Replies

On the other hand, his whole family was raised Catholic. His "committed christian" life was largely a breakaway from the Catholic faith. So if the author believes the Catholic faith was correct, he actually has been a believer most of his life.

And in fact, in my opinion the author used the term "new" not to suggest Baldwin was a new Christian, but instead to make a point about how Baldwin had a real faith before, but now was on some "new religious" kick that the author hopes to "save" him from by reminding him of the "true faith" of the Catholic church.

BTW, here is an interesting interview Baldwin gave. You can see in here some of what might prompt a Catholic writer like this one to chide Baldwin on his "new faith":

Stephen Baldwin: I'm going to be a bit of a jerk to make a point. Now you're doing that dance that most people do. And I was at the same place that you are. "I'm a good guy." And even the Roman Catholic Church, nowhere in the bible does it say you can pray to Mary. Prayer is a form of worship and the Lord said that you will have no other God before me. Now look at all of the problems you're seeing in the Roman Catholic Church. Now, am I saying that's God's wrath? That's not for me to decide or even make a statement about. I can't judge that. I'm just little schmuck, Stephen Baldwin. God says that there is only one way and I didn't believe that, myself, until I tried it and his spirit came into my life and into my heart, and confirmed that the Jesus Christ truth was real.

And here is a 700-club interview:

Baldwin: Sure. Raised Roman Catholic up until 11 or 12, didn’t stick. Went out into the world and did my own thing. But you have to understand at the time, I was functioning in Hollywood. All kinds of different things, perspectives, lifestyles, perceptions, [and] to me this was just okay. This is the new kooky housekeeper. OK, what’s next? What do we do now? How about a reality show?
...
Baldwin: September 11th kind of freaked me out. I said, “Hey, what’s this all about? My wife’s a Jesus freak. Maybe it’s time I begin thinking about this faith thing.” Pursued it, became born again, accepted the Lord, baptized in water.

I hadn't known that his wife was a Christian before he was.