C
Craisin
Guest
Hello everyone,
I will let you know my spiritual background before going into my current situation and questions. I was baptized as an infant and confirmed in 8th grade in the Catholic Church. My mother and I left our parish almost immediately after my confirmation, and despite going through Confirmation, I never really had any understanding of the meaning of Christ’s crucifiction and his resurrection, the Holy Spirit, the Church, His scripture, baptism, etc. As I was searching for God in High School, one day I was asked to have a Bible study by an Evangelical friend of mine. Through this Bible study, I gave my life over to Christ and accepted Him as Messiah and Lord, and grew in my faith in the Evangelical Church for 2 years. Now in college, 3 1/2 years later, I am attending an Anglican Church which ministers to the inner city poor and promotes all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including prophecy and speaking in tongues.
Growing in my faith in the Evangelical Free Church was great for an introduction to Christ - everyone was active in prayer, and stressed reading Scripture in order to come to know the Lord more fully - which I still believe strongly today. The Anglican Church, although it stresses scripture, focuses more on Sacraments and Doctrines, and my pastor believes in consubstantiation - these all I am still learning about. My brother was once a strong Roman Catholic but recently has become a devout Armenian Orthodox, and I often talk to him about his beliefs. He is quite the intellectual. Also, I am currently dating a very strong Roman Catholic. We are both young in age and spirituality; we are in our early 20’s and converted within the past few years; and we were initially attracted to each others strong faith in the Lord. We often talk with one another about our theological differences. I always have enjoyed our theological conversations, and I don’t mind him sharing with me what he always refers to as “the Truth” - which I have interpretted to mean fully knowing as much as we can about God and his Church.
It is difficult for me to understand this full “Truth” that he is so certain about. Being connected or having a background in multiple denominations, it is difficult for me to accept what ever he so acnowledges as Truth because the Roman Catholic Church teaches it. So my first question is: Why do Catholics believe that the Church holds infallible teachings and doctrines(am I correct in this statement?) and don’t feel a need to question it? Hasn’t Church doctrine and teachings changed throughout time (if so, when?)
Also, we tend to talk a lot about the sacrament of Eucharist. It is everything to him. I understand that the Eucharist is known to be the flesh and blood of Christ. It is difficult for me to understand why we need to have the flesh and blood of Christ if we already have the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
Faith and Works: please explain this one as well. The Protestant Churchs I’ve always been in focus on faith preceding works - meaning, we need faith in Jesus in order to acknowledge the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and through the Holy Spirit naturally will come a changed heart which will want to serve the Lord. I understand Catholics believe it is both “faith and works” but
Purgatory: this seems extremely confusing. The Orthodox pray for the dead no matter where they are, correct? Where did the idea of Purgatory first come into belief? What is it, in laymens terms?
Christ’s atonement sacrafice: we haven’t talked about this one too much, but I’m beginning to see differences in how we view Jesus’s atoning sacrifice. It seems like, for Protestants, Christ’s sacrafice was an atonement for all sins in us, and through Him we are being sanctified. Can you please explain the Catholic view of Christ’s atoning sacrifice, what it means to the Catholic Church, and only if possible what it means in contrast to the Protestant view.
His sister recently told him to be careful because I could be openning a way for Satan into his heart. This comment hurt me the most - while I am not in the Catholic Church, I have never felt the need to convert him out of it. He, however, does feel the need for me to convert into it. I find it difficult now to open up about my faith if he is going to think of me as a possible agent of Satan…
Lastly, could you please pray for me. Whether you are Orthodox, Catholic, or Protestant, I do consider you my brothers and sisters in Christ - and I really do want to know God in His fullest with all my heart, mind, and soul. Please also be sensitive in your responses - this dating experience has recently been shaking my faith and it is quite scary and emotional experience. I tend to cry a lot over these issues, because I don’t want to jump to conclusions about the Catholic Church to appease my boyfriend - I really only want to come to know God more because of God’s grace and guidance. My faith can’t be like a seed being thrown on a rock. I want the seed of my faith to grow in furtile soil. I just dont understand how God would make this process so complicated - I know that He’s came for even the simpliest minded of His children…
I will let you know my spiritual background before going into my current situation and questions. I was baptized as an infant and confirmed in 8th grade in the Catholic Church. My mother and I left our parish almost immediately after my confirmation, and despite going through Confirmation, I never really had any understanding of the meaning of Christ’s crucifiction and his resurrection, the Holy Spirit, the Church, His scripture, baptism, etc. As I was searching for God in High School, one day I was asked to have a Bible study by an Evangelical friend of mine. Through this Bible study, I gave my life over to Christ and accepted Him as Messiah and Lord, and grew in my faith in the Evangelical Church for 2 years. Now in college, 3 1/2 years later, I am attending an Anglican Church which ministers to the inner city poor and promotes all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including prophecy and speaking in tongues.
