Multi-Faith Christian Families?

[furay]

Alas, no. I think the issue of Trinity will be the last thing I can persuade him to believe. I think he'd sooner admit that Jesus died on a cross. :>

I will pray God softens his heart. :crossm: Blessed be the Lord Jesus Christ.

[Pilgrim]

My husband and I recently found out that we are expecting a baby in July of 2006. We're very excited about this, and can't wait to start raising a family. However, it has also brought some issues to the forefront in our lives -- decisions that need to be made about the spiritual upbringing of our children.

For background, I am Catholic, and my husband is a former Jehovah's Witness. We were married in a Lutheran Church, because he had been married before. Catholics and JWs are almost as far apart on the scale of Christianity as you can get, and it has made for a lot of heated arguments (while he no longer practices his faith, he still believes a number of the tenets).

I still go to a Catholic Church every week, and originally we had thought to raise the children Catholic. Now that children are more of a reality and less of a possibility, however, he isn't sure he will be able to do so. The reasons vary, but this week they have centered around the baptism of children, as opposed to adults. He does not believe he can accept a church that baptises infants, whereas the idea of not baptising the child is almost unfathomable to me.

Now, I know that other denominations have had similar disagreements regarding the age of Baptism. I'm wondering if there are other families here who have run into this issue, and how you handled it?

If this has been covered before or belongs somewhere else, please direct me!

The Presbyterian Church (USA) has this to say about the age of baptism: (from the book of order) "We will baptize our children with out undue haste and with out undue delay.

We baptize infants to show that even before we can respond, God has a call on our lives. We baptize adults to show that having been called, we must respond in obediance."

So basically, though we teach infant baptism and accept Adult baptism we ultimately leave it up to the parents to decide.

[Anoetos]

Elena,

Well then, I do not see that there is much more you can do than to continue to pray for him. Get your church to pray for him too. I also will pray for him.

It is something that he is no longer affiliated with the watchtower though he still agrees with them on some things.

I'll pray, as Furay said, that God will soften his heart but also that He will open it, that He will give Him a hunger for Him and a desire to know Him as He is and not necessarily as he has been taught, that He will give your husband a boldness to seek truth at any cost and to resist satisfaction with answers that were canned and fed him long ago.

I will pray for you too, if you don't mind.

[Elena23]

Elena,

Well then, I do not see that there is much more you can do than to continue to pray for him. Get your church to pray for him too. I also will pray for him.

It is something that he is no longer affiliated with the watchtower though he still agrees with them on some things.

I'll pray, as Furay said, that God will soften his heart but also that He will open it, that He will give Him a hunger for Him and a desire to know Him as He is and not necessarily as he has been taught, that He will give your husband a boldness to seek truth at any cost and to resist satisfaction with answers that were canned and fed him long ago.

I will pray for you too, if you don't mind.

No, I welcome it, thank you.

I hope that he will eventually come around. I don't want to paint him as the 'bad guy' -- I knew perfectly well going into the marriage that this would be difficult. We did purchase two new Bibles together that were not the NWT, and have been reading them, so I consider that a step in the right direction!