R
RKS89
Guest
I’ve had two discussions with a friend over the past week that left me scratching my head. He’s a non-denominational Christian with a very conservative, Baptist background.
The first conversation was about other religions, and that he believes there’s absolutely no truth outside of Christianity. I asked about a moral Buddhist or atheist, where would their morality come from? He said it’s either a lie from the Devil or it’s really not “morality”, it’s just self-centered actions that appear “good”. I then asked what about marriages and families; there are plenty of Muslims, Jews, Hindus etc who love each other and love their children. Where would that love come from, if Christ is the source of Love? His response was that they don’t “actually love each other” and that it would be a marriage built on selfishness. So what about their kids, I asked. Surely they wouldn’t sacrifice for their kids without some kind of authentic love, right? He said nope, their love for the kids would just be selfish and it wouldn’t be the same as how God loves or even how Christians love (that last part I agreed with). My last question to him was, “Would you really say that to someone who wasn’t a Christian?” And he said yes, because they need to know the truth.
Later we were talking about a mutual friend who is gay. She had gotten “married” in another state and he said he thought she was single due to some social media posts. My immediate reaction was “Oh, that’s too bad.” His reaction was that it was a good thing and that maybe this would turn her towards God. I said yes, hopefully, but is that really what you would say to her if you ran into her and she shared with you that her marriage had ended? He said yes, her relationship was sinful (which I agree with) and it’s a good thing even though painful. I said sure, I can see where you’re coming from but that would be a tremendous amount of pain and emotional upheaval for anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, to go through and it seems like you’re response skims over that. Furthermore I don’t know that it’s the best way to try to convert people. So we agreed to disagree but I’d like some help with examples from Scripture to help convey a Catholic understanding of these issues. I’m not sure if there’s a branch of Calvinism or other Protestant theology that thinks this way but I find it a little narrow-minded.
Thanks for your help!
The first conversation was about other religions, and that he believes there’s absolutely no truth outside of Christianity. I asked about a moral Buddhist or atheist, where would their morality come from? He said it’s either a lie from the Devil or it’s really not “morality”, it’s just self-centered actions that appear “good”. I then asked what about marriages and families; there are plenty of Muslims, Jews, Hindus etc who love each other and love their children. Where would that love come from, if Christ is the source of Love? His response was that they don’t “actually love each other” and that it would be a marriage built on selfishness. So what about their kids, I asked. Surely they wouldn’t sacrifice for their kids without some kind of authentic love, right? He said nope, their love for the kids would just be selfish and it wouldn’t be the same as how God loves or even how Christians love (that last part I agreed with). My last question to him was, “Would you really say that to someone who wasn’t a Christian?” And he said yes, because they need to know the truth.
Later we were talking about a mutual friend who is gay. She had gotten “married” in another state and he said he thought she was single due to some social media posts. My immediate reaction was “Oh, that’s too bad.” His reaction was that it was a good thing and that maybe this would turn her towards God. I said yes, hopefully, but is that really what you would say to her if you ran into her and she shared with you that her marriage had ended? He said yes, her relationship was sinful (which I agree with) and it’s a good thing even though painful. I said sure, I can see where you’re coming from but that would be a tremendous amount of pain and emotional upheaval for anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, to go through and it seems like you’re response skims over that. Furthermore I don’t know that it’s the best way to try to convert people. So we agreed to disagree but I’d like some help with examples from Scripture to help convey a Catholic understanding of these issues. I’m not sure if there’s a branch of Calvinism or other Protestant theology that thinks this way but I find it a little narrow-minded.
Thanks for your help!
Last edited:
