Married to a catholic... Please Help!

Hi brother Bruce,

I was a cradle Catholic. While in the military I was saved but remained in the Catholic Church for 2 years.
I had an insatiable appetite for the Word of God which led to my departure from the Church of Rome.

My advice (FWIW):

Start at the simple basics from the Word of God.
My quotes will be from the Douay-Rheims Bible (the official English Bible of the Church of Rome). Get a Douay-Rheims and show the verses below to your wife and children. Pray the Father for the promised fruit.

DRA Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be, which shall go forth from my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall do whatsoever I please, and shall prosper in the things for which I sent it.​

Jesus Christ is God incarnate: Baptists and Catholics agree on that doctrine. Both of you need to fasten your eyes on Him, the rest will take care of itself, the error will slip away as it did for me.

He is the only and exclusive way to God the Father:

Douay-Rheims (DRA).

DRA John 14:6 Jesus saith to him: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me.​

DRA Philippians 2:9 For which cause, God also hath exalted him and hath given him a name which is above all names:​

DRA Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved.​

Here is the KJV for the last verse.​

KJV Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.​

An aside: You may notice the similarity between the Douay-Rheims and the KJV. In fact there is about a 95% similarity, many verses being word-for-word the same, far too much to be a coincidence.​

That to me was a revelation because the Douay-Rheims NT was published in 1582 almost 30 years before the KJV.​

May God bless you and your wife and children.​

HankD​

 

I have been reading along with some of the comments. Many others have given Bruce some excellent advice. JerryL's comments above are particularly appropriate. Your denominational beliefs Bruce do not have to prevent you from having a loving marriage. By showing lovingkindess and submission to your wife, and as JerryL suggests, not stressing her out or disrespecting her on these traditions, you not only honor her, but sow honor and respect in your children. Continue to pray and remember that the Lord may already be working in her in gentle ways that you do not know or see at this time. God bless you for your faithfulness.

 

Bruce, you've gotten a lot of good advice. I too was married to a Catholic. He's a Baptist now. But in those days (many years to be exact) he had lots of baggage from his upbringing. He new that Jesus died for our sins, but was not born again until about 4 years ago. :godisgood:
About 6 years ago, I turned away from my backslidden life and truly dedicated my life to the Lord. My husband was quite bothered by it, to tell you the truth. In fact, he was jealous. He knew that I loved the Lord more than him. But after about 2 years, he too accepted Christ and now he says that I was a large part of it. He watched me reading my Bible every day and began to ask questions and sometimes we would have long wonderful talks. But it took him 2 years before he gave up and submitted to the Lord. Sometimes, it takes people longer than that. I never stopped praying for him. I tell you all this to hopefully encourage you to hang in there and love your wife as Christ loved the church even though she is fighting you. The light that Christ shines through you will not go unnoticed by her. Win her by your patience, love and prayers.
If you do not already do it, try praying with her or say the blessing before meals. Also, if she is willing, talk over scripture with her. Ask her what she thinks about a particular passage and try to get a discussion going. But don't push her. When she's had enough, just let it go for the time being.
As for your children, you can have Bible study time with them each day, maybe at bedtime and get the truth of God's word in their hearts in that way.
Remember above all else, that God is greater than any religious system, no matter how tight a hold it may have on someone. Keep praying and God will hear, for it is His pleasure to bring the lost or the wandering sheep to His side.

 

The answer is not simple. If you married her and at the time you were a Christian knowing she was catholic you rebelled against God and now are seeing the fruits of your choice. If that be the case I suggest that you humble yourself before God and seek His forgiveness. Then seek Him for her salvation and wait on the Lord and yet all the time lovingly and wisely seek to raise the children in the truth. Read the bible to them on a daily bases if possible.


If you married her and you were not a Christian then you only have to seek the Lord for her salvation and that of the children. Either way you have a big battle on your hands and holiness in your life now with prayer are your weapons.

 

He has already said that he was Catholic when he married her.

Anyway who among us is without sin?

Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.​

Psalm 130:3 If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

​

 

So what is your point?

 

Eternal life is not about being Baptist or Catholic but about being followers of Jesus Christ. Certainly you could agree to read the Bible as a family. If you do then she will quickly see that what she thinks is not even in her own Catholic Bible.

A good book is Fifty Years in the Church of Rome By Charles Chiniquy

You can read it online at http://www.biblebelievers.com/chiniquy/

You should be able to easily buy a used book. The book has been reprinted by Chick Publications. I would rather read an older book published before the reprint.

I was raised in the Roman Catholic Church. When I began to read my Bible I began to see things I did not know were there.

Just start reading the book of John and get her to see what it says for herself.

Do not see her as a negative but accept it as a challenge for you to live the Christian life while praying for her and being the kind of man God calls you to be. Former Catholics make some of the best Christians. The often put a lot of church going Baptists to shame because of where they have come from. They have often studeid their way to the truth knowing they were previously misled, while many Baptists think they have the truth and do not study and do not know their Bible very well. Too many Baptists hear the Bible preached and taught so they think they are safe and in reality do not know their Bible very well.

 

As My Grandpappy Always Said...

You made that bed my child, now ya gotta sleep in it! I'm sure you had to know she was a Catholic before you married. There must have been tell tale signs, like: eating fish every Friday; making the sign of the cross; praying when she lit those candles [I'll bet you thought the candles were for a romantic dinner and evening?], and those Rosary Beads tightly clenched in her palm had to be a dead give away. :laugh:

The Bible tells us clearly to: "Not be unequally 'yoked'" and it looks like you're finding out what it means to be unequally yoked.

