Sola Scriptura - Part 1

Raised as a moderate evangelical with various shades of Baptist theology, we were taught that the Bible is the supreme ruler/basis of everything regarding faith and morals.


Little did we know that we were being trained to be adherents of Sola Scriptura. For those who are not familiar with this doctrine, I would consider this the "mother" of all Protestant doctrines. This doctrine teaches that everything necessary to salvation can be found in the Bible alone. Scripture is "clear", and in case of contradicting passages, Scripture should be able to explain Scripture.


I was trained for this since Sunday school days. I clung to it so much that if this doctrine be destroyed, I'll be destroyed with it too. Big deal? Of course! It's the Bible. This is the living Word of God, the inerrant, infallible collection of books that is so important to my faith.


But I noticed that there are different interpretations of the Bible within the Protestant tradition. Which one is the "correct" one? Their explanation of "difference only exists in the non-essentials" is found to be untrue (e.g. Trinity - some Protestants do not adhere to the Trinitarian theology; soteriology - some Protestants do not adhere to Sola Fide; And these are essential doctrines to start with).


Some practical questions I need to raise though:


1.) In the early times, when illiteracy is prevalent, how was the Christian faith transmitted? Was it through Bible alone? If yes, cite your sources. Also, consider the present times. We still have illiterates here living among us. How can they attain salvation if they cannot read the Bible? How would this affect Sola Scriptura's teaching that the Scriptures are "clear" and can be understood easily?


2.) Remember Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:30-40?

"30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him."



Even the Eunuch admitted that he needs someone to interpret the book of Isaiah that he was reading. Now, why wasn't he able to instinctively interpret Isaiah using other passages of the Bible if truly Scripture can explain Scripture?


3.) When was the canon of the Bible determined? Who determined the 66 books of the Protestant Bible, on what authority are they deriving this determination from?


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On a different note, I noticed that most Protestant Christians avoid these kinds of questions about the Bible.


I remember one time I asked someone, out of love for the Bible and the search for truth, about who determined the Bible, why does it contain 66 books, etc., I was dismissed in the end because I was asking too much, and too much intellectualism would dull your soul.


Most Christians do not care about doctrine, history and logic anymore. Anti-intellectualism is at its peak.


If the Bible is supposedly your most prized spiritual possession, why are you not asking it's history? It's your duty to know how it came to be.


Your whole life depends on it.


Your eternity depends on it.


In closing, I leave you 1Timothy 4:16 (NIV)


"Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers."

---- wait , did I just read "hearers" instead of "readers"?

Miracle

Dear Lord, I need my miracle right now.

Psalm 37 1 A psalm for David, for a remembrance of the sabbath. Rebuke me not, O Lord, in thy indignation; nor chastise me in thy wrath. 2 For thy arrows are fastened in me : and thy hand hath been strong upon me. 3 There is no health in my flesh, because of thy wrath : there is no peace for my bones, because of my sins. 4 For my iniquities are gone over my head : and as a heavy burden are become heavy upon me. 5 My sores are putrified and corrupted, because of my foolishness. 6 I am become miserable, and am bowed down even to the end : I walked sorrowful all the day long. 7 For my loins are filled with illusions; and there is no health in my flesh. 8 I am afflicted and humbled exceedingly : I roared with the groaning of my heart. 9 Lord, all my desire is before thee, and my groaning is not hidden from thee. 10 My heart is troubled, my strength hath left me, and the light of my eyes itself is not with me. 11 My friends and my neighbours have drawn near, and stood against me. And they that were near me stood afar off : 12 And they that sought my soul used violence. And they that sought evils to me spoke vain things, and studied deceits all the day long. 13 But I, as a deaf man, heard not : and as a dumb man not opening his mouth. 14 And I became as a man that heareth not : and that hath no reproofs in his mouth. 15 For in thee, O Lord, have I hoped : thou wilt hear me, O Lord my God. 16 For I said: Lest at any time my enemies rejoice over me : and whilst my feet are moved, they speak great things against me. 17 For I am ready for scourges : and my sorrow is continually before me. 18 For I will declare my inequity : and I will think for my sin. 19 But my enemies live, and are stronger that I : and they hate me wrongfully are multiplied. 20 They that render evil for good, have detracted me, because I followed goodness. 21 Forsake me not, O Lord my God : do not thou depart from me. 22 Attend unto my help, O Lord, the God of my salvation.

