Polycarp Ministries

In 2000 I believe I could say honestly that I had come to a point where I would admit the Catholic Church was a legitimate Christian body. That’s a significant paradigm shift for a guy who started out thinking that Catholics were damned by default. The main reason for the change in opinion was twofold.

First of all, all of the Catholics I knew personally and all of the Catholics whose works I had read were all strong and Godly Christians in word and deed. Christ was the center of their lives, and I saw no traces of idolatry, superstition, or low views of Scripture. What I did see were men and women who were committed to spreading and living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In short, they put most of my seminary classmates (including myself) to shame. There was no doubt in my mind that these people were the elect of God. Therefore, my presupposition that ALL Catholics were “lost” had no ground on which to stand.

Second, my opinion that the Catholic system was unchristian fell away, because I could find no evidence of the arguments made against them by anti-catholic writers. The Catholic Church being written and spoken against by these men simply did not exist. They had set up a strawman and proceded to knock it down, leading others to assume that they were dealing with the Catholic Church that has existed consistantly for nearly 2000 years. I realized that there were significant theological differences between the REAL Catholic Church and REAL protestants like myself. In order to know the truth, I decided to deepen my study of Scripture, Theology, and History in order to find the REAL issues of separation. After all, if there is to be true dialogue one must understand the argument of the differing side.

Armed with a thirst for knowledge and a belief that through my intensified study and prayer I would grow even closer to Jesus Christ, I started devouring as many source texts as I possibly could. My studies of the Church Fathers grew deeper as well. I wanted to learn why Catholics did the things they did and why (their reasons, not the false ones attributed by someone outside). I also wanted to make sure I truly understood the ancient Church. If I could find that, I knew that I would easily be able to find its match in the present (or at least how to shape my congregation toward that end).