But, all is not lost. Many Catholics have been known to accept Baptists into their churches. :laugh:

Peace be unto you, and the suggestion that you fast and pray for God's intervention is wise. Things will work out for your good, her good and the good of your marriage, Romans 8:28.

Pastor Paul :type:

 

I think this is true of most any denomination. I wasn't raised as anything. Only went to church on occasion with a friend or two. After I was saved at 22 years old, I got caught up in the wrong church and it messed me up. So I went to the Bible and learned for myself. Sometimes it makes me sad that I didn't have a Christian upbringing, but the good side of that (God makes bad things good :thumbs: ) is that I did not just "accept" whatever a preacher or church taught. I had to learn it for myself. So when someone says "oh, you just believe that because you've heard it all your life", I can honestly say "nope". Sometimes I don't even agree with Baptists!

:laugh:

It is very sad though, that so many people are Biblically illiterate. :tear:
It leaves the door wide open for all sorts of false teachers to step in and lead people astray.

 

Poor Bruce.

It has been repeated several times that he was Catholic too when he and his wife married. He came out it. She didn't.

 

I'm not Catholic for several reasons but you have a certain vehemence about the Catholic Church. First of all most catholics don't even understand their own faith and add things to it such as their perceptions. I will attempt to show you what they actually believe (I don't like putting a defence for a faith I'm not a member of but I'll try.
I think Maryology is off but this is what the Catholic Church actually says. In much the same way as a protestant is used by God to bring a lost person to faith by the hearing of the word (a coworker so to speak) Mary by total obedience and submition to Gods will by giving birth to Jesus was used by God to enact salvation for us all. Their term a co-redemer of sorts.
Though the Catholics teach her immaculate conception they actually beleive that she was saved by Jesus as much as you or I. She is saved preemptively. like this discription. As sinners we were saved out of the pit of our sin by Jesus. Mary was saved before falling in by Jesus. Both equally saved by the same Jesus. That is the Catholic understanding of it. I'm not saying I agree with it but there it is.
As for the Saints. The saints are considered to be members of the church even though they are no longer here and are with God. They are alive in Christ. They pray for us as indicated in revelations so as you would ask another to pray so they would ask a saint as well. Not that the saint has power of their own. You need to have a better definition of what necromancy is. The only corrilation you can have is with Saul. She actually was a medium seeking to have the dead speak back to her. A bit different.
Either way Catholics state that you don't have to believe either of these issues to be a christian. Catholic practitioners may take it to an extreme.
I didn't read the web site you put out there but I prefer to get information from the horse's mouth not speculation from people like Jack Chick or others who do not come with a cogent argument. It's like the KJV only crowd who don't even realise how the bible was put together. I'm suprised you haven't mention the Eucharist, or the Priestly orders, ect...

 

Bruce, I understand your pain and frustration. It's terrible to have to watch as someone you love is taken in by false teachings. There is really nothing you can do to change her mind. It is in God's hands. Try your best to influence your children, but the most important and powerful thing you can do is to PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!
Only God can change a mind or a heart. Just don't underestimate His power in doing so.
God bless you.

 

I agree 100%. And you (Bruce) have been through this yourself, for as you have told us, you too were once a Roman Catholic, so presumably believing and doing the same things your wife is (sadly) still believing and doing, yet God changed you. He can change your wife, too. I pray that He will.

 

Might tack on here that Dr. Martin Luther had no intention of leaving the Roman Catholic Church, but wanted to 'reform' it. He was 'kicked out' of it, and that not by his own choice, except for what he believed and was preaching and teaching.

In that sense, Elector Frederick the Wise, who realized that Luther was likely to be put to death, was probably 'wiser' than Luther, and had him 'kidnapped' for his own safety.

Ed

 

Thanks to all you who have replied and encouraged bruce. He is a great brother in Christ and a genuine Christian. I have gotten to know him over the last several weeks and months and our family is befriending theirs.

Keep Bruce and his family in your prayers. God can change the hardest heart. He changed mine, Bruce's, yours...He can change his wife's heart, open her eyes, and lift her out of darkness. Soli Deo Gloria...

Meanwhile Bruce, let's find us some Turkeys, shoot 'em, and eat 'em. Where are them pigs!

-RB

 

Some things you said are pretty good. I wouldn't hold him to one version of the Bible, however. If he's got an NASB, that would do.

 

I have some dear friends who are married andthe husband was raised Southern Baptist and the wife was raised Roman Catholic. They have a rich and wonderful marriage. They've been happily married for nearly 35 years.

I fully expect to see both in Heaven.

You can have a happy marriage with your spouse attending one denomination and you another. It isn't perfect, but it can work. When I have been counseling young couples in this regard I always point out that there needs to be equal sacrifice and willingness to attend appropriate events equally. When children are involved, it must be a careful and prayerful decision.

Outside of the rambling of a few discontented and, clearly, callow individuals, I think there is wisdom in the this thread. I believe you can be just as saved Roman Catholic as Baptist as Methodist as Presbyterian as Anglican as anyone else who personally calls on the name of Jesus Christ.

Baptists don't have the corner on salvation...Jesus is the corner.

 

No, Baptists don't have the corner on salvation - Christians do. Worshipping Mary and the Saints and trusting in the RCC is a good indication that she doesn't understand what salvation through Christ alone is. Jesus said we must be "born again" to be saved and being "born again" to a Catholic means being baptized as an infant.

I think the poster had better keep praying and hopefully learn as much as he can about Catholicism so that he can witness to his wife.