Protestant Christians: Why do you follow Catholic traditions?

Question

Why do Protestant Christians follow the traditions of the Catholic Church such as Christmas, Easter, and the Sunday Sabbath when they are in fact protesting Catholicism? All of these traditions are nowhere to be found in the Bible. They were all adopted into Christianity during the late 3rd and early 4th century AD. An even a better question; why do you follow traditions that have replaced God's traditions with the traditions of Roman Emperors and Catholic Popes? The Feast of Redemption, Passover, and the Saturday Sabbath, which God commands us to follow, have been replaced by Christmas, Easter, and Sunday Sabbath, which Catholicism commands us to follow. As Protestants why do you follow Catholic Holidays over God’s biblical Holidays? Do you think God changed his mind and is willing to change his commandants and laws whenever he wants to? Or are Gods commandments infinite and never changing?

(Sorry, I have a lot of questions!)

Ok then, if you follow the commandments of Jesus instead, then are you insinuating that Jesus’ commandments are different than God's. Are they not the same? And replacement theology is nowhere to be found in the bible; that is a catholic concept too.

Jesus never replaced these Holidays or the commandments, the Catholic Church did. Jesus even celebrated Hanukkah.

Then came the Feast of Dedication[a] at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade. The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." John 10:22-24

Answer 1

As for christmas, basically tradition. We want to celebrate His birthday, but have no clue when it actually was, but it does seem likely it was in September, based on when the census were held in biblical times. Anyway, yes, the catholics stole most of the christmas traditions from pagans and we protestants carry it on.

Easter, yes, no way will any christian gloss over Easter, its the single most important christian holiday, the day our saviour rose. Commemorating His sacrifice just to save us, yep, we'll celebrate it to the end of time and thats one holiday we'll gladly share with catholics.

Because we were lied to about the sabbath. Constantine changed it to Sunday in order to make it easier to convert pagans, since they worshipped their fake gods on Sunday. The excuse of "because Christ rose on Sunday", wasn't thought up for a couple hundred years. "Remember the sabbath and keep it holy" does not mean "or change it to Sunday if its easier". I really agree with you on that one. I have noticed though, that catholics have mass on Saturdays as well as Sunday, so protestants are probably worse about not honoring the real sabbath than catholics are. Personally, I honor it on Saturday, but go to church on Sunday, because we don't have services on Saturday.

Answer 2

Valid question.

However, I propose that when Martin Luther [Catholic clergyman] "protested" he started off against the 'plenary indulgences' that the Mother Church required from the laity or the faithful in order to build St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, I think?? I could be wrong there. But anyhow, he got ex-communicated and he started his own diocese/church, the Lutheran Church in Germany.

But the point is, that the initial protestations were quite, shall we say, "basic and to the point", such as the 'Immaculate Conception' of Mary or the doctrine that Mary remained as a Virgin for the rest of her life, etc... or disallowing divorce and remarriage without papal dispensation, etc.

You must remember that during the Great Reformation, the Bible--which was banned from public view or scrutiny until it got translated into English and German when the first printing press was invented-- had only been translated fairly recently, and merely a precious handful were available to the public at the time, other than the Protestant preachers who founded their own churches, such as John Calvin / Calvinism [1530]; Menno Simons / Mennonites [1550]; Church of England [1550]. Then it took another 100 years before Jacob Amman started the Amish branch of the Mennonites in 1650; and almost another century again when John and Charles Wesley started the Methodist Church in 1730... etc., etc.

In short, it's been a tediously long, drawn-out process for all this "adjustments" and "changes" or protestations to take place... until now when we have around 30,000 different religious sects or denominations that have proliferated as a result of it, yet continue to carry such traditions... hence your question is quite a propos.

Peace be with you.

Answer 3

Christmas is simply Celebrating Christ's Birth
Easter Day is the Day of the Resurrection

Every Sunday is Easter Sunday because every Sunday - including the Sundays of Lent - we Celebrate Christ's Resurrection.

Sunday replaced the Saturday Sabbath because of the Celebration of the Resurrection of Christ.

As Christians, we do not follow the Jewish Holidays since we are of a "New Rite" or "New Birth". The Old Testament is important, but we are a New Testament People. We follow the Rules and Laws given by Jesus.

Answer 4

Protestants follow a lot of Catholic traditions because Protestantism came from Catholicism. They have only been separate for the last 500 years, which is only 25% of the religion's history.

Answer 5

I do not follow catholic tradition. My calendar says Christmas on the 25th of December. So I remember, and thank God for sending his Son to die for me. My church meets on Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday evening. So I go and worship God. Same with Easter Sunday. I remember and praise Jesus for His gift to me. However, I do not pray to saints. It is wrong. I do not pray to Mary. It is wrong. I do not confess my sins to a man. It is wrong. I do not accept an act of contrition to pay for my sin. It is wrong. I do not keep idols such as statues of Mary and crucifixes. It is wrong. Jesus speaks out against all these acts in the Bible. I believe Jesus. Not a pope. Not a cardinal. Not a bishop. I believe Jesus! If catholics do not, that is their problem. They will pay for their idolatrous way of life. As far as holidays, are you suggesting that I tell them to change the days of Christmas? Easter? Or tell the church not to meet on the days that they meet? Get real, man.

Answer 6

To answer Brenda's question about the Jewish and pagan roots. It is because many Jews and Pagans were the first Christians. They soon became Catholic, then some became Protestant.

Answer 7

Since they are also Protestant traditions, why do the Catholics follow them? More to the point, since most of these traditions have a Jewish or Pagan root, why do both of the churches observe them? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?