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My pentecostal friend bashes my catholic beliefs, what should I do?
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Memaw
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Challenges are one thing but constant bashing is another. I love a challenge and I have conversed many, many times over the years with JWs , (there right in my neighborhood), and Mormons and they have always given up trying. One young Pentecostal just wouldn’t stop the badmouthing of Catholism so I simply told him I wouldn"t listen to his lies anymore and he would have to take it all up with God in prayer, God Bless, MemawI went to a Baptist university in Waco for undergrad-- it wasn’t one of those nominally-Christian universities, but their faith really permeated everything, which was cool. The guy I was dating at the time had some roommates who knew I was Catholic, and were happy to practice their missionary skills on me.I almost missed lunch a couple of times because we would talk about Purgatory, or Mary, or whatever. I was fortunate that their points were pretty predictable, so I was usually able to leave the conversation with them saying, “Hm. Interesting. I’ll have to read more.” (Which really translates to: “You win the conversation, but we still think you’re wrong.”)
Even if you’re not able to convince your friend of the truth of your position versus theirs, at least use it as an opportunity to become well-versed in your own faith so you can at least hold your own. If someone challenges you on x point, read up on it to the point where you’re able to (a) know the objections and (b) know the answers to them. Truth will be able to stand up to challenges.
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Kay_Cee
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If you haven’t already, take a look at the free downloads from the Bible Christian Society. The first one, “Apologetics for the Scripturally Challenged,” is all about strategy a Catholic can use when engaging a Protestant in dialogue, especially when you wish to be inoffensive.
You can find the downloads here: biblechristiansociety.com/download
You can find the downloads here: biblechristiansociety.com/download
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Sarcelle
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Your condescension is duly noted.It’s always fun to watch different christian denominations going at each other’s throats!
But really, why don’t you just buddy up and bash muslims and :shudder: atheists!
As for who came first, someone needs to learn some history. I recommend starting at the beginning: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamia
Before that, it’s called pre-history.
If who came first is important, then I guess shamans are calling dibs!
Some of us here are former atheists and yes we can think of atheists without shuddering. Some of us still have friends and family who are atheists. We do not all think and act alike.
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pocaracas
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Ah, but I was meaning to “bash” those heathens… not just think about them!
Do it as christian friends and bash other religionists. It’s important for friends to have activities together, interests in common, stuff like that.
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mountee
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If your friendship is important to you it is time to have an honest talk about how you feel about her constant bashing. Silence can send a message of approval and unless you want to seem like you agree you will have to take a stance. Friends respect each other and their differences, we all can’t agree on everything all the time. Ask you friend to please try to respect your choice to be Catholic and see what comes next. I will pray for you to ge able to resolve this peacefully.
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Convert1
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I am the only Catholic in an entire maternal family of Southern Baptists. My father’s family was agnostic. I have found that the majority of their rhetoric comes from factual ignorance. And their refusal to see any religious beliefs past their own. It seems they are driven to prove me wrong, or make me admit that Catholicism is the “wrong way”.
They tend to stand on a lot of scripture that they pick and choose to utilize in their arguments. However, I was raised in their faith and converted to Catholicism a few years ago, so I also have a few scriptures to discuss with them. Mainly “Judge not, least ye be judged”.
The bottom line is we are going to agree to disagree. I have told them the teachings of Pope Francis tells us not to disrespect other beliefs. I stand by that no matter who approaches me with this discussion. That would be my main advice.
They tend to stand on a lot of scripture that they pick and choose to utilize in their arguments. However, I was raised in their faith and converted to Catholicism a few years ago, so I also have a few scriptures to discuss with them. Mainly “Judge not, least ye be judged”.
The bottom line is we are going to agree to disagree. I have told them the teachings of Pope Francis tells us not to disrespect other beliefs. I stand by that no matter who approaches me with this discussion. That would be my main advice.
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exnihilo
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First you may want to consider telling her to stop the bashing. Her passion about her beliefs may be a good thing. I think often times these are the people you are most likely to reach. A person who is indifferent doesn’t care enough to have a real conversation. That isn’t to say that some people who seem passionate aren’t closed off to a real discussion.I have a friend who constantly bashes my belief in Catholicism. She states that im going to hell, that we worship falls idols, the pope is the devil etc. I know that i could easily prove her wrong, and state facts, but i don’t want to offend her. She knows nothing about Christianity as a whole. She believes that her church started first and that Catholicism broke away from it…yeah. So i really don’t know what to do. I hold back on saying ALOT of things but i usually just brush it off. What should i do or tell her? She is a dear friend of mine, and i pray for her but sometimes its too much. Thank you all and God bless!
My approach would be the Socratic method. I’d ask questions and challenge her assertions.
If it were me I wouldn’t try to defend Catholic belief and practice. At least not at first. What I would do is question her assertions. For instance on worshiping idols I’d ask her what worship is. I think you’ll probably not get a good answer. Most people can’t really explain what they mean by that word. She’ll probably offer examples, which are not explanations. I’d keep on demanding an explanation. And if she finally offers one then I’d point out all the obvious problems with what her likely explanation is and her very own practice.
