Matthew DiMartino: A Fundamentalist Baptist Who Became a Catholic
Matthew grew up in a Protestant family. His mother had been Baptist and his father had been Catholic. They brought Matthew up in a Charismatic Episcopal parish. In high school, he got involved in the rock music culture. In a few short years he didn’t want anything to do with Christianity. When he was 17 he got involved in selling drugs. He was arrested and spent time in jail. Soon after, 9-11 happened and Matthew realized that one day he would die. He turned his life over to God in Jesus Christ. He began reading the Bible cover to cover. He cut off his long hair and began fasting and repenting. Soon after he met a Baptist pastor and enrolled into Bob Jones University. He attempted to evangelize his Catholic friends and relatives because he was taught that Catholics were not saved. Most Catholics he know didn’t know what they believed or why. His journey to the Catholic Church began when he studied Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church, where he discovered people who loved Jesus, but also had bishop, liturgy, the saints, sacraments and an ancient tradition. He began to make in-depth research on many doctrinal topics, such as baptism, etc. He began to discover that the Catholic Church’s position was founded on the Bible and that “sola scriptura” was not a basis to find the truth.