Pain

I slept the rest of the afternoon after my family and my sister's family went to visit our parents' grave.

It's been 25 days since Mama died, and I still cannot fully grieve. It's like I'm still in shock with what had happened. She was ok a few weeks ago, and then she was gone.

Most of the time I am just sad with a lot of what happened. I am sad on every level, on every aspect of what had happened, my mom's life, our relationship. Not that we had a bitter end, actually, quite the contrary.

One of the things that I feel sad about was the fact that I was not able to give a good fight for her release in the hospital. As a consequence, she was not able to experience being discharged. She was confined for six times this year since her breast cancer metastasized in Feb, and for the first five times she was hospitalized, I was able to get her out. At the end of her life, she was in a hospital bed.

I also feel sad that we were not able to talk anymore about our spirituality. The last time we did was 2010 when I told her that I decided to stop going to my former church and find a new one that will give what I need. I was still hoping that we'll be able to dine, and talk about our differences in a very peaceful way. The only consolation I have was that at least she told me during her last days that she accepted me as the person I became to be, a Catholic, that me and my wife will be able to raise our children spiritually, and that she knows that we are truly Christians.

I feel sad because I have so many plans to help her renovate our house. Now, everything is different. The house is still there, but all the plans died with her. Even if we continue them, it's not the same anymore.

I feel sad because I felt we were robbed by the doctor who is in charge of her drain. That day she got hospitalized, in the morning, she was still ok. But when the doctor flushed her drain, his procedure introduced bacteria in her system and in just a few minutes, she was in extreme pain that she almost died that day. The hospital bill amounted to more than P800k, plus other expenses, and my mom's life - all because of that one mistake her doctor made.

I feel sad because during that last night we talked, I told her that I was going to take a leave the next day to arrange her discharge in the hospital. We were both expecting her exit in the hospital, our conversation was normal, I even argued with her on some tiny things. I wanted it that way. I wanted to be "business as usual". I do not want her to feel that I am afraid of the fact that she can be gone anytime soon. I should've talked to her like it was our last conversation on earth.

I feel sad because I was the one who was able to stay with her in our house the longest. I was the one who really had a good relationship with her since childhood. I was the one who ventured in the business that she was used to - life insurance, the longest (for 1.5 years). I was the one who supported her financially (without her telling me) ever since my father suffered heart attack. We saw each other's bests and worsts in our relationship as mother and son.

Before my wife and I left her the hospital room, she held my hand. Her hand was so warm, I will never forget the warmth. I was lucky I decided to hold on to it a bit longer because it was the only moment that evening when I realized that this could be her last, so I have to hold it a bit longer. Three and a half hours after, she suddenly couldn't breathe and when I came to the hospital, it was over. She was being revived already. Her body, lifeless. The hand that held mine hours ago was limp already and water gathered in her stomach. It was over. I wasn't able to cry that much. I was in big shock.

God! It is so painful. When she was being buried, I couldn't feel any pain, I didn't even cry. Maybe I was still in shock. I thought that maybe I already mourned in advance during the last eleven months that she was in and out of the hospitals. But no, the pain is still here as I am writing this and I guess it will be here to stay.

As I read back to clean up her cellphone, it was like playing with a freshly healed wound waiting to bleed again. I saw the messages received, sent, and pending, the pictures, the videos and the events that were still fresh in our memories.

In this life of ours, some wounds will never heal. I saw it in Mama's life. When Papa died, she was never the same person after that. It is not in our capacity to heal them, we are not God. I refuse to believe that it is a sin to carry on with the pain. It is something personal. Like Jesus, all his earthly life, he carried all the pain and He never guaranteed that He will remove everything from us. He will just make it lighter and give us rest, but it doesn't mean we are guaranteed free from any pain.

Lord, have mercy on her soul.
May she rest in peace,
And may eternal light shine upon her.

Evangelicalism and Reason

Have you experienced being told by Evangelicals that goes like this? - You should not put too much thinking on your circumstances. All you need is God to guide you, be led by the Spirit. Don't trust too much your intellect. Do not rely on your own wisdom, have you prayed for it? Have you consulted it with God? Did you hear His voice? etc. etc.

Notice that they have an allergy from anything that resembles with thinking too much, intellectualism, or in short "reason"?

It's a phenomenon! Really, it is!

And then I read a New York Times article entitled "The Evangelical Rejection of Reason". The article leans more on Evangelicals versus science and atheism, however, it is the same problem I am encountering when talking to one, only in a different aspect (not science and atheism).

