Catholics don't represent all Christians. Your thoughts?

Question

First off: Nothing against Catholics. I have a lot of friends that are Catholic. However, a ton of respondants to my questions seem to think that because they were hurt by Catholics at some point that all Christians are bad. I don't understand this. Not all Catholics should be judged by the actions of a few.

Answer 1

To be a Christian is to believe in Jesus Christ.
Catholics do not represent Christians. They are a form of Christianity. I agree with you thoughts. Let's let God do the judging. Remember Paul, what was he doing before he was struck down on the way to Damascus?(Act 9)

Answer 2

I think the easiest way to put this is that I am a Christian but not Catholic. I don't have anything against Catholics, but I disagree with a lot of the doctrine that they use. I will expand your statement and say that no one should be judged by the actions of a few. They shouldn't even be judged by the actions of the majority. Unfortunately this happens both ways, but the fact of the matter is that even if 99 out of 100 act a certain way, that one might be different, and to lump a group together is wrong because there might be one in the group that is different. We should treat each person as an individual and not lump them with others.

I also want to add that you can't generalize one whole group as Christian. There are many that claim to be Christians, that do not represent Christ at all. In word, deed, anything. I can agree that some in a group can be, but to say all are, I disagree with that

Answer 3

If people think that Catholics represent all Christians then they really don't know much about Christianity. However if you look the term catholic up - spelt with a lower case c this does actually means 'general' or 'univeral' which could, according to belief mean the one church founded through Christ by the Apostic Peter the Apostle. However catholics do not have to be in full communion with the pope, like the more commonly referred to Roman Catholic Church which include the Latin rite and 22 Eastern rite catholic churches!

So the answer to your question is technically catholics could be viewed as the views of the whole christian church, but Roman Catholics are (be it an influential one) a branch of that!

Answer 4

I agree. Catholics don't represent all Christians. Catholics represent Catholics. Some Christians think that Catholics ARE NOT Christians and they are!

How were the respondents hurt by Catholics? Words? Deeds?

Keep in mind that Catholics are also hurt by Christians as well. It goes both ways.

Answer 5

There is a vast difference between one who is Catholic by practice, and one who is Catholic by default.

Catholics who actually practice their faith have a profound personal relationship with Jesus, especially in the Eucharist, and receive Him at least once a week.

Those who are Catholic by default or birth say they are Catholic, but not really by practice. Catholics are human beings and make mistakes just like Protestant human beings.

For a person who wants to call themselves a Catholic, the very minimum requirment is Reconciliation and Eucharist once a year.

There is overwhelming evidence that the Christians of the first 3 centuries were Catholic by belief and practice, so those who claim Catholics are not Christians are just ignorant and deep into post-reformist rhetoric.

The first recorded use of the word "Catholic" that I could find, is in St. Ignatius of Antioch's letter to the Smyrneans, paragraph 8, of 106 A.D.:

"Where the Bishop appears, there let the people be, just as where Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church."

Undoubtedly the word was in use before the time of this writing. Here is the first known quote that uses the word "Catholic and "Christian" at the same time:

"Christian is my name, and Catholic my surname. The one designates me, while the other makes me specific. Thus am I attested and set apart... When we are called Catholics it is by this appellation that our people are kept apart from any heretical name." Saint Pacian of Barcelona, Letter to Sympronian, 375 A.D..

Answer 6

No group should be judged by the actions of the minority. Catholic are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholic. Some people are more than willing to be prejudice on small actions.

Answer 7

I don't think Christians represent all Christians either. ;-)

Never judge a group by the actions of a few, but by the actions of the majority.

Answer 8

Catholics do not represent all Christians. Protestants are Christians. Nobody has a monopoly on God.

Answer 9

Since the Pope declairs that no other christian outside of his decree is Christian, it is illogical to say that Chatholics can claim to represnt us in any matter that the Catholic and Protestant faiths disagree on. You can't represent what you disagree with, and since we don't exist in their eyes, they certainly can not represent us. On the same principle, we can not speak for Catholics when we make universal comments about Christians that disagrees with Catholocism.

Answer 10

Catholics do no longer worship idols Saints, Mary or the Pope and they do no longer fee custom over scripture. Scripture extremely tells us to price custom in Paul's letters to the Thessalonians and at dissimilar factors contained in the former testomony. Are you one among those "Christians" who ignores that area of the Bible because Catholics do no longer. Jesus Christ turned right into a Jew and the Jewish faith values custom. Jesus also instructed his followers to emulate him as a lot as they could and considering He noted custom all Christians might want to. Catholics are Christians get over the bigoted rant out of your minister.