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.
I will volunteer, to be number 6. 😁🤣
Here is an excellent example, where more courses in Bible Study in Catholic Seminary, would illuminate the Scriptures.
The Matthew passage is about the judgment that would fall on Jerusalem. It is about physical salvation from destruction and not spiritual destruction.
..........................
There is no moral or spiritual authority in a church that holds the worlds records for:
🏆 Largest homo religious organization in history.🏆 Most children sexually abused by a religious organization in history.
🏆 Largest criminal coverup of child abuse by a religious organization in history.
I know, all +15 of us can join the Official 5 Pals Club!!
+1
This Prot likes to post what Rome LETS you believe if you really want to do so.
Thank you for clarifying what it REALLY means.
So, if that is true, then when it comes down to who has the biggest and best piece, I believe that honor falls to the Catholic Church.
And just WHY do you believe that?
I find it difficult to believe an organization that has assembled a book for all the world to read and then has to complain that it does not contain enough information.
A “Prisoner” reference?
“Who is number 1?”
“You are number 6”
HMMMmmm…
The Rack, Iron Maiden, boiling oil and drowning has had a bad effect on us Prots.
We still carry a grudge; I guess.
I saw ebb disappear; but I’ve not seen Songcraft all day.
Have I missed something again?
What's your take on HIS mom?
I can’t help but consider the irony of being told the only way to salvation is through the roman catholic church. The same church in fact which claims to have the power to “create” God through a process called transubstantiation.
Then I am told, not only is the person with the turned around collar able to create God weekly, but is also able to absolve sin.
Then I open the newspaper to find this very same individual has been what is known as a perish hopping pedophile.
I am then told, I must uphold tradition over God’s Word. And that the “head” of the church does not reside in Heaven, but rather in Rome.
Come to think of it, there have been others who have said, trust me not your Bible. Now, if I could only recall his name, Oh yeah, Jim Jones.
I’ve been told, the holy roman catholic church is the oldest and the one true church. But then I have read the archives, you can too, in fact it’s available on audio. Here’s the link:
Foxe’s Martyrs Editions
https://www.born-again-christian.info/foxes.book.of.martyrs/foxes.editions.htm
*be aware of corrupted versions of the original
I have posted plenty in this thread about the Catholic teaching of the NECESSITY of MARY in a person's salvation.
Yet no Catholic deems it worthy to comment on.
I'm left wondering why.
“Yet no Catholic deems it worthy to comment on... I’m left wondering why.
They believe whatever they are told to believe.
Logical analysts? Biblical exogesis? Seeking truth?
Not seeing it after +20 years.
Who are those going to Purgatory??
It’s astounding the contortions the Catholic church will go through to sugar coat sin for it’s members.
If the marriage never was valid, then the married people were living in sin. If that’s the case, then the children they bore were born out of wedlock.
That makes them illegitimate.
If they are legitimate, that is by default, the church recognizing that it was indeed a valid marriage.
Trying to console a couple and tell them that they didn’t have a valid marriage but their children are legitimate creates a cognitive dissonance that only a Catholic can rationalize away.
Me, too.
Me, too.
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.