Dialogue with a Protestant Uncle & his Catholic Nephew
A “Non-denominational” denomination Protestant Uncle shares his Protestant Faith theme videos & links with his Catholic Nephew. His Catholic Nephew shares his Catholic Faith theme videos & links in return.
And this correspondence and dialogue is what follows…
-Protestant (Non-denominational):
Nephew, God bless you bro. I took that [video] down, I don’t want you promoting Catholicism on my page bro. I have absolutely no problem with you doing your thing with it, but I’m not a Catholic nor do I want anyone on my page to be a Catholic. I’m non denominational, bro I’m only about The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Please don’t share what you do or how you do on my page. Nephew please don’t get offended, I tell you this with all due respect.
-Catholic:
It was my vlog/documentary of a Men’s Conference I went to in 2016. This is what I have been doing instead of rapping nowadays.
You know, I noticed you always share your videos & links with me, I just wanted to share some videos & links with you in return. I thought that, this was a two streets here. Maybe I can clear up some misunderstandings you may have about Catholicism. For example, no one is more about the Holy Trinity than the Catholic Church, who defended this profound Dogma against the “Arian Heresy” which denied the Divinity of Our Lord.
Well I didn’t mean to impose & if it was a rap video, I would’ve shared it with you. But I don’t do rap videos anymore, this is what I’ve been doing, trying to proclaim the Kingdom with my creativity or whatever talents I may have & not bury them.
I was hoping you would have liked my video & possibly watched it.
-Protestant:
Nephew, reread what you wrote, man being in a relationship with God is not a competition. My relationship with God is about me and God, no offense but it has absolutely NOTHING to do with you. The Scriptures are clear to those who are in Christ, man it’s all about Him (Jesus) that’s it, not about being a Catholic Christian, not about being a Protestant Christian. Not about anything but Jesus, Our Savior. Keep it simple bro, a relationship with God is not a, “lets see who pees farther” completion bro.
-Catholic: 
“Oh, I’m not in any denomination. I’M CATHOLIC!
The Catholic Church traces their foundation all the way back to JESUS. So we’re not a denomination, we’re the common denominator.” -Dcn. Harold
In God’s providence, this was posted on my timeline this day last year & it popped up today. No coincidences with Our Lord.
I never said anything was a competition. It's just that you share with me & with all love & charity I wanted to share with you.
No hard feelings.
-Protestant:
Nephew, all I know is Christ, man, that’s all. It’s all about Him. Christ is not Catholic, Christ is Jesus, not anything that traces anything to Him, it is Him.
-Catholic:
Well with all due respect, what Deacon Harold Burkes is saying is for example, the Lutheran denomination can traces its origins to the 16th century, the Baptist denomination can traces its origins to the 17th century & the Non-denominational denomination of Protestantism can traces its origins to the 20th century. The Catholic Church can traces her origins back to the 1st century because Christ Himself is the One Who is the founder of the Church & He Himself established the Catholic Church. You see the Catholic Church is not a denomination, the Church is PRE-denominational.
But anyways I love you unconditionally & I thought since you show love by sharing something dear to you with me, I thought I can show love back and share something dear to me.
I guess we won’t share anything with each other moving forward.
God bless you Uncle.
-Protestant:
Man you would think I was telling you something else other than it’s about Jesus, but I will definitely respect that decision please no more posting on my page. I love you with all my heart Nephew, I just love Jesus more, but I do love you as humanly as possible, I will never put anything in between me and the Lord and that’s just me.
{A FEW WEEKS PASSED BY}
-Protestant:
How are you doing man? I hope and pray all is well! And I hope you're not mad at me for telling you I didn’t want you to share Catholicism with me. You know I got nothing but love for you, Nephew!
-Catholic:
I love you too 100%. I’m not mad, but I was a little bothered by it, because Christ is the founder of Catholicism. I don’t rap or do videos any more & these vlogs are my creative outlet these days. I just was trying to share it with the world, like I would have done with my rap songs. But I do want you to know that I don’t harbor any ill will, or hard feelings towards you whatsoever. Heck, if I love my cousin unconditionally with his new ageism crap, which I feel is demonic, how can I not love you with your Protestantism. I would rather my cousin be a Protestant than some New Age Guru who thinks he can conjure up energy balls & slap it on a picture of a blue circle & “viola!” the cure to cancer.
I heard a priest give a sermon about that stuff & how it’s demonic. New Age & Eastern Mystic religions are of the devil & any manifestation of anything happening is not of God, especially if the person/people openly mock Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ. That's a clear sign that is not of the Holy Spirit.
And with all that, I still love my cousin from the bottom of my heart. And let’s not even get started with my cousins that are atheists, whom I still loved unconditionally from the bottom of my heart.
