Catholic

Oh..
Well it might be better to talk to her face to face rather than txt about each others beliefs.
I dont know how much you already know about RCC, but its very different from non catholic churches.
Maybe best to ask what her personal relationship with Jesus is like. Its important to discern if shes a born again believing christian first than just a churchgoer or cultural christian.

The catholic church has lots of tradtions that are extra biblical and if you went you might not be comfortable taking part in it. Just warning you. My experience with catholic friendships has been a bit rocky.

not so sure about it now but in the past for the marriage you were required to sign an agreement that the kids would go to a catholic church and things like that. Don't know if that is still done. Question I guess is if you were to get married would you both be happy to look for a new church you both would be happy at or would she insist on it being catholic or would you insist on being the one to decide?

yuppers said:

hi everyone. I would like to get your input on a situation that has come up in my life.

I met a girl online. We went on a date and got along very well. We have been texting everyday for a week now. There is a little issue though, she is Catholic and I go to a alliance church. We texted over the issue and we are both open minded. I'm not fimiliar with the Catholic belief so I would like your input on this. Is there anything I should be carful about as I think about going forward with this relationship? We have only been on one date and have planned a second one. I would like to get into more detail about this topic and her beliefs because this could be a deal breaker for me. Are there any good pointers I should think about?

Thank you for your time and response.

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First, I'd say to avoid talking religion as much as possible until you see if the relationship goes anywhere. No need to poison it before your know if there's any reason to get into such issues.

Catholics do have (and cherish) practices and some beliefs that are peculiar to that denomination--devotion to saints and Mary, for instance. If you want to avoid seeming confrontational, avoid referring to them and just speak as though you're both Christians and agree on the essentials of Christianity like Jesus as Savior, the importance of living a moral lifestyle, etc. If "church" comes up, and differences in style are mentioned, talk as though they're matters of preference, not weighty theological differences.

You say you'd like to get more into this subject, but I'd recommend starting to do that by researching online or at the library, not by quizzing her.

Later, when you've informed yourself and settled in your own mind whether you think there's anything like a "dealbreaker" in it, you can decide how to speak to her about the religious differences.

Well glad you ended it. Better safe then sorry. Do not be unequally yolked!

NothingIsImpossible said:

Well glad you ended it. Better safe then sorry. Do not be unequally yolked!

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Here's a scripture you might want to look at: It says in:

2 Corinthians 6:14New King James Version (NKJV)
14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
We are saved by "faith through grace," not works. Catholics still base their salvation through "works", and believe in a place they call purgatory, which the Bible does not teach either. "They also believe that some go to purgatory, and that those living can get them free from this place by their works (by praying and so on). Do not be misled. If you cannot bring her to the truth of the faith by grace, then you would be unwise to continue the relationship or you could be misled yourself.

Yes, the Catholic Christian dodged a bullet there for sure. What is alliance? Is that some kind of new belief or something?

I always have to remind myself of this one.
You see, unbelievers desperately want to yoke themselves with christians all the time. But they dont understand that the one pulling us is Jesus Christ. But if they constantly refuse to head in the same direction with us, we arent going anywhere. All it does is go round in circles.

And i dont know about you but I want to go somewhere, not chase someones tail.

With catholics they will say well the pope wants us to do this or that. But, we listen to Jesus first, not the pope. Ok the pope may also be a christian, but even the pope is not perfect.

Goodbook said:

With catholics they will say well the pope wants us to do this or that. But, we listen to Jesus first, not the pope. Ok the pope may also be a christian, but even the pope is not perfect.

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Worth noting that catholics do not claim the pope is perfect either. Only in a certain role do they say the pope can not be wrong. Outside of that he can.

Well the other problem is many go into marriage thinking "I can change this person!". Biggest mistake ever. You can't change someone, not forcibly anyways. You can try to guide them, pray for them...etc. But it doesn't mean they will change. We are stubborn as humans. So marrying someone of a different belief will make things complicated. And when they kids come.... prepare for WW3. Most people end up giving in to the pressure and changing their beliefs. Such as a christian friend (not sure his denomination) dated a catholic girl. In order to please her when she came to america he became catholic without any questions about it. If you can switch faiths easily like that then I'm not sure how secure you are in your beliefs. But in the end only God can judge them about that. I don't know their heart.

This is a great thread for a Christian forum. I had hoped that by now prejudices between different Christian faiths had declined to almost nothing. And people are still afraid or wary of those big, bad Catholics? Wow!

One date and some of you had them married. And what better way to promote ignorance and distrust than to discourage interaction between people of different Christian faiths. Oh, that's right, to some of you Catholics are not Christians.

