CROSSING THE TIBER
Evangelical Protestants
Discover the Historical Church
ignatius press | san francisco |
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
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.
Our Inherited Protestant Roots
The Foundations of Our Evangelicalism
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 Finally Come Home on Pentecost Sunday, 1994
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
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
The Eucharist in the Scriptures and in the Ancient Church
The Eucharist as Taught in Scripture
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About Crossing the Tiber: Evangelical Protestants Discover the Historical ChurchCrossing the Tiber is an exhilarating conversion story of a devout Baptist who relates how he overcame his hostility to the Catholic Church by a combination of serious Bible study and vast research of the writings of the early Church Fathers. In addition to a moving account of their conversion that caused Ray and his wife to “cross the Tiber” to Rome, he offers an in-depth treatment of Baptism and the Eucharist in Scripture and the ancient Church. Thoroughly documented with hundreds of footnotes, this contains perhaps the most complete compilation of biblical and patristic quotations and commentary available on Baptism and the Eucharist, as well as a detailed analysis of Sola Scriptura and Tradition. |
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