Fr. Fred Werth, growing up in western Virginia, was the son of a devout Presbyterian mother with Scottish roots, and a father was a probable deist who was opposed to
Read More
Cale Clarke grew up in the Halifax suburbs of Nova Scotia in a solidly-Catholic home. Despite his upbringing in the Catholic Church, it was, for Cale, a faith that did
Skylar Testa grew up in Columbus, Ohio as one of three sons of a Jewish mother and a father with Catholic roots. For his first eleven years, however, his family
A special panel of Catholic converts discuss the topic of Sola Scriptura or “Bible Alone”.
Fr. Rohen grew up in Toledo, Ohio in a Catholic home. After high school, he entered the Air Force. While stationed in Italy, through the influence of a Protestant chaplain,
Mark Mazza grew up in an Italian Catholic family with 10 children. It was a given that they would attend weekly Mass and attend Catholic school. This continued for Mark
My father is of Jewish upbringing, and my mother was raised Protestant, but both gave up the practice of any religion when they reached adulthood. Accordingly, I grew up without religious instruction, having limited exposure through relatives both to Judaism and to Protestantism. My fondest childhood memories are of Christmas at the warm and cheerful home of my maternal grandparents. The enormous tree, surrounded by endless presents, was the highlight of my existence, and the usual collection of Christmas carols, some with occasional references to a newborn king, afforded what seemed to be the most fitting orchestration for this annual event.
“I went and talked with a Catholic priest. As it turned out, he was less than encouraging. I don’t know if he was disgruntled with the Church or what, but he seemed to say, ‘Why would you want to go and become a Catholic?'”
Although David MacDonald was born into a Canadian Presbyterian family, it was in name only. It was a rough environment which led to exposure to drugs and stealing at a
Chuck and Jo Ann Wilson share the story of their journey of faith as individuals and as a married couple. Chuck’s family proudly wore the colors of 13 generations of
In seminary the problems we had with Evangelical belief were only exacerbated. From my early days as an Evangelical I had been aware of the many differences in interpreting the Bible and the plethora of Protestant groups all claiming to have the “correct” biblical teaching. This awareness intensified at seminary as we studied various Protestant traditions and their interpretations of the Bible.
Through my history classes I quickly realized that all allegedly “Bible only” groups actually had an extensive extra-biblical tradition for interpreting the Bible. This tradition was influenced by specific ways of reading texts and ways of explaining uncomfortable passages that don’t fit with the system. It was also heavily determined by historical, social, political, theological, and philosophical factors. In many cases Protestant traditions had surreptitiously adapted the traditional teaching of the historic Church.
Fr. Ray Ryland has a long history in ministry, beginning with his calling at age 17 while he was in the Disciples of Christ Church. He later became a priest
Free Downloads
