In this lecture from the 2007 Deep in History conference, Marcus Grodi shares his own experience of studying the history of Christianity in the United States. He also explores the three main obstacles to conversion that members of The Coming Home Network encounter on their journey of faith: ignorance, misinformation, and the negative witness of Catholics.
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Study Questions:
-What are the five barriers to conversion that Grodi outlines? Did you experience any of these stumbling blocks?
-Why did Grodi say he was “angry”? Have you ever had a similar experience?
-What did Grodi find missing in his American history lessons growing up?
-Grodi breaks down the history of colonial American anti-Catholicism and its effects into six categories. Mention at least one thing in each category that you found interesting.
- What ideas about Catholicism did the colonists bring with them?
- Why did the colonists come to the American colonies?
- What did the colonists do once they arrived? What kind of anti-Catholic actions did they take?
- How did the colonists learn new things?
- Had the colonists found their New Jerusalem?
- Given all this, were there colonist conversions to the Catholic Church in the early days of
America?
-Grodi reads a surprising quote from Samuel Adams: “Much more is to be dreaded from the growth of Popery in America than from the Stamp Act or any other acts destructive of civil rights.” In light of this quote and the fear of Catholics in early America, how do the convert Fr. John Thayer’s words compare?
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