Seminary Days

My years at Cranmer in Shreveport

I’m not sure that I can encapsulate my years at Cranmer Theological House (an REC seminary) in one post, but I will try.

I loved my first year at CTH. The curriculum was made up of modular classes. We took one class per month (not including our languages). We would have class for a week, read for two weeks and then write a paper the fourth week. I learned so much. Morning Prayer every morning was an integral part of our education.

Another part of our education was working in a pharmaceutical warehouse that the seminary and church buildings were situated next to on company property. The man who owned the company is an ordained Episcopal priest and graciously allowed the seminary students to work in his warehouse around our school schedule at better than average pay.

It was truly a blessing and a curse all at the same time. It was great that I had a job so close to school and an owner who not only understood my course of study but was extremely supportive of me and the school. He was the biggest donor to the school monetarily and about any other way imaginable. However, we worked long hours which made time for study very challenging.

It also made it very difficult to stay awake in classes, at times, especially after the school started having classes 3 weeks per month (not counting languages). The conditions become almost impossible to deal with. The owner did adjust our schedules to help with our struggles and so things improved.

The thing I miss most about my time at CTH is the commradory. I made good friends while in Shreveport. At almost anytime you could find somebody who would go to lunch or drink a brew/smoke a stogie. We commonly had get togethers at our homes where we could sit around and talk theology. The community was wonderful and I learned a lot. I was able to begin to iron out theological issues that I had been dealing with.

We had excellent guest lectors’. Our courses were at times challenging. For those of us who read our books for the class, we learned a lot. I appreciated the eclectic nature of our study. The only thing missing to me was that we did not read very many scholarly works. We read both articles and books that were 300 years old or we read very safe documents. We did read some Catholic works, but for the most part we read material that did not necessarily challenge us.

My senior year I was asked to consider being an associate priest at a TEC parish in El Paso, TX. And so the story goes…

Roman Road?

I should have done this to begin with, but I really ought to give a brief explanation of what I mean by the title of this blog.

So What is the Roman Road? I do not mean to associate it with the word "Roman" Catholicism. I am referring to an evangelical tract called, "The Roman Road." The Roman Road is used by Evangelicals as a tool to lead people to Christ. It basically leads a person through the Book of Romans in several easy to follow steps.

1) Romans 3:23... all people are sinners.
2) Romans 6:23a... the payment for sin is death.
3) Romans 6:23b... God offers us a way out of sin that leads to eternal life.
4) Romans 5:8... God demonstrates His love for us that while we were sinners, Christ Jesus died for us.
5) Romans 10:13... Whoever calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.
6) Romans 9:9-10... If you confess and believe in Christ and His work, you will be saved.
7) Romans 3:20a... Christ is calling you today.

And then they ask the person to pray the following prayer, which is commonly called the "Sinners Prayer":
“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.”

So, as you can see, the person is walked through conversion using proof texts. The odd thing for me is that I converted to Catholicism BECAUSE of the Book of Romans. For me, I walked the "Road" in reverse.

Part 5: Pick a Seminary will you?!?

In August, I moved back to Lower Alabama to discern the best seminary for me. I was very torn. I looked at 4 or so possibilities and they were all related to my struggles in theology.

I had visited Wesley Theological Seminary in Jackson, MS in the summer of 1993 after I had heard MacArthur but before I left the process to become a Methodist minister. I still had plans on being a Methodist minister. Wesley is a seminary in the Wesleyan tradition and is not tied to any Methodist group per se. I was also considering Asbury Theological Seminary. Both are considered “conservative” Methodist seminaries and either would have been a good choice for me as a Methodist.

At this point, I had already become disillusioned with some things that I observed in the Methodist Church, particularly with the lack of doctrinal fortitude and women’s ordination. This coupled with my “new” “discoveries” led me to start to consider other options.

I started considering Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and San Diego because these are the bastions of Calvinistic thought. I made visits to both and came away impressed with both.

While I was in Philadelphia, I had heard about Philadelphia Theological Seminary from a friend, so I paid them a visit. This seminary is the seminary of the Reformed Episcopal Church. The REFORMED EPISCOPAL Church. I thought that I had found what I had been searching for. When I read the name I comprehended Calvinists with a Prayer Book. The “Reformed” in the name actually stood for reconstituted or reorganized, but I did find that most of the members are Calvinists.

