can learn more of Him from everyone.
Praying for Modern- Christian to find and fully search the truth Amen
Read Kierkegaard before you check out of the faith. Then move to the other side of the theological spectrum and read Teilhard. Whatever you do, don't abandon Christianity if your theology began and ended with C.S. Lewis. And before you jettison the Bible, spend a little time with NT scholar Dale Allison, a believer who sees the same problems with scripture that you do...and many, many more.
I watched your video. I agree with a lot of what you said. Some things need to be corrected. But overall, I encourage people to listen to what you have to say. Pockets of Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism definitely have problems. The age of the earth is one of those internal debates. Even with the scientific evidence, there are educated people on both sides. I lean old earth. When you read the Gospels, each person wrote from their point of view. They aren't meant to be perfect historical documents. Regarding those who used the "N" word or beat women and children need to be dealt with immediately. There is no room for that. The biggest problem is that many Christians just plain don't know how to rightly divide the word of God... They get spoon fed what they believe...
Read the Bible. Seek Jesus. Follow Jesus. I converted to Catholicism 20 years ago (former Luthern) and I am so fulfilled. It is the one true church.
I found reading The Archko Volume Archeological Writings of the Sanhedrim and Talmuds of the Jews very enlightening.
I tend to think there’s a lot the church would rather not release, not because Jesus’s Godliness is in question; but it would humanize Him just a tad bit. More importantly it would “normalize” Joseph and Mary (Joseph much more so). Imagine 27BC being told your wife will bear a son that is not your own and you will have a famous son to a mother. It provides context, as to why Jesus said to Mary at Cana (impatiently?), “woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come”
The racism and bigotry in the guise of religion is a deep cut. May we all heal in Christ, God bless you!
My personal journey has been one of learning to stop trying to square circles, and many of those came from people divorcing the Old and New Testaments. In reconciling them, I came to the conclusion most sects have been unable to stick to the foundation of Christianity. Just recently I had an argument with a Calvanist where the basis of their argument relied on skipping over Genesis 1 (and would justify many anti-Christian arguments I've heard over the years). I am still Protestant, but non-denominational.
Indulging my literary analysis side though, as far as Matthew and Luke's account of the temptation, Luke does not actually say the order the temptations occurred (there are no connecting words like 'then', at least in KJV). I forget who pointed it out, but Matthew tends to be more focused on the record keeping than the other gospels and each other one has its own focus. I often find that keeping this sort of interaction in mind does answer a fair number of tensions between the scriptures I run into.
Christian Orthodox is the fullness of the faith.
Atheism is the fullness of the faith.
Lighting looks good! MGB!👍
Thanks! I'm glad it looks better. I'll keep trying to improve it. Have a great one!
Very smart young man❤
What did you conclude regarding Biblical contradictions?
What is consciousness?
Calling atheists “aggressive” is an odd choice. Christians dominate the political landscape and hold all the offices of power. It can be very aggressive, as we’ve seen especially in the last 8 years.Whereas I’ve only met one other self professed atheist in real life, and am aware of none in positions of American power. I am proselytized to often by theists, yet I have never heard of a proselytizing atheist. We typically keep to ourselves and let y’all do your thing.
Good of you to at least acknowledge that we can be good people. I had to infer that from what you said about people who think differently. I think that intellectual atheists are among the most moral people, primarily because we are not beholden to Bronze Age superstitions about human behavior.
Civil rights above all. Period. LGBT rights are human rights. This IS a neutral position. Do you think that Will and Grace is aggressive? How is it more aggressive than Friends? In what way? We ought to support one another, and see each other as people with value. We are a social species, after all, it is what differentiates us from other apes, and what makes us so successful. We thrive when we participate in communities. I feel better when I help others. It is baked into our DNA.
PS WWII was started by a highly Christian nation. References to god are literally woven into Nazi uniforms and propaganda. Theism: when good people do bad things.
Atheism is the largest religion in the western world and is held by most of the powerful and radical politicians.
