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Blestwith8
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How do I respond to this? A Dear friend is just so upset that I am having my children Baptised in June. She says it is not Biblical. I said no "It is Catholic" and we are to be like Jesus, not necessarily "always" to the T Biblical." She was appalled and actually believes I will lose my salvation over this. 
Any better way to respond than I already have?
What is the deal with Evangelicals and Catholicism? Sheesh!
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stacykay
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Congratulations on your upcoming baptisms! What a wonderful day that is going to be for your family!
Here are some links that my help you with your friend (or at least help you to respond to her):
Catholic Answers and Infant Baptism
Catholic Apologetics on Baptism
a podcast on baptism by Fr. John Riccardo
I hope these help.
God Bless,
Stacy
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JodieLyn
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It is biblical.. there is nothing that says children were not baptised when the "whole households" in the Bible were baptised.
The Bible neither defends nor condemns the practise of infant baptism per say.. and we know through Catholic Tradition that infants are baptised.
The Catholic Church and the Bible do not contradict each other.. except when someone else *interpets* the Bible.
You might find "Where is that in the Bible" by Patrick Madrid helpful.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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Red Cardigan
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Just curious, Blest--how does your friend interpret Matthew 28:19?
KJV (Protestant Bible) has it this way: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost..."
So, if you'll forgive the confusion of a cradle Catholic, how is Baptism unbiblical?
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Blestwith8
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I am shocked by how many IRL Protestant Friends, Evangelicals, Baptists etc are so stunned at my returning to Catholicism.
Honestly even Martin Luther called for the Last Rites on his death bed.
My own Husband wo was raised Baptist is all for it. He has been incredibly encouraging. He is quite well versed in Scripture and its applications.
I just cannot help but wonder if it is still that old, crazy nonsense and bigotry toward Catholicism?
Sometimes I do want to be a little stinker and say *something* I would never actually say  , but still the nonsense I have heard. Where do they get this stuff.
Here is a random sampling, let me know if you have heard these.
Catholics are bad because...
We worship Mary.- I love her and deeply revere her, but there is only ONE God.
We worship Saints.-See above and..They say all believers are Saints. Really who amongst them would like to be among them. What would we do for our faith?
Priests and Nuns have affairs. Yeah I have heard this numerous times.
All Priests are pedophiles...Hmmm a local Protestant Pastor here just got 7yrs on 4 counts of child molestation. Sin is not exclusive to any one group, or faith.
We have crazy dark forbidding rituals that no one "outside" is privy too. No sorry we are not The Masons. They are welcome to come to Mass and check it out for themselves.
I am frustrated. Never in my decade plus of being away from Catholicism did iI believe for one moment Catholics were not Christians. So many people I know do think that.
I see that there will be consequences to my coming home. None that I cannot handle, but I am no longer so naive!
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Connie, Wife of Jim Mom to ! Kate-29, Adam 27 (Jessica) Jimmy and Josh-12yo, Molly-11yo, Steven 10yo,Susie-9yo and Thomas-7yo.
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guitarnan
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It is indeed difficult to make such an important decision and then discover that people you love don't understand or agree with what you are doing. I have been told that Catholics "worship statues, like the Hindus" and many other, well, unusual things about the Church. It's highly annoying, even when I'm "braced for impact."
Please remember that much of this is based on ignorance. Some people really are taught from an early age that we Catholics worship Mary, have secret rituals, etc. and these people need our prayers. The media tends to hype the bad news and ignore the good news, too.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was ostracized by her family and friends when she converted. You are in very good company! Perhaps turning to saints who understand your situation will give you comfort, and I know the 4Real community will pray for you, too.
It sounds as though reading some apologetics books will be helpful, too. In addition to the suggestion above, I also recommend Amy Welborn's Prove It: Church. While this book is aimed at teen Catholics, it's full of excellent apologetics information that answers the questions some of our Protestant brethren ask.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Martha in VA
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Blestwith8 wrote:
What is the deal with Evangelicals and Catholicism? Sheesh!
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Blest,
I don't have time to write much now but know that I'm holding you close in prayer. I just entered the church 2 years ago. It was of the most joyous yet painful experiences of my life. I've never regretted the decision a bit yet the tension in some of my friendships still pains me at times. 
Your Evangelical friends mean well. They love you and they love Jesus. They just don't know what they don't know if that makes any sense. I speak as a former evangelical protestant.
I started my conversion blog to address some of the questions/concerns my friends had. Please feel free to click over and poke around there. Don't know if any of my posts will help you.
You are making a very courageous yet tough decision. It's not an easy road but SO worth it.
Prayers coming your way!!
Martha in VA
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Blestwith8
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Strangely enough I am not angry, just somewhat surprised. How naive of me! Still, each day and each moment of each day as I continue on my journey home I feel nothing but peace and contentment. Yesterday our Parish Priest gave each child a Rosary,, glow in the dark no less! They were thrilled. Bless my crew of 5, they are always so accepting of new things and ideas. They loved Mass and are excited about being Baptised.
As a cradle Catholic there was just basic stuff I knew. They are giving me new eyes in regards to my faith. They were all chattering in the van yesterday after Mass about how "pretty" and "fun" Mass was. Now those are 2 words I never uttered in regards to Mass at their ages. You know what? They are right!