I spent a year studying Calvinism and liturgy, so I came to the conclusion that Philadelphia Theological Seminary was where I needed to be. Also, the Dean of the seminary was a prominent theologian in Calvinist circles. I had finally made my decision, kinda.

I moved to Philly in the summer of 1995 and stayed there for several months, but I never attended the seminary. The dean who was at the seminary had moved to a seminary in Shreveport, LA, and this really changed the culture of Philadelphia Theological, so I left and moved back home.

After moving back home, I worked for several months until I could move to California and go to Westminster Seminary. I had decided that I could get a Calvinistic, Reformed education and attend a Reformed Episcopal Church, which was in Anaheim, and supplement my education accordingly.

I continued to read and study some of the arguments that I had heard from that Catholic theologian. I continued to struggle with the answers that I was getting from my reading. Also, I had two classes that really changed my perspective on Catholicism The first class was the Pentateuch which was taught by Meredith Kline from Gordon-Conwell. During this class, Dr. Kline told us of the Norman Shepard controversy at Westminster East (in Philadelphia) in 1963. Dr. Shepard was a professor at Westminster in Philly and he questioned the classical Reformed teaching on justification by faith alone. The following is an excerpt from a responsorial paper written by Dr. R. Scott Clark:

"This is what is disturbing about Shepherd's account of James 2. He denies the classic Reformed view (recently ably defended by Prof. Venema in the pages of the Outlook) that James is concerned not to juxtapose faith and works per se, but rather a dead faith v. a living faith. Shepherd's exegesis of James 2 (explaining Abraham's obedience) is much closer to the classic Roman view than it is to the Reformed. Here, p. 16 he clearly makes faith and works two instruments of justification. One sees the same approach on p.17 where Shepherd does not interpret Abraham's obedience as "demonstrative" of his justification by grace alone, through faith alone, but rather as constitutive or instrumental in Abraham's justification. This is a serious error in theology."

Dr. Kline discussed the “New Perspective” openly with us in class. He explained the pros and cons of Shepard’s ideas, and for me, I found myself agreeing with Shepard. I knew that Luther said that the Reformation stands or falls on the Doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone and for me, it was starting to fall.

There were three things that were extremely important for me to understand and believe so that I could know with some certainty that Catholicism was either right or wrong. One was whether the Reformed was right about justification. By the time I left Westminster in June of 1996, I knew the Reformed were wrong. The second was on the Doctrine of Sola Scriptura, or the Reformed view that the authority of Christianity was based solely on the Bible. The last, which is connected to the Bible alone thought was also authority. IS the Bible alone our authority or did Christ leave behind something that would guide the Church. In other words, were the Catholics right about this, too? Did Christ, leave behind a magisterium and even a successor to Christ in the seat of Peter?

My second quarter at Westminster I took a class from Dr. Edmund Clowney, the first president of Westminster Seminary in California and a stalwart of the Reformed faith. The class was the Doctrine of the Church and our text book was his book that he had written on the subject. This was the class that I thought I needed to convince myself of Reformed teaching.

I had read the argument that when Christ gave Peter the keys to the Kingdom and promised to build His Church on the Rock in Matthew 16:15-19 and that Christ had in mind Isaiah 22:20-24. Since, Christ is going to sit on the throne of David, his kingdom is the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant from Psalm 2. In Isaiah 22, David speaking to his royal cabinet removes the keys from the head of his cabinet and makes another the head by giving him the power to bind and loose that comes with the keys. Read more about this argument here.

I approached Dr. Clowney with this argument. It was obvious to me that he had never heard it. When I asked him what he thought he said, “That is wrong.” I waited a few more moments for him to elaborate. He looked at me again and said, “It’s just wrong.”

I knew then that what I was looking for what not the Reformed faith. So I left Westminster and decided to finish my education at Cranmer Theological House in Shreveport, LA. And the plot thickens.

Part 4: Graduation from College

I graduated from Huntingdon in May of 1994. A lot happened my senior year. During my junior year I had started the process to become a Methodist minister and had gotten deep into the process.