The heart of the matter lies with the question "Should we leave our brains when it comes to matters of the faith?".

I say we shouldn't. Even St. Paul didn't when he faced the Greeks and philosophers in public discussions of the faith. But it doesn't mean that we don't leave room for mystery. Christian mysteries like the Trinity, hypostatic union, etc. are there because it is beyond our reasoning, but God, who was a mystery in the Old Testament has revealed Himself through Jesus Christ. Everything is revealed to us already.

This revelation, although we can understand initially, will become deeper and deeper as you grow in faith, which becomes more mysterious. Isn't it ironic?

There are things revealed to us through Christ, which are essential for our walk in God and salvation, and there are things which are still hidden from us.

So, in our walk with God, let us be considerate of other people. Some people chose to follow the "voice within", the "Silent Whisper" and all that - I respect them.
But let us also be charitable to those people who follow God even though they don't hear the "Voice" that some Christians are saying. People like us who are normal people who follow God using His Word and the Traditions that the apostles passed on to us. People like us who just use their brains don't become second-class, less priveleged Christians just because we use them.

God works differently for every person. He does not whisper to me. He does not speak to me directly. All the major decisions I made, I asked Him first to help me, but I never had that "Voice" that some Christians would like to believe to have spoken to them. Looking back in all of these decisions I made, whether good or bad, I saw that I was always guided, protected and cared for by God.

Conversion Stories - An Observation

It has been the norm, in my previous life as a Protestant, of hearing frequent conversion stories of people being "saved" from other religions, especially from the grip of Roman Catholicism. Fiery, emotionally charged testimonies of how they have been a very very bad person before and one day God dealt with them, then their lives changed dramatically and now look at how perfect their lives are. From all these conversion stories to Protestantism, I never heard any deeper theological reason other than the alleged "Mary and Saints Worship" issue (which is hardly one, had they just give themselves a chance to know the Catholic position) that made them move out of Catholicism.

On the other hand, never in my life have I known someone who willfully chose to convert to Catholicism. Before, I find the thought of converting to Catholicism so absurd and if ever, this might be the workings of the devil. I mean, who would really seriously consider Rome if you wanted to be saved, right? It's the Whore of Babylon and the religion that is basically pagan in disguise?

Lately have I discovered that a lot of high profile figures have been converts to Catholicism like Scott Hahn, Peter Kreeft, etc. And these people are not ignorant of the Reformed Theology they were upholding before they got converted. And a lot of them have different turning points as to why they finally converted to Catholicism.

My point is, comparing Protestant converts versus Catholic converts, Catholic converts convert mainly due to theological reasons, while most Protestant converts from Catholicism doesn't know much Catholic theology before they converted to Protestantism.

Even Norman Geisler, a famous Protestant apologist conceded the fact that Catholic converts, even though he mentioned as "egg-heads", are the more intellectual ones.

“So, while we are losing a few intellectual egg-heads out the top of evangelicalism to Rome, we are gaining tens of thousands of converts out the bottom from Catholicism. The trade-off highly favors evangelicalism. So, invite a Catholic to your Bible study or church. There is a good possibility that they will get saved!”

So, please, to all the people who are questioning the reason why I converted, it's because of theological reasons and spiritual reasons, not because I had a very dramatic tear-jerking conversion experience, or I wanted to defy someone, or prove someone wrong, or anything else. Protestantism meant something to me, but I found it to be wanting of a lot of proving, reasoning and there are a lot of missing items in between. I am convinced that Christ has established a Church, a visible Church, one in Faith and in doctrine.

Call me an egg-head, or know-it-all, I won't give an ass. At least, before I converted, I studied, researched and prayed for it. There is no such thing as knowing too much in Catholicism. There are always new aspects to explore and know.

A Biblical Case for Catholicism

In my previous post I mentioned Swimming the Tiber as such because I really had to swim against a lot of obstacles to Rome, definitely not a walk in the park experience. Had I been an Anglican since birth, swimming may not be an appropriate term but crossing the bridge to Tiber for the Anglican spirituality is very similar with the Catholics'.

In this article, I will enumerate the usual objections of Protestants against Catholicism and the Catholic biblical answers to these objections. When I was still searching for the truth, I was amazed at how Catholicism can destroy ALL Protestant objections and misinterpretations by using the BIBLE. Now, I'm not a bit as surprised as before.

