Which Is The True Church

[dauntingknight]

I am doing this for a newspaper article and this is a very basic Christian group and I want to "Evangelize"to these people silently but I am so sick and tired of them talking about all of their favorite denominations and female/male pastors .

I am Roman Catholic ready to stand up for what I believe in and ready to fight the battle(s).

[Vincent Vega]

Definitely.
That's the kind of question that leads people to think about the four marks of the church, and which Church has them, and Petrine authority, and so forth, and eventually leads to conversion (if the person has an open mind and some logical thinking capability, anyway).

[CatherineM]

You could just do a list of when particular denominations were started, and by whom, starting with the Catholic church, Jesus, 33AD.

[cmotherofpirl]

If you are Catholic, Jesus Christ began your religion in the year 33.

If you are Islamic, Mohammed started your religion in what is now Saudi Arabia around 600 A.D.

If you are Eastern Orthodox, your sect separated from Catholicism around the year 1000.

If you are a Lutheran, your religion was founded my Martin Luther, an ex-Monk of the Catholic Church, in 1517.

If you belong to the Church of England (Anglican), your religion was founded by King Henry VIII in the year 1534 because the pope would not grant him a divorce with the right to remarry.

If you are a Presbyterian, your religion was founded when John Knox brought the teachings of John Calvin to Scotland in the year 1560.

If you are a Unitarian, your religious group developed in Europe in the 1500's

If you are a Congregationalist, your religion branched off from Puritanism in the early 1600's in England.

If you are a Baptist, you owe the tenets of your religion to John Smyth, who launched it in Amsterdam in 1607.

If you are a Methodist, your religion was founded by John and Charles Wesley in England in 1744.

If you are an Episcopalian, your religion was brought over from England, to the American colonies and formed a separate religion founded by Samuel Seabury in 1789.

If you are a Mormon (Latter-Day Saints), Joseph Smith started your church in Palmyra, N.Y., NOT Salt Lake City, which would have been my guess. The year was 1830.

If you worship with the Salvation Army (yes, it's a religious group, not just an organization that collects money in kettles on Christmas and serves dinners to the homeless), your sect began with William Booth in London in 1865.

If you are a Christian Scientist, you look to 1879 as the year your religion was founded by Mary Baker Eddy.

If you are a Jehovah's Witness, your religion was founded by Charles Taze Russell in Pennsylvania in the 1870's.

If you are a Pentecostal, your religion was started in the United States in 1901.

If you are an agnostic, you profess an uncertainty or a skepticism about the existence of God or a Higher Being.

If you are an atheist, you do not believe in the existence of God or any other higher power.

[jeffpugh]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' post='1800987' date='Mar 9 2009, 12:20 AM']
If you are Catholic, Jesus Christ began your religion in the year 33.

If you are Islamic, Mohammed started your religion in what is now Saudi Arabia around 600 A.D.

If you are Eastern Orthodox, your sect separated from Catholicism around the year 1000.

If you are a Lutheran, your religion was founded my Martin Luther, an ex-Monk of the Catholic Church, in 1517.

If you belong to the Church of England (Anglican), your religion was founded by King Henry VIII in the year 1534 because the pope would not grant him a divorce with the right to remarry.

If you are a Presbyterian, your religion was founded when John Knox brought the teachings of John Calvin to Scotland in the year 1560.

If you are a Unitarian, your religious group developed in Europe in the 1500's

If you are a Congregationalist, your religion branched off from Puritanism in the early 1600's in England.

If you are a Baptist, you owe the tenets of your religion to John Smyth, who launched it in Amsterdam in 1607.

If you are a Methodist, your religion was founded by John and Charles Wesley in England in 1744.

If you are an Episcopalian, your religion was brought over from England, to the American colonies and formed a separate religion founded by Samuel Seabury in 1789.

If you are a Mormon (Latter-Day Saints), Joseph Smith started your church in Palmyra, N.Y., NOT Salt Lake City, which would have been my guess. The year was 1830.

If you worship with the Salvation Army (yes, it's a religious group, not just an organization that collects money in kettles on Christmas and serves dinners to the homeless), your sect began with William Booth in London in 1865.

If you are a Christian Scientist, you look to 1879 as the year your religion was founded by Mary Baker Eddy.

If you are a Jehovah's Witness, your religion was founded by Charles Taze Russell in Pennsylvania in the 1870's.

If you are a Pentecostal, your religion was started in the United States in 1901.

If you are an agnostic, you profess an uncertainty or a skepticism about the existence of God or a Higher Being.