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JodieLyn
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Connie, it helps to keep in mind this wonderful quote from Bishop Fulton J. Sheen
"There are not over a hundred people who hate the Roman Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church"
It will help greatly if you realize that it's often not the actual Catholic beliefs but what they've been lead to believe is Catholic. And sometimes you need to back up and examine even the vocabulary.. because a word may mean one thing to a Catholic but something else to a Protestant. And it seems to the translation from Protestant to Catholic is the hardest.. Catholic definitions work even from a Protestant view so you may not have run into it going the other way.. but trying to explain Catholicism to Protestants can get tricky that way.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: May 05 2009 at 12:12am | IP Logged
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Oh and Red, her friends aren't saying baptism is unbiblical but that baptising children is.. at least until they're old enough for a "believer's baptism".
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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Bookswithtea
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Blest...hang in there, and hugs to you. Its hard for them to understand. I was in your shoes several years ago as an evangelical converting. We have friends (and family) who believed we were either losing our salvation or at the very least, were not listening to God. Some have come around to respect our decision...some have not.
Its not easy, but it is soooooooooo worth it! 
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~Books
mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and  due 9/10
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LucyP
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I know EXACTLY how you feel. I had the "you are damning your children to hell" speech many times on my conversion. I have cut all ties with the particular people who just couldn't let go of that topic. And, in every protestant denomination attended in a wide-ranging life (!) - Baptist, Charismatic, Evangelical, reformed - I was told that Catholics are not Christians although the odd one may have been "saved" almost by accident. Only the Anglicans didn't say that - but as they nicked our churches, our money and quite a lot of our beliefs and customs, I won't let them off for that
Having my children baptised was so wonderful - even more beautiful than being recieved into full communion myself. I will say a prayer for you and for your friend.
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Barbara C.
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You can trace a lot of the Evangelical anti-Catholicism back to the Puritans. They eschewed anything even remotely "papist". Unfortunately, this is a sad part of our American Heritage. I often find it funny how these untrue/unfair things are leveled against Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Lutherans get a pass even though they have many things in common with Catholics.
The worship of Mary, saints, and statues always seems ludicrous from the inside out. But if you look at it from the outside in, one could understand the confusion.
Congratulations on coming back home to the faith. I suggest that you brush up on your apologetics as part of your relearning process and try to use these irritating moments as educating opportunities. You goal is to help others understand the Catholic position, even if they don't agree that it is correct. And sadly there will be some people who won't open their ears (or brains) at all.
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Barbara
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melanie
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My grandmother was raised southern baptist...she and my grandfather were both converts and raised their kids Catholic. She said her mother told her that nuns wore habits to hide the fact that most of them were pregnant with priests' babies and they killed the babies and buried them on the church grounds. Can you believe my grandmother ever became Catholic? 
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slightlycrunchycatholic.blogspot.com
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stellamaris
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One book that I think pretty clearly highlights the anti-Catholic bigotry so common in fundamentalist/evangelical circles is Catholicism and Fundamentalism by Karl Keating. It is very difficult for a cradle Catholic to understand the undercurrent of anti-Catholic feeling in some Protestant churches, but it sadly does exist. It's not even so much taught, as just assumed--a kind of cultural bias inherited from the days of the Reformation and imbued with political/racial overtones (e.g., in the U.S., native Northern European WASP's looking down on "dirty" Southern European immigrant Catholics). This book really threw light on my unspoken assumption (as an evangelical) and challenged me to consider the truth the Catholics might be Christians! Also, remember that there are some Protestant denominations that do baptize infants (I was baptized as a child in the Presbyterian church), and also some that don't baptize anyone. So your Protestant friends would do well to understand that this is not a Catholic/Protestant divide, but a conflict over doctrine even within Protestant denominations. Wherever the role of the teaching Magisterium is denied, such conflicts will occur.
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Caroline
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Blestwith8
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I just ordered a book by Scott Hahn A Father Who Keeps His Promises
For as old as I am I have been somewhat sheltered living in a large Catholic Population and attending Cahtolic School and even Catholic University.
I need to brush up on my Catholic Ed.
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doris
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I can relate -- recently, the 4yo of some new baptist friends asked me, 'Are you Catholics, or are you proper Christians?'!
Going back to the baptism issue, it's all about authority of course -- does the Church have the authority to interpret the Bible (er, yes, the Church established the canon of the Bible) or is it up to the individual believer (an attitude which is, ironically, very un-biblical!)?
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Blestwith8
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Doris I don't mean to laugh but, I can hear the little man's English Accent "Are you proper Christians?" Children do tend to say what ever is roaming around in their heads.
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Marcia
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David Currie- Born again Catholic helped me.
The road to Rome is not an easy one. Yes you will loose friends. But you are gaining a fuller relationship with the God that has been calling you to the Catholic Church. Prayers for you that your journey continues to be peaceful.
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MaryM
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Blestwith8 wrote:
Here is a random sampling, let me know if you have heard these.
Priests and Nuns have affairs. Yeah I have heard this numerous times.
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melanie wrote:
| My grandmother was raised southern baptist...she and my grandfather were both converts and raised their kids Catholic. She said her mother told her that nuns wore habits to hide the fact that most of them were pregnant with priests' babies and they killed the babies and buried them on the church grounds. Can you believe my grandmother ever became Catholic? |
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I wanted to come back to these comments with a little specific information for apologetics. This particularly ugly line of accusation against the Church can generally be traced back to Maria Monk - and the book written under her name in the early 1800's. Here is an article on the Maria Monk story from The Catholic League which gives a history of the story and how the story has been perpetuated been told over and over in various forms and presented as factual for almost 200 years.
Though historians (even non-Cahtolics) discredit the story as totally false, some anti-Catholic groups and authors still cite Monk's story as if it were true.
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Mary M. in Denver
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: Protestant Friend Upset at my return.
