heyy. . why do a lot of protestant churches do the whole Lent thingee when it is a Catholic thingee??

Question

Why didn't I know it was Catholic?. . weird. It isn't in the Bible is it?? Do Baptist people give up stuff for Lent??? Sorry for all the questions . . Christianity is soooo confusing. :(

Answer 1

The Catholic Church and many other Christian Churches follow the Biblical practice of Jesus Christ and the Jews in setting aside days where the entire Church fasts and prays as one in a attitude of constant renewal.

By the solemn forty days of Lent the Church unites herself each year to the mystery of Jesus in the desert and in spiritual preparation for the celebration of His Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

This season of penance is an intense moments of the Church's penitential practice and are particularly appropriate for spiritual exercises, penitential liturgies, pilgrimages as signs of penance, voluntary self-denial such as fasting and almsgiving, and charitable and missionary works.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Lent, as with most other seasons of the Christian calendar, is not JUST a Catholic thing--it is a 46 day remembrance of the final days of Christ: His fast in the desert, His temptation at the hands of Satan, His entry into Jerusalem, His arrest, trial, and Crucifixion, and all the other events leading right up to the moment before Mary Magdalene and the other Mary find the empty tomb on Easter morning. Traditionally this observance is marked by a fast of some kind (hence the Catholic removal of meat from their diets on Fridays and Holy Days), and many Christians, Catholic and Protestant, choose to give something up for Lent.

Answer 3

Well, the Anglican, Lutheran. Presbyterian, and Methodist churches have kept over a number of things from Catholicism, including infant baptism. So I'm not surprised they have kept Lent, since that does not really affect doctrine. Lent represents the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert, fasting, and being tempted by the devil. The church placed it arbitrarily during the 40 days before Easter, feeling that It was appropriate to have Good Friday toward the end of a time of deprivation, and to have victorious Resurrection day (Easter) the day Lent is over.
"Giving up" things for lent is a harmless practice, as long as we don't think we are buying merits from God that way. For some, it is just a time to exercise a bit of self-discipline, for others, it is a way of bringing your mind to apreciate things. Lent seems to mean different things for different people.
In our Baptist churches, most people don't seem to make anything of Lent, but neither would we oppose it.

Answer 4

Lent may be a holiday formed by the Catholic church, but it is one that celebrates the passion of Jesus Christ. During Lent, a believer is to abstain from meat on Fridays (the day Jesus was crucified) and give up something that is habitual for them, thus emulating (to a smaller degree) the suffering of Jesus Christ. It lasts 40 days and nights respecting the same 40 days and nights that Jesus Christ fasted.

There is nothing non-Christian about this and so many Protestants celebrate it. Just because a different group of people than your own began something doesn't mean it should prevent you from participating.

Many Protestant Irish people celebrate St. Patrick's Day (even though it is a day venerating a Catholic saint) as he was responsible for bringing Christianity to Ireland.

Answer 5

The Catholic Church and the Christians read and obey the same bible. Baptist started the Christian Faith; The Catholics were either second or third. John the Baptist started the Baptist Church when Christ was living. Simon was Johnny Come Lately. Remember, Simon denied Jesus three times; that means he denied the wishes Jesus in building a church with heretic values.

Please click this web site. You will be amazed.
http://www.amaluxherbal.com/the_scandals_of_the_catholic_church.htm

With the greatest praise for Jesus Christ

Answer 6

Christianity surely is confusing if you try looking at it from a carnal perspective. The carnal man cannot understand spiritual things. Lent is a time of cleansing and preparation. The 40 day period means birthing = before going in to a new ministry or before baptism. It is also a time of reflection. (putting it in a nutshell).

Answer 7

It is Catholic (since Catholics are the original Christians), and it is in the Bible:

Exodus 34:28
1 Kings 19:8
Matthew 4:2

Answer 8

Its not just a Catholic thingee, its a Christians thingee(and Catholics are Christians too)

Answer 9

Usually if protestant then they call it lent and all the churches were spun off the Catholic church. That is why pilgrims came here was to have religious freedom without persecution for their "anti-Catholic" views.

Answer 10

It doesn't say in the Bible to do it,but neither does is it forbidden.

Do you really think that all the first Christians were members of the Roman Catholic Church? They weren't.There is no proof of this.The RCC one of the earliest? Definitely.The original Church which all early Christians were part of ? No way.