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Page 1 of 15 A Prodigal Son Returns Home
My Return to the Catholic Church
Introduction
This is the
story of my return to the Catholic Church.
I will attempt to explain how my walk with the Lord these past years has
led me to this important and difficult decision, yet one that I make in peace
and enthusiasm. It is addressed to my
Evangelical Christian and Messianic Jewish friends in Israel, and
particularly to those who do not believe that one can be a "true believer" and
a Catholic at the same time. It is also
written as a personal testimony for the many good and faithful friends I have
made over the years around the world who may be interested in my walk of
faith. To them I dedicate this essay and
pray that it will help us to grow in unity in loving and worshipping the King
of Kings.
First, a
definition of terms: Even though many believers do not like to be "labeled" to
a particular denomination, this will be necessary throughout this essay for the
sake of clarity. I will use the term
"Evangelical" to describe non-Catholic Christians who believe in the inerrancy
of the Bible as the only and final authority for truth. This definition will generally include
"Bible-believing Christians", "Born-again Christians", Pentecostals, and
Messianic believers, both Jews and gentiles.
By contrast, I will use the term "Protestant" sparingly since it also
includes liberal denominations that sometimes question or even reject the basic
tenets of the Christian faith. For those
unacquainted with Messianic Judaism, Yeshua is the Hebrew name for Jesus
and the Tanakh is the Old Testament.
At the
outset, I wish to clear any potential misunderstandings by stating what this
conversion story is not. Firstly, I entitled this essay my "return" to
the Catholic Church only with hesitancy, because I am of course not "returning"
to where I was several years ago. My way
from the nominal Catholicism of my youth, through Evangelical Christianity,
through Messianic Judaism and to (a now correctly understood) Catholicism was
not a confused, circular path, but a logical, gradual, and fascinating
progression towards finding the fullness of Christ, of Yeshua the Jewish
Messiah, within the Catholic Church.
Secondly,
my return to the Catholic Church does not mean that I am now turning my back on
Evangelical Christianity or Messianic Judaism.
My debt to these two traditions is considerable, and I thank God that I
have had the privilege to be a part of them.
I make this decision in a spirit of unity and not of division, remaining
committed to continue to serve the whole Body of Messiah - Catholic and
non-Catholic - in Israel
and in the nations
Thirdly,
this decision is not based on emotional or family-related reasons. Although I have faced much opposition and
many difficulties from some Messianic believers as they heard of my growing
interest for Catholicism, my return to the Catholic Church is not a reaction of
escapism back to the familiar and safer environment of my youth. On the contrary, coming to terms with
Catholicism has probably been the greatest trial of my life as a believer. It was much more unsettling than my entering
the Evangelical "world" six years ago - at the cost of much strife and division
within my family - or of going through an anti-missionary course in the summer
of 1999 to fully comprehend the position of those who oppose the Messiahship of
Yeshua. My return to the Catholic Church
is the result of an uncompromising search for truth motivated by my love for
God. Even though it has even threatened
the safety of my precarious situation as a foreigner involved in ministry
within the Body of Messiah in Israel,
I had no other choice but to go forward - whatever the cost - for the sake of
truth.
This essay is not intended to be a full-fledged
apologetics work covering and defending every point of contention that some
Evangelicals and Messianic believers have against the Catholic Church. I will hardly succeed in summarizing the
hundreds of hours I spent reading, thinking, and praying about this
decision. My goal is to clear some
common misunderstandings about Catholicism and demonstrate that it is not only
a valid way of following Christ, but also perhaps the most biblical and Jewish
expression of faith in Yeshua. Although
I look forward to many interesting conversations about this "conversion", I
hope this written testimony will help you see the "fuller picture" with more
clarity than by relying solely on my potentially confusing verbal explanations.
My return
to the Catholic Church has honestly been a difficult, obstacle-ridden, painful,
and often lonely path. I can therefore
easily join my voice to Scott Hahn's, a convert to Catholicism from Evangelical
Protestantism, who writes in the foreword of the book Surprised by Truth:
"I've considered my own journey to Rome
as a mystery story, a horror story, and a love story. Sometimes being surprised by truth is
initially being horrified by truth. Does
the Catholic Church have the truth? The fullness of the truth?
Confronting this fact is a gut-wrenching agony for staunch, Bible-based
Evangelical Protestants who've thought and taught, largely because of
misunderstandings and prejudice, that Catholics are not even Christians."[1] Like Hahn and many others, I have come to
realize that what seemed like the most "unbiblical" church is really the Church
of the Bible. Follow me now for my
story.
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