Religion Differences With My Boyfriend

[pablope]

Thanks for those suggestions! I am really interested on the one regarding confession, because he had some questions regarding that. He didn’t think the priest himself had the power to forgive our sins, but I was trying to make him understand that it’s God who forgives our sins through the priest.

Rachel

Hi, Rachel…definitely get the confession book. It explains everything there is to know about confession, and its power to heal.

 

[Rspenc93]

Like one of the posts here says,please think this over before you marry if he even has one thing against the Catholic Church it is best to drop him and find some one who is strong in their Catholic faith because what usually happens and I have seen it happen is that the non catholic spouse will coax the Catholic one to their denomination this is something to think about especially when you start to have children let him go God will send a good Catholic your way if you nare meant to get married if not then he will cause you to be happy in the single celibate life will poray for your situation

(I actually just recently started dating him and we’re both pretty young yet, so I don’t think marriage (if we get married) is in the near future. We’re just trying to work out problems that may arise in the future.) I rather disagree about just dropping him just because he may have a few disagreements. That’s no attempt at trying to convert him, which is what God would probably not want me to do, and so I’m going to try.

“your OP is not clear about the baptismal status of both you and your prospective fiance, so it is a little hard to comment intelligently. If he is very committed to the Nazarene faith that is one denom. that is rather anti-Catholic, and whose leadership would very much frown on him marrying a Catholic.”

I’m a bapitized Catholic and I’m very sure he is as well. He admits he has his disagreements with that faith, but I would definitely say he’s committed to God. His leadership might frown on that, but he’s not anti-Catholic and neither is his family, which I think is important…but as I said: we just startd dating so we’re not sure if we even want to get married yet!

*"My advice; better listen to puzzleannie on this issue. No sense losing your soul just because you have a “nice’ boyfriend. He may very well be a great young man but you have a serious issue here. Look at it in depth.” *

I thank you for that advice. However, we’re both really going to try and make things work out. I think I will really need advice on being able to bring him into the Catholic Church.

Rachel

 

[MontChevalier]

I can see there is a lot of friction built between your boyfriend and yourself (when it comes to religious beliefs).

I think it’s better you dated someone Catholic than Protestant.
There’s friction in that. Relationships need to be concrete and without friction.

But then, that’s my opinion.

 

[Rspenc93]

I must be rather confusing. There is actually very little friction between us on that point…thank God. Everything in me rebels against the idea of breaking up with him, especially since neither of us feels that God is saying no, as I’ve stated before. We’re trying to find a good solution though, and hopefully that solution will be him joining the Catholic Church.

 

[MontChevalier]

I must be rather confusing. There is actually very little friction between us on that point…thank God. Everything in me rebels against the idea of breaking up with him, especially since neither of us feels that God is saying no, as I’ve stated before. We’re trying to find a good solution though, and hopefully that solution will be him joining the Catholic Church.

I need to ask:

Does some of the friction with your boyfriend involve things such as The Crusades, The Inquisitions, moments of corruption in church history, etc, etc?

 

[Rspenc93]

I need to ask:

Does some of the friction with your boyfriend involve things such as The Crusades, The Inquisitions, moments of corruption in church history, etc, etc?

No. In regard to the Crusades, he agrees with their purpose and such. I don’t know about the other things. He just has an issue with intercession to the Saints and Mary, which is pretty typical as well as just a few minor objections, like confessing our sins to a priest. I think he just needs some clearing up on issues.

 

[MontChevalier]

No. In regard to the Crusades, he agrees with their purpose and such. I don’t know about the other things. He just has an issue with intercession to the Saints and Mary, which is pretty typical as well as just a few minor objections, like confessing our sins to a priest. I think he just needs some clearing up on issues.

I can try and help, I suppose.

Intercession of the saints is a Christian doctrine held by Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and some Anglican churches, that deceased saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary intercede (or pray) for believers, and that it is possible to ask deceased saints for their prayers. The doctrine of requesting intercession from deceased saints can be found in Christian writings from the 3rd century AD. Saints are called on in prayer due to their proximity to God, because of their holiness, and their accessibility to humans. For the Late Antique, medieval, and much of the Early Modern periods, the practice reflected the common view of the “court of Heaven” as being in some ways similar to earthly courts. The faithful often preferred to make a request through a saint rather than directly to God, just as an earthly request to the monarch was often best handled by using a patron with standing in the court as an intermediary.

You know, God IS a King. Are we so arrogant as to consider ourselves equals to God? I don’t think so.

