Was thinking about the #progressive / #evangelical church schism underway and what hope (if any) lies in unity. Thought this advice on Protestant/Catholic marriage was analogous.
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Can a Protestant marry a Catholic?
Simple answer: Yes. You can. You are both baptized members of the body of Christ and therefore you can have a sacramental marriage.
Long answer: With caution, yes. You guys are going to have a lot of trouble in your relationship because of your different points of view on what it means to be a Christian. If you can respect one another’s differences and listen to understand, not to be right, you can make this work. You will learn things from one another. However, if you can’t respect your partner’s faith or consider what they are doing to be idolatry, you’re going to find that doesn’t sit well with you especially if you decide to have kids.
My recommendation: Educate yourself about the Catholic faith before you choose to marry someone Catholic. Know the truth about why we do the things we do and what those things mean to us so you can engage in meaningful dialogue about this.
Pray over it. Be sure this relationship is where you feel God is calling you to be.
https://www.quora.com/Can-a-Catholic-and-a-Protestant-get-married-and-are-there-any-terms
#Christian #Religion
@Aslanmane I doubt that a Protestant+Catholic marriage would be a good idea. Especially with children — how could you raise them and train them in Jesus, together? Every other Sunday go to Catholic mass, every other Sunday go to a Protestant service? What about the Apocrypha? Tell them it might be true ...? do you teach it or not?
@Aslanmane Oh, I'm talking about *before* marriage. Once you're married, it would (should) take something MUCH, much bigger to part the two.
@Aslanmane I've been thinking a bit about church unity lately. Some denominations and branches are so tight on what they believe that they don't work together with other denominations and branches. One might hear names like Baptist Health Care, Lutheran World Relief, and Catholic Relief Services. Have you noticed how many Christian organizations' names have the branch or denomination in the name? This makes more sense for church names, but for other organizations...? Are we that divided?
@golemwire interesting. I guess it comes down to why we are divided. Who owns the assets and decides the direction and who started and financially supports the service.
However how much do Baptists, Lutherans and Catholics differ in there Health Care services?
Having said that I can think of Christian Organisations that aren't organised on denominational lines, but they all are evangelical (eg: mission assist and scripture union) which is a larger category than a denomination but still a division.
I don't think the Catholic apocrypha is a huge deal, just teach it as religious writings from the O.T. period which some consider to be on par with/a part of scripture, but most do not.
The biggest issue would probably be how the two define church.
To me, far above the issue of Mary's mediatrix status, or the notion of papal infallibility when speaking ex cathedra is the issue of the actual definition of the church.
I am no expert on Catholic theology, but I have heard some Catholics basically claim that all outside of the Catholic church are lost. I'd have to take umbrage with that.
I also heard one person (so I don't know how orthodox a view it is within Catholicism) claim that the church IS Christ.
That's a very jarring notion.
@golemwire I agree, but life is not so clean. What about an established Christian marriage, where one is Evangelical and the other is Progressive?
Would you advise they divorce? I assume not.
Do they put on blinkers and ignore there differences? Easier but not healthier.