As Protestants, some of us have been taught that the Bible is a "love letter" written by God. How true.

But now I realized that since God's bride is the Church, it is only fitting that the bride should be the one reading and interpreting the love letter given to her. It is the bride who will understand fully the contents in the letter written by her Groom.



CATHOLICS WORSHIP MARY, SAINTS, OBJECTS The answer to this is a big NO. Protestant and Catholic piety are very different. To the Protestant mind, worship to them is bowing, kneeling, praying, etc. They misconstrue the bowing and kneeling Catholics to Mary, holy objects and saints as "worship". But if you use your logic, would Catholics really worship the images per se??

In Sunday school, we are taught about the Ark of the Covenant and how they were able to transport it back and forth the Temple. Little did we know as children that people like Joshua bowed before the ark of the Lord. Joshua7:6 Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put dust on their heads. The ark itself is a holy object, therefore, holy objects are not innovations of the Catholic Church, so is bowing before holy objects. Bowing, kneeling, praying to holy objects and images in the ark of the covenant is regarded as a direct worship to God. Can the Protestant mind chew that? How can Joshua and the others kneel, and pray to God in front of the ark of the covenant? It's the same principle how Catholics worship God by showing reverence to images and holy objects such as crucifix, icons, etc.

Notice also that in 1 Kings 6th and 7th Chapter, there were carvings of cherubims in the inner sanctuary. How about that??! All along we were taught that such images are prohibited and considered as object worship. In summary, do Catholics violate God's commandment in Exodus 20?? Let's see 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. - Catholics have no other gods except for the One God, the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In fact, it will be a whole separate article to write about how Catholicism was able to preserve and defend the Trinitarian dogma for centuries against heretical groups. The funny thing about this is that Protestants copied this doctrine (while calling the Catholic Church "apostate"). Can any Protestant lay claim of such doctrine? I don't think so. What they know is that such concept has been there before, just like the canon of the Bible. It's true that the concept of Trinity has been there before, but it was through the Catholic Church that this doctrine was revealed. Protestants cannot pinpoint as to when the development of their doctrine of the Trinity ever started.

4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. - If you follow the reading of this passage, anything in heaven above are creatures above the earth's surface, while earth beneath or in the waters below are creatures on land and in waters. Any image of God is forbidden in the Old Testament because God hasn't revealed himself yet through Jesus Christ. To see God's face is fatal. But in the New Testament, God revealed himself through Jesus Christ. Obviously, people saw His face without dying on the spot.

In line with that, if you can keep a picture of your parents who have been dead for decades, how much more Jesus'? Catholics do not worship Mary and the saints. We believe in the "communion of saints", wherein spiritual ties do not sever even after death. Do you think just because a person died, he cannot be in communion with you anymore? If there is such a thing as rejoicing in heaven of angels over one soul saved here on earth, how much more can the dead in Christ participate and be in communion with us Christians here on earth?

If saints can pray to God while they are living, how much more when they are dead and with the Lord? There is no prohibition in the Bible that you should not talk to the dead. Even Jesus spoke with Moses and Elijah during the Transfiguration!

I admit here that I have been criticizing the Church before for its allegedly "unscriptural" practices. But the more I read about the early Christians and the Bible, the more I see that the Catholic Church is scriptural, as well as its practices.

Home At Last!

Five Years in the Wilderness

It started all in 2006, when I took a weeklong vacation leave from work. It has been my tradition to visit my alma mater, De La Salle University, go to the library and spend time reading the whole day. I was in the mood for reading some religious books. I remembered my atheist professor in Philosophy when she said in her article “if your faith is true, you won’t mind putting it to the test.” So I browsed through the religion section of the library, very confident of what my beliefs are.

The early church fathers were alien to me that time. In that section, I saw various church fathers writings. St. Iranaeus, St. Athanasius, and I tell to myself “who are these guys??” The only familiar church father I know of that time was St. Augustine, due to my Calvinist background. Together with those books are some Marian writings. I thought “bring it on!” These books won’t bother me. So I read them the whole day.

The day ended with me shaken to my very core. I left the library with the same faith I had, but felt a bit less sure than when I entered the place that morning.

It was only after five years will I ever set my feet on solid ground again.

Background

I was raised in a family steep in Protestantism. I grew up in Sunday School of a moderate evangelical church and I studied in a very conservative Baptist-oriented school in my elementary and high school days.

