How to discuss why Catholicism is different

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Mike12

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My girlfriend and I have recently begun an intense religious discussion. I have had a hard time discussing this with her. Her basic position is that she is not Catholic, but some form of protestant. She is not really satisfied with any of the denominations. She is willing to start practicing as a Catholic, perhaps slowly adopting more of Catholicism as she learns and accepts more of its meaning. However, it really is not something she believes in or would do if it weren’t for my presence i.e. if we broke up, I doubt she would want to be Catholic. That is, she sees all forms of Christianity as more or less the same, being “saved” is really about believing in Christ. Really it seems like she wants to start acting Catholic (without necessarily becoming one) just as if it were any other form of protestantism i.e. the differences are not essential, so why not just move from one form to another.

So here is the issue. She wants to go to church with me and adopt more and more of the practice as it becomes meaningful to her w/o necessarily being interested in the Church’s meaning. That she may accept as she learns more of it, or maybe not (its not that important). Given her above outlook, I guess that is natural. Given my background, I find it hard to understand why someone would want to be Catholic w/o actually believing as a Catholic would. I don’t even know where to begin on explaining why these differences are important, or why it seems so strange that one would want to start going to a Catholic church and begin in some way to practice without actually being convinced (or interested in) whether or not Catholic teaching is any truer than that of the Baptist, Methodist, etc… Does anyone here actually understand this outlook or how to go about discussing why it seems wrong?
 
I think I understand the logic. It is like wading into a pool…you control how deep you get and if you do not like it, you can pull back or get out. This is a bad way to approach religion.

The Catholic faith is not designed for a sample as you go methodology. It is a better idea for her to learn about the faith then decide if it rings true to her, then dive into the pool. I think that I would start with the basics: who is God, who is Jesus, and how we know about them. Then, go from what Jesus did for us. Then you are discussing the church. Pray for her. Be kind and let her determine the pace.
 
ralphinal said:
I think I understand the logic. It is like wading into a pool…you control how deep you get and if you do not like it, you can pull back or get out. This is a bad way to approach religion.

The Catholic faith is not designed for a sample as you go methodology. It is a better idea for her to learn about the faith then decide if it rings true to her, then dive into the pool. I think that I would start with the basics: who is God, who is Jesus, and how we know about them. Then, go from what Jesus did for us. Then you are discussing the church. Pray for her. Be kind and let her determine the pace.
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If you through someone into it, it won’t work. Just take gradual baby steps.
 
ralphinal said:
I think I understand the logic. It is like wading into a pool…you control how deep you get and if you do not like it, you can pull back or get out. This is a bad way to approach religion.

The Catholic faith is not designed for a sample as you go methodology. It is a better idea for her to learn about the faith then decide if it rings true to her, then dive into the pool. I think that I would start with the basics: who is God, who is Jesus, and how we know about them. Then, go from what Jesus did for us. Then you are discussing the church. Pray for her. Be kind and let her determine the pace.
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Thats what I’m saying.

I’m just not sure how to convince her that this is important. She would like to just wade in where she chooses. I’m just not sure how to convince her that this isn’t a good approach, especially because she has accepted that she may diverge with the Catholic faith, and thats OK in the same way a Methodist may go to a Baptist church and diverge with the faith because everyone involved is a good Christian and that is all that is important.
 
I would agree with the others in terms of taking things slowly.

Most of all, I would pray. Ask G-d for guidance in discussing these things. (Unless G-d opens our eyes/ears, we cannot see/hear.) Especially to someone who has not grown up with the concepts and teachings, there can be a pretty steep learning curve. One can easily feel overwhelmed.

I myself am trying to understand/relate/grasp some of the teachings of the RC church. As a non-RC - who grew up around a lot of RCs, I feel overwhelmed at times by the concepts/teachings. (I consider myself rather serious when it comes to matters of faith. For someone who seems disengaged from their beliefs, I cannot begin to imagine what it would be like for him/her.)

shalom
 
holdencaulfield said:
What is this, are you missing an “o” or something on your keyboard? 🙂
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I have known of Jewish people who write like this so that they do not misuse the Name of God. Our friend comes from a Jewish background, so he is being faithful to that. In a way, I like it. It shows reverence.
 
ralphinal said:
I have known of Jewish people who write like this so that they do not misuse the Name of God. Our friend comes from a Jewish background, so he is being faithful to that. In a way, I like it. It shows reverence.
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But I don’t get where it comes from though? Besides people still know that it means God, so isn’t that even a forum of blasphemy to try to act like you are tricking God?
 
Mike12 said:
My girlfriend and I have recently begun an intense religious discussion. I have had a hard time discussing this with her. Her basic position is that she is not Catholic, but some form of protestant. She is not really satisfied with any of the denominations. She is willing to start practicing as a Catholic, perhaps slowly adopting more of Catholicism as she learns and accepts more of its meaning. However, it really is not something she believes in or would do if it weren’t for my presence i.e. if we broke up, I doubt she would want to be Catholic. That is, she sees all forms of Christianity as more or less the same, being “saved” is really about believing in Christ. Really it seems like she wants to start acting Catholic (without necessarily becoming one) just as if it were any other form of protestantism i.e. the differences are not essential, so why not just move from one form to another.

So here is the issue. She wants to go to church with me and adopt more and more of the practice as it becomes meaningful to her w/o necessarily being interested in the Church’s meaning. That she may accept as she learns more of it, or maybe not (its not that important). Given her above outlook, I guess that is natural. Given my background, I find it hard to understand why someone would want to be Catholic w/o actually believing as a Catholic would. I don’t even know where to begin on explaining why these differences are important, or why it seems so strange that one would want to start going to a Catholic church and begin in some way to practice without actually being convinced (or interested in) whether or not Catholic teaching is any truer than that of the Baptist, Methodist, etc… Does anyone here actually understand this outlook or how to go about discussing why it seems wrong?
Click to expand...
She’s doing it for you silly. Just take yes for an answer and hope for the best
 
holdencaulfield said:
But I don’t get where it comes from though? Besides people still know that it means God, so isn’t that even a forum of blasphemy to try to act like you are tricking God?
Click to expand...
No, it’s so that the actual name of God is not just sitting around where someone could step on it or something–but it still gets the meaning across. It’s not so God won’t know they’re saying His name.

For similar reasons they never spoke (still don’t speak, I think) the word YHWH out; they wrote the vowels for “Lord” in Aramaic, “Adonai”, so the reader would remember to say “Adonai”. St. Jerome, who knew Hebrew but not this convention, misread it as “Yehovaih”, and that’s where the word “Jehovah” comes from.
 
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