Christian Colloquies are live!

 I want to introduce myself quickly before I write about various topics in the light of the Catholic faith, and they range from Protestant confessions of faith, education, family, and art to even news and history.

Brief introduction

My name is Arthur Jordan. I am a husband and father of 5 beautiful children. I was very young when God’s grace converted me and made me move from “Catholic” to Catholic, after repeatedly asking Him to make me faithful. Only after conversion did I study my faith, recovering all the time lost so far. One of the first books I read was Ratzinger’s “Introduction to Christianity”.

Disconcerting reactions

As I said earlier, one topic I will address will be protestant confessions of faith in the light of the Catholic faith. I think we should talk about it a bit. At first, I had an almost virulent reaction to anything different from Catholic dogma. I fought, and I argued incessantly. This lasted a few years after conversion and the beginning of studies.

There was a time when a Baptist Protestant made comments against child baptism. I wrote an answer with 30 to 40 pages. I do not remember. Throughout the text, various ironies and debaucheries exist. I did the same when a Presbyterian Protestant, a short time later, came to me. My reaction was pitiful.

The 16th century

Over time, and the simple progression to the study of the history of the Church, I came across the 16th century. I started shedding copious tears as I read every step taken by Luther, Calvin, Henry VIII, Martin Bucer, Karlstadt, etc.

I then recalled what the Church taught about the analysis of Protestant doctrines and the search for their return to unity with us through honest and charitable theological discussions from their symbolic documents (e.g. Unitatis Redintegratio from the Second Vatican Council). I then meditated on this teaching and try to put it into practice.

 At first, the reading of the documents or the main theologians of each confession was not pleasant; thinking and meditating about it was heavy and resentful, inflamed and painful. At the same time, the pain of disunity permanently animated my thoughts.

A vocation

Slowly, over the years, being faithful to prayers, studying, and crying out for God’s help, that pitiful attitude I had was being abandoned, and that behavior was being disarmed. I realized then, especially enjoying the peace of marriage and the children, who made me struggle to fulfill my daily duties, no matter what happened, that working to heal that disunity, according to the dictates of the Church, really showed to be, even if I did not contemplate the fruits of my labor, what I needed to do, pray, die.

Since then, I dedicate myself entirely to theological study (I am currently in a master’s degree in theology) of the works and confessions of faith of the sixteenth and seventeenth century, above all. I intend to contribute to an honest and charitable dialogue between Christians from their official documents and their main theologians.

I hope to contribute to this, but also with a Catholic perspective – from a Catholic who lives “at the end of the world”, in the words of Pope Francis – on the other topics mentioned.

Shall we start our Christian Colloquies?