Appendix 1: Approximate Timeline
Appendix 1: Approximate Timeline
Sometime early: Come to believe in some kind of purgatory via CS Lewis.
May 2021: Graduate from Whitworth University
June-August 2021: Spend summer working and reading classic works of philosophy and theology
September 2021: Arrive at Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS). Realize that A) the theological landscape of the East Coast is totally different than the Northwest, and B) denominations still exist robustly in some parts of the country. This leads to realizing I am not generically Christian, but specifically Evangelical and Presbyterian/Reformed.
October 2021-November 2021: Come to grips with the theological, spiritual, and moral disintegration of mainline Protestantism. Find shelter with the Princeton Catholic graduate student fellowship, who feel the most Evangelical of any group I’ve met so far in Princeton.
October 2021: Secretly begin praying that God, if Catholicism is true, would deliver a relic to me without my seeking it out.
December 2021: Begin attending Stonehill Church, a thriving nondenominational church in Princeton with Presbyterian/Baptist roots.
Christmas Adam 2021 (the day that comes before Christmas Eve): In a time of tremendous family turmoil, receive the first relic from my 95-year-old British Protestant grandmother. She had no idea what it was. The extent of her thinking was, “Oh, a nice little kitchy religious keychain. Eric is some of those things, maybe he’d like it.” Decide this is important evidence but not conclusive.
January 2022: Teach “Faith and Doubt” with Nate King at Whitworth University. Begin processing questions about Catholicism with my Whitworth mentors.
Spring 2022: Take three classes on the history of Christian thought at PTS. Start to think seriously about how systems of thought work and how basic assumptions work themselves out into full-fledged worldviews. Also, develop a friendship with Marcus Gibson, a local Catholic philosopher/theologian. Begin seriously discussing theology with him regularly over drinks. Become very impressed by the fact that Marcus’ command of Scripture seriously outclasses my own, and that we agree about the centrality of the message of the Gospel in Christianity.
April 2022: Enjoy a lecture on CS Lewis’ The Abolition of Man by Father Michael Ward. Invited to join him and a few others for dinner. Learn studying Lewis brought him to Catholicism, where he is now a priest of the Anglican Ordinariate (formerly being an Anglican priest)—this was my first introduction to the Ordinariate.
Summer 2022: Live in Spokane, spend summer reading and continuing dialogue with my Whitworth mentors. Begin to take Catholicism very seriously, but continue to be deterred by worries about grace, the sacraments, and the Marian dogmas.
August 2022: While driving back to Princeton from Spokane, stop at Notre Dame for a night to stay with a friend. Tour the Knights of Columbus house there. Casually offered a second relic. It still did not feel like quite enough to change my life over but, as Marcus said at the time when I told him, “You prayed for two relics and got two relics. I’m just saying.” Unfortunately, it wasn’t just “Marcus saying,” but God speaking.
September 2022: Return to Princeton. Undertake an independent study on the history of Christian ethics. Begin developing a deeper understanding of how philosophical systems work. Realize that there is “no dogma about the dogma”--that is, you only have to think dogmas are true, you’re not required to think pronouncing them was wise.
October 2022: Realize in discussion with Marcus that an effectively Lutheran understanding of salvation/grace is compatible with Catholic teaching; discover the Joint Declaration of Faith and Justification.
November 2022: Having no clear further objections, resolve to wait to make a decision until I could meet with mentors in Gig Harbor and Whitworth to hear any arguments against Catholicism I had not considered.
December 2022: Walk out of a class taught by Hana Reichel due to an appalling, vulgar discussion of God and Mary. Realize, by observing the opposite, that there is a sort of honor due to the saints of Christian history. Meet with local pastors and mentors in Gig Harbor.
January 2023: Create and teach “Your Hidden Assumptions” with Keith Wyma at Whitworth. Use it as an opportunity to begin teaching my understanding of philosophical systems. Meet with several pastors and professors at Whitworth. Discover no new considerations against Catholicism.
February 2023: Return to Princeton. Begin to apply my thinking on philosophical systems to compare the Protestant and Catholic systems of Christianity.
March 2023: Recognize that the Catholic system uniquely contains what is needed to cultivate and sustain a full-blooded Christianity. Develop a synthesis of Protestant insight and Catholic structure, as described above. Undertake the Rite of Initiation and officially begin the process of entering communion with Rome. Marcus accidentally made my godfather.
April 8, 2023: Confirmed as Eric Melchizdek in the Roman Catholic Church at Easter Vigil on Saturday, April 8; receive first Communion.