Christian or Catholic??? Please help!!!?

Question

I have been a catholic all my life, went to catholic school for my whole life. However I have recently been moving away from the catholic church and towards christianity. I have over time been gradually considering myself as a christian not catholic. I recently watched a video on the pope being the anti christ which has convinced me further that I should convert to christianity. I really think that this is the right thing to do, however it is hard to break away from something I have been apart of for my whole life. Please give me your thoughts whether you think im doing the right thing.

For all of you saying that catholics are christians you are completly ignorant. Catholics ask for forgiveness through a priest and have a completly different system. Christians seek forgiveness directly through Christ. You cannot tell that this is the same thing!!!!

Answer 1

"What separates us as believers in Christ is much less than what unites us." (Pope John XXIII)

Almost all important doctrine is completely agreed upon between Catholic Christians and other Christians.

Here is the joint declaration of justification by Catholics (1999), Lutherans (1999), and Methodists (2006):

By grace alone, in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping us and calling us to good works.

There are many minor doctrine issues and some major cultural traditional differences which, I believe, do not matter that much.

A Catholic worships and follows Christ in the tradition of Catholicism which, among other things, recognizes that Christ made Peter the leader of His new Church and Pope Benedict XVI is Peter's direct successor.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

I'm a former protest who converted to the Catholic Church and can tell you without question that you are making a mistake. The Catholic Church is the Church founded by Christ 2,000 years ago. I suggest you do some reading of the Catholic Faith and stop looking at the errored anti-Catholic propaganda. So much of it is out there and can easily steal the Faith from us.

You need to stop making the distinction, Catholic or Christian. This is incorrect. It creates a mindset that makes Catholicism look different and separate from Christianity. This is incorrect. The correct distinction is Catholic and Protestant.

Protestantism is a protest of the authority of the Catholic Church. It started around the year 1500; it largely depends on someone's personal interpretation of the bible without the help of the Church, which is critical. This has led to over 54,000 different denominations, each one interpreting the bible in their own way and defining doctrine in their own way. This is why Protestantism has fractured so much and will continue to fracture.

You must keep in mind that Jesus taught one truth, one faith, and set up one church, not 54,000 different ones.

I'd suggest you study the catechism as well as other sources of what the Church teaches. I've been studying since my confirmation 2 years ago and still study; it has been the greatest reward I could have done for myself.

Keep strong, keep the Faith, and keep the Church. God bless.

Answer 3

Oh dear looks like I will have to take a pasting in order to explain this once again,
The Catholic church is the body of Christ,now Jesus cannot have more than one body,there can be no division of the truth,all Christians are in fact Catholic,Catholic means `Universal` and in Greek it is`Kath-Holos.
Kath=according to
Holos= the whole
This means that the teaching Body of Christ cannot be divided,there cannot exist two Christs and two churches this would be a contradiction in terms,Protestants still belong to this one teaching body of Christ even though there are disagreements over it`s structure and Hierarchy.
It is usually the name Catholic that gets the Protestants back up but any scholar of the New Testament will in humility admit to what I have said, we are the one Christian body and you nor anyone else can state that Catholic`s are not Christians.
Finally regarding the Pope,if the Pope is the AntiChrist then which one is it? all Popes or a certain Pope because according to scripture the antichrist causes Armagedon,and not only this but works towards killing God`s peoples,now how have the late Pope John-Paul and the present Pope done this?
You need to stop listening to all the anticatholic garbage out there and concentrate instead on the beauty of your Catholic faith which has come down to us from the Apostles and is so true that the gates of Hell will never prevail against it.
Christ Himself gave the Apostles the power to forgive or retain another`s sins,read the Gospel for this,it is the same power that a Priest retains when hearing confessions,if this is not true then Jesus was telling an untruth,now how could this possibly be so.

Answer 4

A Catholic is a Christian. Anyone who believes in Christ as our saviour is a Christian - a follower of Christ.
I was also raised in a Catholic household, and have gone to other Christian services out of curiosity. I'm happy being a Catholic, but if you are more comfortable going to a different church that is between you and God.
The one thing that really turned my off to one church in particular was how it's members bashed Catholic's. Not very Christian. There was a time the Catholic church did the same thing, but times are a changing and respect and acceptance of other faiths is now encouraged. I will admit, some of the older priests have a hard time with this, but hey they're human like the rest of, and not without sin.
Good luck in your spiritual journey, God is God afterall!

Answer 5

I hope you know that you are falling away from the one true Christian Church,,, The Catholic Church! If you don't believe that Catholics are Christian, where do you think that our prodestant brothers and sisters got the idea? The prodestant reformation did not exist until approx. 1500 years after Christ our Lord. As far as confession,,, with all charity, I would like to invite you to read the Gospel of John Chapter 20 where the reserected Christs commisions His disiples to go out and forgive the sins of men.
Most people are not anti Catholic because of what the Catholic Church teaches, but rather they are anti Catholic because of what they think the Catholic Church teaches.
It is good that you are diserning and seeking the trueth, please continue but really study and understand what it is that you are considering leaving.