Look into The Church
I think it's important to emphasize just how anomalous modern mega-church "seeker friendly" Evangelicalism is in the history of Protestantism let alone Christianity as a whole! Evangelicalism may seem like the default way of being Protestant today, but it's really not. I grew up in an evangelical church within a mainline denomination and so I think I had the best of both worlds, with folks who believed the bible without going to hyper-literalist excesses or young earth creationism. I always knew that abusive Fundamentalist churches existed but I saw them as inconsequential and as something that folks who "just wanna sin" trundle out as excuses.
I have since returned to the Roman Catholicism of my grandparents, but I want people to know that, if the leap to Catholicism is too much for you, that there are healthy and bible believing mainline churches where worship is incarnate, where there are rigorous intellectual traditions, where you don't have to pretend that you are 100% happy every week, where they hate the sin but love the sinner, with a missional in focus without it eclipsing everything else, and where biblical male headship is maintained in a non-abusive manner. The confessional Protestant churches be they Presbyterian, Anglican, and Lutherans all have bible believing off-shoot denominations where it is my hope that you can find proper and holistic Christian discipleship
How long do you study to become a Baptist minister ?
37:40 now a flat earth is actually a thing among Christians. If you carefully read Genesis 1, the firmament that seprates the water above it from the waters below it, and with the sun, the starts and the moon IN the frimament.... That's an old flat earth model. So there is a resurgence of this view among the Bible believers.
39:00 the biggest evidence, in my view, against the historicity of Jesus Christ is the so called, "Peter's Confession" narratives in the Bible. You find from the the confession (present in all Synoptic Gospels) narratives that the people of Jesus' day, thought that Jesus was John the Baptist raised from the dead, or some other prophet of old raised from the dead. It's very suspicious that the Jewish people could think this way, and that story also shatters the resurrection apologetic. Because here we have an example, right there in the gospel, of a wide spread belief in a resurrection of an individual who remained dead, yet, was thought to have risen from the dead. But I digress. The Peter's confession story is a clever way to explain why noone among the people has heard about Jesus. The confession "Who do the people say that i am?" implies that nobody really knows Jesus. And it's very telling, that Jesus warns his disciples not to tell anyone about him. Reinforcing the idea that any investigator should not expect to find historical Jesus among the people. They all think he was raised John the Baptist, Elijah, or some other prophet. Anyone but Jesus. And Jesus told his disciples to keep quiet about him too, so they most likely did.
Do you know any catholic works on the resurrection/gospels?
Gerald O'Collins sj has a number of books.
I strongly suggest you order online the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Regardless of whatever denomination you might be, this book simply explains what Catholics believe and why. It is indispensable for all Christians who have questions about their faith. It touches on all topics of belief. It will likely not be what you expect. It's better.
@@garyworth6046 Yeah I have read the CCC and I'm also catholic. Thanks!
Oh yes! Actually, Brant Pitre wrote a book called "The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ." It's sort of an all-in-one survey. It discusses which genre of literature the Gospels are, when they were written, and the New Testament picture of Christ. There are more in-depth books, but this is a good one to have on the shelf.
Pope Benedict XVI wrote an Introduction to Christianity. Read the blurb before you order it, but if I recall in that book he argues well against a too destructive, critical method of scholarship. He really was a brilliant and gifted theologian.
I did listen. I'll keep it 100% real, once I heard you say racist I already marked you out as one to distance from and not listen too. Calling racism in the generic scenes has been so over done that the burn out from hearing the term is major.
If you could communicate events, people and things that took place in your words without using the term racism you could actually get your thoughts, your mind and heart revealed to others. At this point using the term racism is racist.
I'm a Black woman who has also dealt with racism in white southern churches in my younger years. Therefore, I do understand what Roger means because I have lived it and seen it first hand. It doesn't matter your religion, occupation, etc. There will always be bad eggs, as well good eggs, in every social group. Unfortunately that goes for religious ones too. I highly appreciated the fact that someone can relate to my experience, or empathize with the experience of others. I don't feel so alone in my hardships when understandings such as this are achieved between different cultures or peoples.