This is the Roman Catholic View:

Roman Catholic Church doctrine supports intercessory prayer to saints. Intercessory prayer to saints also plays an important role in the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. Also some Anglo-Catholics believe in saintly intercession. They may point to such Scriptural passages as Tobit 13:12-15, Revelation 5:8, or Revelation 8:3-4, which depict heavenly beings offering the prayers of mortals before God, and in addition to James 5:16 (where all those in heaven can be presumed to be living righteously), which states the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Both those for and against the intercession of saints quote Job 5:1.

Intercessory prayer to saintly persons who have not yet been canonized is also practiced, and evidence of miracles produced as a result of such prayer is very commonly produced during the formal process of canonization.

If even the Orthodox and Oriental churches agree with the doctrine, could 1.7 billion Christians in the world be wrong? (It is a fact there are more Christians in the world than there are Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists)

This is the Protestant view:

Many Protestant churches strongly reject all saintly intercession, in accordance with verses like 1 Timothy 2:1-5, which says that Jesus is the sole mediator between God and man. They also point to the fact that there are no examples in the Bible of living humans praying to dead humans — Jesus Christ being the lone exception, because He is believed to be alive and resurrected, and because He is believed to be both human and Divine.

The issue with this is that when it says “the sole mediator”, it really means we can only go to Heaven THROUGH him, it does not reject communication with God through a saint, who happens to be close to God, like a subject is to his or her King. We’re knight’s and ladies of Heaven. Can’t forget that.

But just as there are knights, so are there peasants, dukes, earls, marquises, barons, counts, etc. No one is above the King.

More information on this can be found here:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercession_of_saints

 

[Church_Militant]

Now I feel rather bad. I think I have put my boyfriend in a very bad light, though I didn’t meant to. First off, he is truly an amazing person and he is SO close to God and tries so hard to please Him and it’s a blessing to know him because, through his example, I’ve been striving to grow closer to Christ. I think he is closer to God than I am, which is sad but true.
He has actually studied Catholicism quite a bit and in fact his Dad was a Catholic and he was baptized in the Catholic Church, but his family ended up going to a Protestant church because his Mom was a Protestant. Right now he is not closed to the idea of becoming a Catholic. So, at the moment I’m trying to clear up his main issue: intercession to the Saints and Mary. He believes nearly everything that Catholics do and follows the Wesleyan doctrine, which contains a lot of beliefs which parallel ours.
Also, at this point I can’t condemn him for his wanting me to join his church, because I want him to join the Catholic Church. I hope that he decides to join the Catholic Church. I can’t expect everything to go my way. He was raised one way and I was raised another so it would be equally as hard for either of us to change our ways. That said, I totally understand where he’s coming from and I’m not holding it against him. Catholics believe that their children should be raised in the Catholic Church, but he believes that his children would be better off being raised Protestant, but his opinions may change and I pray they do. He has done lots of researching. He’s not anti-Catholic in any way…I would hate to “drop him and find a better man” because frankly there are many young Catholic men who have probably never been as close to God as my boyfriend is. I hope that all of you will pray for me in my efforts to bring him to the Catholic faith because he’s a true soldier for God.

Rachel

Ah okay, I see now. I was just going on what was in your first post.

Regardless, there is no option for a Catholic to switch or to fail in their duty to their children.

It’s actually simple and complex at the same time. Simple because the fullness of truth is objective and complex because the Gospel is actually more complex than most n-C communities preach. (See Who REALLY Preaches “A Different Gospel”?)

Yes I suppose that could be so. I just think that for many Catholics, so many things are done out of habit, and I’m one of those Catholics, though I love going to Mass. I will try and get him to see that there is so much grace available through the Catholic Church, but that it’s a matter of Catholics seeking those graces out…which, if he were a Catholic, I’m sure he’d do.
You bet.

You might point out that unless he’s some kind of mind reader (and you are…?) that we cannot know why people follow their religion the way they do. What may seem externally to be “just a habit” may actually be a very deep devotion.

And, in fact, a good habit is perhaps the first step toward a deeper holiness. It’s a learning curve you see?

In reply to puzzleannie, there’s a possibility he would convert. He’s the one that said he would, except for a few objections and I’m the one who said flat out that I won’t. I just really need to work on those objections. We’ve both been praying though and don’t feel in our hearts that God is saying no, so we’re trying to come to a good solution, which hopefully will come with time and prayer.

“Rachel, if he was baptized Catholic, he IS a Catholic, although he wasn’t raised one! If he has studied the Catholic Church as extensively as you mentioned he has, I don’t see how that escaped his notice.”

