HISTORY

Reasons I became Catholic in 1998

1. The Historical Argument: After leaving the bapto-fundamentalist culture in which I became a Christian, I searched, on and off, for what I believed to be the authentic church. I tried denominations, nondenominations, house churches, informal gatherings, "Bedside Baptist Church", everything. Even some non-Christian beliefs such as Hindu and Buddhism. My mistake was not recognizing that the "1st Century Church", as I called the object of my search, need not be the same in appearance as long it was the same in substance.The chances that any 2000 year old organization would look the same as it did at its founding were slim at best; for some reason I expected the church would still be at its purist perhaps meeting in caves, catacombs or homes.

The beginning of my historical re-education, the unlearning of my years of independent baptist theology, started with a timeless tract called "Pillar of Fire, Pillar of Truth". This simple little broadside opened my eyes to the possibility that, as the saying goes, you always find what you're looking for in the last place you look.