Hi, ya!  What is your take on "soul victims"?  I am Southern Baptist, and from what I can find, it is a Catholic thing… something about a soul that God has chosen to go through more in life than most people (trials and things, like Job, I guess).  I’m just wondering because sometimes I wonder when God is going to give me a break LOL!

Sincerely,
Hard-Pressed

Dear Hard-Pressed,

The teaching of ‘soul victims’ is a Catholic theology, not a Bible one.  According to victim soul doctrine, certain people are chosen by God to suffer more than others and to specifically partake in Christ-like pains.  According to Catholic tradition, these people experience mental and physical anguish, even exhibiting visible wounds in their hands and feet (like Christ did).  It isn’t just that these soul victims suffer more than others; it is that their sufferings help to complete what Jesus’ sufferings didn’t.  These soul victims are chosen by Jesus to appease the anger of His Father.

Now, here’s the truth: the Bible does teach that some people suffer more than others (Job is a great example of this), but it NEVER teaches that certain people are chosen by Jesus to suffer or die to satisfy the Father’s anger – this is totally blasphemous.  The Father, just like the Son, finds no pleasure in our pain and suffering.  God may discipline us, but that is always for our long-term good, not harm (Heb 12:7-9).  Jesus’ blood atones for our sins (1 Jn 1:7); no one else’s blood can do that.  The idea that certain people are “victims” to help atone for others’ sins directly contradicts Bible teaching.

Did the first century church celebrate special events that commemorated each person's journey of faith?  In several Christian denominations, there are events like that called 'sacraments'.  I am wondering specifically about the sacrament of marriage and how it fits into the first century church and also what the Bible says is proper practice for this type of event.

Sincerely, Practices Made Perfect

Dear Practices Made Perfect,

The Bible doesn’t have any sacraments – but it does teach there are some important events in a christian’s life.The term ‘sacrament’ is not a Biblical word - it is a Catholic one.The Catholic Encyclopedia describes ‘sacrament’ thusly:

Noun, a visible sign of an inward grace, esp. one of the solemn Christian rites considered to have been instituted by Jesus Christ to symbolize or confer grace: the sacraments of the Protestant churches are baptism and the Lord's Supper; the sacraments of the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches are baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, matrimony, penance, holy orders, and extreme unction. (Catholic Encyclopedia)

Using that definition, we could loosely say a sacrament is equivalent to an event that is commanded by God for every christian to partake in.There are some scheduled events like that in the Bible:

• Baptism to become a christian (Rom 6:4)
• weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:7)
• weekly contribution (1 Cor 16:1)

These are the only things even remotely close to a ‘sacrament’ (although that still isn’t a Biblical term) ever seen in the New Testament church.Marriage wouldn’t be on that list because marriage is not required of every christian.

This does not mean marriage isn’t instituted by God.  It is - as early as Adam and Eve (Gen 2:24).God has never laid down specific rules for the marriage ceremony.  He has left those details up to individual cultures.God’s concern has always been about how we act within the sacred bonds of matrimony (Col 3:18-19).  He leaves the 'wedding feast' to our discretion.