Studying and discussing Catholicism with my wife

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HopkinsReb said:
She gets the willies at … folks crossing themselves
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Hi! Could you explain to me why she has a problem doing the sign of the cross? I’m curious. I don’t understand why someone might have an issue with that.

Wishing you all the best as you move forward.
 
Because Catholics do it. That’s literally all.

Gotta remember: the Presbyterians believe that the Pope is Antichrist and the Catholic Church is the Whore of Babylon.
 
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Scott Hahn´s books are very often recommended to protestants as he knows the language of both protestants and Catholic and can therefor go deeper in explaining the faith. I have read some of his books after I was received into the Catholic Church and find them very helpful.
 
HopkinsReb said:
Because Catholics do it. That’s literally all.

Gotta remember: the Presbyterians believe that the Pope is Antichrist and the Catholic Church is the Whore of Babylon.
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Ok then. Thanks for the reply. You’ve got quite a battle in front of you. God bless you on your journey and give you wisdom and strength!
 
Update to this – it appears that those lines have been removed from the Westminster Confession, or at least the version of it I just looked at. They were in it until recently, though.
 
HopkinsReb said:
How do I talk about these things with my wife?
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Prayer of course but most importantly be patient and let her come to the faith on her own. If you are serious about a move in the direction to the Catholic Church and you go through the requirements to become a member she will see the seriousness of the matter. Get involved in your new parish by joining mens groups and bible studies. Stay for fellowship hour after Liturgy when you have the opportunity. By the grace of God you will become a changed man, she will see this and will notice that this is all by accident.

In the meantime, continue your studies. I would like to offer another free resource if you don’t mind? It’s the Institute of Catholic Culture. Again, it’s free and there are over 700 hours of archived videos and archived audio of talks that range from theology, liturgy, apologetics, the saints, prayer life, eastern Christianity. You name it they have it. They also have free live webinars and a weekly Sunday Gospel Reflection for both the Roman and Byzantine lectionary. All this can also be found on their YouTube page.

Speakers include: Mike Aquilina, John Bergsma, Carlo Broussard, founder Father Hezekias and his brother Father Sebastian Carnazzo, Tim Staples, Peter Kreeft and many others.

ZP
 
ziapueblo said:
Prayer of course but most importantly be patient and let her come to the faith on her own. If you are serious about a move in the direction to the Catholic Church and you go through the requirements to become a member she will see the seriousness of the matter. Get involved in your new parish by joining mens groups and bible studies. Stay for fellowship hour after Liturgy when you have the opportunity. By the grace of God you will become a changed man, she will see this and will notice that this is all by accident.
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This is the plan, but dad gummit if it isn’t difficult. She’s gotten so suspicious, and she’s convinced herself I’m trying to force her to convert (when I haven’t even started the process of doing so myself) and that I think she and her family are all going to Hell (when I’ve never said any such thing and haven’t really looked into the Catholic view on that question yet).

It’s very lonely, which I suppose is why I’m here talking to strangers in the interwebz about it.
ziapueblo said:
In the meantime, continue your studies. I would like to offer another free resource if you don’t mind? It’s the Institute of Catholic Culture. Again, it’s free and there are over 700 hours of archived videos and archived audio of talks that range from theology, liturgy, apologetics, the saints, prayer life, eastern Christianity. You name it they have it. They also have free live webinars and a weekly Sunday Gospel Reflection for both the Roman and Byzantine lectionary. All this can also be found on their YouTube page.

Speakers include: Mike Aquilina, John Bergsma, Carlo Broussard, founder Father Hezekias and his brother Father Sebastian Carnazzo, Tim Staples, Peter Kreeft and many others.
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Thanks, I’ll look into this.
 
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HopkinsReb said:
This is the plan, but dad gummit if it isn’t difficult. She’s gotten so suspicious, and she’s convinced herself I’m trying to force her to convert (when I haven’t even started the process of doing so myself) and that I think she and her family are all going to Hell (when I’ve never said any such thing and haven’t really looked into the Catholic view on that question yet).

It’s very lonely, which I suppose is why I’m here talking to strangers in the interwebz about it.
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I know the feeling. My wife fell away from the Church as a young adult and it was a long, and at times, difficult road.
HopkinsReb said:
Thanks, I’ll look into this.
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I’m Byzantine Catholic and the founders are Melkite Greek Catholics. It’s my favorite resource. There are great talks and the apostolic faith is taught.

ZP
 
In my journey back from my 20 year foray in Calvinism one of the things I tackled was the whole crossing thing. I remember reading something online (Googled things to death during that stage) written by a Presbyterian minister (to my recollection) that said crossing was permissible but not recommended . I seem to recall it wasn’t recommended because it would look “Catholic”. I’ll try to find the article.
 
