How do I understand my (now Mormon) fiancee's family's Catholic faith?

[unbreakable]

My fiancee used to be Catholic and converted to the LDS church last month after seeing the goodness of the gospel, and he jokingly tells people that I converted him, and his family is mostly Catholic who accept his belief in the restored gospel. I want to understand his Catholic family's views and keep the peace. What should I do?

[Jane_Doe]

49 minutes ago, unbreakable said:

My fiancee used to be Catholic and converted to the LDS church last month after seeing the goodness of the gospel, and he jokingly tells people that I converted him, and his family is mostly Catholic who accept his belief in the restored gospel. I want to understand his Catholic family's views and keep the peace. What should I do?

Talk with him/them about it and listen.  No one can better tell you better what he believes than him, and no one can better tell you what they believe than they.  Don't be afraid to ask them questions, participate in prayers, or any other religious things they do.  Listen, learn, and love --- just like you hope they would treat you. 

[mrmarklin]

Catholics are generally very tolerant of other Christian religions. Remember it started as the true church. The doctrine is fairly close to ours. 

 

I wouldnt look look for problems where there  may be none. 

[askandanswer]

Perhaps you should try attending a few masses and a few Catholic social gatherings. If you want to take a studious approach to understanding Catholic doctrine, I recommend you start here http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/ccc_toc.htm. This is the Catholic equivalent of Mormon Doctrine, or the Encyclopaedia of Mormonism 

[Guest MormonGator]

1 hour ago, mrmarklin said:

Catholics are generally very tolerant of other Christian religions. Remember it started as the true church. The doctrine is fairly close to ours. 

 

I wouldnt look look for problems where there  may be none. 

Speaking as a former Catholic, the doctrines are vastly different. 

[NeuroTypical]

7 hours ago, unbreakable said:

I want to understand his Catholic family's views and keep the peace. What should I do?

Whenever you see one of them, give them a massive hug and thank them for preserving the Bible across all those centuries as well as they did. 

Understand that they see their church as lasting 2000 years, and encompassing the world with billions of members, while we're a young upstart faith with a paltry few millions.

The word 'apostasy' to a Catholic is basically thumbing your nose at them and saying they are wrong.

If you need common ground theologically, talk about Protestants.  See who can be the most "love thy neighborly" towards them.

[MaryJehanne]

9 hours ago, unbreakable said:

My fiancee used to be Catholic and converted to the LDS church last month after seeing the goodness of the gospel, and he jokingly tells people that I converted him, and his family is mostly Catholic who accept his belief in the restored gospel. I want to understand his Catholic family's views and keep the peace. What should I do?

Hi, Unbreakable!  I'd be happy to answer questions about the Church's teaching, perspective of Mormonism, etc. Just ask about what you want to know! Feel free to message me if that makes you more comfortable.

God bless & have a wonderful Sunday!

[anatess2]

On 8/4/2018 at 9:21 PM, askandanswer said:

If you want to take a studious approach to understanding Catholic doctrine, I recommend you start here http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/ccc_toc.htm. This is the Catholic equivalent of Mormon Doctrine, or the Encyclopaedia of Mormonism 

I disagree with this.  I am an LDS convert from Catholicism.

This is only for those who want to convert to Catholicism or are interested in taking Theology as an interest (like taking a college course on it).  This is VERY CONFUSING for those who are LDS and simply want a casual understanding of Catholicism.

[Jane_Doe]

2 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

I disagree with this.  I am an LDS convert from Catholicism.

This is only for those who want to convert to Catholicism or are interested in taking Theology as an interest (like taking a college course on it).  This is VERY CONFUSING for those who are LDS and simply want a casual understanding of Catholicism.

Agree.  I would also say that neither are good intro reads, and they hold different places in their respective theologies.  You're really best off just asking folks what they personally believe.  

[anatess2]

On 8/4/2018 at 2:07 PM, unbreakable said:

My fiancee used to be Catholic and converted to the LDS church last month after seeing the goodness of the gospel, and he jokingly tells people that I converted him, and his family is mostly Catholic who accept his belief in the restored gospel. I want to understand his Catholic family's views and keep the peace. What should I do?

There is a simple way of understanding Catholics if you're LDS.  I say there are 3 main things:

1.)  Trinitarian teaching - that is, the God matter is not the same as the Man matter and never the two shall be the same.  God is God and nothing else in the universe is God matter.

2.) Priesthood/Apostolic Authority - remove Great Apostasy from doctrine and think about the authority getting passed from the Biblical Apostles to the Bishops of the day.

3.) Remove temple ordinances.  Basically, take your Primary Visual Aid on the Plan of Salvation and erase anything before Mortal Existence and after Spirit World.  Imagine how, if you're trying to understand, say Baptism when there's no way to baptize after mortal existence - how does that change your understanding of Jesus being baptized as a sinless man to fulfill all righteousness.  How does that change your understanding of Marriage as taught by Christ?  Etc. 