Excuse me while I search for a true Christian forum. It isn't here.

I think problems can arise even with two people of differing non catholic faiths in a relationship. What really tends to happen is when things get hard one or the other or both suddenly get into their "religion" very deeply and in that effort they try and convince the other person to get into their faith the same as they do too. Just because someone identifies themselves as Catholic doesn't mean they are into "Catholicism" just as if someone identifies themselves as any other denomination doesn't mean that they adhere to their church's doctrines strongly. I think unless someone puts "Christianity" in the forefront of whatever church they belong to that their church's doctrines that are not generically Christian can become a problem.

One can go to the theology debate/discussion areas and get an idea of how heated things can get with differing beliefs. In a decent relationship there is some give and take in things that can be a problem with disagreements but often ones beliefs and faith in God can be to them an area where they cannot give and often want to the other to "give in" to their faith. This thinking happens in a lot of churches both catholic and non catholic you get what I consider "hard core" adherents and unless you are able to accept and deal with these people they can often make your life miserable.

Would I say a Catholic and non Catholic Christian is a good match? By default I would say no, but if both generically can agree on faith in God and sort of privatize their differences in belief it can work quite well but as mentioned when children come into the picture that can all go out the window too.

I think the major issue with catholics, and sad to say it is an issue i notice more than any other denom, is they are so hardcore about their church. But that doesnt actually translate as being on fire for God.

I just know many many ex catholics (who are now born again) and the catholics that I know personally take a dim view of non catholics. They call anyone who isnt a foreigner.

I was really shocked when I overheard the way they talked about it. And when i read catholic literature its very anti anybody who doesnt beleive in their church teachings. Although many catholics that i know have a kind of surface religion, they actually are terrified of digging too deep into the bible.

Sorry catholics. But thats the thing.

Well churchianity is the problem.
If the church that you were raised in perhaps is MORE improtant than your personal relationship with God then its a problem.

Goodbook said:

Well churchianity is the problem.
If the church that you were raised in perhaps is MORE improtant than your personal relationship with God then its a problem.

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Pride is the center of it all. In any relationship, religion, politics, and pride can become an insurmountable barrier between two people.

Martinius said:

This is a great thread for a Christian forum. I had hoped that by now prejudices between different Christian faiths had declined to almost nothing. And people are still afraid or wary of those big, bad Catholics? Wow!

One date and some of you had them married. And what better way to promote ignorance and distrust than to discourage interaction between people of different Christian faiths. Oh, that's right, to some of you Catholics are not Christians.

Excuse me while I search for a true Christian forum. It isn't here.

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Not sure its ignorance to say you don't want to marry someone of a different christian faith. Even the bible says don't marry unequally yolked. I can post many examples of two different christian faiths that married and ended up divorced because neither wanted to "switch" to the others views on Christianity. For example lets say I married a catholic woman. First think is we should go to church together. But she probably won't want to go to my church because its not like going to a mass. But I don't want to go to her church because its a mass. Whos right? Who wrongs? Already it adds stress. In the end you really shouldn't marry a christian of a different belief system because the bible says not to. Its not only destructive but it can make your walk wit GOd unstable.

And eventually all these issues can end up with people creating new denominations because they don't think any of the current ones fit their mixed view. Of course no one can force anyone to marry/not marry someone of a different faith.

Martinius said:

This is a great thread for a Christian forum. I had hoped that by now prejudices between different Christian faiths had declined to almost nothing. And people are still afraid or wary of those big, bad Catholics? Wow!

One date and some of you had them married. And what better way to promote ignorance and distrust than to discourage interaction between people of different Christian faiths. Oh, that's right, to some of you Catholics are not Christians.

Excuse me while I search for a true Christian forum. It isn't here.

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Well, that's just it. Most don't consider Catholics or Orthodox to be Christians around here. So, when any of us come along to post, it suddenly causes problems for them, because heaven forbid someone should defend their faith against false accusations. I flat out think there are some liars around here, as they have to claim to believe the Nicene Creed to post here. They can't possibly really believe it if they think Catholics aren't Christian. However, if it is fruit loop stuff, then it gets a pass with some.

yes, for example, I couldn't really marry a pentecostal being a baptist. I mean their church services are just way too loud and noisy for me.

And if both of us have our own faith and like our own churches then what church do we choose to go to when we are married and those services are on at the same time? Doesn't really work does it? unless one goes to morning, another evening. Or end up going non-denom. And of course, I would read things in the Bible and they might read the Bible too, but have different views. Just save the stress and marry within your own denom as you are likeminded and can fellowship together.