OK, let’s see if I can figure out posting a link.
Pastor was Doug Wilson.


In reference to protestants crossing themselves.
 
Congratulations to you on taking this step as perhaps God is calling you to deeper discovery and exploration of your faith, and it sounds like you already know a lot and are passionate about the Catholic Faith!

I would suggest that you talk about this with a priest because before you can talk with your wife you need to personally understand how to answer certain faith questions she may have and a priest will help you better know your faith.

I think a priest after that discussion with him about your faith could give you some good tips on how to talk with your wife.

God Bless on your journey!
 
@HopkinsReb

One last thing. Have you watched the Journey Home? You can find all their archived shows on EWTNs YouTube channel. Anyway, watch the episodes with individuals that came from a similar religious back ground as your wife. Look at what brought them to the Catholic Church. That might help you when you have discussions with your wife.

Just a thought.

ZP
 
Just looked it up. One of the first results is a former Anglican priest. Fitting. I’ll start there.
 
Can y’all recommend some good books on the history of the Church? Ideally, neither noticeably pro- nor anti-Catholic.

I primarily want to get a better understanding of the early Church and the events immediately before, during, and after the Reformation.

Also, what would you recommend for a fairly modern English translation of the Bible? I’m currently working off of an ESV on my Kindle and my old KJV and I’d like to have a Catholic reference so I can compare to see how differences in translation might affect interpretation.
 
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Earlier this year I discovered a writer on the Early Church who until then was completely unknown to me. Edwin Hatch was a 19th century Oxford professor whose specialty was the Greek OT, but – quite apart from the Hatch-Redpath concordance to the Septuagint – he left four books which, for me, have the great merit of being written in a lively, even entertaining, style. Here, for instance, is the opening paragraph of the Influence:

It is impossible for anyone, whether he be a student of history or no, to fail to notice a difference of both form and content between the Sermon on the Mount and the Nicene Creed. The Sermon on the Mount is the promulgation of a new law of conduct; it assumes beliefs rather than formulates them; the theological conceptions which underlie it belong to the ethical rather than the speculative side of theology; metaphysics are wholly absent. The Nicene Creed is a statement partly of historical facts and partly of dogmatic inferences; the metaphysical terms which it contains would probably have been unintelligible to the first disciples; ethics have no place in it. The one belongs to a world of Syrian peasants, the other to a world of Greek philosophers.




 
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Episcopalian, here. First, you should really have a good knowledge of what the ACNA teaches, and I’m pretty sure that doesn’t include sola scriptura, sola fide and the 39 Articles, although maybe I’m wrong.
Second, you’ve been married a little more than a year, did you talk about religion with your wife before you were married? Did you agree to anything? If so, you should honor that agreement. I would not advise trying to convert your wife. Just be an example and answer questions if she asks.
Also, if you attend RCIA, just be aware that some programs are more truthful than others. Do your own research, too. CS Lewis once wrote that the only reason to believe something is because it’s true, and I hope you will make an informed decision.
 
masuwerte1 said:
Episcopalian, here. First, you should really have a good knowledge of what the ACNA teaches, and I’m pretty sure that doesn’t include sola scriptura, sola fide and the 39 Articles, although maybe I’m wrong.
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It does use the 39 Articles:
“We receive the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion of 1562, taken in their literal and grammatical sense, as expressing the Anglican response to certain doctrinal issues controverted at that time, and as expressing the fundamental principles of authentic Anglican belief.”

masuwerte1 said:
Second, you’ve been married a little more than a year, did you talk about religion with your wife before you were married? Did you agree to anything? If so, you should honor that agreement. I would not advise trying to convert your wife. Just be an example and answer questions if she asks.
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We did discuss religion, and agreed to find a church home together. Which we did. My issues came later.

Edited to add: I’m still not sure I’m trying to convert me. But I’m looking hard at things, and I’m finding issues. At the very least, I’m moving hard in the Anglo-Catholic direction, which is enough to scare her.
masuwerte1 said:
Also, if you attend RCIA, just be aware that some programs are more truthful than others. Do your own research, too. CS Lewis once wrote that the only reason to believe something is because it’s true, and I hope you will make an informed decision.
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Yeah, one of my fears in this whole process is that I’ll go to a priest for guidance and find that he’s one of those Catholic priests who isn’t very, well, Catholic.
 
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I do have to say that, to me at least, the idea of one’s spouse changing religion is more than a little scary.
 
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