Tag: featured

Catholic Dating: Should I date a non-Catholic? (Part 1)

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It has been quite some time since I wrote my series on Catholic dating. Those articles were certainly among the more popular here at Restless Pilgrim. The subject matter of those posts generated considerable discussion in my local Catholic community of San Diego, which pleased me no end since this was my main goal in writing them in the first place. The fact that it was also an extremely cathartic writing experience was just an added bonus! 😉

During the intervening three years since writing that series, my own love life has been, to put it mildly, anything but dull. Despite this, I’ve never felt inclined to write further on the subject of dating. That is, until now…

noncatholic

Over the past few months one particular question concerning dating has come up again and again, particularly as my thoughtful friends attempt to marry me off and enlist me in the ranks of the blissfully domesticated. The question has been “Hey David, what do you think about dating a non-Catholic?”

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When is a Hebrew not a Jew?

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10-commandments-2

When you hear people speaking about the Bible, and especially the Old Testament, you will often hear the terms “Israelite”, “Hebrew” and “Jew” used interchangeably. However, strictly speaking, these terms are not identical.

An Israelite is simply anyone who is a descendant of the Patriarch Jacob. In Genesis 32:28, after wrestling a mysterious man, Jacob is given a new name, “Israel”, which literally means “He who strives with God”.

If you recall, Jacob/Israel had twelve sons. These would later form the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel. Well, eleven of these sons took great umbrage at their brother Joseph, so they sold him into slavery (those of you with siblings will understand this). Years later, Joseph rose to power in Egypt and, after being reconciled with his family, brought them all to Egypt.

The family of Israel flourished in Egypt for some time until a new Pharaoh rose to power who forced them all into slavery. It is at this time that Moses is called by God to rescue his people and lead them out of Egypt. It is during the period of the Exodus that the term Hebrew is used to refer to the population.

Once the people return to Israel, they enjoy a period of prosperity. However, eventually there is a split in the Kingdom between the northern and southern Kingdom. The Southern Kingdom was known as “Judah” and the inhabitants of that area known as Jews. Both the northern and southern kingdoms are conquered and people exiled. After the exile, the term “Jew” is used to refer to any of the Israelites who were left.

I hope that this explanation of terms and recap of Salvation History is helpful!

My great hope

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When I first heard that Jorge Bergoglio had been declared Pope, I immediately looked him up on my Conclave Android app and my eyes were quickly drawn to the sentence which said that in Argentina he had been the Ordinary for Eastern-rite Catholics without an Ordinary of their own rite.

I was hopeful that, given this background, his pontificate would be particularly sensitive to the the Christian East. I have not been disappointed.

FrancisBartholomew

Even in these first few months that he has been Pope, both East and West have made gestures of friendship, building on the great work of their predecessors. Inspired by this, I started to consider what I could do.

As I was thinking about this, I remembered an article I had read over at Ramblings of a Byzantine Catholic where it said that the East and West remain divided “because our love has grown cold”. So, if that’s the case, what could I do to nurture and express love for our Orthodox brethren?

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Remembering the Jewish Feasts

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WeirdSometimes I forget I’m a bit weird…

Do you have habits which have been part of you for years? Do you have personal traditions which you’ve been following for so long that you forget that they’re not universally shared by the rest of the world?

Well, last month I was chatting with a friend online and he highlighted for me one of my personal eccentricities. Our discussion prompted me to write this post so as to share my weirdness with the world, and in the faint hope of discovering others out there who have similar quirks…

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Why was the Qur’an revealed?

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You’ll often hear Muslims say that the Qur’an is the message for all mankind. However, the Qur’anic data doesn’t back this up…

P1. Every nation has been sent a messenger (16:36, 10:47 and 35:24)… despite the historical record not being able to substantiate this.

P2. Messengers are sent in the language of his people (14:4).

P3. Muhammad was the first person sent to warn the Arabs (36:6, 34:44 and 32:3)… despite Abraham and Ishmael supposedly having established the Kaaba generations before.

C. Muhammad was sent to those living in and around Mecca (42:7) to give them a warning in Arabic so that it would be clear to them (41:3, 43:3, 44:58, 26:195-196).  

The Qur’an says that the Jews and Christians are to follow their own Scriptures (5:43, 5:68). Rather than having to trust what Christians and Jews *say* about their Greek and Hebrew Scriptures, the Qur’an is sent confirming it in *Arabic* (46:12), a revelation in their own tongue (41:44, 6:155-157).   

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