by Father Kenneth Borowiak
for the Register
Dr. Vern Steiner, president of the Emmaus Institute for Biblical Studies in Lincoln, gave a presentation Aug. 9 at St. Michael Parish in Lincoln, sharing how Scripture brought him and his family into the Catholic Church.
Dr. Steiner shared a quote from Christian writer G. K. Chesterton: “Men and women enter by every conceivable gate, after every conceivable process of slow intellectual examination, of shock, of vision, of moral trial and even of merely intellectual process.” He said it described his entry into the Church and told the audience that his multi-year journey to the Catholic Church was largely a studied approach.
In the presentation, “How Scripture Study Made Me Catholic,” Dr. Steiner and his son Chad – who also teaches at the Emmaus Institute – spoke about how, the deeper they got into the study of Scripture, the more they were convinced that Jesus established one Church and that that Church is still the Catholic Church in the world today.
Chad Steiner referred to the MIQRA Institute, which existed in Lincoln from 1995 to 2013. MIQRA is the Hebrew word from Nehemiah 8:8, which refers to the reading, proclamation, and explanation of Scripture with a view to living what it says.
He spoke about growing up in the evangelical Protestant tradition, where, in 2001, he began to think deeply about the problem of disunity among Christians, accounting for the tens of thousands of different Christian denominations.
“Christian unity is a non-negotiable of the faith,” Chad Steiner said. After intense study of the Scriptures, he came to the conclusion that only the Catholic Church can trace its origin, continuity, and unity to Jesus Christ.
His father, Dr. Steiner, spoke about elements that were key to his joining the Catholic Church. As a pastor and teacher for more than 40 years, he lived in the Biblical text. An encounter with FOCUS missionaries in 2003 was the beginning of an awakening which led to increased and more intense study of the Catholic Church and its claims in the light of Scripture.
In the following years, he said, his search would center on several persistent questions: What kind of a thing is the Church which Jesus founded? Is it a mere association of like-minded people who agree to a set of common beliefs, or is it something more than this? How many churches are there? Can the Church that Jesus established be found today intact as it was in the first century? What would it mean for me to enter that Church and to be in full communion with it? Ultimately, the only question that mattered was: Is the claim of the Catholic Church true or false? If it is true, then how can I remain in schism from it? If false, then where is the true Church?
After continued studies spanning more than 10 years, including a focus on the early Church Fathers, Dr. Steiner came to the conclusion that the claims of the Catholic Church are biblically sounder, theologically richer, historically deeper, and experientially fuller than the alternatives.
“Part of my journey required the surrender of a career,” Dr. Steiner said. “The Lord asked me to be willing to live a quiet life in prayer, sweeping the floors, scooping the snow, and dedicating more time to writing.”
To his surprise, that expectation changed when, two months after entering the Church at the Easter Vigil in 2015, he received a telephone call from Bishop James Conley, asking him to start an institute dedicated to the study of Scripture. Four years later, in 2019, the Emmaus Institute for Biblical Studies opened its doors here in the Diocese of Lincoln.
The Aug. 9 presentation concluded with Emmaus associate teacher Josh Burks speaking about the structure of the Institute and the class offerings for the current and coming years. More information about the Emmaus Institute, including upcoming events, can be found at www.emmausinstitute.net.