You don't need to know the details of Catholic teaching.  You just need to know your LDS faith very well so you know when your wife is teaching Catholic doctrine or LDS doctrine (as a new convert from Catholicism, the tendency is to fill everything you didn't specifically learn from the LDS Church with your Catholic understanding - most of the time it is the same.  Sometimes, it veers off a bit or a lot).

Other than that, you maintain peace in the family by applying plain and simple gospel truths - Love One Another.

 

Edited August 6, 2018 by anatess2

[unixknight]

On 8/4/2018 at 9:47 PM, MormonGator said:

Speaking as a former Catholic, the doctrines are vastly different. 

As another former Catholic, I agree with a qualifier.

Catholicism is at once the most similar Christian denomination to LDS and the least similar.  

In terms of doctrine... worlds apart.  @MormonGator is 100% right.

In terms of structure and ceremony... strikingly similar.  Anyone who's been to the Temple will see some familiar stuff in a Catholic Mass.  Both churches value the priesthood and believe in authority from an unbroken line.  Both churches are led by an individual whose role it is to speak for God, and have the support of a body of 12 leaders.

I have heard it said that if there is one True Church, it's either the Catholics or the Mormons.  

[Guest MormonGator]

38 minutes ago, unixknight said:

As another former Catholic, I agree with a qualifier.

Catholicism is at once the most similar Christian denomination to LDS and the least similar.  

In terms of doctrine... worlds apart.  @MormonGator is 100% right.

In terms of structure and ceremony... strikingly similar.  Anyone who's been to the Temple will see some familiar stuff in a Catholic Mass.  Both churches value the priesthood and believe in authority from an unbroken line.  Both churches are led by an individual whose role it is to speak for God, and have the support of a body of 12 leaders.

I have heard it said that if there is one True Church, it's either the Catholics or the Mormons.  

All great points. Agree totally. 

[Lindy]

On 8/4/2018 at 6:16 PM, mrmarklin said:

Catholics are generally very tolerant of other Christian religions. Remember it started as the true church. The doctrine is fairly close to ours. 

I wouldnt look look for problems where there  may be none. 

I wish my Catholic son was tolerant of my religion. He goes on a rant every couple of months about the LDS faith. He keeps saying that Catholics do NOT view "Mormons" as Christian. His latest rant is about Mary and how she became "with child" as a virgin.

 My advice is to know what scriptures you can go to to help you prepare an answer that they can't refute. I actually found several Catholic websites that I refer to, to try and understand the why behind the accusations and statements of ire. 

I just told my son yesterday..... he has a right to believe what he wants, but I still love him.

[unixknight]

8 hours ago, Lindy said:

His latest rant is about Mary and how she became "with child" as a virgin.

What's the point of ranting about that?  That's not something we disagree on.

[anatess2]

8 hours ago, Lindy said:

I wish my Catholic son was tolerant of my religion. He goes on a rant every couple of months about the LDS faith. He keeps saying that Catholics do NOT view "Mormons" as Christian. His latest rant is about Mary and how she became "with child" as a virgin.

 My advice is to know what scriptures you can go to to help you prepare an answer that they can't refute. I actually found several Catholic websites that I refer to, to try and understand the why behind the accusations and statements of ire. 

I just told my son yesterday..... he has a right to believe what he wants, but I still love him.

Well, he's right from his perspective.  LDS is not Christian as it does not hold the same view of the source of the divinity of Christ (non-Trinitarian).  It would be like somebody claiming to be Mormon but then they believe Mormon was this guy whose head got cut off and replaced by an elephant's.  The Catholic doctrine of the virgin birth is actually the same as the LDS doctrine.

In any case, you don't have to refute anything they say.  You don't have to play "I can quote the Bible too" with them.  Spiritual learning doesn't happen unless the Holy Spirit is present.  Arguing over one's salvation doesn't invite the Spirit of Truth, it invites the Spirit of Contention.  Therefore, when my mother says, "you better come back to the Catholic Church or you're going to hell!", I just smile and tell her, "I'm happy that you still care for my eternal salvation.  Don't stop praying for me.".

 

[Latter-Day Marriage]

1 hour ago, anatess2 said:

Well, he's right from his perspective.  LDS is not Christian as it does not hold the same view of the source of the divinity of Christ (non-Trinitarian).

No, he is not right.  Being Christian only requires accepting that Christ is the Son of God, Savior and Messiah. Being an orthodox Christian is  what requires accepting the creeds written hundreds of years after Christ that push ideas like the trinity etc. (ie: the current Christian orthodoxy).  Mormons are Christians and I wouldn't budge one inch away from that claim, but we are quite happy to claim we are not orthodox Christians.  Orthodoxy has nothing to do with if you are right or not, it's only defined by numbers.

