Theology Thursday: An Introduction

Had you asked me some twenty or so years ago if I was interested in converting to Catholicism, I would have likely chuckled at the idea and said no. It wasn't that I thought Catholics were laughable or that the idea of converting to Catholicism was laughable, but I felt so close to God as a Southern Baptist Christian that the idea of leaving that faith practice for anything else would have been amusing -- no matter what you put in that blank -- Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, Pentecostal, etc. The Catholic faith seemed an odd thing to me with all its rituals and rites and various trappings and the Southern Baptist faith was so simple and straightforward. It was comfortable and familiar. Eventually though, comfortable and familiar ceased being enough. I grew hungry for spiritual nourishment that I wasn't getting in my home church. That led me to begin a journey that took a good ten years which eventually ended with my confirmation in the Catholic Church. At some point, I am going to write out my story about how I did wind up Catholic, but that's a story for another day.

Today I am introducing what I hope will become a regular and ongoing series on Catholic theology. What I want to do with this series is shed some light on what Catholics believe and why and possibly answer any questions you might have about Catholic doctrines and practices. The reason for this is because of what I encountered when I converted almost 10 years ago. I grew up in and still live in a largely Protestant Christian area of the country. It is so heavily Protestant that our local diocese is considered a mission diocese. Given that, there are a large number of people who live around me who simply have no idea what the Catholic Church really believes, teaches, and professes. They have a lot of misconceptions about Catholicism and, as the quote above states, sometimes those misconceptions lead to hatred of what they think Catholicism is versus what it actually is. I never came across anyone who spouted hatred at me in person (although I've encountered a LOT of that online) because of my Catholic faith, but there were a number of my friends and acquaintances from my former home church who were very puzzled by my decision and either expressed that directly or simply gave me a rather shocked, "Oh..." when they learned that I had converted. Many of the exchanges went like this:

Southern Baptist friend from church: It's so good to see you!
Me: Good to see you too!
SB friend: How've you been? I haven't seen you at church in forever!
Me: I've been doing good. I know I haven't been in a while, but that's because I'm not SB anymore. I'm Catholic now. I converted to Catholicism about X # of months/years ago.
SB friend: (blank and/or shocked look) Oh......well, good to see you...<insert some sort of excuse to gracefully end the conversation here>

Some wouldn't end the conversation but they'd change the subject pretty quickly ("So how are your folks doing?" or "I heard you got married..."). I don't think the ones who tried to extricate themselves or change the subject were being unkind, but I think they just genuinely couldn't wrap their brains around the idea and in their discomfort (because let's face it, not being able to understand something is a rather unsettling feeling), they didn't know what to do so they chose to change the subject or abandon ship altogether. I think too, for some of them, their discomfort may have been born of a genuine concern for my soul and a worry that Catholicism would lead me down a path toward hell. Either way, both misunderstanding and concern for a Catholic's soul are, I think, things that could be changed with a bit of education.

I know a number of the folks who have been reading my blog (thanks to the 31 Days series) are not Catholic, so I thought this would be a good way to explain more about what I believe and give anyone who has a question about Catholicism a chance to ask it and get an answer. So ask away! Anything you like! No topic is off-limits and if I don't know the answer, I'll find out and get back to you.

Now, let me ask you a question:

What have you always wanted to know about Catholicism? 
Do you wonder about some of the things we do? 
Do you have questions about what we believe?
Have you ever thought, "I'd like to learn more but I have no idea where to start?"

Well then, welcome to....