Going door-to-door as a little boy, Zachary was terrified of bumping into a school mate. Born into the Jehovah’s Witness religion, he grew up evangelizing and didn’t know anything different. It was a unique upbringing in the sense that most everyone celebrates holidays, Christmas, Easter, birthdays, and other milestones in life. Not so for Zachary Forton. But, this wasn’t an issue for him; there was something else.
Fundamentally Frustrated
As a very logical person, John 6 was clear to Zachary. All Christians must partake of Holy Eucharist for the forgiveness of sins. We all need that, he thought.
Trying to make sense of scripture, Zachary found his way into a fundamentalist Baptist church. However, he kept running into issues. With hundreds of Baptist denominations, everyone had their own private interpretation of scripture. In addition, the Baptists’ Eucharist is merely symbolic. Zachary couldn’t reconcile with this difference. He became increasingly frustrated in his search for truth.
What’s Google Got to Do with It?
Zachary turned to Google. Yes, he Googled “apostolic church” and “apostolic succession” hoping to find answers that lay hidden within history. Google led to Catholic.com. A friend asked Zachary, “Why don’t you look at the Catholic Church?” Zachary started asking his friend a lot of questions – quite often; his friend would use Catholic Answers’ resources to help explain the Faith.
Zachary began listening to Catholic Answers Live online. One afternoon, Trent Horn was covering the topic of Sola Scriptura. “Catholic Answers helped me realize that sacred tradition is not just important, it’s necessary because it preserves the correct interpretation of sacred scripture.” Trent explained that an infallible Book requires an infallible interpreter, the Church.
We need to be ready to make a defense – as scripture says.
“As a Jehovah’s Witness, my experience with Catholics was a hurdle for me,” stated Zachary. Catholics must not take their faith seriously because they can’t explain it or answer questions about it, he thought. Catholics couldn’t readily explain or defend their faith. As a Jehovah’s Witness, your life is centered on evangelizing. Shouldn’t Catholics do the same?
Zachary did encounter many Catholics that can and do “make a defense,” on his way to becoming Catholic. Catholic Answers has so many resources for anyone struggling with questions like Zachary’s. With the help of Catholic Answers, Zachary continues to build a solid foundation, grow in faith, and leads others into the fullness of the truth.
We have a new resource project in the works—learn about it here!