That’s true. He just needs to accept it again. He has studied the Catholic Church a lot, but I think it was primarily the history of the Church. I’ll try and get a hold of some of the reading material all of you have suggested so he can start reading more!

Rachel

You might look into the excellent free courses from the Catholic Home Study Service because they cover many relevant topics. They have one course just on Mary, for instance.

 

[Church_Militant]

Thanks for those suggestions! I am really interested on the one regarding confession, because he had some questions regarding that. He didn’t think the priest himself had the power to forgive our sins, but I was trying to make him understand that it’s God who forgives our sins through the priest.

Rachel

Ah Confession. Good. I may be able to help with 3 articles on my blog.

• Catholic Confession
• Scriptures About Penance
• “I Find No Sacraments In the Bible” he said.

BTW, It’s great that you have opened your own account here at CAF. I’m sure Laura appreciates it.

P.S. I also have one on The Intercession & Communion of Saints

 

[Cristiano]

I would seriously consider spending a few minutes looking at this blog by the Catholic apologist Patrick Madrid:

My Advice to Catholic Parents: Don’t Let Your Kids Date Non-Catholics

 

[Rspenc93]

I can try and help, I suppose.

Intercession of the saints is a Christian doctrine held by Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and some Anglican churches, that deceased saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary intercede (or pray) for believers, and that it is possible to ask deceased saints for their prayers. The doctrine of requesting intercession from deceased saints can be found in Christian writings from the 3rd century AD. Saints are called on in prayer due to their proximity to God, because of their holiness, and their accessibility to humans. For the Late Antique, medieval, and much of the Early Modern periods, the practice reflected the common view of the “court of Heaven” as being in some ways similar to earthly courts. The faithful often preferred to make a request through a saint rather than directly to God, just as an earthly request to the monarch was often best handled by using a patron with standing in the court as an intermediary.

You know, God IS a King. Are we so arrogant as to consider ourselves equals to God? I don’t think so.

This is the Roman Catholic View:

Roman Catholic Church doctrine supports intercessory prayer to saints. Intercessory prayer to saints also plays an important role in the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. Also some Anglo-Catholics believe in saintly intercession. They may point to such Scriptural passages as Tobit 13:12-15, Revelation 5:8, or Revelation 8:3-4, which depict heavenly beings offering the prayers of mortals before God, and in addition to James 5:16 (where all those in heaven can be presumed to be living righteously), which states the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Both those for and against the intercession of saints quote Job 5:1.

Intercessory prayer to saintly persons who have not yet been canonized is also practiced, and evidence of miracles produced as a result of such prayer is very commonly produced during the formal process of canonization.

If even the Orthodox and Oriental churches agree with the doctrine, could 1.7 billion Christians in the world be wrong? (It is a fact there are more Christians in the world than there are Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists)

This is the Protestant view:

Many Protestant churches strongly reject all saintly intercession, in accordance with verses like 1 Timothy 2:1-5, which says that Jesus is the sole mediator between God and man. They also point to the fact that there are no examples in the Bible of living humans praying to dead humans — Jesus Christ being the lone exception, because He is believed to be alive and resurrected, and because He is believed to be both human and Divine.

The issue with this is that when it says “the sole mediator”, it really means we can only go to Heaven THROUGH him, it does not reject communication with God through a saint, who happens to be close to God, like a subject is to his or her King. We’re knight’s and ladies of Heaven. Can’t forget that.

But just as there are knights, so are there peasants, dukes, earls, marquises, barons, counts, etc. No one is above the King.

More information on this can be found here:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercession_of_saints

Thanks so much for that info. That is a lot of help. I Think I might just pass that on to him. I think all of this is helping me understand better as well.

 

[MontChevalier]

Thanks so much for that info. That is a lot of help. I Think I might just pass that on to him. I think all of this is helping me understand better as well.

That’s why we’re here.

To help, grow and, if possible and mostly my opinion not the Catholic Church’s position, to destroy the world with love.

I know it sounds impossible, but believe me, I AM TRYING. :knight1:

You should take a look at the other links before your post. The others on here all come with their own experiences and I see a lot of good stuff there. Check it out.^^

-MontChevalier

 

[Rspenc93]

Yes I’ve been paying attention to all the posts, but it’s so hard to keep track of them all! So, thank you to everyone for putting forth your opinions, giving me lots of material for both him and me to read, and taking the time to help. I really appreciate it!!