Our church, where I grew up, is composed of families that started out as a small bible study group and eventually grew and became an evangelical church. This is where the love of the Bible in me started. At a very young age, we were memorizing Bible verses, we were taught the stories of Jesus in the Gospels, stories of Protestant missionary stories, etc. . During our early teens, I was active in youth groups, together with my siblings. It was home to me. I will always be indebted to this church where I grew up.

Meanwhile, during my elementary and high school years (1993-1999), in my Baptist-oriented school, we were taught of so many anti-Catholic things - the usual Whore of Babylon-Pope-Anti Christ-Mass sorcery-traditions evil, crucifix of the devil, and what have you. Subliminally, we were taught to hate and fear everything related to Catholic.

For the first seventeen years of my life, I was not exposed to anything related to Catholicism (or so I thought), until I reached college.

I would consider my college years (1999-2004) as the most eventful years of my spiritual life. Eventful, because I was exposed to Catholics, started to be curious with a lot of things, trying out new things, living out new philosophies and ideas.

Early on in my college life, one of the most traumatic and significant thing happened. We experienced a church split where I grew up. My parents had to change churches, and that included us in the change.

We were suddenly in a much bigger church, good teaching nevertheless, but it didn’t feel like home to me. The pastors don’t know me personally, and I don’t know them in the same way either. I haven’t felt the huge impact immediately on this event since I was having the time of my life in college. This is where I started to disengage from church life. I became just a regular attender, not wanting to be involved in anything, lest I wanted to feel the pain of a church split again and again. It never dawned on me that deep inside I was really hurt with the split we experienced.
During my sophomore years, I became an agnostic, courtesy of my atheist professor. I continued in that fashion until 2006, the year my father died.

Going Back But Not the Same as Before

In 2006, I felt like coming back to the way it was before. So I joined my mother, who is now worshipping in a famous Pentecostal megachurch in Manila, and tried to regain my lost spirituality there. I rededicated my life back to the Lord and started to be a bit more serious in spirituality.

The church is unlike any other churches I have attended before. They are very strong on the Holy Spirit gifts like speaking in tongues, baptism of fire, prosperity gospel, etc. I was a bit shocked with the environment.

My initial problem was how to convert my current girlfriend (who's now my wife) that time from Catholicism to our faith.
Incidentally, this was also the time my faith was shaken during my vacation leave from work.
After that long vacation, I started searching the internet for some good materials. I wanted to defend my faith, which I thought was the right one that time.

So I read debates between Catholic and Protestants. I have read writings of the famous Catholic apologists such as Tim Staples, Patrick Madrid, Robert Sungenis, etc. After all this, I know I was treading on thin ice already.

In short, I wasn’t able to convert my girlfriend for so many reasons - the weirdness of the things they do in church services, the prosperity gospel that they are espousing, the ridiculousness of the things I see on TV (televangelists). In fact, I was ashamed of them. I started to see the church I was in from outside looking in. How do people of other faith think of us as a church?

There was even a time when there were Sundays when there was no service at all. Instead of a service, there was a children’s musical in place with themes of prosperity gospel in it – that was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. I realized that this is not the place I would like my children to grow up.

My search intensified when I came across a blogger named Michael Spencer, or the famous InternetMonk (Lord have mercy on his soul). Like him, I was in the evangelical wilderness. His writings question the basic practices of Protestants like altar calls, Biblicism, praise and worship and the likes. Although he was a Protestant, many people who visit his site, through his writings, either settled in Anglicanism, Orthodoxy or Catholicism. His death in early 2009 gave me the courage to not give up hope in finding Christ’s true bride.

Early in 2010, I was churchless again, this time, I’m all alone to search for a new church. I longed for something established, more ancient, a place where my spirit can be at rest from the noisy, ever- changing Pentecostal landscape.

In June 2010, I was able to find a church that fitted my needs that time. It was an Anglican Church. The bishop, who is the current rector there is very warm, welcoming, and loving. He is a New Testament scholar. I could not ask for more ideal spiritual father.

But this did not stop me from searching. In October 2010, I started searching again. This is where I encountered Father Abe’s “The Splendor of the Church” blog. I was amazed with how he defends the beliefs of the Catholics against the misconceptions of non-Catholics. This was where I learned a lot about the Catholic faith. His blog was pointing me to different directions – search, research, compare. This also led me to gain Catholic friends over the past few months.

