Pope Francis says Use Life Witness, Not Words to Convert atheists

  • Thread starter Thread starter Senyorico
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Mac said:
If he would be more complete when he speaks it would help minimize confusion. Just my opinion
Click to expand...
perhaps start a new thread, because your concern, although perhaps legitimate, is not germane to this thread.
 
I edited that comment. You can remove that quote from your post if you wish. (I hope you will ) My personal opinion means nothing.

The point of that was not to criticize the Pope, but to illustrate that if someone says something incomplete to give the benifit of the doubt rather then to interpret it in a bad way
 
Last edited:
Senyorico said:
“In front of an unbeliever, the last thing I have to do is try to convince him. Never. The last thing I have to do is speak.”
Click to expand...
That Christ Himself told us to “let your light so shine before men that they see your good works” and “by this will all men know you are my disciples, that you love one another”.

Christ never told us to go out and argue with people in order to convert them. Our lives, our joy, our good works, is to be a beacon that draws people to God.
 
That was given to the Apostles, the Bishops. Not every Christian has the charism of preaching.
 
I’d refer you to James chapter 2 and 1 Cor chapter 13.

Love, works, they are the greatest.
 
Misleading headline aside, what Pope Francis is saying is exactly what I experienced in my conversion to Catholicism. It wasn’t preaching, street corner evangelists, or people knocking on my door that spurred my interest in Catholicism. My interest was spurred quite simply by watching my friends and coworkers living authentic Catholic lives. Even with the troubles and sufferings we all have, they radiated a spiritual light that caused me to ask, “What do they have that I don’t?” That was the beginning of my journey.
 
They seem to do a good job converting lapsed Catholics who are weak in the Faith.
 
Our actions speak first, but to teach of Jesus Christ, we must preach. Here’s a nifty little video I like, and I hope you do too:


A very informative video with a very important lesson taught by a good priest in good standing with the Holy See.

I try hard to live a strong Catholic life, and I am not shy about my faith. However, there are things that most non-believers never see, but should know…

John 3:5

Jesus answered: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Apparently, (According to Jesus) the Sacrament of Baptism is essential for Salvation. We need to do better about spreading the word about that. Fewer and fewer parents are baptizing their children today. And that is not good for the parents or the children.

John 6:54-55

Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day.

The Holy Eucharist is apparently essential for Salvation, too. I receive whenever I’m properly disposed to do so, but not too many non-Catholics see my actions at Holy Mass on Sunday. Most are probably still in bed. Sadly, most Catholics are still in bed, too.

Matthew 7:21

Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

What exactly IS the will of the Father? How can we let others know what His Will is? Our deeds that we offer in the Name of God are important, but non-believers will never know why. It’s an important facet of our Salvation.

Romans 10:9-10

For if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him up from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For, with the heart, we believe unto justice; but, with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.

Faith is paramount, and we must share it. We are commanded to by Christ. St. Paul makes this crystal clear.

I wonder when the last time Pope Francis told anyone that they needed to be Baptized, eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, do the Will of the Father, and confess and believe in the Savior to be saved?

Those things are still as essential today as they were in the time of Jesus.
 
Last edited:
rfournier103 said:
They seem to do a good job converting lapsed Catholics who are weak in the Faith.
Click to expand...
Let’s keep in mind that “they” come in a lot of flavors and “switching” between, say, evangelical Protestant denominations or between mainline Protestant denomonations isn’t counted by the bean-counters as a switch at all.

Do you know the group gaining the most “converts”? People who self-describe as unaffiliated. Following them are non-denominational Protestants.
rfournier103 said:
I wonder when the last time Pope Francis told anyone that they needed to be Baptized, eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, do the Will of the Father, and confess and believe in the Savior to be saved?
Click to expand...
He just released an interview in book form, Without Him, We Can Do Nothing: a Conversation About Being Missionaries in Today’s World in November. I’m looking forward to seeing it. In it, he says:

The experience of the apostles is like a paradigm that is always valid. Just think of how things happen spontaneously in the Acts of the Apostles, without coercion. It is a human story, in which the disciples always arrive afterward, they always arrive after the Holy Spirit has already acted. He prepares and works on hearts. He upsets their plans. It is he who accompanies them, guides them and comforts them in all the circumstances they find themselves living. When problems and persecutions come, the Holy Spirit works there too in an even more surprising way with His comfort, His consolations, as happens after the first martyrdom, that of Saint Stephen…

To evangelize means delivering Christ’s own testimony in simple and precise words like the apostles did. But there is no need to invent persuasive discourses. The proclamation of the Gospel can even be whispered, but it always passes through the overwhelming power of the scandal of the cross. And it has always followed the path indicated in the letter of the Apostle Peter, which consists in simply “providing reasons” of one’s hope to others, a hope that remains a scandal and foolishness in the eyes of the world…
 
Tolle_Lege said:
The media and entertainment industries certainly try to “convert” with words, by constantly proclaiming sinful actions to be good.
Click to expand...
But they don’t literally preach - they don’t give a speech on why pre-marital sex (for example) is good. Rather, they present (in movies and TV) examples of happy, attractive, good natured characters whose relationship naturally moves through that phase.
 
rfournier103 said:
John 3:5

Jesus answered: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Apparently, (According to Jesus) the Sacrament of Baptism is essential for Salvation.
Click to expand...
Which you have to admit suggests such people are not damned.
 
Last edited:
Welcome anyone who is weak in faith, but not for disputes over opinions.One person believes that one may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.The one who eats must not despise the one who abstains, and the one who abstains must not pass judgment on the one who eats; for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on someone else’s servant? Before his own master he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

[For] one person considers one day more important than another, while another person considers all days alike. Let everyone be fully persuaded in his own mind. Romans 14:1-5
Click to expand...
St Paul was pretty clear what attitude we’re to have with people who’s faith is weak or nonexistent.

“In your face religion,” rarely if ever converts a person.

Also, religion that doesn’t transform the person is useless religion.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top