Posts by jschwehm

In the Catholic Tradition, the JW baptism would not be recognized because the JWs reject the Trinity doctrine. The Catholic Church would also not recognize a Mormon baptism either. The Catholic Church will recognize any baptism from a Christian denomination that baptizes in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit if that denomination believes in the Trinity.

Secondly, most Christian traditions that do infant baptism have a very different view of baptism than the JWs. For the JWs, baptism is really something that one does for Jehovah as proof that they have dedicated their lives to him (and also to the Watchtower Organization).

In most of your mainline Protestant and Catholic traditions that practice infant baptism, baptism is something that God does for the child. It is viewed as having the child brought before Jesus and that Jesus marks that child as His own. The parents of the child do make a promise to raise the child with the help of the Godparents and the members of the Church in the Christian faith. In addition, the Catholic Church teaches that baptism is a Sacrament meaning that it is a means of receiving grace from God. In this case, the grace received by the child is the washing away of original sin and a clean conscience before God. It is also contains a promise from God that He has adopted that child as His own.

For more info, check out the following link:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3K.HTM#-1IM

Jeff S.

17

BADGER had Gall bladder Surgery HE IS OK!!

by Sparkplug in

jw
friends

i got a call from aztec and badger had gall blader surgery yesterday.

when she took him in for emergency surgery someone broke in and burglarized their apartment.

talk about a bad weekend.

jschwehm

Get well soon! I had mine out over a year ago. Life is so much better now.

Jeff S.

www.catholicxjw.com

49

Those raised as JWs-Do you recall the path of doubts that led you to leave?

by ithinkisee in

jw
friends

i posted a similar topic a year and a half ago.

i thought with all the new people it would be interesting to ask it again.

so i began to research ... and here i am.

jschwehm

For me it was doing research on how the Society came up with the year 1914. Once I realized the shaky foundation of this, then the claims to religious authority that the GB made fell like a house of cards. Not long after I did research on how they came up with the year 1914, they made the change in what the generation of 1914 meant. That was the last straw for me.

Then, after this, I realized just how academically dishonest and they are. Plus my experiences at Bethel also helped in this regard. I think being at Bethel and seeing how things happen there helped me to see that it was okay to look into the history behind their teachings and the organization.

Jeff S.

www.catholicxjw.com

10

hell

by BlackSwan of Memphis in

ok, i just got back from going to the movie bridge to tarabithia.. without going into details, the movie touches on the idea of unsaved persons going to hell.. this bothers me a great deal.. i just walked out of a religion that teaches that millions are going to be destroyed for not worshipping god just the right way.. it is amazing how many people really do believe that i and my husband and my fellow pagan friends, will be burning in hell.. how does that differ from armageddon?.

this was a key reason why i left orthodox christianity behind.

my sister as well as so many others have lived their own personal hells here on earth, the notion that a person could believe that since they do not believe in jesus as their saviour they will burn in hell is just beyond unsettling.

jschwehm

Hi All:

I thought you guys might like to hear how the Catholic Church teaches about hell.

First, hell is the state of eternal separation from God. Here is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

1035 The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, "eternal fire."615 The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.

Since man has the freedom to choose God for all eternity, he also has the freedom to reject God for all eternity. We do this, of course by the things we say and do. Here is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

1033 We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves: "He who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."610 Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren.611 To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called "hell."

The Catholic Church has never officially stated that anyone has actually gone to hell. This is, of course, in contrast to its official statements about certain people who have made it to heaven which is why the Church canonizes people as Saints. Also, the Church constantly prays that no one would ever make the decision to reject God entirely. In fact, in our prayers we constantly pray for the salvation of all people and hope that people will make the choice of eternity with God. The Catechism says:

1037 God predestines no one to go to hell;618 for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end. In the Eucharistic liturgy and in the daily prayers of her faithful, the Church implores the mercy of God, who does not want "any to perish, but all to come to repentance":619

The Church recognizes that all religions contain truth. Here is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about other non-Christian religions:

843 The Catholic Church recognizes in other religions that search, among shadows and images, for the God who is unknown yet near since he gives life and breath and all things and wants all men to be saved. Thus, the Church considers all goodness and truth found in these religions as "a preparation for the Gospel and given by him who enlightens all men that they may at length have life."332

In fact, the Church recognizes that some, who through no fault of their own, do not know Jesus in His fullness can, through God's mercy (which is how believers get to heaven too), get to heaven.

847 This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:
Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation.337
848 "Although in ways known to himself God can lead those who, through no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel, to that faith without which it is impossible to please him, the Church still has the obligation and also the sacred right to evangelize all men."338

Much of the bitterness and complaints against Christianity that I see on this board is totally understandable and I know God understands those complaints very well. Those of us who are former JWs have been hurt very badly by a very damaging counterfeit form of Christianity that, in general, is very abusive. This also happens in Christian religious traditions that are more mainstream such as the Catholic Church (look at what has happened to those who were abused at the hands of certain sick priests.) They have every right to be ticked off at the Church and those leaders that abused them. Many of them have left the Catholic Church due to this (although some have not) and I am sure God understands all of this.

