You wrote:
“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.”
Incorrect. It is clear from what all the Baldwin brothers have said that the faith played essentially no part in their lives besides the barest of formalism when they were young.
“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.”
No. The very first line of the letter is this: “Praise God, you have become a strong voice in winning souls for Jesus as one who has experienced the saving grace of the Redeemer.”
Clearly Claveau neither dismisses Baldwin’s recently discovered religious faith nor cheapens it in any way.
“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”:”
I’m sure that Baldwin’s ignorance regarding orthodox Christianity is definitely one of the reasons Claveau wrote to him.
And by the way, the interview you posted merely proves me right:
Baldwin: Sure. Raised Roman Catholic up until 11 or 12, didn’t stick.
Clearly he was at best a nominal Catholic and nothing in particular after age 12 until he his religious experience at age 35.
“I hadn’t known that his wife was a Christian before he was.”
He credits her in many interviews with showing him the way towards faith.
If you are baptised and raised in the Catholic church, you are a christian, according to the Catholic church. If he fell away at 11 or 12, the question is whether he finished Catechism or not I guess. if he did, then he’s a fallen Catholic, not a new believer, according to the Church.
In Catholic church doctrine, you don’t cease to be a believer (or saved) because you fall away from the faith. You simply must return to the faith and confess your sins.
I interpret the author’s glowing words about Baldwin’s faith as cover for his real message, not as sincerely as you take them. Kind of like “It’s nice and all that you have this faith you are sharing, but you really need to get back to the real faith you were born into if you want to do some good, otherwise you are just deceiving those you think you are helping”.
But that’s just my interpretation. I imagine that it looks different to people with different religious backgrounds.