And you, I believe you have an authentic love for Christ my King. I feel you are following Him the best way you know how, I love you too from the bottom of my heart...unconditionally.
-Protestant:
Amen Nephew, I must agree, love you too man.
{TIME GOES BY}
{“Non-denominational” Protestant Uncle starts to share his Protestant theme videos/links with his Catholic Nephew again}
-Catholic:
Hey I love you Uncle, but I must insist, if I cannot share or invite you to anything Catholic, I should get the same respect & you shouldn’t share or invite me to anything of Protestantism.
No hard feelings.
-Protestant:
Good morning and God bless you Nephew. I’m Non-denominational, I'm just about Christ Jesus and my relationship with Him nothing else. But I’m in accord with that, I don’t believe I have shared anything with you other than that it is only about Jesus! I will do that until the day I die. Not Protestant or Baptist or Pentecostal or Catholic (Mary) or anything demonic or anything else. It’s only and solely about Jesus!
1 Peter 2:1-3 says to put away everything, crave pure spiritual milk so you may grow up in your salvation, grow up in the only One that gives Salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Once you taste Him no one will ever need anything else, Nephew.
Nephew, the Bible is only about Jesus, nothing else all lead and roads point to Him. When you put anything in between Jesus, Who is God, that is an idol. If the Holy Spirit is inside a person they are going to accept the Word of God and the Word of God Only! The Word of God says “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26 NIV). You can put denominations in there too, you can put money, cars, houses, things, belongings, our own life itself as Luke 9:23 says, “the first thing we must do is deny ourselves”. We need to face it Nephew, it's only about Jesus!!! Catholicism doesn’t save, only Jesus does. Once you have salvation you don’t need anything else Nephew. if you don’t receive this you don’t receive Jesus, man! Don’t be the type to reject the Chief Corner Stone. Study the Word of God Nephew, we can even feed off of each other if you want. God wants His people to be united not divided, division comes from the evil one.
I never had any hard feelings. I just brought to your attention that what you were preaching to me was something other than Christ and to me that’s a no no.
But I promise I tell you things in nothing but the Love of Christ! Once you get entrenched in the All Consuming Fire, it burns off everything else, because nothing else can withstand God’s presence, only those who have the Holy Spirit inside them, hence is why He saves us from any other way we can’t be nowhere near. I have some Scriptures that claim one's true identity, just read the first chapter of Colossians…
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you
4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people—
5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel
6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.
7 You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,
8 and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,
10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience,
12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
(Colossians 1:3-14 NIV)
This is all in the Bible, Nephew!
-Catholic:
Uncle, I’m all for a healthy dialogue. But I have to point out your errors. It seems you think Baptist & Pentecostal are different from Protestants, when in reality those are different denominations within Protestantism. And the Non-denominational sect of Protestantism is nothing other than a new denomination within Protestantism. Just add it to the ever growing list of Protestant sects that have been dividing & fracturing ever since the dawn of that 16th century revolt designed as a reformation, all the way up to this very day. Oddly enough all these different denominations, as yourself, all claim to be “Bible Alone” or what is commonly called, “Sola Scriptura”.
Now Catholicism is pre-denominational because historically speaking Catholics are the ORIGINAL Christians, founded by Christ Himself.
In fact, it was the Catholic Church that canonized & compiled the complete Bible into one book, that Protestants love to quote. The Catholic Church even numbered the chapters & numbered the verses for you. So whenever you quote the Bible, chapter & verse, you are relying on the authority of the Catholic Church given to Her by Her Bridegroom Who is Christ Himself.
This is an objective fact whether you accept it or not.
And you quote the 1st letter of St. Peter who is actually the 1st Pope. This is another historical fact.
You wouldn’t have the Bible had it not been for God guiding the Catholic Church to recognize what is Scripture & what is not.
Because for the first 300 years after the Ascension of Christ, there was no set, “Table of Contents”. There was no official list of what the Bible should consist of, which writings belong in the Scriptures (like St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians that you quoted to me) & which writings don’t belong in the Scriptures, like the Gospel of Thomas which, I’m sure if you’ll check, you won’t find in your Bible.
The Catholic Church called councils together to recognize the Canon of Scriptures. The Council of Rome in the year 382, and the Council of Hippo in the year 393, and the Council of Carthage in the year 397. This is how we got the infallible Table of Contents. And thanks be to God, because of this, we now have and know what is, the Written Word of God.
Another error I feel the need to point out is when you say, you are only about your relationship with Jesus, that comes off as if you are implying I’m not because I’m Catholic.
