Thank you Clayton! about not seeing-maybe it was that way for followers of Bishop Arius-who, fresh out of paganism, knew that no matter what, there’s only one God. They would have reframed any Scriptures that seemed to indicate otherwise. This is my pondering, based on the book The Apostasy That Wasn’t. Anyway, I have to thank Beth Moore, who in one of her Bible studies challenged us to ask God-show me your glory! Did He ever answer that one! That verse about having no life in you really convicted me.

Clayton–I don’t have my Catechism with me, but it does say that “outside the Church there is no salvation.” (“This is a hard saying; who can believe it?”) There is a caveat to that, however: that those who have never heard The Good News of Jesus Christ, cannot be held accountable for not having entered into His Church. This stricture applies only to those who have knowledge of the One True Church & refuse to enter her.
It is indisputable that Christ Jesus did NOT found ANY protestant denomination, non-denomination or cult. Not ONE. He founded ONE Church upon the Rock of St. Peter, that He promised His apostles that He would be with “til the end of days.”

Each & every protestant denomination/independent “church” is the product of a man’s pride that he “knows” the way to salvation unlike anybody else, that his is the “right” way, & in this day & age, one of the fastest ways to immense riches & the wealth of this world (Mr. Permagrin Joel Osteen, & all his brethren, anybody?) They are all nothing but motivational speakers who know next to nothing about things religious & spiritual, who use their TV presence & microphones to rake in money by the millions.

Thank you for your viewpoint, Donna. Yes, cradle Catholics, myself included, find it hard to ‘be in the head ‘of non-Catholics much of the time.
And…. welcome home.

Having grown up Presbyterian, and having become Catholic precisely because of the Eucharist, I can tell you that it’s in good faith in most cases. You don’t see what you’re not expecting to see. Even William Barclay, admired by Catholics and Protestants and author of excellent Biblical commentaries, believed the symbolic view. If your mind briefly considers the literal, you automatically, without even passing it through your mind, figure Jesus is speaking in symbolic language of some sort. You include all of John 6 under the category of having faith in Jesus. And most Protestants do treat the Lord’s Supper with great respect–sensing that there should be something more, I think. But you don’t see what you can’t imagine. I know this is so hard for cradle Catholics to understand. As soon as I knew it was his true body and blood, through grace, I *hungered* for the Eucharist.