During the summer of 1993, after I had listened to MacArthur and started studying the issue of predestination in depth, I became convinced that I needed to step away from the process. My questions were too big and I needed time to find the answers. So, I started attending a Presbyterian church in Montgomery. While I was there, I joined a small group that was studying the Westminster Confession of Faith. I became more and more Calvinistic, but there was something missing. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I knew it was important.

At Huntingdon, I had a very important professor named Dr. Harold Rohlig. He is a choirmaster for an Episcopal parish in Montgomery. His classes and his friendship became very important to me. While in his classes, we studied worship and hymnology. I began to understand the development of how we came to worship in the Church and how important worship is to the man, body and soul.

I found Presbyterianism to be a spiritual wasteland. It was very dry. My prayer life really suffered because of the rigid, unemotional theology that I was reading. Maybe I was disconnected from the spiritual side of Calvinism, maybe it is not this way for all, but for me, it was draining.

When I attended my first Episcopal service I found what I was missing. I found the perfect match to my Calvinistic theology. I found a worshipful expression of what I was reading, whether the people who were attending the very same service I was knew it or not. Was it Calvinistic in nature? No. That is not what drew me in. The thing that drew me in was the focus on the Scriptures put in a historical, prayerful context. It was very reverently done. I saw what I believed being lived out in worship. This was a profound moment for me that would change the way I saw and see the Faith forever. Because of this experience, I could never go back to the Presbyterian worship and be happy.

So, it was time for more research and study for me, but first, I had to graduate. After graduation, I moved to a small town outside of Montgomery to live with some friends for the summer. We all found summer jobs and studied theology together. This is where I first encountered legitimate arguments for Catholicism. One of our friends was dating a Catholic girl who gave us some tapes to listen to. We were all pretty shocked and overwhelmed by the arguments of this man. All of the sudden, my struggle to find the truth and where I fit in became deeper.

Part 3: Off to College

As I have said, I was raised a United Methodist, so if I was gonna be a minister in the United Methodist Church, why not go to the closest Methodist college to me. I applied to Huntingdon College in October of 1991 and was accepted. I left for college in January of 1992 on a religious scholarship.

While I was at Huntingdon, I saw and learned many new things. I had never been to an Alabama football game, but I went in the Fall of 1992. I had never lived on my own until I moved into the dormatory. I had never experienced any other religious group outside of Methodists, Baptists, Assemblies, and Pentacostals until I got to college, so I had a lot to learn. We had one Catholic family in town, but I didn't know too much about their beliefs. The only thing that I remember about Catholics when I was growing up was what I learned at Baptist revivals. I remember at one such revival the Evangelist called the Catholic Church, "The Den of Satan." He went on to say that they were, "The Whore of Babylon." But when I met my first Catholic at college, she seemed Christian enough. Not at all like the preacher had described.

At the time I was at Huntingdon, the Religion Department of the college was not known for being conservative, or for that matter, reflecting the believes of United Methodists. My first semester there, the department had a more conservative, Methodist flavor to it, but as the Head of the Department quit and moved on, so to did the Methodist distinctives. We had a scholar, a post-modern, an old crumudgin, and a rabbi. As the old crumudgin moved on, the department added an Indian-Spiritualist. Matter of fact, the students always made the joke that the Rabbi was the Christian of the bunch.

There was no real structure to the department. The grading system was not based on facts or even how well your ideas came across, but on the mood and feelings of the professor. The one scholar was the most consistent, but we were operating in a post modern department. My beliefs were being attacked on a daily basis. I understand that at college you should experience new ideas and you should explore your beliefs, but they were openly attacked by those who I believe were unsure themselves of what was true.

At one point in my career, the college added a chaplain who was a true Wesleyan and a good, solid Methodist pastor. He had a PhD. so he taught the Church History classes. This is where I was introduced to St. Augustine, St. Anselm, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, and others. There was a whole other world out there and I was just finding it. Ironically, I did not find it by listening to professors who wanted me to question my faith but by the one who was actually trying to strengthen it.

I began to study Calvin a lot closer. Over the Summer before my Senior year a friend and I went to hear Dr. John MacArthur speak on, "The Sovereignty of God." I was blown away.

