All the other Christian churches have their roots in Catholicism. And if Catholics aren't really worshiping Christ as the Son of God, we have been lying to ourselves for centuries. Why do Catholics celebrate CHRISTmas and Easter? for presents and painted eggs?
2006-12-05 02:39:51 · 24 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
the protestants?
2006-12-05 02:43:55 · answer #1 · answered by sc29492 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Whether other Christian like it or not Catholics are Christians. It is interesting that "Christians" believe they can dictate who is or is not allowed to be a Christian. Catholics believe in Jesus as their saviour. Their other practices differ from other denominations. I don't think it is very "Christian" of certain Christians to suppose they speak for God and cast out Catholics from Christianity.
People need to research early Christianity before saying things like "Eww" about their religion being an offshoot of Catholicism.
People who insist that Catholics are not Christians are usually people who do not have the knowledge to make the distinction. I am talking of factual knowledge not what one of your religious leaders has told you to believe about Catholics. Or what you think you know.
2006-12-05 11:20:35 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
People who do not understand the Catholic faith think that we aren't Christians. I grew up Baptist, but by going through the RCIA process and reading a number of books on the subject, I've come to realize that non-Catholics really are ignorant to the ways of the faith. It is our responsibility as Catholics to make sure that people understand why we do what we do and why we believe what we believe.
I became Catholic in 2000, and soon realized that many cradle Catholics don't understand a lot about their faith. In fact, the biggest hang-up I have is that many of them do not read the Bible at all except when they have it read to them during Mass. This is why it is so easy for Protestants to tear down the Catholic faith. We as a whole are very unprepared to defend our faith in religious debate.
Luckily, people like Scott Hahn and Kevin Orlin Johnson have given us some great books on how to defend our faith. Hahn has written a number of books on the subject and Johnson has a wonderful book called, "Why Do Catholics Do That?" It uses Bible-based evidence to explain why Catholics are what they are. I highly suggest it.
Hope that answered your question.
2006-12-05 10:47:51 · answer #3 · answered by kenrayf 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Catholics are Christians. I don't know why people say they aren't. All other forms or Christianity were derived from Catholicism. So those who say that Catholics are not Christians are not understanding that if there were never Catholicism, their form of Christianity would not exist.
These people need to read some history books to get the facts straight. Remember when the Pope ruled the world???? Yeah...that was Catholics, and eventually some other dudes decided to make their own types of Christianity.. (Lutheran, Calvin, etc.)
2006-12-05 10:43:11 · answer #4 · answered by two_kee_kees 4 · 6⤊ 2⤋
The way Catholics pray to Mary/the Saints is not the same as the way they pray to God.
The way Catholics "pray" to Mary is closer to a way a good Christian woman would send prayers to her dead husband. Clearly her dead husband has absolutely no religious significance, but he has incredibly important personal significance.
Similarly, the Saints are important in a human way, not a religious way. The Saints are mainly important as examples to live by, and also in addition one can call on a saint to pray for them.
Think of what would happen in a good Presbyterian family where a family member gets into a car accident. Every single family member would pray for the individual. To take a further degree of distance, I'm sure many people pray for people in need much further away.
To Look at the Hail Mary:
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee;
blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
The first 2 lines recognize Mary as someone who has received Grace, something which I think every denomination takes for granted.
The 3rd line says that she is blessed "amongst" women:
Quote:
2) We believe Mary should be worshipped AMOUNG women not ABOVE women.
The 4th line says Jesus is blessed, something I think all Christians can agree on.
The last 3 lines are a request for intercession, the request for her prayers. Yeah, every protestant denomination is against her/the Saints praying for another's sins, but it's not a particularly huge difference. Small enough that one could consider it simply a denominational difference.
The idea of challenging the Catholic Church on its non-Biblical beliefs is a bit silly, especially considering that basically every school of Christianity maintains a belief in Creatio ex Nihilo, which isn't quite supported by the Bible.
Hope this helps :)
2006-12-06 04:14:24 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Christians who want to disown the early Christian church claim that Catholicism (which WAS the early Christian church) is something different. The fact remains that the Catholic church, established by Paul, was exclusively in charge of the "holy bible" and it alone dictated which books to include, which to reject, and re-translated and grossly edited the books it accepted... the *Catholic* church created the New Testament, period.
2006-12-05 10:52:33 · answer #6 · answered by Sweetchild Danielle 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Good point! I asked the same question a while ago. Look it up under my name and see some good answers there. I guess for many non-catholic christians, it comes down to their belief that you only get saved by "accepting Jesus" (whatever THAT entails!), not by confession to a priest. Sure, they can believe that, but it doesn't mean Catholics cease being Christians!
Oh yeah, there's the whole dispute about praying to Mary (Jesus' mom). Many Protestants actually believe Catholics pray to statues, esp. of Mary! lol If you were raised as Catholic, I'm sure you recall being warned NOT to "venerate" idols (statues), that they were merely symbols.
2006-12-05 10:43:01 · answer #7 · answered by SieglindeDieNibelunge 5 · 5⤊ 1⤋
Who are those people?
In one word: Idiots.
In a few more words: Idiots who don't realize that for over 1500 years, Catholicism was it. That's a hell of a long time without a true religion; long enough that I'd call it a failure, and Jesus supposedly promised that the Gates of Hell would not prevail against his Church.
Of course, any church that follows Pauline doctrine is following a treasonous spy, and anye church that seriously believes that Jesus was the Messiah hasn't bothered reading the Old Testament...
2006-12-05 10:45:48 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 1⤋
Catholics ARE Christians, anyone who does not believe that either does not understand Christianity, or is blinded by in-accurate teachings of their Christian sect.
I was a Protestant for 30 years before studying all faiths and decided to become Catholic last year.
Do your own homework, you will find the truth.
You can start here:
www.Catholic.com
www.Catholic.org
2006-12-05 10:44:01 · answer #9 · answered by C 7 · 5⤊ 1⤋
Only silly people claim that Catholics aren't Christians. Of course they are. They simply have different beliefs and traditions than Protestants and Eastern Orthodox Christians. Some Protestants act as if they own Christ and won't let anyone play with him if they don't follow their house rules. Petty, petty, petty.
2006-12-05 10:44:47 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 1⤋
Many people say that because of praying to Mary, praying to Saints, statues (idols), and a number of ceremonies, the way the Catholic Church killed those who wished to reform it.
I think these things are not scriptural either, but I believe that there have been (and are) many Catholics who go to Heaven.
2006-12-05 10:50:06 · answer #11 · answered by tim 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