Several years ago, I did some research on Roman Catholics who
had converted to conservative Protestant churches. What
intrigued me most about those who shared their experiences with
me was the large number who said that they left the Catholic
Church because they became Christians or that they became
Christians after leaving. At least in retrospect, these converts
do not think they were Christians while they were in the
Catholic Church.  Though I am a Protestant with fundamental
objections to certain Catholic practices and doctrines, I found
these testimonies puzzling. The Catholic Church, after all,
explicitly confesses Jesus Christ as God and Savior. The
Christian Bible occupies a central place in its liturgy and
doctrine. Catholics are baptized in the name of the Triune God
and celebrate the sacrament of Christ’s body and blood. But
meanwhile, some attain adulthood as Catholics apparently without
ever considering themselves Christians. How does this happen?  I
was given a number of answers to this question.