 

[anatess2]

4 minutes ago, Latter-Day Marriage said:

No, he is not right.  Being Christian only requires accepting that Christ is the Son of God, Savior and Messiah. Being an orthodox Christian is  what requires accepting the creeds written hundreds of years after Christ that push ideas like the trinity etc. (ie: the current Christian orthodoxy).  Mormons are Christians and I wouldn't budge one inch away from that claim, but we are quite happy to claim we are not orthodox Christians.  Orthodoxy has nothing to do with if you are right or not, it's only defined by numbers.

 

Sure.  You can say that.  Catholics don't believe that.  It's a moot point arguing over who is Christian or not.  You can call me whatever you want or reject me from whatever label you want.  Doesn't change what I believe.

Edited August 29, 2018 by anatess2

[Latter-Day Marriage]

1 hour ago, unixknight said:

What's the point of ranting about that?  That's not something we disagree on.

A common anti-mormon accusation is that we believe God literally had sex with Mary, so she wasn't a virgin.  And according to Catholics Mary never had any other children, and never had sex with Joseph.  She was virgin all her life.  It doesn't matter that the Bible says otherwise.

An actual Catholic doctrine that not  many know about is that May still had her hymen intact after giving birth.

[anatess2]

Just now, Latter-Day Marriage said:

A common anti-mormon accusation is that we believe God literally had sex with Mary, so she wasn't a virgin.  And according to Catholics Mary never had any other children, and never had sex with Joseph.  She was virgin all her life.  It doesn't matter that the Bible says otherwise.

An actual Catholic doctrine that not  many know about is that May still had her hymen intact after giving birth.

Well there ya go.  The same way you got accused of something you don't believe is the same way Catholics get accused of something they don't believe.  Like I said, the point is moot.  Learning doesn't happen unless one is willing to invite the Spirit.

[Latter-Day Marriage]

Just now, anatess2 said:

Sure.  You can say that.  Catholics don't believe that.

Tough, words have meaning and that is what those words mean.  Pick up any dictionary, look up the word Christian, and you won't  find anything about having to accept the Trinity or any of the creeds as doctrinal.

 

[anatess2]

Just now, Latter-Day Marriage said:

Tough, words have meaning and that is what those words mean.  Pick up any dictionary, look up the word Christian, and you won't  find anything about having to accept the Trinity or any of the creeds as doctrinal.

 

Sure.  Doesn't change what Catholics believe.

[Latter-Day Marriage]

Just now, anatess2 said:

Well there ya go.  The same way you got accused of something you don't believe is the same way Catholics get accused of something they don't believe.  Like I said, the point is moot.  Learning doesn't happen unless one is willing to invite the Spirit.

What I said was accurate. 

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/the-nativity-story-movie-problematic-for-catholics-unsuitable-for-young-chi

[Latter-Day Marriage]

4 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

Sure.  Doesn't change what Catholics believe.

A lot of them are not so dogmatic that they can accept the distinction between being an orthodox and non-orthodox Christian.  For those that are that dogmatic, you can at least leave them knowing they are disagreeing with the dictionary.

[anatess2]

33 minutes ago, Latter-Day Marriage said:

What I said was accurate. 

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/the-nativity-story-movie-problematic-for-catholics-unsuitable-for-young-chi

No.  What you said is not accurate.  LifeSiteNews is not a Catholic Church publication.  It is a news site for a Canadian political lobbyist group.

There are 4 dogmatas of Mary in the Roman Catholic Tradition:

1.)  Immaculate Concepcion

2.)  Mother of God

3.)  Perpetual Virginity

4.)  Assumption 

Perpetual Virginity does not require the presence of an intact hymen as is instilled in the assurance of Nuns victimized by rape as not having been defiled in their vow of perpetual virginity in the same manner that the medical condition that causes a woman's hymen to remain intact after sexual intercourse does not indicate she's still a virgin.  Any posits of intact hymen or whatever the medical manner of Jesus' birth are all extrapolations of dogma.

In any case, a Mormon attacking the Catholic Church for its "weird beliefs" is highly hypocritical.  And you should stop.

Edited August 29, 2018 by anatess2

[anatess2]

20 minutes ago, Latter-Day Marriage said:

A lot of them are not so dogmatic that they can accept the distinction between being an orthodox and non-orthodox Christian.  For those that are that dogmatic, you can at least leave them knowing they are disagreeing with the dictionary.

For those that find it important enough to argue with Catholics, orthodox or otherwise, about a label... well, I hope they realize it's not a good way to win friends, and especially family.