AboutJoe Norman Expertise I can answer questions regarding acceptable worship, organization of the church, or any apsect of the Christian life. I am the son of a preacher and have studied the Bible from cover to cover since I was 12 years old. I am strong in my research skills and do not follow teachings of men. Many will label me as conservative and some might label me as liberal, but I just seek to be biblical. I understand proper exegesis and hermeneutics and apply them. My desire is to share my knowledge of God's Word with others. Please always keep in mind that none of us who are listed as experts here are divinely inspired and therefore it is possible to get incorrect answers from any one of us. Study the Scriptures and decide for yourself if what is taught is true.
Experience I am the 4th generation in my family to be a faithful member of the church of Christ. I was raised by a preacher and have studied the Bible everyday since I was twelve. I am 44 yrs old now. I am not a "scholar", but I am very familiar with the scriptures.
Organizations member of the church of Christ, served as a Deacon for a few years at LakeShore church of Christ in Waco, Tx. I currently live in the North Dallas area and worship with the Lewisville church of Christ.
Question I am a Catholic and have been all my life, and I recently started dating a man who has for his entire life been a member of the Church of Christ. Neither of us want to let our religious differences come between us, but as we have just started dating we have not discussed the issue too much. I suppose I just have a few question about differences that I have heard. One is that I have heard that the Church of Christ does not believe in the Holy Spirit. To what degree is this true, and why are the reasons for it. Is it also true that members of the Church of Christ believe that they are the only people that will go to Heaven? And finally are there any other important theological differences between our religions that I should be aware of and didn’t mention? I myself would like to focus on our common Christianity and the beliefs that we both share, but I want to be informed when speaking with him about what we both do believe. Thank you in advance for you assistance.
Answer Hi Hannah,
First, allow me to apologize for taking so long to respond to you. I went out of town over the weekend to celebrate my dad's 80th birthday as well as my parent's 60th anniversary and this is the first chance I have had to get online. I do wish to thank you for choosing me to answer your questions.
The rumor that the churches of Christ do not believe in the Holy Spirit is completely false. I must also point out that one major difference between the churches of Christ and the Catholics is that we do not have an over-arching governmental system for the church like the Catholics have; nor do we have one man who is the head of the church on earth like your Pope. We also do not have any book of Creeds or church Doctrines, so opinions and believes might be slightly different from congregation to congregation or even from person to person on certain things.
In regard to the Holy Spirit, some believe He personally indwells each and every Christian. Others believe He indwells us only through the Word of God being written on our hearts. I would say the majority believe the latter. Yet, there are probably others who believe slightly different than either of these. But we do believe in the Holy Spirit. We also believe He works in the world through God's divine providence but not in miraculous ways like He did in the first century. Here is a New Testament passage that indicates miracles would cease.
1 Cor.13:8-10
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
We are all students of God's Word and trust His Word above all else. All humans are fallible and can lead a person astray. We don't have a priest system either. We have men who preach but they are merely called our brothers and not Reverend, or Pastor, or any other title. We have no biblical authority for a priest system in the New Testament. We are all priests according to the New Testament and Jesus Christ is our High Priest.
Rev.1:5, 6
5 ....To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Heb.4:14-16
14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Heb.6:19, 20
19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
The differences between Catholics and churches of Christ are vast and would fill a book if I were to cover them all thoroughly. We don't believe in sprinkling babies because we believe baptism (which means to immerse or submerge# must be a conscious choice by the individual person. Every example of conversion in the New Testament includes an adult choosing to be immersed in water. #Acts 2:38; Acts 8:36-39 and many others# Water baptism is the point in which a person becomes a Christian and is added to the church by God. The person who chooses to be baptized #immersed# my first believe that Jesus is the Son of God, confess that He is the Son of God, and repent of their sins. None of that can be done by a baby and babies do not inherit sin.
Now you asked if we believe that we are the only ones going to Heaven. It doesn't matter what any person on earth believes about who will go to Heaven and who will not. It only matters who God chooses to take to Heaven. What I do know it that Jesus built ONE church not thousands #Eph.4:4-6#. That ONE church follows the New Testament pattern as to how it is organized and how it worships. That one church uses only the New Testament as it's guide and doesn't depend on any individual flawed human or governmental system. Does this ONE church that Jesus built have to have church of Christ on the outside of the building in which they meet? No. Jesus also indicated that few would find the narrow way that leads to eternal life #Matt.7:13,14).
We also do not pray to Mary the mother of Jesus or anyone other than God the Father through the name of Jesus Christ. We do not believe Mary was more than human nor do we believe she remained a virgin. We don't believe in the patron saints of the Catholic church either. All Christians are saints. In most every letter Paul wrote to churches, he would begin by "To the saints in Corinth", or Galatia, or Philippi, etc. We don't believe that Peter was the first Pope or even a pope at all. We also don't believe that the unleavened bread and fruit of the vine for the Lord's Supper literally changes into the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. They are symbols of His flesh and blood only.
As I said before, the differences are vast and to cover them all thoroughly would fill a book. I hope that I have been of some assistance to you. I also wish you the best with your relationship with this man. I hope you continue to date and also hope you will be willing to study God's Word with him should he ever ask you to study with him. You might also consider visiting his local church sometime to see how different the worship is compared to the Catholic church. God bless you and the man you are dating.
