Why do Christians believe that Catholics think that Catholics are not saved?

Question

I got this email from global prayer, and I feel kind of affended that Christians do not think that Catholics are saved.
Please pray for the people of the country of Spain. Spain has a long and glorious history. For centuries the Moors ruled over Spain. Today, its 40 million people are largely Catholics. Please pray that God will bless the people of Spain and that God will work through both the Catholic and Protestant churches in Spain to draw people to a saving knowledg of Jesus Christ.

I'm sorry I wrote this in anger. I should of thought about what I was going to write before I did. I don't believe all Christians believes that Catholics or Prodestants do not believe that they are saved, but why do some believe Catholics believe that worshipping the saints is more important then Jesus?

Answer 1

One of the main contributors to this "belief" that Catholics aren't Christian and aren't going to Heaven is Mary. The Catholic faith tends to hold the Virgin Mary in high regard (she was the mother of Jesus, so this is somewhat understandable). However, the Bible states that the trinity is comprised of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, meaning that Mary is not an icon that should receive equal or more worship and honor than God. Some other Catholic practices confuse me. The Bible states that you should call no other one father but your Father in Heaven, yet Catholics refer to their pastors (or priests, I suppose is the proper term) as "father". I think it's little quirks like these that throw most people off. One big one though, is that Jesus is still on the cross in the Catholic faith. All other denominations have taken Him off the cross because He rose again. He isn't called the Living God for no reason. This, however, is just the opinion of a person not very-well educated in Catholic dogma, so I could be way off. And I'm sorry if I was offensively blunt. My email is [e-mail] if you want to talk further.

Answer 2

I personally don't believe that Catholics are not saved. But I can understand why some Christians may think that they are not. Some Catholics, not all, believe that in order to get to God, they have to go through a priest to find atonement for their sins. This is wrong. True atonement is found when a person prays to God through Jesus and asks Him for forgiveness.

Another thing, no one, no matter what religion you are or not has the authority or right to say that one certain organization or person is not saved. God is the one that knows who is saved or who isn't. He knows all. He is the one that knows their minds and hearts and life styles and He is the one that is the ultimate judge here, not a organization or individuals.

Yes of course I will pray for Spain and all people everywhere. Prayer is power and I do believe in the power of prayer!

May God Bless you now and forever!

Answer 3

I believe your question is why do Protestants think Catholics are not saved.

There are many reasons. I will give you only the basics (the Catholic beliefs expressed below come directly from the Catholic Catechism that was approved by Pope John Paul II).

1. Catholics believe that you are "saved" by being baptized into the Catholic Church as an infant. The Bible teaches that we are saved when we make a conscious profession of faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross. Membership in any earthly church will never save you. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

2. Catholics believe that Mary is co-redeemer (Mediatrix) along with Christ, and indeed, without Mary, Christ could never have saved us. The Bible teaches that Mary was merely a vessel God used and had she refused to house the pre-birth baby Jesus in her womb, God would have found another willing vessel. She is not at all in any way part of our redemption. The Bible clearly says that there is only ONE Mediator between God and Man and that is Jesus Christ. (1 Timothy 2:5)

3. Catholics worship Mary. They pray to her and praying to someone is worship. Many Catholics hold Mary in higher esteem than Jesus. The Bible, however, mentions very little about Mary because it is Jesus who is important. While Mary certainly deserves honor, she does not deserve worship in the form of prayer. (Philippians 2:9-11)

4. Catholics put the "traditions of men" above the written word of God. The Bible teaches that traditions should never supercede the word of God. Scripture is what is inspired by God, not the word of popes or churches. Scripture is the only thing that we can base our beliefs on. Anything else is mere opinion or a "tradition of men". (Mark 7:8, Colossians 2:8)

5. Catholics believe we have to work to earn our salvation (I know, seems to contradict the first one, doesn't it? But that is what the catechism says!). The Bible teaches that our salvation is by grace and is not at all by any works we can do. In fact, if it were by works of any kind, then it cannot possibly be by grace because the two are mutually exclusive. (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 11:6)

And that would be why the Protestants you refer to asked you to pray for Spain, a country that is mostly Catholics. Please also understand that when they give this percentage of Catholics, these are people who were baptized into the Catholic Church as infant, most of whom never made a confession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Sure, they may know who Jesus Christ is, but do they really belong to Him through their faith in His finished work on the cross as complete payment for their sins? Very few do.