I should have settled already, but I just can’t. As I dig deeper into Anglicanism, I learned of the early church fathers, the first Christians, the councils, the more I uncover Catholicism. Last April 2011 was the birth of my firstborn child. It was also my first experience of Lent. I started to read books written by Pope Benedict XVI, which lead me to read conversion stories like Rome Sweet Home, Surprised by Truth, etc. in the succeeding months.

Last August 21, 2011, during the Gospel reading (Matthew 16:13-20), it felt like it was as if the reading was directed to me.

18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

I was surprised and happy at the same time. My prayer has been answered. This was bound to happen, I knew it months ago, but I was asking the Lord – I do not want to be rushed. I don’t want to convert just for the heck of it. I want it to be in Your time, just the way You want it. I was planning to convert in 2012, but somehow God wants it ASAP.

This is it! I want to be confirmed already! That night, I expressed this desire to my wife. She was very happy and excited because now, we can really be one family worshipping in one church that God has given to us.

I was drawn to the Catholic Church for several reasons:
1. Because it is universal – it’s the only church that was able to reach all the ends of the earth.
2. Because it is apostolic – I am convinced and firmly believe that Jesus Christ established a visible church, which is the Catholic Church, and through history we are able to trace everything back to Matthew 16.
3. The splendor and beauty of its history and teachings.
4. Using history, simple logic and common sense, you can infer that the Catholic Church is the true bride of Christ.

I have so many other points to raise, but I think it will end up written like a short novel, but anyway, I would like to personally thank Father Abe for being a relentless defender of faith. Now you can see the one of the fruits of your labor.

Right now, I am preparing to get my baptismal certificate in Barasoain Church. I am glad to know that my parents were able to baptize me in the Church. This coming September is my adult confirmation. This time it feels like I’m returning to my home.

I am coming home! †

Swimming The Tiber

I cannot believe that everything is happening so fast.

Last Saturday, I told my wife that I wanted to convert to Catholicism.

It wasn't really a surprise. It's how fast the events that I was surprised in.

I asked my mom indirecty, through my sister, on where I was baptized as a child. It was in Malolos. So I'll go there this Saturday and have my copy of baptismal certificate processed. Coincidentally, a ex-officemate will be wed there in September 3, so I hope they'll be able to find my record and have it certified so I can be confirmed soon.

Details of conversion to follow.

Healing

Last Saturday, mom's cancer was diagnosed as Stage 4. Not really surprising because since February, it looks like the cancer has already metastatized in her stomach. Doctor says Stage 4 means she'll live four to six months from the time the cancer has metastatized. This means only up to August this year.

I started including her in our weekly church prayers last February, our bishop prays for her daily, our previous home church prays for her, and her current church also prays for her.

It is interesting how people's view on prayer differs from church to church.

I know in my mom's church (Pentecostal), prayer for healing is like thanking God for the healing that He has already provided through Christ's suffering. It's like assuming that you have already been healed, you just need to claim it.

Honestly, I don't really understand that paradigm. I know what they mean, but it's like more of "cornering God". You said in your Word that I am healed, and since you're God, you cannot lie, therefore you have already healed me. I find this way of prayer arrogant, assuming and very demanding of God.

In the Anglican church, and if I may add, all other ancient churches like the Catholics and Orthodox, you pray for Christ's mercy for a person to be healed. We don't assume that the person is healed, but we hold on in faith that Christ will heal this person. Healing is not dependent on us, but with God's will. God will heal if it is His will to heal you. So to assume that you have been healed can pose a problem because not everybody who prays for healing were healed.

I remember Papa in 2006, the year he died. He was prayed over on the last Sunday that he lived, but he died three days after.

For me, I don't believe that you can just assume the healing. You need to humbly ask God for mercy to heal you or your loved ones. Regardless if there is healing or not, God is still good. If you're not healed, it doesn't necessarily mean that your faith is lacking.

I saw my mom last Friday curl up in pain. I was in tears seeing her in such pain. What I saw in movies about cancer patients, I am witnessing in real life. But she is fighting it and saying "You said that you already bore my pain and sickness." What great faith. I wish I can come close to that kind of faith. I know God doesn't care what view you hold on healing. He will heal as He please. I hope that God will grant our prayers very soon.

Why I became an Anglican

Most of the things I do, I usually ask myself "why" I do things I do. Becoming an Anglican was not an exception to question myself as to why I did it. What are the motives behind it. While I'm examining myself, I was hoping that the reasons for conversion are valid, because I find it cheap to have "convenience" as the main reason for conversion.

