You mentioned in your post that you don’t feel a need to evangelize your boyfriend and that you would have no problem with your children being raised Muslim and that you feel Islam is another way to God. If this is true, then there is no compelling reason for you to remain Catholic. But if it isn’t, then are you willing to gamble the soul of your boyfriend and any future children you may have?
Have you studied Islam to learn all its beliefs? Have you read the Koran?
Jesus made some very exlusive, extraordinary claims about himself in the Bible, including being the only way to God (John 14:6). Islam teaches Jesus is only a prophet, and certainly not God or the only way to God. Both of these things cannot be true at the same time – either Jesus is who he claimed to be (God) and Islam is wrong about something very important, or Jesus isn’t who he claimed to be. In that case, Islam would still be wrong about Jesus because Jesus couldn’t possibly be a prophet of God if he were delusional or arrogant enough to believe he were God.
If it was necessary for Jesus to suffer and die on a cross for our sins in order for us to be reconciled to God, then Islam is wrong in teaching that we can make it to heaven on our own efforts. But if Islam is just one of many paths to God, then why did Jesus die on the cross?
Do you believe all we need to do is believe that God exists, or does God want us to *know *him? And how can we know God if what we know *about *him isn’t true? And if God wants us to *know *him, then he must have made it possible for us to know the truth about *him *–so different religions that teach contradictory things about God and his nature and character can’t all be different paths to God. If I want someone to know me, I have to tell him and show him the truth of who I am. If I hide who I am or make up things about myself that aren’t true, then I haven’t revealed myself to others and they don’t really know me. This is true of God as well, since he is a personal Being.
If Jesus really is God and really is the only way to God, and the Eucharist is really his Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, and the other sacraments truly convey his grace and power (including the indwelling of the Holy Spirit – how awesome is that??) then why would you want your boyfriend or children to miss out on those great gifts?
I’m a convert to the Catholic faith from evangelical Protestantism, and the reason I am Catholic is because it is true. The Catholic Church makes some pretty audacious claims about itself – being the one and only Church founded by Christ; infallible in teaching, etc. I realized long ago if those claims aren’t true, then the Catholic Church is a church I want nothing to do with, but if they are, then I want to be in it and I want others to be in it as well. Did I know Jesus before I became Catholic? Yes! Was I saved before I became Catholic? Yes! But now I know and love him more than ever before and have access to all the grace he wants to lavish upon me through his own Body and Blood and the other sacraments. I want my non-Catholic friends to have what I have, and my children as well.
I was married for twenty years and then my husband died in an accident. From those years of experience in marriage, I can tell you that it is very important that husband and wife be “on the same page” in important matters like faith, especially when children are involved. The whole purpose of marriage is for unity – it’s an image of Christ’s relationship with his Bride, the Church. Where there are significant differences of belief there will not be complete unity. And marriage is a difficult thing to succeed at because it calls for us coming out of our selfishness and giving of ourselves completely to another for their good, something we can only do by the grace of God. If one or both in a marriage aren’t depending on the grace of God to be selfless in marriage, then there will be problems. And when problems come, how are they dealt with? Suffering makes sense and can be put in perspective and have redemptive value in light of the Cross, but without the Cross it is simply something to avoid or just endure. When I got married the only advice I got from my pastor was “Keep Christ in the center of your marriage.” Simple, but very profound, and true – I can’t even begin to tell you how much that simple statement meant to me and kept my marriage together.
I don’t know how well grounded you were in the Catholic faith growing up, but I would encourage you to learn more and read and pray the Scripture for God’s guidance and wisdom.
God bless you,