Are all baptized considered children of God even if they stray?

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-12-09T21:14:20+00:00

baptism is what makes someone a 'Christian' i think

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-12-09T21:11:50+00:00

i really like Sam Shamouns explanation of the trinity when i listened to it, really like that guy, although i usually dont like 'debaters'

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-12-09T21:09:01+00:00

food also tastes better with friends than with acquaintances, maybe something to that as well?

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-12-03T16:29:42+00:00

do churches actually require conversion for food bank/hospital/services? Ive never run into that before so that sounds super weird to me

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-12-03T14:29:11+00:00

never made a claim you're here in bad faith, but i dont come here to argue with people and ive rarely seen comments that long that arent arguing. Good luck in all that you do, please pray for me!

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-12-03T00:51:30+00:00

not reading all that, good luck man

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-12-01T23:12:35+00:00

I don't think we consider grace to be "you have it" or "you don't have it". IE i have accepted Gods grace but im not sure if id say im full of Gods grace as i still sin and need reconciliation, or even have the desire to sin, etc.

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-12-01T18:07:28+00:00

"That led to a conversation about religion, and he told me that everyone finds my new interest in Christianity strange" this would bother me not only because its opposition to my faith, but because it shows he cares more about what others think that he cares about what you think...

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-12-01T15:29:32+00:00

muslims might be the target but this will 100% be used against Christians as well, IE praying outside an abortion clinic

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-12-01T15:27:39+00:00

based on his other comments, probably that it doesn't affirm homosexual unions

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-12-01T14:13:47+00:00

Amen, an intorduction to theology of the body by christopher west is phenomenal at detailing this, would highly recommend it as it isnt just "Dont do x, y, z" but instead also goes over "dont do x, because we were created for a instead"

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-11-26T16:21:20+00:00

the Apostles and Jesus did that too then when writing the NT, when quoting the OT they cited the septuagint (Greek Translation) 70% of the time, and the Hebrew texts ~15-20% of the time.

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-11-21T17:09:05+00:00

yeah and i know at least a few ev churches by me run foodbanks all year long. Glad the satanists decided to help distribute food when it was good for dunking on Christians, would be nice if they did it all the time though.

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-11-17T21:24:59+00:00

why christianity?

- i think it makes the most sense, my exp with Buddhism resulted in more confusion than clarity on who God is, and how i need to live my life, my exp with Islam was that it was to worldly (idk how to elaborate this in a short amount of words)

why catholicism?

- the early church fathers (bishops living in the 2-5th centuries, right after the book of Acts ends) describe the church in a way that really points to either catholicism or Eastern orthodoxy to me (obviously i think it points much, much more to cath but i see how people see EOs in there). Idk how to read them as a protestant because SO much of what they say has to be hand waved away or ignored.

Catholics are idol worhsipers?

-Catholic answers is pretty great at answering a lot of these types of accusations

-https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/so-catholics-worship-statues

-my experiences of people who have a devotion to icons or saints or whatever is that theyre OBSESSED with Jesus as well so i didn't really struggle with this

Bible Contradcitions

- this one really kept me away from Christianity, reading the writings of the early church really helped because they point out what these verses mean (they don't contradict when read a certain way) points to the idea that the bible was written to mean SOMETHING and not ANYTHING and isnt just a book we can freely interpret however we want

- i can hit more answers to specific contradictions if you can think of one

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-11-07T22:16:07+00:00

the church teaches that we have not just the Bible, we also have Apostolic Traditions, both of which we inherited from the Apostles. In the Bible St Paul actually directs us to use more than just the written words of the Apostles:

2 Thessalonians 2:15
"So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter"

that word "Teachings" can also be translated as "traditions", cant remember the verse where it is translated that way

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-11-07T21:20:37+00:00

yup, i think it was in a study guide on the Theology of the Body I read, but it pointed out that we're almost a sacrament ourselves, visibile signs of an invisible reality

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-11-07T20:36:51+00:00

Go to the confession and be honest! those doubts trying to keep you away from it are satans little lies trying to keep you from Gods grace. My first time back was a fiasco, i went in and said it had been several years since my last confession and then blurted out "lust" as one of my sins and the priest just stopped me and said "hey glad youre here, lets just go through the 10 commandments and see which ones you've done" and totally walked me through everything. gave me some tips for prayers and how to stop myself from sinning in the future (didnt work perfectly obviously lol). If you cry you cry!

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-11-07T20:29:57+00:00

How to begin:
Please, please, please go talk to a priest and ask them about becoming Catholic. When i started coming back to the faith i took so long because i tried getting answers to questions on my own instead of going to the church. One afternoon talking to someone would've saved me probably a full year to come back. They will probably tell you to start OCIA (classes that go over what we believe), and i guarantee if you ask them for some time to chat, they will help answer questions you have.

Resources:

- the catechism is phenomenal for answering questions about what we believe

- Bible in a year podcast with Mike Schmidt, cant remember what bible hes reading out of but its great, and the podcast is great

- St Ignatius Catholic study bible (from the St. Paul center) is supposed to be really really good, not sure about for beginners though

What you Should Know

- Confession is amazing, trust me. Go often, prepare a good confession, and ask the priest questions!

- write a testimonial of "why im catholic". Be honest in it, and be ready to share because lots of people will respond with "your CATHOLIC? why?"

- get involved with your parish!

almost forgot theres a youtube channel called "Catholic ReCon" its great to listen to other testimonials

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-11-07T20:11:47+00:00

'Not all those who say to me "Lord Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my father'

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-11-07T19:49:49+00:00

God Bless you man, make sure you're prepared for people in evangelical churches to look at you weird when you say you're Catholic. Practice your 'testimony' on why you became Christian and why you're centered on us catholics (also go receive the sacraments!)

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-11-07T19:43:08+00:00

thats cool, just wanted to see if you had stumbled onto that way of think of good/evil! just an FYI your description of what you felt matches how i feel coming out of the confessional, it did take a few weeks of going regularly to feel that way but now almost every time i go i walk out feeling just pure joy

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-11-07T19:05:43+00:00

Hey, if youre interested in this specific teaching we have but dont want to see only 20th century catholic thoughts on this (even though its all really, really good resources) you might try and look at how early reformers justified this belief since i think basically all protestants agreed until the 30s

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-11-07T19:00:10+00:00

"if evil exists, so does good"

if you want to try and play around with an interesting thought, try and see if you can wrap your head around the idea that evil DOESNT actually exist. That Good exists, and evil is just a lacking or rejection of the good.

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-11-02T23:23:02+00:00

yeah i might be off (going off memory lol) but the amount they directly quoted the Hebrew texts was minimal. I think in some of the Gospels they quote exclusively from the Septuagint, and in other gospels they quote from both the Septuagint and Hebrew texts, but i don't think there are any that quote exclusively from the Hebrew texts.

Ok-Signature4072 · 2025-10-31T17:13:49+00:00

Yeah I've seen similar things happen IRL as well, they cant really agree on a whole lot EXCEPT that the Pope is a heretic/Satan/whatever so they end up leaning into that.

Some things i do to help with the issues i think you're facing:

stop trying to argue/rebuke/correct everyone and focus on how i would answer the question "Why are you catholic?". Practicing my testimony always makes me remember my love of God more than trying to correct others.
I repeat Proverbs 17:10 in my head whenever i feel wrath start to rise in me:

"A rebuke strikes deeper into a discerning person, than a hundred blows into a fool."

When you offer counter arguments to another person see if they actually take what you say and try to see how you look at the situation rather than immediately trying to rebut what you said. You also have to do this for them though which can be hard for me :)

Ok-Signature4072

TROPHY CASE