Why do some Protestants claim "bible alone" while others reject the bible but call themselves "Christian"?

Question

The Catholic Church believes in all of the bible, Old and New Testaments in context with each other and in the context of the sacred Christian tradition of the Catholic Church which came before the books of the New Testament were decided on by the Catholic Church under the authority of the Pope.

Satan believes that Jesus is the Son of God, and so to the unclean spirits. This is in the bible.

Answer 1

Some Protestants claim "Bible alone" while other reject the Bible but call themselves Christians because people take what they want to believe out of the first Christian church (the Catholic Church) and call it their religion. You see, they just take what they like and what they're comfortable with following, whether it be the bible or something else, and call if a religion. How do you think so many different Christian denominations appeared? People made a religion on what they wanted to believe, not what God or Jesus instructed them to believe.

Answer 2

I think your questions makes a few generalizations that are a bit off.

Those who claim "Bible alone" usually don't seem to understand that their interpretation of things is as limited as the people they are criticizing. They’ve actually incorporated a number of their own worldview ideas into their reading of the Bible.

(It’s unavoidable.)

I also don't know a Christian denomination that "rejects" the Bible -- it's the sourcebook of the faith. Some perhaps have a more liberal interpretation of some of the scriptures; believe some restrictions were cultural and thus contextual, rather than universal; and focus more on the emotional and relational nature of the faith than the concrete systematic parts.

To greatly generalize, Protestantism was a reaction a few hundred years ago against the obvious moral corruption and legalism of the Catholic church of that time. It came out of the orthodox church. It also maintained the canon of the Catholic church (apart from the Apocrypha nowadays).

It was an attempt to get back to the core of the faith, have a "personal" relationship with God, and remove all the garbage that had been thrown into the mix by human beings.

Now it's a few hundred years later, and it's probably not accurate to label everything non-Catholic as "Protestant." There is too much variability, which leads to creating new terms like "fundamentalist," "evangelical," "pentecostal," or whatever that can help distinguish them from each other.

Despite your claim that Catholicism is consistent, I find many Catholics to be simply “cultural” ones. They have little knowledge of the Bible and/or systematic theology (not on the level of the protestants); and many practice the rituals while living however they wish, figuring that will please God and exonerate them.

There are committed believers in any denomination, but there’s also a lot of uncommitted people who practice the religion simply as a cultural phenomenon. It has little impact on their actual lives.

So I don't really care who claims to have the "best, most accurate" tradition because salvation and sanctification both occur on an individual basis, internally. While you do need to prime the pump with "good" theology, ultimately you can have the best theology and ritual in the world and still be completely devoid of a relationship with God. I see most denominations, while flawed, as being able to contribute something positive to the church at large.

Answer 3

Many Protestant religions do not believe in Original Sin -- so the Immaculate Conception is not an issue for them. Many of the teachings of the Catholic Church are not actually IN the Bible -- but follow logically from what is there. I think that the idea of the Immaculate Conception follows logically from the believe that Jesus is God -- and God would not be carried by a woman whose soul was marked with sin. As for Mary remaining a Virgin, there are two reasons why Catholics believe she stayed a virgin while Protestants think that she had other children. The first reason involves translation errors and the second reason is that Protestants have excluded books from the Bible that imply that she remained a virgin. First -- the translation errors. The KJV says that Mary had no relations with Joseph until Jesus was born. In English, it is implied that they DID have relations after his birth. However, in the original Greek, there is no such implication. The KJV also refers to the brothers of Jesus. However, the original Greek uses a word that merely means 'close relative.' Catholics believe that these people are cousins. The Apocrypha has been part of the Catholic Bible since the Bible was finalized at the Council of Rome in the fourth century. Protestants have thrown out those books. But in one of those books, Mary expresses concerns over her marriage to Joseph because she has taken a vow of virginity. Catholics believe that the mother of Jesus would never break a vow to God -- so she would have remained a virgin -- even after the birth of Jesus.

Answer 4

Christian= Christ like. If one does not live their life in the pattern that Jesus set how can one be Christ like.Quite simply check out the Beatitudes and the parables. The Old Testament describes the coming of the Lord, the New Testament is the fulfilling of the prophetic word. I am not Catholic, I have read the Bible with Spiritual help. I am a Protestant.

Answer 5

A Christian, in the most modern definition, is someone who believes in the figure of Jesus and the fact that he died for the atonement of the sins of man.

After that, details vary greatly from one denomination to another. Protestants believe that the Church, through its human leadership, has become corrupted from God's true message. The Church, in turn, believes the same of Protestants because they place all their faith in the Bible alone and not the Holy Spirit-inspired teachings of the Pope and Church leaders.

Answer 6

Seekthetruth,
To answer your question accurately, we must cover some history. In the year 325 A.D., the Emperor Constantine convened the Council of Nicea. His empire was crumbling around him. He needed to find a way to unify things, so he gathered all the heads of the so-called "christian" sects, and ordered them to come up with a single orthodox faith. Many of the original teachings of Jesus were dispensed with at that time. In addition, many pagan aspects were added, in order to create a "one size fits all" system of belief, thus we have christmas, easter, SUNday, etc. When the dust settled on Constantine's efforts, a new church had been born, molded in his image, and designed to restore psychological control over his subjects. Those who would not accept the new "christianity" were exhiled, or worse. The book we call the bible was written at that same council. All of the original scriptures that disagreed with the new doctrines were destroyed. Some of them were severely edited by men called "correctores". I don't mean to rock anybodies boat, but these are facts, recorded by history, and I believe represent the birth of the "Beast" of Revelation. In truth, it is hard to be a "christian" and a true child of God at the same time. Please, before you hurl the first stone, make sure you are without sin, and research this for your self. I did not make it up, and was as shocked as anyone to learn it. I have since discovered that God is not looking for "christians" He is looking for children, who will humble themselves, allow His Spirit to reside in their hearts and minds, and do His will always.
Does this make the bible worthless? To the contrary. God will accomplish His works, even through the most vile and Godless of men. There is enough truth within the pages of the bible for those who seek with the Spirit, to discover God's will. You must look with a discerning mind and heart, to seperate the wheat from the chaff.

Answer 7

I am Roman Catholic and I know that the Church accepts all of the Mainstream Protestant Denominations as legitimate Christian Churches, and I cannot think of one of them that rejects the Bible.

Cult groups who do not accept the Divinity of Christ and the Indivisibility of the Trinity ARE NOT CHRISTIAN!

I don't think you will find any Protestant Denominations in that group. There may be small offshoot independent groups in your local area but no serious Biblical Scholar would accept them as Protestant groups.

Lets try being like Jesus and encouraging Unity in the body of Christ instead of insulting people OK?

Answer 8

Someone rejecting the Bible claiming to be a believer in its teaching has his feet firmly planted in midair

since Jesus believed in the Old Testament both before he died and after he rose, they seem to not see eye to eye with the One they think they 'believe'??

Answer 9

Christian is a 2-part word.
Christ=Annointed
ian=a part, of, member of the family
Christian=a member of the family of the annointed.

If you refer to the Apocryha and Deuterocannonical books, then the Protestants rejected it because it is not part of the Jewish Torah.

Answer 10

Anyone who rejects the bible is not a christian. To be a christian you need to believe in what the bible says, so you cannot reject it.