The other way I’d address her is by asking questions of how she knows something is true. Again, she’ll not likely have good answers. She may resort to ‘the Bible’ as being why something is true. You of course don’t disagree as to its value but you can ask her questions on how she knows the Bible is true or the Word of God. There are lots of good apologetics on this issue.
In the end she may not be open to discussion. But that is the basic way I approach disagreements.
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Charles041
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I have a four step method for none Catholic who attack me,
- Learn your faith, apologetics, bible, CCC
- Silently chuckle at their half truth or ignorance
- Correct their mistakes because they made some.
- Pray for them
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Church_Militant
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Hold on a sec here…You don’t want to offend her? She certainly doesn’t seem to consider you a friend enough to feel that way about offending you so I suggest that you rethink this “friendship” and the next time she pops off just say something like “Y’know, I am really tired of your bashing my Christian faith. How would you like it if I did something like that to you all the time? If you wouldn’t appreciate it then you need to knock it off or else find someone else to hang out with. Everything that you have spouted is nothing more than ignorant anti-Catholic propaganda so unless you’d like me to school you with historical facts, abundant scriptures, and just plain common sense and Christian charity…knock it off.”
Yep common and typical…
Print out this article of mine and give it to her.
What Was Authentic Early Christian Worship Really Like?
How is she a “dear friend” if she does this? If you are so tight then you should be able to explain and defend our most holy faith without offending her because this is unkind in a big way. I would school her and tell her that if she pops off about the Catholic faith again then she can stop calling and talking to you because her ignorance is embarrassing and offensive.So i really don’t know what to do. I hold back on saying ALOT of things but i usually just brush it off. What should i do or tell her? She is a dear friend of mine, and i pray for her but sometimes its too much. Thank you all and God bless!
I suspect that you are headed for a verbal showdown with this person, and rightly so. This is the very kind of behavior that makes the a-Cs think they can get away with this sort of bashing when we meekly take this trash for fear of offending when they clearly have no such qualms with regard to us.
CA has a whole bunch of good resources that you can print out and bury her ignorance in and I suggest that you do so. You might just save her soul and get that same dear friend into the pew next to you at Mass. If you really consider her a friend, you owe her that much honesty and truth.
- The Rapture
- Without the Rapture, what is Revelation about?
- Where does “Left Behind” go wrong?
- The Antichrist
- Hunting the Whore of Babylon
- The Whore of Babylon
- False Profit: Money, Prejudice, and Bad Theology in Tim LaHaye’s Left Behind Series
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mikeeh
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She’s just trying to validate her own beliefs. If she can convince you to believe you are wrong or at least get you upset, then she’ll believe her faith must be true. The easiest way to spot a fake religion is to check if it attacks or mocks the Catholic Church. Just don’t let it bother you. After a while she’ll realize you’re more secure in your faith than she is in hers. She’ll start to question how a Catholic can be more certain of their faith than she is with hers.
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thequeen
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I can understand you keeping this friend if you are concerned for her soul. She needs to be educated on the truth of our Catholic faith. I know lots of ex-pentacostals who are now pleasantly Catholic
here is short video of an AOG pastor who met Mary, the Mother of God. He admits there were holes in AOG theology, his search for the truth led him to study Catholicism, the Catechism of the Catholic church. Do you have a copy you could study together? I find extra copies in thrift stores, Half-Price-Books, etc.It is ignorance that keeps believers of Christ away from the church, share with her the truth of our faith.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=-QZTB64-26M
Loved the video I am a former Pentecostal. Have been Catholic for nearly twenty five years now.
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HelenRose
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Don’t go on the offensive. Say words to the effect that you know that there are many things that you and your friend disagree on. Just engage in the beliefs you both agree with.I have a friend who constantly bashes my belief in Catholicism. She states that im going to hell, that we worship falls idols, the pope is the devil etc. I know that i could easily prove her wrong, and state facts, but i don’t want to offend her. She knows nothing about Christianity as a whole. She believes that her church started first and that Catholicism broke away from it…yeah. So i really don’t know what to do. I hold back on saying ALOT of things but i usually just brush it off. What should i do or tell her? She is a dear friend of mine, and i pray for her but sometimes its too much. Thank you all and God bless!
Ask your friend, “Do you love Jesus.” Your friend will say yes. Then answer back, “Well, so do I. We can at least agree on that.” Do you believe God’s Holy Word? They will say, “Yes of course.” Then answer back, “I know that we often disagree on the interpretations of the Bible but we can at least agree that we both love the Bible.”
No matter what your friend throws at you, don’t take the bait. Come up with some other belief you can agree on.
Ask your friend what he or she believes about abortion. Changes are you will be on the same page there as well. Then the both of you can rail together of the recent revelations that have come out about Planned Parenthood. I have a real close friend and co-worker who is the wife of a Southern Bible Baptist minister. You would be surprise how many things we can discuss without stepping on each other’s toes. She prays for me and I pray for her.
Just don’t allow your friend to drag you into an argument. You may be surprised how well this works.