As a black woman, I have to deal with racism way more than what I expected to in 2024. We are no longer in the 1960s. It is very exhausting for me. But it is still happening.
@@ttlala886 Yes, I hear you and understand. You are talking about an era that has for all practical purposes disappeared in general.
I've lived in California, Texas and Georgia. I'm well aware its not 2024 and the sins of the past are so far gone. New sin has arrived and its not the old ones people speak of.
The folly today is to label anyone racist: today. A now worthless label that has been so over used it has no value and is for many a sign that one is disingenuous at best and a race baiter at worst.
One would be far more fruitful to not using the N-Word, not use the R-Word and simple speak to things that took place years ago or even today without injecting terms that inandof themselves label the speaker as a pejorative.
Yes it is worth nothing history and yest it is worth knowing the day in age in which we live is not that of 50, 100, or many more years ago.
@neoturfmasterMVS No obviously you didnt listen at all, Roger acknowledged that the term is often overused yes. But that doesnt follow that racism doesn't exist at all and havent existed in churches. If church pastors using the n-word derogatorily is something you stand behind, well thats on you.
@@waffle.23 Yes I did listen. I listened from first to last.
I am not you and therefore as it may come to a shock for you: I have different thoughts and conclusions from listening to the same one speak.
I never said racism doesn't exist. I said the use of the term racism is exhausted. Don't use that term and if you do you use it at risk of alienating the majority of people.
If you study language, in sense of proportion of history, you maybe, though may not, come to understand a word can be so over used as to have no meaning and label the speaker as one to distance from.
I say this with love and kindness, you are a poor listener which sadness me. We, I live in an era of fools, who speak as they know and have listened. What a wrecked place to be.
Is it true? No.
36:00 I grew up in an evangelical home. But I was deathly afraid of God, hell, judgment and punishment. So, I don't get how it's "Christian" to care for LGBTQ+ people or for people in general. Jesus seemed very flippant about people not agreeing with his teachings.
John 6:61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you-they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
Much depends on what is meant by care. We are called to love our enemies, but that does not mean ignoring the sinful aspect of their lives. We do not take the duty of punishing sin into our own hands, but we do not shy away from the fact that it is sin.
Jesus was also rebuking people following him, not going up to a random group of people and yelling at them. These were people who claimed to be his students, but balked at his teachings. Other instances of fierce rebuke were for the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law, people whos' duty was to know the scripture. Note that such harshness was not brought against the standard Roman. Even Pilate himself, who had attempted to prevent the crucifixion, was not rebuked while Peter was.
@@Auron3991 Good points, Jesus seemed very critical of the people following the Bible the closest. Perhaps he'll be more welcoming of atheists in the afterlife compared to the Christians? Jesus also never spoke against gays.
Now, the first paragraph, about ignoring sinful life, is very tricky to understand in light of the New Testament. According to James 4:17, understanding that one ought to do good and not doing it, is a sin. Basically, the sin of not doing enough good is a sin too! Also in James, 2:10 whoever breaks one commandment is guilty of breaking the whole law! So, everyone has a sinful aspect of their lives. Even the most pious people.
Be careful, scripture has no errors and all of it, every iota is dictated by the Holy Spirit, that said, it uses human authors and human modes of expressions. It is simultaneously human and simultaneously divine. The difficulties in scripture are in part to test our faith but also to invite us to a deeper understanding of faith. As newman said a thousand difficulties do not make one doubt.
Yes, I do not believe the Scriptures teache error. The Catholic Church, of course, teaches that it does not. The problems come, I think, when some Christians (who often later become atheists) read ancient literature as though it's modern literature. Which, of course, it is not. It's rather like genre confusion.
If people permanently don't persevere in THE faith, it is because the Lord Jesus didn't persevere their faith - i.e., they weren't saved to begin with.