Part 2: The Call to Ministry

During the Summer of 1991, I had started seeing more clearly that maybe I had a call to ministry, so I started dealing with that process. I asked God to take everything out of my life that would hold me back from His call if that is what I am supposed to do. Within a matter of months I had lost my job of 5 years and had several relationships that ended that could have possibly held me back from leaving the area. By October everything that could conceivably hold me back had disappeared. The obstacle of getting into the college I wanted to go to was cleared, as well, by October. There was only one thing left to do… go to college and learn more about God and this call that I perceived.

Questions crept up in my mind, though, before I left. Was I called? Was I good enough to be a minister? Was I willing to move away, possibly for good? And, more importantly, what denomination would I serve in?

Was I called? Looking back now, I believe I was and am called to ministry. I remember once when I was nine years old, a dear woman in my home church told me that I was going to become a minister. As a matter of fact, she made me promise her that I would pursue that career. I did promise her, mainly because she was standing in front of a table of food at a church get together and I didn’t think she would let me get to it if I didn’t say, “yes”. So, I said yes, but sometimes, promises, even given in hast or without complete knowledge are meant to be kept.

I perceived the call while riding home from Junior College one night after class (we only lived 15 miles away). I know that it is very simple and maybe I was even reading too much into the song, but I was listening to a Steven Curtis Chapman song when I realized that I was called. I was not a very deep Christian at the time and not well read, but I knew that God was telling me something. When I got home, I told my mother that I believed that I was called to ministry. Her answer was, “FINALLY!” She and a group of her friends that formed a prayer group at our church had been praying for me to see the call since I was 15 years old. Finally, for her and me, four years of prayers had been answered.

After that night, I started letting people know my intentions and most people either were supportive or acted as if I had already told them, even though I hadn’t. It was like it made sense, like it was meant to be. It gave me reassurance and confidence to know that I was doing the right thing. It was very subjective, but most calls are subjective in nature at first.

Part 1: Growing up Methodist

My name is Doug Martin and I grew up in a rural town in southeast Alabama. I was raised in a very devout United Methodist church and family. My father and mother raised me and all of my brothers in the Christian Faith. I have often said that I have never known a day when I didn't know Christ because I was raised as a Christian. I sang "Jesus loves me, this I know," from the time I could speak. I was taught to pray from the earliest of times. As a matter fact, I was Ms. Marley's preacher when I was 4 years old. Ms. Marley kept me in the nursery during services and she used to ask me to preach for her, so I would stand up on a chair and preach to the other toddlers. But one of the things that my parents taught me was Christian charity; they taught me to appreciate those who were not Methodist. My mom often said, "I do not care if you remain a Methodist, but I do want you to go to church no matter what kind of Christian you are." I am happy and blessed that my parents gave me that freedom. Their love was given to me unconditionally, whatever I was, wherever I went to church, they were going to love me and they still do.

I went through all the same things that children and adolescents go through. There was a time when I would rather sleep in and not go to church. But, that was not an option in the Martin home, so we never asked could we stay home; we knew the answer was no. I've been going to church all my life, rarely missing services even through my rebellious age. I went to church throughout my college years. Why? Because I knew that to be a Christian I must go to worship. I also had some good friends along the way who encouraged me. But, I was most definitely never perfect, just forgiven.

While I was in high school, I went on a retreat called Chrysalis and this began my road to becoming a serious Christian. Chrysalis is a one-time retreat that was created by the United Methodist Church and was a knock off of the Emmaus Walk. Chrysalis was meant to be a religious awakening or strengthening for a high schoolers faith, and for me it was an awakening. I realized at 16 years old that I was not as serious as I could be about Christ. I still struggled throughout high school to remain serious but I believe that this was the start of my calling to ministry and to becoming more aware of my own need for a serious faith through study and prayer.

I appreciate my Christian upbringing, because I learned so much about Scripture and theology. It was the foundation to my journey and to who I am as a person today. There were so many people in my life who has had an impact on me in one way or another, but it all started at that little Methodist Church where the good ol' country folk there loves the Lord and the Bible.

Purpose

The purpose of this blog is to give an account of my own conversion to Roman Catholicism. It is also being created as a forum for others who want to share their conversion, and, also, for those who have questions. Lastly, discussions on Catholicism in general is encouraged. Enjoy.