PENnED

One of the most enjoyable and challenging conversations I’ve had happened very recently. Last weekend, I was with my Catholic friends who take their faith and the Bible seriously. We had not fellowshipped for a long time and so they decided to invite me and my wife Ruth to “a Sunday afternoon karaoke”.

The one thing I really like about my Catholic friends is that they consider me and Ruth real friends. As such they don’t see us, especially me, as a threat, even though I am an “Evangelical” (their term) who had formal and advanced theological training.

I was amazed to learn from them that they are into some crusade against a misguided devotion to Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus. They say, and I agree with them, that Mary had a special role in salvation history, being the mother of the Savior and Mediator, but that she is NOT a Mediatrix or co-Mediator on the same level with Christ. And they cite official papal encyclicals that warn “the faithful” (ironically a Catholic term for Catholics) against practices that might violate official Catholic teachings on Mary.

They are also saddened by the fact that an inappropriate devotion to Mary, which they think is tantamount to idolatry, takes away the focus from Christ. Again, I agree with them. Mary may be “Mother of God” but she is not God!

But that was just the beginning of the conversation. The next segment shifted to some hard questions directed to me. The questions ranged from inspiration of Scriptures (and which books should be included) to transubstantiation (yes, they know the theological term!) to purgatory and theology of salvation.

As I look back now, I am amazed at the fact that the disagreements we had we’re small and quite insignificant compared to what we believe in common! It was only in purgatory that it got a little bumpy, but, all in all, these dear sisters and brothers in Christ think and believe more like me than some of my Evangelical friends who have no clue about some of the theological stuff we talked about.

The conversation was topped by a topic that challenged all of us: universalism. One of us (not me) is disturbed by the fact that a loving God would let people, and fallen angels(!), to be tormented for eternity. The same person asked me, “Brother, do you believe in such punishment?”

I said, “Looking at Scriptures, the evidence is quite overwhelming. So yes. But let me ask you this question: Does God change his mind? If so, is there proof, in Scriptures, that God actually does?”

Quickly he said, “Yes! God changed his mind about Nineveh!”

None of us actually sounded like a hard-core universalist. We simply toyed with the idea. But all of us felt a great sense of awe as we pondered upon our God whose great love continues to overwhelm us.