Conversion-story-palooza

Has anyone else noticed the Called to Communion posts that are part conversion story, part...some other subject? Yes, I saw the movie A Beautiful Mind, so I'm aware of finding patterns that may actually not be there. But, here's one and here's one. Then there's this one. Since these were recent CTC entries, these took about a minute to find. I have a feeling if I took another minute I could find a few more.  I guess it makes sense they wish to express being "called" to "communion."

I've decided on classifying them as the Roman Catholic "Eat, Pray, Love" motif: the poor misguided uninformed Protestant finally arrives at a deeper understanding, and then can point out the path to others (By the way, I did not see Eat, Pray, Love, but a close family member suffered through it and gave me the lowdown). Certainly this theme is much older than Eat, Pray, Love.

The story line for Eat, Pray, Love was as follows:

Liz Gilbert (Roberts) had everything a modern woman is supposed to dream of having - a husband, a house, a successful career - yet like so many others, she found herself lost, confused, and searching for what she really wanted in life. Newly divorced and at a crossroads, Gilbert steps out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life, embarking on a journey around the world that becomes a quest for self-discovery. In her travels, she discovers the true pleasure of nourishment by eating in Italy; the power of prayer in India, and, finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of true love in Bali.

Now lets Romanize it:

Jill Protestant had everything a modern Protestant is supposed to dream of having - a church, salvation, a Christian worldview (and even a few bumper stickers to prove it)- yet like so many others,  Jill found herself lost, confused, and searching for what she really wanted from Christianity. Going from church to church and at a crossroads, Jill steps out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life, embarking on a journey around Christianity that becomes a quest for self-discovery. In her travels, she discovers the true pleasure of nourishment by the Eucharist; the power of prayer to the saints , and, finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of true love of Mary.

Now the great thing is these stories don't need to be told just one time. Say you were the president of the Evangelical Theology Society. You could publish your version of Eat, Pray, Love and then you could republish it a few years later ("touching on several issues not touched on").

With the contemporary rise of Catholic apologetics, there has been a consistent trend to highlight the, “conversion story”. That is, Joe or Suzy was previously some sort of Protestant, but now they’ve “converted” to Roman Catholicism. Books, television broadcasts, radio programs, and internet web pages, all tell a similar glorious tale of journeying to Rome, and so should you. These are not conversion stories of the broken sinner bowing his knee to the merciful God, given by the Father to Christ and irresistibly drawn (like Paul’s recounting in Galatians 1; cf. Acts 9); rather, these are accounts of people accepting the alleged Roman Catholic “fullness of truth”, and a rejection of Protestant essentials like sola fide and sola scriptura. In other words, the emphasis is not on spiritual rebirth, but rather the acceptance and realization of a “higher knowledge”. The conversion is not to Christ, but to an infallible church.

See also: Roman Catholic Conversion Stories.  .