Like I said in my previous post, I was really on the search of the right spiritual path for me. And since I love history, I have great respect for it. I wonder why Protestants throw off the bin all the historical aspects of the Church and the Scriptures. It was as if after Jesus resurrected and ascended into heaven, the Reformation came immediately. So I questioned, what happened in between 33AD and the Reformation? All my life, I believed that Protestantism is the only way to go to heaven.

I was really bothered to know that history is not on the Protestants' side if you will really look at it. If the church has become apostate after 325AD council of Nicea, then Jesus was lying that his Church will prevail against the gates of hell. If what Jesus said is true, then somewhere along the lines of 33AD and Reformation, there exists a true Christianity. A true path of following Jesus.

Using simple logic and history, the Protestant claims seemed to have lost their strength in me. I started to read Protestant-Catholic debates and have understood the Catholic arguments. Suddenly, most of the beliefs I held regarding the Catholic faith begin to crumble.

But this does not explain as to why I shifted to the Anglican faith.

I became an Anglican because:

1. I have great respect for history. Intuitively, I know that something is wrong with the Protestant way of thinking things. Bible-only, forget the history of how we came up with the Bible. I refuse to be "ahistoric". I need to know the basis of my faith, not only basing it solely on my interpretation of the Scriptures, but on the historicity and the credibility of its history.

2. I am tired of waking up every Sunday morning, listening to "new directions" that God has revealed to our pastor. I mean, these "new movings/directions" certainly led to a lot of secondary things being the primary things.

3. I am done with "pressure Christianity". How many people should you share your faith with? Did you "evangelize" today to someone? Every minute counts because someone is going to hell if you don't spread the Good News. Protestantism has a point with that. But they forgot that your own life is the greatest "evangelism" you will ever have.

4. I believe that Protestantism is not the ONLY way to God. If that is the case, then there's a big question mark as to how the souls fared between 33AD and the Reformation? I refuse to believe that Christianity only got it right when the Reformers came into picture.

5. The centrality of the Eucharist makes more sense to me than the pastor's latest pulpit preachings. Most of the time the pastor's sermon feels like attending a self-help seminar. Most of the preaching nowadays focus too much on the health and wealth prosperity gospel. I do not need to know that my life will have prosperity, lots of cash, etc. I came to a point where I hated sermons that focuses much on money, I refute in my mind all the points the pastor has to make.

What I need is to be constantly reminded that I am a sinner saved by God's grace, not financial prosperity. The Eucharist perfectly fits my need.

I believe that the Eucharist is one of the most early teachings of the church (Acts 2:42). Jesus also taught it (John 6:25-59).

5. I don't mean any disrespects to pastors, in fact, I put most of the pastors I've met in high regard. But most of the time, the success of the Sunday service depends on them, on how well they have delivered or interpreted the Bible passage. And theoretically, God forbid, if any of them died, it will be a big blow to the church.

Unlike most protestant churches, creedal churches depend on the traditional liturgies passed on from the ancient church days. Sunday masses are not dependent on how well the priest/bishop gave homily. Just read the flow of the misalette, everything is there for your spiritual nourishment. Old testament readings, Psalm readings, the epistle readings, and the Gospel readings are there to be read and internalized during the mass. Like a balanced diet, this is a complete meal.

I love how we recite the Nicene Creed in unison. The creed itself is all-encompassing, simple yet profound statement of faith.

The beauty of the liturgy is one of the major things that draws me more closer to God's heart. All parts of it are biblical and historical at the same time.

In my next piece, i will write either A.) Major misconceptions on Roman Catholicism or B.) Demystifying Protestant Phrases. Wonder why I'm writing about Roman Catholicism?

Currently, I am attending an Anglican high church which is very similar to the ways of Roman Catholics. In fact, people sometimes mistaken us as Catholics.

As I close, the main reason I got out of Protestantism is simply because I wanted to minimize disunity in beliefs and confusion. I wanted something more uniform and established and tested throughout the years. I could have converted to other creedal Christian religions like Catholic or Orthodox if that was the case. But I have problems with some Catholic dogmas, and I find the Orthodox church very unbending in its traditionalism that it has become too exotic/foreign. Anglican is really the via media between Protestantism and Ancient Christianity. For now, I know that this is where God wants our family to be.