On the flip side: if you're a former Catholic, what's one thing that impelled you to leave? I would like to know.

Well history scripture

And?

I believe the book of james

So the book of James has convinced you not to be Catholic? Care to tell which part? I can tell you're just bursting to give me all the details, lol.

Im confused about everything right now. Just had my wisdom teeth pulled and im in a lot of pain cant think staight.

I'm so sorry! I totally did not know that. I'm sure my picture above didn't help you feel better. I know the feeling I had 4 of mine pulled .

I had six. Yes six

Why did you get it done?

Im recoverd

Ooookay, but why? Did you have pain?

Yes much

I remember I had pain, at 16. My dentist said I had to get them out immediately. I said no. Then I had pain at 19. Then I had no more and still have them.

I had six

Fair enough.

How are you, Pierre; are your wounds healing?

Done now actually worked today. Thanks for the support

All better, Brother?

Yeah its been weeks

You're welcome. Are you refering to a sedative to relieve the pain? And how long do you have to avoid solid foods?

In all done now.

Yes, certain wounds heal longer than others.

True

For me, it is Gospel where was in a state of spiritual servitude. I have no choice, but to obey, or I will go to hell. I can't tell you adequentely how that feels only that mine is similar to that of Martin Luther's, but not close to.

My expectations of eternal life was so low that i determined not to have any hope lest I be surprised and begging when Jesus commands, "Depart from me, I never knew you!"

I'm sorry you had that experience but in all honesty if anyone in the Catholic Church made you feel like you were a slave to rules or rituals or even to God than that was a bad example of a Catholic. I would like to hear more if you care to share.

In actuality, it's not the Catholic church that have been the cause of my departure. When I was young, I was quite apathetic to going to Mass; I didn't care for it, and wished I was sick so I can stay home (who wouldn't when you're a kid?). But in reading scrpture changed me. I soon loved everything about the church, but the reading also caused me to look for more palatable alternatives.

What I've read in scripture, really disturbed me as I was appalled by how exacting God was for a person to enter into His kingdom.

Matthew 5:20 says that unless your righteousness surpass that of the Scribles and the Pharisees, you will in no wise enter into the Kingdom.

Matthew 8:21-22, Jesus wouldn't even let the man bury his parents.

Matthew 19:16-26 He tells the rich man to sell all that he has.

And the doctrine of eternal damnation above all shocked me.

Thus I strayed awhile but returned with a vengeance. At that time I also despised Protestants until a cult ensnared me. Then I truly appreciated the difficulty of earning eternal life (and with Protestants, I I pitty them as utterly naive).

That was when I also heard the Gospel and fell in love with it. I was nevertheless careful as I did not want to leave purely on emotion and so after a time of debate, I left.

Well I say anyone who leaves the Catholic Church especially the Mass, the 7 sacraments, the Eucharist didn't understand or believe in any of those things. What do you make of the gospel of John chapter 6?

I don't think any learninng of both, however deep or long, would have made a difference. Those doctrines have no regenerational effects; for if I'm right, they're nothing more than notions which happened to be unbiblical. But let's suppose you are right,... while I did not have proper understanding of both in the years leading to my straying, I did have it in the years before I've joined a cult.

When I met with members of the cult, it took a number of months for them to finally convince me. Prior to meeting them, I've studied all I could to defend each major doctrine of the church. That enabled me to defend for that long of time. What also helped was that I was stubbornly loyal to the church until I no longer had any defense.

In the end, what mattered most to me is the only commonality the cult and the church did have. Salvation by Faith and Works. So, I left for good.

Which cult? The Eucharist is Biblical. Did you read John chapter 6?

The International Churches of Christ, Founded by Kip McKean in 1979, it had broken up in 2006. It's been known for its psyhological abuses of it's members. Thankfully I was only in it for a short time.

And, I think you underestimate my prior knowledge of. Yes, i've already known of John 6:53; but how do you know that is to be taken literally? You've been a Catholic for a long time, yes? If so, do you not know how we Protestants respond to that?

If it wasn't to be taken literally then how do you account for Jesus not stopping or correcting the followers who left because they thought he was talking literally "how can this man give us his Body to eat? "

He did, and there is a verse in the same chapter where He had corrected them. Not only that, He had said from the very beginning His point:

26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
30 They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?
31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

They evidentally missed that point, in verse 29, and 35. He went on to say in vs 37-39

37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

Still, they were stuck on the notion of literally eating him. Like Nicodemous thinking that Jesus is tellimg him to literally be "Born again" (John 3:3-8). The Jews seemed to have a common problem of taking things literally in which Jesus said to them:

12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

So, with that said, Jesus finally told them plainly, what He really meant by eating His body, and drinking His blood:

63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

His WORDS.... not His body, not His blood, and certainly not the bread and wine.

