About the Author
Marlene C. Crouch, an avid Bible Student, and her husband, Lou have resided in Sebring, Florida, for the past twenty years. They enjoy entertaining the elderly at the Kenilworth Care and Rehabilitation Center and other nursing homes in the area. Marlene has three children and nine grandchildren. It was the love and compassion for her Roman Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ that compelled Marlene to write Whose Voice Are You Listening To?
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In contemplating the possibility of joining the Roman Catholic Church twenty nine years ago, I seemed to develop an insatiable desire for truth. Since that time I have been, what some may call, obsessed with the quest for truth, devouring the King James Bible, Catechism of the Catholic Church, and Abingdon’s Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Concordance. My conclusions and/or opinions presented in this book are based solely on my personal study and research of the inspired written Word of God and the Catechism of the Catholic Church and are totally void of any sectarian influence. Twenty nine years of Bible study and research have been motivated out of a love for truth and not a quest just to prove someone else wrong.
The deeper I got into the study of the Scriptures it became more and more clear to me that, contrary to the many good and wonderful things associated with the Roman Catholic Church, there are many definite and even crucial discrepancies between the doctrines and dogmas of Roman Catholicism and the concise harmonious teaching of the inspired Word of God. Finding self- contradictions within the Catechism of the Catholic Church added even more intensity to the war that was raging inside of me. Which was, either to share or not to share my findings with my Roman Catholic family. The three meager attempts I made during the past twenty nine years to share some of my findings were unfruitful. The fear of alienating my self from my family was more than I could bear, which has kept me from any further attempts. It was a huge nagging and constant hurt. I knew deep inside that this thing was much bigger that just my family and me. The more I studied, the more I cried. The more I cried, the harder I prayed. It was not until this past year, through intense prayer and deliberation that I came to the conclusion that I really didn’t have a choice. Family or no family … I must follow my heart and trust God totally.
I agree whole heartedly with what St. Jerome wrote: “If an offense comes out of the truth, it is better that the offense comes than the truth be concealed”. I began rummaging through and sorting out old manuscripts that I had written over the years with a sense of urgency to share the truth of God’s Word concerning the erroneous doctrines of Catholicism, not with just my family but with the world.
As you read my objections to certain Roman Catholic doctrines, please know that all of my efforts in compiling these manuscripts were born out of love and compassion for my Roman Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ-Brothers and sisters in Christ who love the Lord and who believe the gospel’s basic message of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ but who are deceived and held in bondage under false doctrines derived from the traditions of man and are thereby deprived of the freedom and joy of fully experiencing the magnitude of God’s love. I earnestly pray that the Holy Spirit will quicken the reader’s hearts and minds with the Truth of God’s Word and render void any personal opinion of mine, or anyone else’s, that is not truth.
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