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Cyberseeker
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Sorry to hear that. :imsorry: The bottom line for true Christians is that they adhere to the Apostles Creed. Any talk of other Christians “going to hell”, because of secondary doctrinal differences is simply unacceptable.I have a friend who constantly bashes my belief in Catholicism. She states that im going to hell, that we worship falls idols, the pope is the devil etc. I know that i could easily prove her wrong, and state facts, but i don’t want to offend her. She knows nothing about Christianity as a whole. She believes that her church started first and that Catholicism broke away from it…yeah. So i really don’t know what to do. I hold back on saying ALOT of things but i usually just brush it off. What should i do or tell her? She is a dear friend of mine, and i pray for her but sometimes its too much. Thank you all and God bless!
ps. Im a Charismatic Protestant, and I dont come here to rant about our differences.
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fhansen
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Tell her that, if she participates in typical AOG stuff, being slain in the spirit, speaking in tongues, etc, she’s a priggish phony, even tho you love her anyway. Early church members would’ve been somewhere between shocked and amused at the Pentecostal carnival.I have a friend who constantly bashes my belief in Catholicism. She states that im going to hell, that we worship falls idols, the pope is the devil etc. I know that i could easily prove her wrong, and state facts, but i don’t want to offend her. She knows nothing about Christianity as a whole. She believes that her church started first and that Catholicism broke away from it…yeah. So i really don’t know what to do. I hold back on saying ALOT of things but i usually just brush it off. What should i do or tell her? She is a dear friend of mine, and i pray for her but sometimes its too much. Thank you all and God bless!
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zz912
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- So the Nicene Creed is not true Christianity? Or do true Christians not hold to it? Or is it somehow deficient?
- What are secondary doctrines? How can we recognize them? Who determines secondary versus primary doctrines?
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Belshazzar
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Pentecostals today can thank Pope Leo XIII and his prayer for the outpouring of the Spirit on the 31st of December in the year 1900 for their existence. The pope received a message from a visionary nun informing him of a certain vision of the perils of the 20th century, and the need of a new Pentecost within the Church.
Pope Leo invited the bishops to pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit within the Church and the bishops did not comply with the request, and so on New Years Eve, 1901, the Pope prayed a prayer for the Holy Spirit to fall upon the world. Less than 12 hours after this prayer, Pentecostalism was born. The site of Pentecostalism’s birth is now a Catholic Church, btw.
Why didn’t this renewal happen in the Church? We have the non- compliant bishops of that time to answer for their actions (or non- action, rather).
Pope Leo invited the bishops to pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit within the Church and the bishops did not comply with the request, and so on New Years Eve, 1901, the Pope prayed a prayer for the Holy Spirit to fall upon the world. Less than 12 hours after this prayer, Pentecostalism was born. The site of Pentecostalism’s birth is now a Catholic Church, btw.
Why didn’t this renewal happen in the Church? We have the non- compliant bishops of that time to answer for their actions (or non- action, rather).
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Dorothy
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Wasn’t it in the sixties when the Catholic Charismatic Renewal began at Duquesne University? (Much later after Pope Leo XIII prayed for an outpouring of the Spirit.) I remember reading a book about it a long while ago.
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Simca
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Having come from an Evangelical /Pentecostal background, I was taught that Catholics in general are ignorant of basic Christianity-especially the Bible. If you tell your friend that you just don’t want to discuss your religious beliefs, it might reinforce this idea, because it might be assumed that you just don’t have the answers.
Most evangelicals truly believe that their beliefs are the only and right ones. So maybe she really is acting out of concern for you, but it is being presented in the wrong way… ?
I would tell her that you don’t agree with her beliefs either, but you don’t berate her, and tell her that you don’t appreciate being treated that way either, and that it would be good if you both followed the Golden Rule of “do onto others…” Tell her that you would welcome any respectful discussions.
Most evangelicals truly believe that their beliefs are the only and right ones. So maybe she really is acting out of concern for you, but it is being presented in the wrong way… ?
I would tell her that you don’t agree with her beliefs either, but you don’t berate her, and tell her that you don’t appreciate being treated that way either, and that it would be good if you both followed the Golden Rule of “do onto others…” Tell her that you would welcome any respectful discussions.
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DebChris
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Respect and following the Golden Rule are paramount. As Catholics, we may engage and even visit other denominations in an effort to reach out to our separated brothers and sisters.
It was not unusual when I would visit the local Assembly of God church when I lived in WI to hear prayers for the conversion of Catholics and to hear preaching against mainline churches. I do know the history of how the mainline churches rejected the charisms manifested during the revivals of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century which led to the development of the Assembly of God and other Pentecostal churches. It does help to come from a knowledge of this history.
It was after sharing my own faith in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and then revealing that I was indeed Catholic that I was able to disabuse at least one member who was surprised to discover that “Catholics believe that!”
While the mainline churches from which the Assembly of God and other Pentecostal churches separated did not accept the charisms of the Holy Spirit that is not true of the Catholic Church. Your friend may be more accepting of your Catholic beliefs knowing that throughout its history the Church has celebrated Saints who have exhibited the charisms, especially the charism of healing. Unlike the Pentecostal churches, however, the focus within the Catholic Church is not on the gifts themselves but on how they may be used to build up the Body of Christ.
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