Featured Protestant South Becoming a New Catholic Stronghold

Hmmm... Maybe the RCC can buy Graceland for when the Pope comes over for a visit. Also heard Nick Saban has a home for sale in GA, but at a price tag of only $11 million it may not have the amenities that the RCC hierarchy is accustomed to.

http://espn.go.com/college-football...rimson-tide-selling-lake-front-estate-georgia

 

Bob Ryan provided some statistics about growth rates and declines among different denominations. This is some satire about the PC USA:

http://www.larknews.com/archives/556

 

Where do the true baptists, those who are not Protestant, figure into this statistical prittle prattle? They are the ones who were persecuted by Rome, Wittenburg, Geneva and Canterbury.

Jesus promised to keep His Bride through the gates of hell. He has kept His promise. The Bride, The Faith, will be here when Jesus returns. He promised.


He is faithful even when we are not.

Now what?

Even so, come Lord Jesus.

Bro. James

 

Your total premise about the Baptist Confession of Faith is flawed. We are seperate autonomous churches, as the NT model shows. It is unlike yours, with a man made hierarchy that serves no purpose and is unBiblical. Our plan of salvation and yours is quite distinct. Ours is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Yours is a gospel of works, specifically magic acts.

Whatever the numbers are, it is God's plan. I grew up in Gulfport, MS and have lived in West Kentucky for 37 years, and I see no evidence of an increase in Catholic population. Catholics tend to gather into small communities. For example, here is West Kentucky, there is a town called Fancy Farm that is 100% Catholic. That has been around for many years. There is just no evidence for the theme of the thread.

The clear distinction you speak of is quite simple. Our salvation is based on grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Yours is based on works, specifically magic acts.

 

I agree that the RCC numbers are inflated and that many millions on their books are at present also being counted as members of other denominations - because they have left the catholic faith of their infancy.

But still Southern Baptist and other evangelical groups are reporting a decline (so also in the Catholic church declining in the North East and mid-west according to that article) - but in the south the RCC is growing.

in Christ,

Bob

 

And the SBC has admitted counting people who have not been attending church for years. My former Baptist church continues to keep me on the rolls even though I have informed them of my conversion to the Catholic Church.

Overall, the Catholic Church in the U.S. continues to grow. In my home town we have built yet another church and all three parishes still have overflow crowds at almost all masses. Very large amount of protestant converts as well.

 

Give one specific example of an explosion in Catholic population in the Southern or Border states (ie the Bible Belt) In Western Kentucky, the trend is exactly the opposite.

If your former Baptist church continues to keep you on the rolls, then they are violating their own bylaws. All Baptist churches have a time limit for non attendence and non support. It is usually around one year. As far as you informing a Baptist church that you have joined an apostate church, that makes no difference as far as on or off the rolls. You should have been automatically taken off for non support. The only types of churches that Baptist churches are interested in transferring letters are churches of like faith and order.

 

I have been counting numbers for Sunday School population for years, and that is just not true. I go through the classrooms twice before I report the numbers. What purpose would inflated numbers solve? Just any jab you can make, huh?

 

No, and it has become clear that ANYTHING a Catholic states on this board you will call a lie regardless of the facts.

http://theworldfrommywindow.blogspot.com/2008/08/tom-ascol-southern-baptists-and.html

http://www.baptistpress.com/bpnews.asp?ID=21189

http://www.founders.org/library/elliff1.html

Churches with 600 on the rolls and where 200 regularly attend. Take away the guests and visitors and what do you have?

 

If Catholics need a "stronghold" well then that says all that is needed to be said.

 

Not sure ow you are making that connection. But the Catholic church is not being persecuted in the south. Never has.

 

When I consider that many Catholic Publications, EWTN presentations all come from the Southern States. It really is no suprise to me that there is a growing Church there. However, to put things into perspective, in a lot of North Eastern States Catholic numbers are falling in large measure. And in the United States it seems that the only reason there is any growth in the Catholic Church is the number of Central and South American immigrants coming into the country whose Catholic practices differ somewhat from Traditional North American Catholics.

 

While I do not doubt that the SBC numbers are not 100% accurate, and while I have seldom seen saturneptune appeal to more than sloganeering, pulpit pounding and name calling to prop up an idea, I think we both know that on this point of accuracy in tracking those who stop holding to the faith of a given church - the SBC has a practice that is far more accurate than the RCC "counting births" and then not following up on what happens after that.

What if that was all the SBC did - "count births" and assume that any and everyone that ever WERE SBC or were in an SBC household - are still SBC to this very day? Imagine how many 100's of millions MORE they could claim as SBC today! It is undeniable. If all Christian churchs did that the Christian membership claims could exceed the population of the earth itself.

I think we all know that this is not the SBC practice.

So this is not a point where the RCC policy and practice it going to win out with a claim to "just as much" or more accuracy than groups like the SBC.

 

Here is an article on money and the RCC - that inadvertantly exposes this item about membership in the U.S

So the baptism numbers are off by at least 25%.

Now lets ask about those who "Claim" to be Catholic vs those that actually attend church.

A number of people "claim" to be Baptist but are not on the books as members because they do not attend. In many cases it means they were raised Baptist.

 

The KKK persecuted a lot of people. But the Catholic church was nothing different than anyone else who did not agree with them. Let's not act like they were singled out by anyone least of Baptists. I know all about the KKK as I grew up with them on every corner in the state of Florida.

And by the way they were not only in Baptist churches. Maybe you should do more research.

 

Well, Bob, I can tell you what I see. What I see here locally is that the Catholic Churches are packed and overflowing on Sundays and the local Baptist churches have lots of empty pews. I'm involved in secular programs that meet in several of the Baptist churches and I sometimes address their Sunday congregations. One Baptist church has a sanctuary that once held 750 people. On any given Sunday morning they are fortuanate if they have 70 in the pews. All the local Baptist churches are less than half filled on Sundays. I think that speaks for itself.