If you & I got in a Time Machine & went to the first century & went to a Sunday gathering of believers, I would feel at home because those 1st century Christians would believe exactly what the Catholic Church teaches today. They would believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, they would have the Sacraments, a Liturgy, in short that Sunday gathering would be the Mass & not a Protestant service. What you believe as far as Bible Alone & Faith Alone & it’s only all about “my personal relationship” would be completely foreign the Apostles & the 1st century Church. Christ told the Church, “If they listen to you, they listen to Me, & if they reject you, they reject Me. Whoever rejects Me rejects the One Who sent Me.”
You see, the 1st century Christians would say if you reject the One Holy Catholic & Apostolic Church founded by Christ, it is you who rejects the Chief Cornerstone.
Study the Word of God Uncle, but also study Tradition, study history & the Early Church Fathers, like St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Justin Martyr, St. Polycarp who was a Catholic Bishop & Martyr, St. Augustine, and the list goes on.
I’m confident if you keep following the prompting of the Holy Spirit, you’ll eventually end up on your Journey Home to the Church Christ Himself founded & not the man made traditions of men that every single Protestant denomination is founded on, including the fairly new denomination of Protestantism called, “Non-denominational”.
You see, men like Martin Luther preached a false gospel and he is a declared heretic & his false gospel needs to be rejected as such.
St. Paul tells us “But even if we, or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel other than the one that you received, let that one be accused!”
And that’s exactly what Protestantism is.
In fact it is a 16th century heresy that has been causing division ever since its invention. And you said it yourself, “division of from the evil one”. And ever since the 16th century, Protestantism has been dividing & fracturing. Ever since then, up to this very day, for example where the Senior Pastor has a different interpretation of Scripture than the Junior Pastor, next thing you know, the Junior Pastor leaves with part of the congregation to start a “new” church. You can see it for yourself, I know I personally have seen it.
To this day there are about 20-30,000 different Protestant denominations & counting. Yet for 2,000 years the Catholic Church has remained One, Holy, Catholic & Apostolic. And that’s all to the glory of God, because if not for God, the Church would have fallen apart a long time ago. Even today the Catholic Church is in a crisis, but Our Blessed Lord promises the gates of hell shall never prevail. And since Christ is the Truth Himself personified, He can’t lie. And thanks be to God that promise still stands today as it did since the birth of the Church on Pentecost Sunday in the year 33 AD.
You see, I believe you have an authentic love for Christ & you are following Him the best way you know how, but the reality is Christ established a Church, and not countless churches.
I know you probably don’t want to get into a back & forth as I don’t as well. But as the 1st Pope St. Peter said, “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who defame your good conduct in Christ may themselves be put to shame.”
^^^And that’s what I’m prepared to do until the day the Good Lord calls me home.
-Protestant:
Being in Christ isn’t in error Nephew, you literally have to be kidding bro.
-Catholic:
Christ can’t be, but Protestantism most certainly is.
-Protestant:
I don’t have a denomination. Didn’t I say I wasn’t a Protestant or did you miss that? You need to get off of your Catholic Wagon and focus on Christ bro. I’m gonna read all this you wrote to me. I really want to understand where you're coming from.
-Catholic:
Where I’m coming from is, you say you’re not a Protestant rather you are a Non-denominational and only believe in Christ. I didn’t miss that. But my point is that Jesus Christ, the One you believe in, is the Founder of the Catholic Church. Furthermore, it is indeed a fact that “Non-denominational” is just another denomination of Protestantism.
I say this with the utmost respect. I don’t understand how this is offensive.
-Protestant:
Yo bro you’re starting to sound like a religious nut bro, you have to tone all that down man. Sermon on the mound, Jesus didn’t speak like that bro. The Bible says the first will be last and the last will be first. You’re claiming your belief is better than my belief and I’m telling you that I believe in Christ and you’re telling me that I’m in error. You’re buggin Nephew.
-Catholic:
It’s NOT my job to convince, that’s up to the Holy Spirit. I’m just trying to inform you of historical facts, Uncle.
Protestantism is a false gospel & needs to be rejected as such.
Also, it is you who says your beliefs are better than mine.
We both believe in Jesus Christ so that’s not the error that I am in alluding to. The error is to assume Non-denominational is not of Protestantism and the fact that Protestantism is in error. .
I pray for you. In your kindness, pray for me. May God guide us both to Truth.
-Protestant:
I told you twice that I’m not a Protestant and you keep saying that I am. What in your mind tells you that I’m a Protestant, Nephew? Just please help me with that fact.
I am a believer in Christ and Solely Christ, if you want to put your eggs in the Catholic basket, more power to you bro. I suggest you make Christ the focal point of your ministry and that’s it. Nothing more nothing less, just focus on Christ man.
When the Bible says, “He must increase and I must decrease” that means it’s less about me and more about Him. Less about religion and more about Christ! That’s all I’m saying, man. You say tomato, I say Christ, you say tomato, I say Christ, no matter what way anyone slices it it’s all about CHRIST. HE'S THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN!!! THE SAVIOR OF THE UNIVERSE!!!