Answer 4

Thats not true at all. Catholics and christians basically believe in the same thing (God, jesus, Holy spirit) they read the same freaking bible. They sing the same songs..for crying out loud, this baffles me. The only thing that really gets to Christians are that they worship siants and Mary. Some christians believe that humans are imperfect...the only human we should worship is jesus christ. They believe that no 'ordinary" eprson deserve sthe praise that God gets. Other than that we should all be saints. This is a really struggling thing for me because I was baptized as a catholic and i went to a catholic school for almost half my lfie. I'm accusotmed to the catholic ways or worhsipping,but at the same time I also go to a christian church. And the basically teach the same thing, they pray the same prayers. In my opinion they're the same thing and i'm defintely not going to hell for worhsipping the same God that christians worship, if anything, vice versa. CATHOLICS CONSIDER THEMSELVES AS CHRISTIANS

Answer 5

"Why do Christians believe that Catholics think that Catholics are not saved?" The possiblilities are endless, but it could be they are too focused in being Christian, they forgot to be Christ-like.
Anytime people are out of control they loose prespective on what they are doing. Even good saintly people can sin being overly saintly - FORCE - forcing their will upon the free will of others is just as bad a sin as any.
Also, don't put all your energy in the global problems, keep your life simpler and work in your local community. you'll see the results and your faith and community will grow. If all the local communities were stonger then pretty soon they connect, and these connections grow - then the planet is taken care of. See?

Answer 6

This is just semantics but, I go to a southern Baptist church, and I just want to point out that the way you phrase your question makes it sound like Catholisism is not a Christian religion. I have been to catholic churches, and they are/can be just as much "Christian" as protestant churches. The term Christian means "Christ follower" or "like Christ". Does this not fit for members of the Catholic church as well as protestant?

I do have to admit though, that when I went to college (smaller, christian Reformed Church affliated, liberal arts, private school) most of the students there didn't know anything about Catholic churches, had never been to one, and therefore did not hold an opinion on them.

I know several Catholic people who are very faithful to the teachings of Christ. Just like I know several Catholics and protestants that do not live out their faiths in their daily lives. I am sorry that you have got impression that Protestants do not believe Catholisism is a legitimate Christian religion. I mean, after all, Protestant churches sprang up from Catholic churches. Just like Christianity sprang up from Judiaism. You will find many "Christians" (term used loosely here.) hold negative opinions of the Jewish community and her people.
It could be political, or lack of education, or maybe an experience in thier life. Whatever it is, GOd does not like barriers, nor does he stand for people whom treat others in disrespectful ways.
We are to love others as He loves us. We are to show as much respect for His creation as we do for ourselves. Jesus said, "Whatever you do to the least of these, it's as if you have done it unto me."

Question for all: How do you treat those around you? Now assume that person was Jesus. Would your behavior have to change?

Answer 7

I call those kinds of people "Super Christians." I think they just think that anyone who is not a super christian like them is in the wrong religion or whatever. It's too bad that they can't respect other people and their choices for whatever religion they want to practice. If someone wants to worship a tree, that doesn't bother me. It doesn't mean that I am going to worship that tree, and I'm not going to tell them that they should believe in God like I do. I would just let them worship the tree if that's what they wanted to do and leave them alone. The problem is that some people can't understand or respect the whole "freedom of religion" concept.

Answer 8

catholics and protestants do not follow the same doctrine. They have been at each other's throats for years. Look at ireland's religious war for example. It all started in 1500 when martin luther denounced the pope as a bad leader and criticized the roman catholic for bribary and greedy attitude to people. People realized it and he founded a religion of their own...thats when the reformation era started. All all hell broke loose. They are still at loggerhead for almost all questions regarding devinity and mary , etc.

Answer 9

I think a lot of Catholics think a lot of Christians are not saved too. But who are we to judge. Who can really say who is/isn't saved. It's a personal relationship with Jesus that one knows if he is truly saved. I think a lot of people think they are saved because they have said the works. But like any relationship it requires both parties to make it work.

Answer 10

Some believers are misinformed and must explore Catholicism. I will pray for Spain and for the salvation of those people of that country. God bless.

Btoo