Why I Became a Protestant
By Luis Padrosa
Moody Colportage Library, #240, 1953, 65 pages
Moody Press published over 500 booklets as part of its Colportage Library series including “Why I Became a Protestant” by Luis Padrosa, an ex-Jesuit priest and the founder of the Loyola Institute of Barcelona, Spain. Padrosa testifies that he began reading Protestant literature in order to familiarize himself with the “false doctrines” in an effort to help stamp out Protestant missionary efforts in his locale, but ended up accepting Jesus Christ as his Savior by faith alone instead through the ministry of the Holy Spirit after reading God’s Word.
In the following chapters, Padrosa compares Catholic doctrine with Scripture:
- Pontifical Infallibility
- Necessity of a Visible Church
- Unity
- Tradition
- Mary, Our Mother
- Regulations (mass in Latin, eucharistic fasting, confession, celibacy)
- Conclusion
The booklet ends with testimonials from the Spanish press regarding the authenticity of Padrosa’s Jesuit credentials followed by his letter of resignation from the Jesuit order.
I have studied many examinations of Catholicism, but Padrosa’s thorough debunking of Catholicism’s interpretation of Matthew 16:18-19 as the basis for its claims for Petrine authority and papal succession is excellent; perhaps the best I have ever read.
While this 1953 booklet is somewhat dated, it touches upon the main issues that still differentiate Catholicism from Biblical Christianity. Order the Kindle version from Amazon here or you can access a free PDF file below:
Why I Became a Protestant
http://www.baptistbiblebelievers.com/BookList/WhyIBecameAProtestantLuisPadrosa1953.aspx
Catholic friend, I pray you will take the time to examine whether your church teaches the genuine Gospel of salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” – John 1:12
Wow, praise God that He saved this man! I can’t wait to read this booklet, and maybe do a Wednesday Testimony with his story!
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Thanks, sister! I enjoyed this booklet, especially Padrosa’s explanation of Matthew 16:18-19 and the giving of the keys. You’ll find that Padrosa focuses more on doctrine than his personal testimony, but to be a Jesuit priest in 1950s Spain and to accept Christ and leave the priesthood and Catholicism probably meant being totally ostracized by his family and friends.
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That’s amazing, this is the real miracle. When the Holy Spirit takes a man from Jesuit to Christian risking his life, walking away from everything he knows, to proclaim the truth! Who needs glitter glory clouds and angel feathers falling from air conditioners when the real work of God is far more spectacular?
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Thanks, sister! Yes, it’s a miracle! And once a person truly understands the Gospel and trusts in Christ they can say with Paul that they “count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” Phil. 3:8
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Oh wow! Thank you for this excellent post, Tom. I wonder if Moody Press has any hard copies in some box somewhere; maybe if I ask really nicely they’ll dig one up for me!?? I’d love to surreptitiously send one to my parents; I could mail it to them from another town so they won’t know it’s from me. . . . well, it’s wishful thinking, but at least this blog post is available for those who are open. That weird idea of Peter being the first Pope is such an entrenched falsehood — a stronghold that needs to be torn down. I pray many Catholics will find this blog post.
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Lisa, thanks so much for the kind encouragement in the Lord! It’s getting harder and harder to find materials that compare Catholicism with Biblical Christianity, but they’re out there, you just have to know where to look. Sadly, it’s been a long time since Moody came out with anything like “Why I Became a Protestant.” I prayed for your parents’ salvation. I also have many family members still in Catholicism. Just like Italians, being Catholic is part and parcel of being Polish. I saw that you have several evangelistic videos on your YouTube channel. I look forward to listening to all of them at work as I’m able. I pray the Lord uses and blesses all of your outreaches to the lost. It’s a blessing to me whenever ex-Catholics reach out to Catholics with the Gospel because ecumenism and false charity are strongly infiltrating the evangelical church these days.
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Wow Tom thank you for this review; always neat to learn of an older book that handle a controversial passage well; sometimes newer work are caught up being more PC than exegetical with the text in my opinion so I’m glad this is the best treatment on Matthew 16
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Thanks, Jimmy! Yup, this is a valuable booklet especially for its analysis of Matthew 16. It’s amazing how the RCC built complex doctrines through the misinterpretation of short passages. Sadly, Moody Press hasn’t published anything as forthright about Catholicism in quite some time.
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“Sadly, Moody Press hasn’t published anything as forthright about Catholicism in quite some time.” Sadly…
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