-Catholic:
Did you read all or anything of what I wrote?
I don’t say, “tomato” I say Christ & historical facts about Christ & His Church.
This is a fact. Non-denominationalism is one of the newest forms or denominations of Protestantism.
Don’t take my word for it, look it up yourself.
Another solid fact for you is the fact that, Christ is the focal point of the Catholic Church.
Everything points to Our Blessed Lord.
The Church is Christ-Centric.
He is the Way, the Truth & the Life.
-Protestant:
I have a bible and I study it, Nephew. Isn’t the Word all you need? What more do you want? God gave you a Bible and you're still not satisfied?
The Word is Jesus, Nephew.
-Catholic:
Look, you come off as if only you know Christ.
Let me ask you a question. Did Christ give us a Church or did He give us the Bible?
-Protestant:
The Scriptures you read are Jesus bro.
Let me ask you something: are you born again?
-Catholic:
I’m born again through water & the Spirit.
How do you know what should be in the Bible? Who told you that St. Matthew wrote the gospel according to Matthew?
-Protestant:
Are you a Blood bought believer of Christ Jesus?
What does that really matter Nephew, God wrote the Bible. No man had too much to do with that but being a willing vessel, man. Where are you going with this?
-Catholic:
Come on, I'll answer your questions, but answer mine too.
-Protestant:
Are you telling me you are a born again Christian?
-Catholic:
I was kind of trying to avoid a back & forth.
Yes. I’m Born Again, the Bible way. Born again through water & the Spirit. See John 3:5.
-Protestant:
If you didn’t have these Catholic Textbooks, I wonder what you would lean on Nephew. It pains me to see how much you rely on what man creates, when the Holy Scripture is God’s very Word! I look through your Facebook page and it has more about Catholic stuff than Jesus Himself, bro that’s not cool in any believer’s eyes. I’m not saying you are not about Christ but your sole focus should be Christ not Christ & the Catholic Church.
-Catholic:
See there goes your error again. Protestantism is created by man.
I gave you an answer.
I asked you a question.
Did Christ give us the Church or the Book?
The answer is He gave us the Church. And the Church gave us the Bible. You seem to want nothing to do with the Church, but you sure want the Bible the Church gave you.
Christ is the Bridegroom of the Church.
The Bridegroom & the Bride become one. You cannot separate Christ from His Mystical Body, the Catholic Church.
Are you Born Again?
If so, how do you become Born Again?
-Protestant:
Nephew, what is a church without the Word of God? It is just another building bro.
-Catholic:
The Church isn’t a building that’s another error of yours I must point out. The Church is the Body of Christ. The Mystical Body of Christ of which He is the Head.
-Protestant:
We are the temple of God, without God, we are just a temple, a body, without Jesus we are nothing! The Church is the body of Christ & with that I agree. Jesus is the only thing that makes up that Body. If we are not in Him there is no way we can be a part of the Body. The Body of Christ isn’t the Body of Catholic. It is the Body of Christ, Nephew. What part of this are you not getting?
Help me understand where you're coming from? Is it about Christ or is it about Catholic?
-Catholic:
Wow, you think you can separate Christ from His Body?
The Catholic Church is the Bride of Christ.
There’s no separating the Bridegroom from the Bride.
You asked if I was Born Again, I said yes the Bible way.
Now I return the question to you. Are you Born Again and if so how?
-Protestant:
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.
6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ (John 3:5-7 NIV)
I am born again by the Holy Spirit, Nephew.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit it’s not Father, Son and Holy Spirit and Catholic Church.
-Catholic:
Nice straw man there, but let’s stick to the point at hand.
Born of water & the Spirit.
That’s right, that’s how I’m Born Again.It is.by water & the Spirit. I hope you know that’s referring to baptism.
And when Our Lord ascended into heaven he didn’t say, “Here's the Bible.” He said, “Go & make Disciples, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, the Son & the Holy Spirit”. And this is how people become members of the Body of Christ which is the Catholic Church objectively speaking.
I’m gonna give you a couple of quotes from a believer in Christ. He is a Bishop and Martyr from the 2nd century, his name is “Saint Ignatius of Antioch” who was ordained a Bishop by St. Peter & was a direct disciple of St. John the Beloved Disciple.
Now St. Ignatius wrote this in a letter to Smyrneans in the year 110 AD.
“Those who hold heterodox opinions … they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of Our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins & that which the Father in His goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in dispute”
&
“Wherever the Bishop appears, there let the people be; as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.”
Now I challenge you to show me “Pastor Bob’s Bible Study” in the 2nd century or “Grace Chapel’s Bible Alone" or anything remotely close to your “Non-denominational” denomination.
I’ll wait.
{The Catholic has been waiting ever since}