Posted on 08/17/2009 9:57:36 AM PDT by marshmallow
Visitors to the Basilica of the National Shrine in northeast Washington often do a double take when they see Newt Gingrich and his familiar shock of white hair slip into a pew for the noon Mass on Sundays. The former Speaker of the House is known for many things, but religious zeal is not one of them. In fact, the social conservatives who fueled his Republican revolution in 1994 often complained about Gingrich's lack of interest in issues like abortion or school prayer.
This past spring, however, after several decades as a nominal Southern Baptist, Gingrich converted to Catholicism. With the fervor of a convert, he has embraced the role of defending both his new faith and religious liberty. In his 2006 book Rediscovering God in America, Gingrich lambasted what he calls the "secular effort to reject any sense of a spiritual life as mattering." And days before he officially joined the Catholic Communion on March 29, he was among the first to criticize the University of Notre Dame for inviting Barack Obama to speak, Twittering (of course): "It is sad to see notre dame invite president obama to give the commencement address since his policies are so anti catholic." (See TIME's 10 Questions for Newt Gingrich)
Gingrich's spiritual awakening has struck more than a few political observers as a bit of positioning for the GOP nomination in 2012. (In the first half of 2009, the former Speaker raked in $8.1 million through his political committee, far outpacing his party rivals.) While he wouldn't be the first to experience a conversion on the road to Des Moines, there are simpler ways of understanding the new godly Gingrich. American Catholicism has been losing members at a remarkable rate; an April 2009 Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life report found that......
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
I love hearing conversion stories. They remind me not to take my Catholic faith for granted and to see it with fresh insight. Catholicism is so deep, rich, and mysterious that I’m amazed we can lift our eyes on the way to Communion.
Marriage often plays a major role in a person’s decision to convert to a particular faith. Callista’s strong faith was no doubt a major factor.
Most mainline Protestant Churches have strongly embraced liberalism making it easy to leave them.
Probably because Christianity is part of the equation here.
Huh??? When I swam the Tiber 15 years ago there were 52-53 million Catholics in the US. Now there are 10 million more. I question the Pew stats on this....(and lots of other topics, too!)
“Gingrich’s spiritual awakening has struck more than a few political observers as a bit of positioning for the GOP nomination in 2012. “
Right, being a Catholic is a sure fire guarantee of getting elected POTUS. Only one Roman Catholic has ever been elected POTUS, John F Kennedy, and that election was dubious Many assert it was stolen in Chicago and Texas.
This adult convert welcomes Newt home!
He obviously wasn't knowledgeable about his faith before he became a Roman Catholic. If he was, he would have known that the true church is the "ecclesia" the called-out assembly of believers in Jesus Christ. It's not any denomination or religion and certainly not one place or building. He could have stayed where he was and become a dedicated, justified and sanctified child of God by being saved by grace through faith in the sacrificial atoning blood of Jesus Christ.
He also divorced his first wife and married his mistress. Did he get an annulment?
It is true that the "faith" really goes back to when Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden. God made them clothing of animal skins. So even back then, blood was shed as a covering for sin. When the Messiah came, he was the "lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world". His blood was shed to make a complete and final propitiation (satisfactory payment) for our sins. Praise be to the one, true God Almighty!
God made them clothing of animal skins. So even back then, blood was shed as a covering for sin.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It was God who made them skins for them to wear. It shows God’s love and compassion for His children.
He just gave the secret password: Kennedy.
And Kennedy would not have won except that more than 80% of Catholic voters chose him. Although Catholics had generally voted Democratic, the Cold War moved many into the Republican camp. Ike had won a majority amongst them in 1956. Catholic stayed with LBJ and Humphrey. but McGovern turned them off.
he probably didn’t need an annulment.
He divorced his first wife (a valid sacramental marriage if they were both baptised Christians) and married again (a “natural” marriage but not a sacrament).
After that marriage, his first wife died.
The “natural” marriage would not be a sacrament and could be ended by divorce. It’s the “Pauline privelege” that if a spouse doesn’t want to stay with a person who converts, they can separate, according to Paul.
Ergo, to convert, he would have to prove all these things before they baptised him and “blessed” his third marriage.
The Kennedys get their annulments by cheating on their wives from the beginning of their marriage, proving that they had no intention of entering a true sacramental marriage, which requires fidelity. Unfortunatly, it’s a “Catch 22” for their innocent spouses.
I dislike Gingrich. I think he is shallow, but an excellent teacher. When I hear him talk, I am reminded of the part in a Man for All Seasons where Thomas More advises an ambitious young man to be a teacher and not go into politics, because he will be corrupted.
A lot of nuance there. I wonder what God thinks.
The Apostolic Church IS the Church of Christ — we belief in the faith of Christ through His Apostles, not through John Smith or Calvin or others.
I can verify your statement having turned my head when walking through the cafeteria downstairs some six or seven years ago recognizing a voice and then seeing Newt holding court with a handful of folks. Later, sitting in my car getting ready to leave, Newt got in the car right in front of me...a white Cadillac Escalade.
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