Christmas

The idea of Christmas? Or the celebration of it?

I'm not positive what the idea of it is anymore honestly... but the hassle of it all is exhausting, seems like it's just a retail holiday now. (No offense intended of course, just my perspective)

The hassle part is a man made development. It's become a commercial money making opportunity for secular society. But actually it's a day to commemorate the birth of the Savior of the world. Keep it simple as His birth was. The gift giving was meant to remind us of the gift God gave of His only begotten Son to the world and the gift of eternal life, but sadly it has lost the meaning for many to just be another day to spend money. My family keeps it very simple, a little tree on the table, maybe one gift and a nice meal. Most important is being with family and honoring God.

Yeah I guess it's gotten way out of hand then, I've always just tried to avoid it in response. No tree, no lights, no decorations, avoid stores, stay off the roads during crazy shopping season lol. Oh and don't turn the radio on or you'll hear the same song like 50 times in one day 😂

The Bible. And history.

Anything specific?

Ah, let's see... the Bible forbids praying to anyone other than God and Jesus. Biblically, there's only two places you can go when you die: heaven, or hell. No purgatory. It specifically says it is appointed to man to die once, followed by judgement. No in-between (i.e. between death and your eternal verdict).

Good question. The day I turned away from the Catholic Church was around March 14 (Pi day). Often for humor deemed as “anti-Catholic”, I kept getting in trouble with my papist school. First, thinking I just got unlucky, I got suspended for a day on January for “inappropriate” IPad usage. Then I got a warning when I said in Italian class in Italian that in my backpack I have weed & condoms. The straw that broke the camel’s back is when I got extended detention for using as my Kahoot username (again in Italian class) “Mike Suckerberg”. I finally gave up on the possibility that my morals are compatible with the Catholic Church, so I finally looked into Protestant sects and reasons why other folks converted. I always had the same kind of thinking that a Protestant would have (I didn’t even want to be confirmed because I hated the idea of needing a sacrament), but for the longest time, I was haunted by the misconception that Protestants are less religious. Thankfully, right after I started hating the popery, it was time to teach about the reformation; but this time, I got the Protestant side of the story from a German history teacher.

Well thanks for sharing, but I think you turned away from the Catholic Church long before March. What sort of church are you looking for that would be compatable with your morals? I'm not sure there are many if any Christian churches that would support your way of thinking. If you believe the Bible is true and God has revealed His laws don't we need to conform to that rather than finding a sect that conforms to the way we want to live?

Thanks for being open enough to ask.

I feel like the Baptist faith might be best for me, but I also agree with many things preached by Pentecostalism, 7th-Day Adventism, and Rastafarianism. However, I feel like it’s also possible that I might stay unaffiliated. I believe that any Christian denomination that isn’t controlled by a central authority is a path to salvation, and that the different traditions practiced (like sacraments) are solely cultural, as God would not care.

I was considered Catholic before the day I officially decided to turn away. However, I might have been a closeted anti-Catholic without knowing it for years because I’ve always hated its morals; I just wasn’t willing to accept that fact. I originally didn’t even want to be confirmed because I felt that one should not need a sacrament, as Jesus didn’t get confirmed. I also always found it disturbing that the popery values Mary even more than it values Jesus. Even if the immaculate conception is somehow true, Mary can’t technically be considered virgin if she married Joseph. Mary couldn’t even be her real name because it’s a Latin name, not a Semitic name. Which brings me to another thing that has always bothered me; the fact that the Church’s language is the one spoken by Jesus’s executioners, rather than by Jesus or His apostles. How would you like it if a cult was founded to commemorate your death from a murderer who speaks a different language, yet it uses your murderer’s language instead of using yours?

Because I can think for myself thank you and I don’t need some silly book to live and tell my life.

You're young yet, give it time and you'll realize having guiding principals and morals are actually a good thing. (I'm assuming you're talking about the Bible)

No I’ve decided I don’t have to have a book to tell me how to live my life.

One can also go through life without taking advice from anyone.

Actually we take advice from other people every day.

That was my point, oh derisive one. The Bible has alot of knowledge, even if you're not religious.

My bad. I can't hardly tell when you're agreeing with me or being sarcastic. Lol

I always agree with you. Disagreement is the quickest way to an on-line divorce ;)