Welcome New Readers!

My dear brothers and sisters,

Welcome to my blog.  (See my original introduction here.) The purpose of this blog is to answer questions about the Catholic faith and to offer a defense against arguments that would undermine it.  While the fullness of truth subsists in the Catholic faith, I rejoice that many of my non-Catholic brothers and sisters still hold many of the glorious truths of Christianity.  (How many varies depending upon the denomination.)

For Christians to be unified in the way that Christ prayed we would be (see John 17) and that St. Paul commanded, we Christians have a lot of praying and talking to do.  In the spirit of Christian unity, I welcome any and all comments to this blog.  Christian reunity will be hard work, but by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, Christians can put (naturally) strong feelings aside and come to understand each other's perspective better.  But only with God's help, so let us pray!

Finally, I believe that Christian reunification will not happen without these conversations happening at the local level.  Is this not how many non-Catholic churches have built their membership--by drawing neighbors and acquaintances who are Catholic out of their own church?  I simply hope to engage area Protestants (and especially pastors) to share with them the truth of the Catholic faith.  Too often, sincere folks only know one side of the argument, and thus, the argument seems correct (see Proverbs 18:17).  My hope is that by sharing the side of the argument that is often neglected--the Catholic one--Christians will be able to make much more informed choices about what they think about the Bible and the Catholic Church.  As Baptist convert and Bible-teacher Steve Ray points out, the Catholic Church makes the Bible come alive.  I ask you, just for a moment, to take off your Baptist glasses and try reading Scripture through a Catholic lens.  Like Steve and the hundreds of other recent converts (many of them prominent Protestant pastors), you may also find yourself surprised by truth.

So, once again, welcome to my blog.  I encourage you to check out all the links on the right side of the page, and check back often for more Catholic commentary on Baptist sermons.  Remember that dialogue is not about Catholic versus Baptist.  You and I as Christians have only one true adversary: Satan.  If Satan is responsible for creating countless doctrinal divisions within the Body of Christ--and he is--then we can join hands in battling him by opening the doors of our mind and heart to true, frank dialogue, born out of our mutual love for the Savior who loves to save us...even from division.

I pray now that the Holy Spirit be with all of you!

In Christ,
RR