Growing in my faith in the Evangelical Free Church was great for an introduction to Christ - everyone was active in prayer, and stressed reading Scripture in order to come to know the Lord more fully - which I still believe strongly today. The Anglican Church, although it stresses scripture, focuses more on Sacraments and Doctrines, and my pastor believes in consubstantiation - these all I am still learning about. My brother was once a strong Roman Catholic but recently has become a devout Armenian Orthodox, and I often talk to him about his beliefs. He is quite the intellectual. Also, I am currently dating a very strong Roman Catholic. We are both young in age and spirituality; we are in our early 20’s and converted within the past few years; and we were initially attracted to each others strong faith in the Lord. We often talk with one another about our theological differences. I always have enjoyed our theological conversations, and I don’t mind him sharing with me what he always refers to as “the Truth” - which I have interpretted to mean fully knowing as much as we can about God and his Church.
It is difficult for me to understand this full “Truth” that he is so certain about. Being connected or having a background in multiple denominations, it is difficult for me to accept what ever he so acnowledges as Truth because the Roman Catholic Church teaches it. So my first question is: Why do Catholics believe that the Church holds infallible teachings and doctrines(am I correct in this statement?) and don’t feel a need to question it? Hasn’t Church doctrine and teachings changed throughout time (if so, when?)
Also, we tend to talk a lot about the sacrament of Eucharist. It is everything to him. I understand that the Eucharist is known to be the flesh and blood of Christ. It is difficult for me to understand why we need to have the flesh and blood of Christ if we already have the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
Faith and Works: please explain this one as well. The Protestant Churchs I’ve always been in focus on faith preceding works - meaning, we need faith in Jesus in order to acknowledge the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and through the Holy Spirit naturally will come a changed heart which will want to serve the Lord. I understand Catholics believe it is both “faith and works” but
Purgatory: this seems extremely confusing. The Orthodox pray for the dead no matter where they are, correct? Where did the idea of Purgatory first come into belief? What is it, in laymens terms?
Christ’s atonement sacrafice: we haven’t talked about this one too much, but I’m beginning to see differences in how we view Jesus’s atoning sacrifice. It seems like, for Protestants, Christ’s sacrafice was an atonement for all sins in us, and through Him we are being sanctified. Can you please explain the Catholic view of Christ’s atoning sacrifice, what it means to the Catholic Church, and only if possible what it means in contrast to the Protestant view.
His sister recently told him to be careful because I could be openning a way for Satan into his heart. This comment hurt me the most - while I am not in the Catholic Church, I have never felt the need to convert him out of it. He, however, does feel the need for me to convert into it. I find it difficult now to open up about my faith if he is going to think of me as a possible agent of Satan…
Lastly, could you please pray for me. Whether you are Orthodox, Catholic, or Protestant, I do consider you my brothers and sisters in Christ - and I really do want to know God in His fullest with all my heart, mind, and soul. Please also be sensitive in your responses - this dating experience has recently been shaking my faith and it is quite scary and emotional experience. I tend to cry a lot over these issues, because I don’t want to jump to conclusions about the Catholic Church to appease my boyfriend - I really only want to come to know God more because of God’s grace and guidance. My faith can’t be like a seed being thrown on a rock. I want the seed of my faith to grow in furtile soil. I just dont understand how God would make this process so complicated - I know that He’s came for even the simpliest minded of His children…
