I am a cradle Catholic, born in the Greek faith but practicing Roman. I was confirmed at birth and received First Communion at around 8. I was an altar boy for about 5 years and somewhat involved in my local parish during my teenage years.
Now, my faith as a Catholic has never faltered and I knew, from a great many sources and historical documents, including but not limited to the Bible, that this is the One True Faith, the original Christianity, unbroken and unabridged.
What I was lacking though was a true knowledge of the doctrine, of the Bible, of even the origins of the Traditions that we Catholics hold onto so dearly. True to human behavior, one never really goes out of their own way to look at these things unless it is brought to their attention in a fairly stark manner.
The impetus for my searching was my girlfriend (now, unfortunately, ex-girlfriend), Amanda. Through no fault of her own, Amanda had some fairly typical misconceptions about the Catholic faith, including but not limited to Marian devotions and the Papacy, not to be unexpected from woman coming from an Evangelical/Fundamentalist household.
In the course of what I know to be a beautiful relationship (nearly 7 months), we had many discussions on theology and many good questions were asked, some of which I had no really good answers to and that necessitated a deeper look into Scripture and history to uncover. Having never read the Bible cover to cover or done any studies with anyone having any measure of authoritative knowledge on the subject, this task proved to be a challenge but not an insurmountable obstacle, as well as quite fun. In the process I learned so much, most of which I wish I was taught in Catechism or some other outlet of theological pursuit (of course, that is my own doing). In this process of learning, I learned to become a Catholic apologetic and to explain the faith to those questioning or debasing it.
Although our relationship came to an end based on (apparently irreconcilable) theological differences compounded with overbearing pressure from friends and family (particularly her father) about our relationship (the eternal "Evangelical vs. Catholic" debate, in addition to the highly anti-"anything but us" stance adhered to by Calvary Chapel), my journey in coming to a more mature understanding of the Catholic faith and of Christianity as a whole is becoming more and more directed. As I promised Amanda, I have been reading the Bible and going to Bible studies. In addition, I have read several books on the Catholic faith/doctrine and I even just bought a copy of Augustine's Confessions off Amazon.com today so that I might gain a better understanding of the early Church Fathers.
With the background in place, I shall begin my journey.
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