Are Catholics Christians or are they two separate religions?

Question

I realize Catholics worship Jesus, but don't other Christians think they are not true Christians? By the way, I am neither one, just curious.

Answer 1

Thank you for asking this question. I am Catholic and I will answer your question from that perspective. It bothers me when people say we are not Christians. Our Church is the original Christian church. It is physically and historically and spiritually linked directly to the time of Jesus Christ and His apostles. Anyone who tells you that we are not Christians is definitely not Catholic and for some reason has an interest in slandering our Church. I can not speculate on the motives of others but I can tell you definitively that yes the Catholic Church is the original Christian Church. The word Catholic means universal and comes from the time when there was one unified Christian faith. All other Christian churches are newer, some much newer.

Answer 2

This is a great question!! Here is what I believe. Some will say that a Christian is someone who believes in the Trinity (which Catholics do by the way), who believes in only the 66 books of the Bible, and who believes Jesus died for all mankind and was resurrected. This is wrong though.
Out of those three things, the only important one is that Jesus died and was resurrected, and through him we can obtain salvation. With that in mind- Catholics are most certainly Christian. Definately a different type of Christian, but Christian nonetheless.
I myself am Mormon, and we get a lot of flack and get called non-christian too even though we believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
It's all about what you know to be true in your heart. You can't judge whether someone believes in Christ because of what Church they go to. Heck, some Christians aren't even Christians these days. Figure out that one!! :)

Answer 3

Catholics CLAIM to be Christian, even though they rely on rituals and sacraments for salvation and completely ignore John 3:3 : Jesus said' You must be born again to enter the Kingdom of God' and they ignore Ephesians 2:8,9 where it is said salvation is a GIFT from God. You cannot EARN a gift. This is why the pope and other leaders of the catholic religion discourage their parishoners from reading the bible, they may find out the truth.
Jesus said 'no one comes to the Father except through Me.' Catholics believe sacraments are also required.
Faith in Christ , not works, is what one needs for entrance to heaven. AFTER we are saved(born again) THEN God expects good works to show the world we are indeed a Child of God.
Catholicism is a cult, that's all it ever was and will be.
Just remember what Jesus said 'wide is the path to destruction(hell) . Just take Islam and Catholicism, thats probably 1/2 the world right there. Throw in all the other cults-religions and that path is very wide,indeed.

Answer 4

Some non-Catholic Christians think that we are not Christian, but they are on the fringe.

Most non-Catholic Christians regard us Catholics as fellow Christians, despite some theological differences.

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Answer 5

This question was asked by me, though differently. Catholics are Christians. They believe like every other Christian. They were the first organized church of Christianity. There is nothing wrong with them, they are not heathens who 'worship Mary' they are Christians just like everyone else. Like Baptists are Christians, like Lutherans are Christians, so too, are Catholics Christians. I hope this answers your quetion. If the tone seems rude, forgive me.

Answer 6

Yes, anyone who believes Jesus was the son of god is a Christian. So that includes Catholics

Answer 7

no catholics are not Christan's, they are just told that they are. A REAL Christian would NEVER be able practice roman catholic religion.

Catholic = religion

Catholic = false teachings about Mary, Jesus and the saints.

Christians know that there is no purgatory!

Christians would NEVER take communion thinking it is the actual flesh of Jesus!!! Catholics think it is.

Christians don't worship statues, catholics do.

Christians don't pray to Mary or any other saint, catholics do.

Christians put the BIBLE FIRST, catholics put their religion first and believe the roman catholic organization has authority greater than the Bible.

Catholics follow the pope, he is their cult leader.

Christians do not worship the pope,we would NEVER kiss his hand or bow down to him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NEVER!!!!!

as you can see, there are many key differences which is why I say that catholics are NOT Christan's, they are catholics!!!!!

Answer 8

I am sure that there are Catholics who are Christians, but no one could become a Christians through Catholic teaching. Catholics teach that Jesus does not save us, but that the church saves us. They teach that you are saved by works, traditions, and keeping the sacrements. The Bible says that it is not by works that we are saved but by God's mercy through faith. It is over this very issue that the reformation took place years ago and the Protestants (protestors) broke out of Catholicism and not without a lot of bloodshed and martyrdom. Catholics use the name Jesus, but it is not the same Jesus as Protestants believe in.

Answer 9

Well it's actually a lil dificult but Catholics are more of worship'n Jesus on the cross and his mother Mary. But Christians are more about the resurection and focusing on Heaven..does that answer your question?

Answer 10

Depends on who you talk to. Catholics will generally call themselves christians. Some non-catholics will say they aren't

e.g.
http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/cath.htm

The same can be said for sects such as Jehovahs Witnesses and Mormons - they are usually acknowledged to be non-christian except by the members themselves.