Posted on 03/30/2019 8:12:59 AM PDT by Salvation
Question: I had reason to hope my niece was going to convert to the Catholic faith. But there were so many obstacles the Church set up that discouraged her. She was asked to go to classes, and they told her that her marriage was not valid and she would need an annulment. Further, it was necessary to wait until Easter, etc. The nearby evangelical church set up no such obstacles, and she was able to join at once and be considered a member. I hear so much talk of evangelization today, but I share my niece’s frustration. Can we not streamline this process?
— Name withheld
Answer: There is a kind of appealing simplicity that you describe in many Protestant denominations. But there are problems with the approach that should give us pause. Ultimately evangelization is more about conversion than mere membership. We are summoned to embrace the saving teaching of the Lord and to walk according to it.
Because adults make informed decisions, the Church considers it important to teach them the fundamentals of the Faith so that they can know what it is they are agreeing to when they enter the Church. Although some of the Scriptures portray an almost instant, on-the-spot baptism, the consensus in the early Church shifted to a lengthy, three-year period of instruction (called the catechumenate) prior to baptism. This likely was because of the insight that quick conversions often led to quick departures or a falling away when the true demands of discipleship became known.
Instructions are most insisted upon for those who are unbaptized. In the case of those who are baptized and come from different Protestant denominations, the length and content of instructions will depend on their background. It is up to the discretion of the pastor who discerns with each individual what is needed. It is certainly not required for those already baptized to “wait until next Easter.”
The concerns about a person’s marital status are rooted in the very words and teachings of Jesus himself. He teaches without ambiguity that for a person to marry, then divorce and enter another marriage, puts them in an ongoing state of adultery in the “new” marriage (cf. Mt 5:32; Mt 19:1-9; Mk 10:11-12; Lk 16:18, etc). He adds rather firmly, “What God has joined together, let no one divide” (Mt 19:9).
It will be further noted that when the Lord was evangelizing the woman at the well, he brought her to a moment of conversion, and she asked for the gift of faith. But the Lord Jesus saw fit to first raise with her the fact that she had been married five times and was now living with a man outside of marriage. Her conversion would not be complete or adequate until she was willing to live chastely. Then the graces could flow.
For reasons of their own, many Protestant denominations have decided to practically overlook such passages. But the Catholic Church takes the Lord’s teaching on these matters rather seriously, as he clearly intended that we should. In some cases, after an investigation based on evidence, the Church may use its power to bind and loose, to indicate that the previous marriage was not “what God has joined,” and it recognizes the first marriage as null. A person’s current marriage then can be blessed and recognized. But we simply cannot set the Lord’s words aside as if they were of little importance.
Thus some conversions to the Catholic faith will take some time to be faithful to the teachings of the Lord and the nature of true conversion. It is worth the diligence required.
There are only so many open dishes on the buffet table that have flies in them before I walk away and go to McDonalds for lunch.
Golly!
MAybe not!!
If baptism is required for salvation then Paul was pretty remiss in not baptizing and God was ass well, because he says here that God did not send him to baptize but to preach.
And it's by preaching that people are saved.
Romans 10:9-17 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, and your house Acts 16:31.
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved Romans 10:13.
Being saved scripturally has nothing to with Mary at all.
Oh, to be 33 again.
(Only if I knew then what I know now)
Does this mean he won't be around on FR for his birthday party tomorrow?
Specific quotes from early Christians is not always the teaching of the Catholic Church. Specific quotes may be taken out of context.
***
You mean other than outright DISproving your false claim that salvation by grace through faith and not by works was something Luther came up with in the 1500s?
Seems to me that someone’s moving the goalposts.
I’ve proven that your second Pope was a believer in the same things that Luther was excommunicated for. And St. Augustine, and St. Jerome, and...
Well, let’s just say a lot of the saints.
Who are YOU to say that YOUR personal interpretation of Scripture is better than the early fathers and saints of the church, mister Adsum?
That’s about as convoluted as the Catholic belief!
Oh, to be 33 again.
(Only if I knew then what I know now)
***
Yeah, seriously. I want to slap my 23 year old self upside the head. And my 23 year old self wanted to do the same to my 13 year old self.
When I reach 43, 53, 63, I’m sure I’ll be thinking the same thing about my 33, 43, and 53 year old selves!
All the Church teaches is NOT what Jesus Christ or New Testament Scripture teaches.
You are saved by Christ and no other, and you grow spiritually by His Word, the Bible, not church doctrine, much of which, like that of the Pharisees of old, are the commandments and doctrines of men.
Prove it.
Yup....
That’s about as convoluted as the Catholic belief!
***
It gets simpler if you reduce it to the basics.
1: The Lord’s Supper is Jesus’ body and blood and also bread and wine, because Scripture describes it as all four.
2: The Lord’s Supper gives us even more of God’s undeserved kindness, IE grace. Not because we need more grace for salvation, but because God is loving and wants to give us grace upon grace until our cups runneth over.
It’s what we confessional Lutherans believe is taught by Scripture and everything is drawn from and can be defended by Scripture. We don’t go into that mess called ‘tradition’ by a certain OTHER denomination.
Beast at 1/2 off
We only get to look in the CC?
Compile it if you want to; he might be back.
Wait’ll you get there!
I celebrated my second 33rd birthday 11 years ago; and I’m just now having to come to grips with it.
Be kind. Perhaps he was merely ignorant of some Catholic teachings.
It happens; a lot; I hear.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.