Interfaith marriages-do they work?

Person_one

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Those are both the same religion, just different denominations. I have friends who are RC and CofE, there is not a problem there at all because it is the same religion and both denominations believe the same basics of that religion, although may differ in how to demonstrate those basics.

:rotfl:

The most longstanding and harmful religious conflicts in this country have been between these different denominations. Maybe it shouldn't be an issue, but it definitely is!

My grandparents were shunned and had their wedding boycotted because they were from these two religions that are the same.

neverdespairgirl

margaretclare wrote: »

DH was brought up as a Jew, his brother calls himself a 'secular ethnic Jew'.

My dearly beloved calls himself a "secular Orthodox Jew"

neverdespairgirl

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Those are both the same religion, just different denominations. I have friends who are RC and CofE, there is not a problem there at all because it is the same religion and both denominations believe the same basics of that religion, although may differ in how to demonstrate those basics.

Go to Northern Ireland and say that....

Or Glasgow, which I once heard described as "Belfast Lite"

seven-day-weekend

kacie wrote: »

Then you need to talk to my OH whose beliefs are very different to a Catholics, so much so that he would never marry one (I'm not a catholic!) To him even the basics aren't the same.

You mean the basics like God being Father, Son and Holy Spirit and Jesus being the Son of God who died for our sins and was resurrected ?

Those are the basics and they are the same in Catholic and Protestant. Read the Apostles' Creed.

I know people have fought over them. Never seen why personally.

wiogs

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Those are both the same religion, just different denominations. I have friends who are RC and CofE, there is not a problem there at all because it is the same religion and both denominations believe the same basics of that religion, although may differ in how to demonstrate those basics.

Nearly choked when I read that.:cool:

You need to get out more.

seven-day-weekend

wiogs wrote: »

Nearly choked when I read that.:cool:

You need to get out more.

I refer the poster to the reply I gave a few moments ago:

You mean the basics like God being Father, Son and Holy Spirit and Jesus being the Son of God who died for our sins and was resurrected ?

Those are the basics and they are the same in Catholic and Protestant. Read the Apostles' Creed.

kacie

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

You mean the basics like God being Father, Son and Holy Spirit and Jesus being the Son of God who died for our sins and was resurrected ?

Those are the basics and they are the same in Catholic and Protestant. Read the Apostles' Creed.

I know people have fought over them. Never seen why personally.

Sort of, he believes that the Catholic God is not the same one to the one that he believes in. He's a Reformed Presbyterian, if that helps!

seven-day-weekend

Apostles Creed, from Wikipedia:

The Apostles' Creed (Latin: Symbolum Apostolorum or Symbolum Apostolicum), sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or "symbol".[1] It is widely used by a number of Christian denominations for both liturgical and catechetical purposes, most visibly by liturgical Churches of Western tradition, including the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, Lutheranism, Anglicanism, and Western Orthodoxy. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists.


1. I believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
2. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
3. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
4. Under Pontius Pilate, He was crucified, died, and was buried.
5. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again.
6. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
7. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
8. I believe in the Holy Spirit,
9. the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints,
10. the forgiveness of sins,
11. the resurrection of the body,
12. and the life everlasting.


(catholic here means worldwide and communion of saints means all Christians, past present and future).

[Deleted User]

esmerelda98 wrote: »

All I will say in response to this post is that when a person who becomes a Christian is already married, most ministers would not counsel such a person to leave their non-Christian spouse, but rather advise them to pray for their spouse to come to Christ. It is a very different proposition from saying that there are no dangers that come from marrying a non-Christian.

It most (maybe all?) successful relationships both people share core values. You certainly don't need to have the same beliefs on every issue (if that is even possible, it is probably not desirable), but your core beliefs will either bind you together or push you apart.

My bold - I would agree about core values. I also hope and pray for my husband to maybe one day become closer to Christ. We have some Nepalese friends who have become Christian already, and relatives who have married into Christian Nepalese families over there. Maybe this is what God wants but I am not fit to second guess him!

The discussion I had with my Vicar went along the lines of my faith seems to be strong enough to allow my husband to participate in his cultural traditions (he is really not 'religious' as such) and as for the beliefs many of his people hold - they have the freedom to be mistaken.

I try to live as well as I can in a Christian way - to witness by example. But I will freely admit I'm not a conventionally 'good' Christian!

As I said before, I think it can really cause big problems when one or both spouses come from traditionally religious, conservative or orthodox families.

In addition we also have a mixed 'race' marriage as we look quite different and again have encountered very little overt racism (I'm a tallish plump fair European-looking woman and he is from south Asia, short dark and handsome and looks a bit 'Indian'). Some ignorance and misconceptions initially on both sides but this has been minor and have no problems at all in the UK. I can imagine the situation being very different in USA or other countries.

claire16c

LMac wrote: »

Im atheist (as are my parents, though one was raised protestant, one catholic) DP was raised catholic, and identifies as such, but has not attended other than for funerals, since we met. He has never spoke of his faith at all and speaks often of the flaws in the church.

However, Im now expecting our first child together and he is insisting on a christening. I was gobsmacked. As I understand it, its about promising in front of his god, and a room full of people that we raise the child in the church/believing in god. I am opposed to making this promise in principle (though will likely let him get on with it, and Ill stand there while he promises it) I think he wants to do it because its a tradition in his family. We currently live in a Protestant area in N. Ireland, so its not even part of the culture where our kids will be raised.

It's stuff like this that would cause friction for me. I'd be putting my foot down & saying no, I couldn't just watch.