Posted on 04/03/2014 2:51:17 PM PDT by NYer
The Church has been under attack lately because of its defense of traditional marriage. Not surprisingly, articles in the secular media mostly present arguments against traditional marriage. As a result, few people, including many Catholics, understand the reasons behind Church teaching. Do you?
You'll be able to say "I do" after watching "Transforming Witness: Marriage in the Early Church," the latest episode in the "Franciscan University Presents" series. Join Mike Aquilina, Michael Harmon, Dr. Regis Martin, and Dr. Scott Hahn as they compare the Judeo-Christian approach to marriage with that of the pagan cultures of that time. Find out how the traditional approach to marriage was actually responsible, in many ways, for the widespread evangelization of Christianity! Airs 10 p.m. ET, Sunday, April 6 & 5 a.m. ET, Thursday, April 10—exclusively on #EWTN!
While much of the program focuses on the reasons Catholics have almost always viewed marriage as a sacrament, the panel couldn't help but note there are eerie similarities between some Greco-Roman family practices and the ones we see today. For example, in Roman times children were considered the property of their fathers, which meant that the life of a newborn was solely in his hands. Mike Aquilina said that finding a wailing baby in a pile of refuse was a common occurrence, and that sometimes babies were drowned before their horrified mother's eyes.
Newborn girls were more often the victims of infanticide than newborn boys. Girls were seen as "burdens" because they couldn't "work" or as commodities to be married off in the hopes of providing a husband with strong sons. However, at some point, even the ruling government recognized that these practices made it difficult for men to find wives and lowered the birth rate. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Meanwhile, Jews and Christians viewed infanticide as a grave sin, which meant that their demographics were more balanced. The lack of pagan women ended up working in the Early Church's favor. Many pagan men became interested in seeing where all the Christian women were going on Sundays. One might say that this made Christianity very "attractive" to would-be converts!
This was just one of the many ways marriage help spread Christianity! Find out more when "Franciscan University Presents" airs on EWTN at 10 p.m. ET, Sunday April 6 & at 5 a.m. ET, Thursday April 10.
God bless Family!
Ping!
No such thing as “traditional marriage”.
No such thing as “gay marriage”.
Marriage is marriage as defined by time and eternity.
This is pure crapp to use the queer term “traditional marriage” because
it means that one is allowing the definition of marriage to be redefined to include queers.
This is calling a husband a wife which is the insanity the devil uses to promote his verson of saneness of insanity.
The Devil is the father of Lies and those 2 terms above are LIES> PERIOD>
MARRIAGE IS MARRIAGE BY IDENTITY AND CANNOT ASSUME ANOTHER IDENTITY OR IT IS AN IMPOSTOR sent by SATAN TO KILL MARRIAGE>
The term “Traditional marriage” never appears in the bible, nor any literature since writing began 5000 BC, and never in Webster for 150 years, ergo it is a LIE>
Just marriage, period.
Oftentimes, during the period of the early Church, it was the Christians who found it was said abandoned babies that were left to die and were raised by them, thus new believers over the course of time.
What are the lessons?
Don’t vote democrat and they can’t make America liberal/libertarian, don’t replace your native American population with foreign voters who vote democrat and empower the democrats?
I like to say “sacramental marriage”!! Then I know it is proper and between a man and a woman.
Amnesty is DEAD for this year.
That’s good, but it doesn’t change post 6.
I don’t buy the analysis. Men rarely convert to the wife’s religion. Perhaps the women simply raised their children as Christians, but I don’t see the men converting.
I know of two men who converted to Catholicism because of their wives.
One from Mormonism and one from an evangelical background.
Men rarely convert to the wife’s religion...but I don’t see the men converting...
...I did...I know plenty of others who did as well...
Anecdotal evidence, the statistics point in the opposite direction. I don’t doubt it happens, but it’s rare. Wives convert at double or better the rate that husbands do.
The more wishy-washy the persons faith the more likely they are to marry outside of it. That is a faith-based marriage isn’t that important to them.
It does happen that men do convert to the faith. I have seen it at my parish church.
I didn’t say it never happened, just that the probability is low. A woman who marries outside of her faith rarely sees the husband convert. Interfaith marriages indicate that religion is of lesser importance than the romantic relationship between the two.
For instance, I know a woman who wouldn’t marry her sweetheart if he wouldn’t accept her faith. They agreed on that and he eventually converted after which they were married.
My husband was raised as a Presbyterian, I as an Episcopalian, he converted.
So he was PCA and chose your religion which is High or Low Episcopalian? It doesn’t sound like a very big change if my understanding of both Christian sects is correct.
My point is the rarity of it. Take a look at the stats. Wives convert, husbands don’t is the rule.
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