As the Catechism says about people's religious behavior:

844 In their religious behavior, however, men also display the limits and errors that disfigure the image of God in them:
Very often, deceived by the Evil One, men have become vain in their reasonings, and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and served the creature rather than the Creator. Or else, living and dying in this world without God, they are exposed to ultimate despair.333
853 On her pilgrimage, the Church has also experienced the "discrepancy existing between the message she proclaims and the human weakness of those to whom the Gospel has been entrusted."348 Only by taking the "way of penance and renewal," the "narrow way of the cross," can the People of God extend Christ's reign.349 For "just as Christ carried out the work of redemption in poverty and oppression, so the Church is called to follow the same path if she is to communicate the fruits of salvation to men."350

God is so much more merciful and loving than we could ever be or imagine. I am convinced that He worries more about our relationship with Him than we do and in the Catholic Christian tradition, we are taught that God loves us so much that He did all of the dirty work Himself to save us when He died on the Cross.

Jeff S.

www.catholicxjw.com

36

My boyfriend is a JW and we want to get married but I want him to get OUT

by blueday in

jw
friends

i'm am so heart broken to see my boyfriend with so many internal strugles.

he is a good man, a good god fearing man and this is why it has been so difficult for him to leave the jw's religion.

we love each other so much and we want to be married but he fears the consequences of marring somebody who is not a jw.

jschwehm

Hi

Perhaps we can help. Here is our website www.catholicxjw.com

Email me at [email protected]

Jeff Schwehm

12

Question regarding informing inactive ones of WTS changes

by NanaR in

last monday my middle daughter gave birth to my 5th grandchild.

she delivered by c-section and had complications.

eventually, it became clear that she needed a blood transfusion.

jschwehm

Perhaps these links would help:

http://www.ajwrb.org/6-15-04.shtml

http://www.ajwrb.org/review6-15-04.shtml

Jeff S

www.catholicxjw.com

27

QFR: "Never has a woman given Jehovah perfect obedience"

by Inquisitor in

questions from readers w07 jan 15 p.30.

in what sense did the congregator find only "one man out of a thousand" but not "a woman among all these"?

- ecclesiastes 7:28. the answer is written out in 3 paragraphs.. paragraph 1: placatory remarks to show that jehovah god is not chief misogynist.. paragraph 2 & 3:.

jschwehm

Except for one little item you forgot. They can't become priests. Hmmm wonder why if they have Mary as such a shining example?

Good question. I am of the opinion that since women can give life through child birth that God decided to give men through a special Sacrament the ability to give life in a spiritual sense through the Sacraments.

However even if women cannot be ordained as priests there is no question that the very first women CEO's in the USA were Catholic religious sisters many of whom started hospitals and schools that still exist today. Heck, just look at Mother Angelica who started the largest religious broadcasting network in the world at EWTN which is something the Bishops of the USA tried to do several times and failed. (I just love it by the way.)

After all it was the Catholics that took the lead in the "witch" burnings in prior centuries.

I have read histories that indicate that while Catholics were involved in this that by far the majority of witch burnings occurred in Protestant countries and that in countries where the Inquisition was active witch burnings hardly ever happened. You might find the following links interesting:

http://www.bede.org.uk/inquisition.htm

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/madden200406181026.asp

As usual men (and women) tend to screw things up due to our fallen nature. However, there is no question that Catholic theology and teachings emphasize the dignity of women (and men) even if we all fail to live up to those ideals.

Jeff S.

www.catholicxjw.com

27

QFR: "Never has a woman given Jehovah perfect obedience"

by Inquisitor in

questions from readers w07 jan 15 p.30.

in what sense did the congregator find only "one man out of a thousand" but not "a woman among all these"?

- ecclesiastes 7:28. the answer is written out in 3 paragraphs.. paragraph 1: placatory remarks to show that jehovah god is not chief misogynist.. paragraph 2 & 3:.

jschwehm

In the Catholic Tradition, Mary, the Blessed Mother of Jesus, is believed to have been conceived without original sin. She is the greatest of all the Saints and a model for all believers to follow. I just cannot understand why certain religious sects that claim to be Christian have such a low view of women. The first person that Jesus appeared to after His resurrection was a woman. And, the person to whom he was most connected to both physically and spiritually was His own mother, Mary.

Jeff Schwehm

www.catholicxjw.com

27

Article - Does the Witness stance on WAR prove they are the true religion?

by jwfacts in

many jws believe they are the only religion that doesn't go to war and hence the only true religion.

i am working on an article at http://jwfacts.com/index_files/war.htm to show that this is not valid reasoning, and would love any comments.

despite being neutral in war, jehovah's witnesses are not pacifists.

jschwehm

Hi:

You might find the article on my website helpful. Here is the link:

http://www.catholicxjw.com/justwars.html

Jeff Schwehm

www.catholicxjw.com