If you are an atheist, you do not believe in the existence of God or any other higher power.[/quote]
I'm glad you keep this list on file. It's worth bringing up once and a while

[ReinnieR]

how are you to evangelize silently by asking which is the true church? if i was in their position i'd feel attacked.

[Deeds]

If you're Jewish, your religion was founded by Abraham in ~2000 B.C.

[Didacus]

[quote name='ReinnieR' post='1801090' date='Mar 9 2009, 01:54 AM']how are you to evangelize silently by asking which is the true church? if i was in their position i'd feel attacked.[/quote]

I see your point; the question is 'loaded'; that is to sayu the anwser is expected and will in a sense incriminate certain people. The origin of each church and sects in the manner posted above might be best kept as a defense if needed, but not as an opening point for discussion (from hence it can only lead through disagreements and discord).

[Mari Therese]

Yes, I think that it's good to witness for the Church when you can. You'll have to be tactful about it though.

[icelandic_iceskater]

Wanna know what you should do? Take a camera into the streets of your city and ask random pedestrians that question. Then make it into a vid, post it on youtube, and paste a link here!

[dauntingknight]

[quote name='ReinnieR' post='1801090' date='Mar 9 2009, 01:54 AM']how are you to evangelize silently by asking which is the true church? if i was in their position i'd feel attacked.[/quote]
Well technically they deny Christ because they deny his church by not following it.

[quote name='icelandic_iceskater' post='1801465' date='Mar 9 2009, 02:56 PM']Wanna know what you should do? Take a camera into the streets of your city and ask random pedestrians that question. Then make it into a vid, post it on youtube, and paste a link here![/quote]
Good idea but 2 problems
1. I don't have a youtube account and don't want one.
2. I don't live in the city and I hate the city.

Edited March 9, 2009 by dauntingknight

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='dauntingknight' post='1800929' date='Mar 9 2009, 12:10 AM']I am doing this for a newspaper article and this is a very basic Christian group and I want to "Evangelize"to these people silently but I am so sick and tired of them talking about all of their favorite denominations and female/male pastors .

I am Roman Catholic ready to stand up for what I believe in and ready to fight the battle(s).[/quote]

Hmm... a friend of mine who became Catholic about a year before me raised this same question on a message board on the web site of our Baptist church, referencing the "pillar and foundation of truth" passage. It ended up being a very long and interesting thread that culminated in a meeting of several of the Baptist church elders and pastors with some of us Catholic-curious folks. And you know how many people we managed to draw towards Catholicism with all our debating and piercing questions?

Zeee-ro.

My suggestion to you is to take some time, drop back from your immediate concern, and actually listen to your friends. Learn what it is they like about their favorite denominations and pastors, along with the difficulties they have with their practice of Christianity. Find out what sources of authority they do respect. A great many Protestants deeply respect St. Augustine and other Church Fathers, but some couldn't care less, so you gotta play the history with the right people. I don't think going in with guns blazing will do anything but turn people off, though I don't think you need to overly silent either. You can be firm and steady in your beliefs, yet open to conversation and engaging with a patient ear to the honest questions and concerns of others.

More than anything, pursue holiness as a Catholic. Protestants know holiness when they see it, so when they meet a holy Catholic, that experience changes their hearts more than anything you can say. If you truly and sincerely want to bring your Protestant friends into the Church, get dead serious about drawing closer to Christ and seeking his grace in practicing the holy virtues.

Edited March 10, 2009 by LouisvilleFan

[LouisvilleFan]

P.S. As a follow up thought, the problem with beginning with this question posed in the poll is that few Protestants conceive of the "true Church" as a distinct institution, but to Catholics it's an assumption that we easily overlook in these debates. We all believe there is one, true Church (it is in the Nicene Creed, after all), but the way we define it is very differently.

[sweens8403]

[quote name='ReinnieR' post='1801090' date='Mar 9 2009, 02:54 AM']how are you to evangelize silently by asking which is the true church? if i was in their position i'd feel attacked.[/quote]

A less threatening question is to ask a person what their particular ecclesial community believes and why. Every protestant ecclesial community should have a little pamphlet they can pass out which outlines the particular doctrines they subscribe to. Often they'll have some sort of tasty morsel like "once saved always saved" or something similar contained therein.

It shouldn't be considered an attack by them because every Christian is required to be able to give a reason for what they believe by scriptures. Since most protestants believe in sola scriptura this is especially binding for them.

It makes a great opener. That's how the Catholic Church got me.

[cmotherofpirl]

The key to evangelization is to spend as much time on your knees praying specifically for those people you are talking to, as you do actually talking to them. The best method altogether is to be a happy faithful catholic. Sanctity is a beacon no matter ones religious choice is, and will draw people to you.