“So what? Naturally, people want to convert you. They cite the scripture to you? Learn to cite back. I did. The Protestant beliefs are not consistent with scripture, Catholic beliefs are. Read up and fight.”
I guess that’s where we differ. I feel no need to defend my religious beliefs; nor do I intend to try to convert people via an exchange of scriptural passages. That’s usually just gamesmanship.
If someone is truly searching for meaning, that’s one thing — and not what I’m talking about. Most people, however, are just proselytizing and have little interest in any but their own interpretation of various passages.
I don’t enjoy being accosted merely because someone is enthusiastic about having been “saved.”
But that’s another subject entirely.
Two things about that. First, I was reacting to your irritation toward the proselytizers. That is generally unfounded, as Christians are called to proselytize. So it becoems your duty to at least point out that the Catholic Church has existed for 2000 years with a different from his understadning of John 3:5, and that you trust your Church better than his pastor on that. This will not require a doctorate in theology to say. Certainly, you might want to add that the very premise of arguing from scripture alone is unscriptural.
Second, if you find proselytizing irritating, wait till you see persecution, and that, I think, is just around the corner.