Bible Question:
I have some family members on my wifes side that are Catholic. I am trying to witness to them because I do not beleive that they are truley saved. They think they are because of the good people they are. They consider themselfs Catholic for know other reason than they had gone to a Catholic church growing up. They can not tell me really what they beleive and why. They tend to look down at me for asking them about salvation and their beliefs. Any advice on what I can say without getting into an argument? My questions are... 1. Please tell me the basic differences between Catholic and Baptist. 2. Differences of the Catholic Bible. I use the NASB, and I read that the Bible is Inspired by God through men, and that no one should add, subtract or alter it. The Catholic bible clearly has different books. What are they and do they beleive that they are Inspired by God just as my Bible? |
Bible Answer: Whew! Richard1, you have opened a can of worms! There are many differences between Catholic beliefs and Baptist beliefs. But the first reccomendation I make is not to attempt to compare Catholic to Baptist. I think the best thing to do is to concentrate on pointing out the places where Catholic doctrine deviates from the basic tennants of Christian faith in general, not just from Baptist theology. First, it might be helpful to think about the things that Catholics believe that we can agree with. 1. The believe in the trinity- God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit 2. They believe that Jesus was born of a virgin and that he is the messiah. 3. They believe that the shed blood of Jesus washes away sin. 4. They believe that Jesus will come again. There are however many other points of Catholic doctrine that are outside the lines of the Bible. But there are a couple of things to realize about this situation. You say that they consider themselves Catholic b/c they grew up in the Catholic church. I wonder how many Presbyterians, Baptists, Evangelical Free, etc., think that they are Christians because they grew up in XYZ church, or that think because they don't drink, swear, cheat on their taxes or abuse their childen they will go to heaven? Misunderstanding of the application of the gospel can be found in any church, from gross apostasty to simple things like variations on who should serve as elders or decons or whatever! Being a Catholic does not make anyone more or less sinful than not being a Catholic. Think of your own self before you became a Christian. What misconceptions or misapplications of the word of God did you hold? (I know I believed in a lot of gobbelty-gook like reincarnation and that all religions were praying to the same god-and I was raised in a Christian house) I like what Paul says in Romans: Romans 3:9 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. 10 As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one;11 there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. It is important to think and pray about why you wish to witness to these people. Witnessing should be done with compassion, with love, with gentleness- whether that person is a Catholic, a Muslim or an atheist. Remember what it means to be a witness. If there is car accident, the police ask for witnesses to tell what they saw, what they felt, what they heard- in their own words. Perhaps it would be better to share what Christ means to you, how he has changed your life than to try to argue over points of doctrine. Arguing over such things often pulls the attention away from what is the most important thing which is a one-on-one life changing personal relationship with Christ. I pray that the Lord will give you a spirit of strenghth and discernment and that you will feel a yearning in your heart to yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit in this matter; that you may be a living witness to your non-Christian friends and family and a light to all those who you know that you may share the good news of Jesus Christ to His glory! In Jesus name, Amen I love ya, Richard1!!! |