Stephen K. Ray - Crossing the Tiber: Evangelical Protestants Discover the Historical Church

CROSSING THE TIBER

STEPHEN K. RAY

Evangelical Protestants
Discover the Historical Church

IGNATIUS PRESS SAN FRANCISCO

Nihil Obstat: Reverend Robert Lunsford

Imprimatur: + Carl F. Mengeling Bishop of Lansing

Cover art: Saint Peter Receives the Keys ,
by Orazio de Ferrari
From the second altar to the right,
Chiesa di S. Giovanni, Chiavari, Italy.
Alinari / SEAT / Art Resource, NY

Background illustration: Detail of
the view of Rome showing the Vatican,
painted by Antonio Danti between 1580 and 1583,
Gallery of Maps, the Vatican

Cover design: Riz Boncan Marsella

1997 Ignatius Press, San Francisco
All rights reserved
ISBN 978-0-89870-577-5
Library of Congress catalogue number 95-79951
Printed in the United States of America

To my parents, Charles and Frances Ray, who raised me in a godly Evangelical home, who taught me to love the Lord, who spent untold hours praying for me, and who gave me a passion for truth and learning (see 2 Timothy 3:15).

To Al and Sally Kresta, who with great love and patience helped us find our way through the parched desert to a magnificent oasis. With their courage, excitement, and example they gently led the way home to the Catholic Church.

To Dennis Walters, who spent many hours working on our behalf, offering religious instruction, answering questions, and clearing the way for us to enter Christ the King parish and the Roman Catholic Church.

And most of all to my wife, Janet, and my children, Cindy, Jesse, Charlotte, and Emily, who were all received into the Church with me and who have patiently endured this project and encouraged me as I worked. I love them more than words can tell.

PART ONE
Crossing the Tiber

Our Conversion

Our Inherited Protestant Roots

Why We Chose Christianity

The Foundations of Our Evangelicalism

Our Thinking Begins to Shift

Our Evangelical Foundations Begin to Crumble

Sola Scriptura and Private Interpretation of the Bible Bring Disunity

Scripture, Tradition, and the Canon of Scripture

Our Struggle with Other Catholic Issues

We Begin to Discover the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church

Should We Accept Church Authority?

The Next Important Crossroads: Catholic or Orthodox?

The Final Stages of Our Journey

Our First Move Is toward the Eastern Orthodox Churches

We Take the Plunge The Dawn of a New Year

We Finally Come Home on Pentecost Sunday, 1994

Concluding Remarks

PART TWO
Baptism in the Scriptures and in the Ancient Church

Introduction: The Origins of Baptism

Baptism Was a Pagan and Religious Rite

Christ Redeems What Is Pagan and Makes It Holy

Scripture and the Church: A Unified Teaching

Baptism vs. Faith

What Does Baptism Do? Who Believes What?

As We Begin Our Journey into the Past

Baptism as Taught in Scripture

Baptism as Taught by the Fathers

Baptism as Taught in Current Church Teaching

Conclusion: A Few Comments and Observations

PART THREE
The Eucharist in the Scriptures and in the Ancient Church

Introduction

The Eucharist as Taught in Scripture

The Eucharist as Taught by the Fathers

The Eucharist in Current Church Teaching

Summary

John Henry Cardinal Newman on the Eucharist

The Real Presence: A Short History of the Resistance

Conclusion: A Few Comments and Observations

There are times in ones life when an overwhelming urge arises somewhere deep in the soul, and one has to write. Our discovery of the worlds best-kept secret inspired such a passion. This story had to be written. We would have burst with pent-up joy had it not found its way onto paper. My wife, Janet, and I discovered a treasure, and we pursued it. The result was a major decision that affected not only us but all those around us. Because of them, we felt it was necessary to attempt an explanation.

This book was put together quickly, with the little spare time I have available. It started out as a letter to my distressed Baptist parents, trying to explain our momentous decision and excitement. Many different sorts of people may eventually read this book, from sympathizers to critics, from Christians to agnostics, from Catholics to Protestants. I have tried to be honest and fair, as best I could, without intending to hurt anyone or cause discomfort. In this book, I am thinking out loud and have simply invited you into our smoke-filled room.

If I seem at times to be critical of Protestant theologies, the criticism is directed first at myself, because I myself was a Protestant and subscribed to those theologies. I am arguing with no one but myself, with my past views, with my past convictions. Janet continues to remind me: This book needs to be pastoral in tonenot combative or harsh. I hope I have explained well and argued persuasively, and I hope I have maintained my equilibrium in response to Janets reminders.

The main reason I am writing this book is to put our many thoughts into a simple story. There have been many things going through our minds, and Janet and I have spent many delightful hours discussing them. It is a great joy to have a wife, a marriage, and a family such as I have. I am fortunate beyond words. I hope this book will help you, the reader, understand us and the Catholic Church. I also want to explain this amazing turn of events to our children and our future progeny, for they deserve an explanationour choice will profoundly impact their lives.

For those who do read this book of adventure and discoverythis impassioned discussionwe hope you will be free enough, and honest enough, to share with us, to confront us, and to discuss these matters with us.

I finished the first section of this book on Pentecost Sunday, May 22, 1994. Early that morning, with Fr. Ed Fride, smiling in his red vestments, with our friends and family seated nearbysome with joy and some with utter disbeliefwe were received into the Roman Catholic Church as a family. My remarkable father, a good Baptist since 1953, was courageous enough to witness the event and open his arms in love and guarded approval. I can never thank him enough for honoring us with his presence.

Words can never express the emotions, the intellectual sense of having arrived, and our awareness of continuity with the apostles and the early Church. We stood shoulder to shoulder in historical, liturgical, and theological continuity with the apostles, the martyrs, the saints, the Fathers, and the billions of common folks who have entered and loved the Catholic Church for twenty centuries. We were home, our ship had arrived in port, and the human soul cannot contain the joy that overflowed, expressed with tears by all of us.

I want to thank my wife, Janet, my daughter Cindy, Al Kresta (my sponsor), Rob Corzine (received with us into the Catholic Church), and Dennis Walters, for proofreading and making helpful suggestions. I appreciate their help and friendship.

Our Conversion

Janet and I, along with our four children, have converted to the Roman Catholic Church, which claims to be the fullness of the one, holy, catholic, How could we have done such a thing ? This book is an attempt to give a brief and reasoned defensean explanation of our decision. It is brief and inadequate, but it is better than silence, and better than the short snips of discussion that arise in casual conversation.

Scientists tell us that no two snowflakes are alike, which is a peculiar thing to say, since no one can examine each and every one. Stars number in the billions, each different and unique. Conversions are just as dissimilar, being reached from many roads and paths, for many reasons and impulses. They are just as dissimilar as snowflakes, but they can be more closely analyzed. The word conversion comes from two Latin words: vertere , meaning to turn, and con, a prefix of emphasis; therefore, an emphatic or strong turning.