2006-12-25 01:38:23 · 12 answers · asked by Faith is not enough 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I believe Catholics are Christians... period... but I have seen many peopel here say they are not.... This troubles me!
2006-12-25 01:45:30 · update #1
Depends on your definition of Christian. Most non-Catholic Christian denominations accept Catholics as Christians. A very few do not.
A dictionary would say that a Christian is someone professing belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus.
Catholics would fit this definition.
In the Nicene creed, from 325 A.D., Catholics profess:
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in being with the Father.
Through Him all things were made.
For us and our salvation He came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit, He was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.
For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered, died, and was buried.
On the third day He rose again in fulfillment of the scriptures: He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We are baptized as Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:19, "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
We truly are spiritually "born again," we just don't usually use those words.
With love in Christ.
2006-12-25 13:32:57 · answer #1 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Many Protestants mistakenly believe that Catholics only practice ritual religion with no inner conviction. However, if they look in the mirror closely, they are guilty of the very same things. A true Christian is a follower of Christ, whether they do so in a Catholic Church, Baptist Church, Lutheran, Episcopal, Methodist, or whatever.
What we recognize today as Roman Catholicism did not exist for several hundred years following the death and resurrection of Christ. All the other Protestant denominations have resulted from differences of opinion in the interpretation of scripture.
The real question is not which church someone goes to, but whether or not they believe in Jesus Christ as the Living Son of God and trust in Him for their eternal salvation. If they are just going through the motions of ritualistic religion with no real conviction, they are wasting their time no matter what church they attend.
2006-12-25 12:05:33 · answer #2 · answered by ? 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They say that of lots of people.
Technically they were the origianal Christains, except for a few Jewish people and followers of Jesus in Palestine, Iran and Iraq who came before the founding of Churchs by Peter after the crusification.
From the Catholic Church evolved all the other Churches.
It is very unclear if there would have been a Wycliffe, Calvin or Luther if there had been no Catholic Church.
From my point of view, technically, there are virtually NO Christian sects out there that are actually followers of Jesus.
Jesus was Jewish and learned faith and religion in the Jewish temple and followed the Jesus food and health laws.
Jesus took part in Passover and probably Chunakah, although that's not mentioned specifically in the Bible, if he was truly Jewish he repsected the tradition of Chunakah.
Jesus expected us to continue with Passover and to remember him as a part of that meal in the future. Few, if any, Christians do that!
Christians eat Ham, which Jesus would not, for it is a violation of the Jewish health and food laws.
Christians have Easter, the day Jesus ressurected, which varies from March to April (so Jesus' death comes on different days, but his birth is always on December 25th).
Christians honor the Sabbath on Sunday, not Friday night to Saturday Night as Jesus did.
So, technically, no one is practising relgion as did Jesus.
There are some small sects that do follow these things, but they amount to no more than a million people in a world of billions. The Seventh Day Adventists do follow some of them, but not others. They are advocates of vegetariansim and Jesus and his Disciples ate lamb.
From here you draw your own conclusions.
2006-12-25 10:19:40 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I've been asking this question ever since I came here. the only difference between the Catholic Christian Religious Belief System and the Protestant Christian Belief System are the differences in the Rituals and Ceremonies which are performed to Adore, Honor, Worship, Praise, Pray to and Petition, Thank, Etc. Etc. GOD.
2006-12-25 10:07:10 · answer #4 · answered by Marvin R 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
There are any number of "Christians" who will tell you that other folks are NOT "Christian", not only Catholics.
And of course there are the apologists who will declaim with great self-righteousness that if someone who says he is a Christians doesn't behave they way THEY define Christianity, then they are not "REAL" Christians.
*shake head*
This is one of the problems one cannot escape when one follows a religion that says it's the one right only true way. It results, always, in further fragmentation as folks disagree about what that "one right only true way" is, and gives people free rein to indulge in bigotry, condemnation, and smug superiority.
NOT exactly a message that JESUS would appreciate.
2006-12-25 12:40:02 · answer #5 · answered by Praise Singer 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Take the greatest example of a Christian professing Pagan, Emperor Constantine.
MANY have been taught that Constantine the Great was one of Christianity’s most prominent benefactors. They credit him with delivering Christians from the misery of Roman persecution and giving them religious freedom. Moreover, it is widely held that he was a faithful footstep follower of Jesus Christ with a strong desire to advance the Christian cause.
Constantine sensed that the “Christian” religion—albeit apostate and deeply corrupted by then—could be effectively utilized as a revitalizing and uniting force to serve his grand scheme for imperial domination. Adopting the foundations of apostate Christianity to gain support in furthering his own political ends, he decided to unify the people under one “catholic,” or universal, religion. Pagan customs and celebrations were given “Christian” names. And “Christian” clergymen were given the status, salary, and influential clout of pagan priests.
Seeking religious harmony for political reasons, Constantine quickly crushed any dissenting voices, not on the grounds of doctrinal truth, but on the basis of majority acceptance. The profound dogmatic differences within the badly divided “Christian” church gave him the opportunity to intervene as a “God-sent” mediator. Through his dealings with the Donatists in North Africa and the followers of Arius in the eastern portion of the empire, he quickly discovered that persuasion was not enough to forge a solid, unified faith. It was in an attempt to resolve the Arian controversy that he convened the first ecumenical council in the history of the church.—
Concerning Constantine, historian Paul Johnson states: “One of his main reasons for tolerating Christianity may have been that it gave himself and the State the opportunity to control the Church’s policy on orthodoxy and the treatment of heterodoxy.”
Did He Ever Become a Christian?
Johnson notes: “Constantine never abandoned sun-worship and kept the sun on his coins.” The Catholic Encyclopedia observes: “Constantine showed equal favour to both religions. As pontifex maximus he watched over the heathen worship and protected its rights.” “Constantine never became a Christian,” states the encyclopedia Hidria, adding: “Eusebius of Caesarea, who wrote his biography, says that he became a Christian in the last moments of his life. This doesn’t hold water, as the day before, [Constantine] had made a sacrifice to Zeus because he also had the title Pontifex Maximus.”
Down to the day of his death in 337 C.E., Constantine bore the pagan title of Pontifex Maximus, the supreme head of religious matters.
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Same goes today...Christianity is still there as true, not Paganized or tampered with.
2006-12-25 10:20:07 · answer #6 · answered by Tomoyo K 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Catholic church is a non-Christian cult that teaches dogma that is contrary to the Word of God.
The Catholic church teaches that Mary was sinless, but God's Word says ALL have sinned.
Who do you believe? God? Or the Catholic church?
By making such a claim, the Catholic church is calling God a liar.
2006-12-25 10:08:47 · answer #7 · answered by The Question Man 3 · 1⤊ 3⤋
No, they started calling themselves Christians after 1970, when all these off the wall churches started pooping up. at least when I was coming up, that is the way it was, being a catholic meet something now it competes with the Christians. and the church of England
2006-12-25 09:59:53 · answer #8 · answered by man of ape 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Yes, Catholics are Christian.
Yes, it is troubling that there is so much misunderstanding in the world and even more troubling that people are comfortable in their misunderstanding.
Just forgive them and pray for them.
2006-12-25 10:32:04 · answer #9 · answered by Sldgman 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
look into the mind set of the followers, and the traditions that they believe, then look at other Christians.
Mormons think they're Christians, too...but look at what their beliefs are, and it's easy to tell right away that they aren't.
2006-12-25 09:47:24 · answer #10 · answered by apple 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