Answer 6

The "additional details" appended to your message gave the strong impression that you have already made your choice by now. Nonetheless, regarding whether Catholics are Christians, where do you get your definition of "Christian" from?

Regarding forgiveness, the Catholic Church holds that it is Jesus Christ who forgives us. Nonetheless, Catholics confess their sins to other members of the community (James 5:16), and since they recognize their Presbyters as being like (spiritual) fathers (1 Timothy 5:1), it makes sense that confessing to the elders of the community is a good idea. (Also consider reading John 20:23 with Matthew 16:19).

As for whether you're making the right choice, let me speak as a person who is a non-Catholic but strongly considering joining the Catholic Church. Ask yourself what is the pillar and foundation of truth for you, the Bible alone, or the Church? If it is the Church, which Church, and why? What is the origin of that church? Ultimately, a major question for me is one of authority... what is our source of guidance? It is, admittedly, a question I am still mulling over.

For what it is worth, you might want to consider the writings of prominent Protestants who became Catholics (e.g. Scott Hahn, David B. Currie, Stephen K. Ray, et cetera), to gain a larger perspective.

Answer 7

You are a cradle Catholic. What a blessing. Our first Pope (Bishop of Rome 67AD) was St Peter...Crucified upside down because he felt unworthy to be killed like our Lord. Then came the next pope:St Linus 67ad-76 AD). After 265 Popes: we have Pope Benedict XVI. Our church is the only church that has kept all 7 sacraments...Esp Communion and Confession (Via Jesus's own words). I too drifted from the original church and now am back after years of study and prayer. There are over 26,000 Protestant denominations. When they pick up a bible they pick up a Catholic bible compiled by a Priest: St Jerome in the 4th century...written in Bethlehem (Latin Vugate). Remember Communion is a commandment given to us by our Lord. It's not just a symbolic once in a while "Cracker and Grape Juice" like some profess. Please don't do what I did and drift away from our faith. Love Lynn.

Answer 8

I am not a catholic, but I think that the worst reason for leaving a religion is because of something a non-member of that religion has said to criticize it. IGNORE all anti-anything propaganda. Don't read or watch it about any religion! It is poisonous, even on the rare occasions when it is entirely true.

(And as I understand it, aren't catholics Christians?)

However, if the catholic church is not bringing you closer to Christ, look for, pray for more truth. God will bring it to you, in His own way, and in His own time.

Answer 9

some Christians do no longer evaluate Roman Catholics to be actual Christians, and those are often protestants. yet in certainty, Roman Catholics are Christian yet no longer all Christians are Catholic. Roman Catholics are lead by using the Pope in Rome. Protestants do no longer understand the Pope's authority and are prepared into hundreds of distinctive denominations. The jap Orthodox(Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox) additionally do no longer understand the Pope, even although their teachings and ceremonies are very corresponding to the Roman Catholics. The Eucharist is meant to be Jesus's physique and Blood, it relatively is a Holy Sacrament, a significant area of Catholic church ceremony. i've got not got self belief in it. i will form of comprehend the theory yet i'm no longer Catholic or Christian. on no account be petrified of asking questions of your priest or fellow parishioners.

Answer 10

I am not Christian, but I used to be. You have been listening to the wrong people. Not only are Catholics Christian, and the Orthodox and the Copts, but they are the original Christians and they along with the Orthodox and the Copts are the only ones practicing it in the original way.

Protestantism is an invention of the sixteenth century. None of its key doctrines existed before then. If you read the historical texts from the apostolic fathers (the people taught, trained and ordained by the apostles) through today's Christians you will see a remarkable stability of doctrine and thought in Christianity.

Protestantism suffered from a terrible problem, it was largely correct in its diagnosis of the ailments of the Christianity of its time. In fact, people forget that the Catholic Church immediately adopted 54 of Luther's 95 thesis and disputed the others mostly on technical grounds. The problem with being right on one thing is that you mistakenly believe you are correct in all things. A correct diagnosis does not mean one will provide a correct treatment.

Luther, for example, created the 87th translation of the bible into German, but he also edited and altered it when he did so in order to get support for his teachings. He added words to Paul and he removed books he disagreed with and which disagreed with him, such as James, Jude and Revelations.

Luther also burned 20,000 Baptists at the stake for disagreeing with him. To be fair, the original baptists went from town to town asking who was saved and massacring entire towns if they didn't accept rebaptism.

Calvin's own writings call for the execution of all non-Calvinists.

The Protestant Reformation was a tax revolt by German princes that began as a reform movement and turned into a civil war that resulted in the death of one in three Germans. In England it was a massive land grab by the crown. France had similar experiences. Once people start killing people, saying your sorry is pretty hard. Theology was used as a war banner. Any theology designed to help kill others is bad theology but modern times are stuck with it.

The Catholic Church has done some pretty stupid things not only over the centuries but today. Still, it along with the Copts and the Orthodox are correct in saying that their prayers, services, books, beliefs, stories and practices really are the most in line with first century Christianity.

Because of this, many of the Protestant denominations are slowly adopting Catholic practices. This is not only to move them together, but because reading the early writings and archaeological evidence supports that Catholic Christians of the first century and Catholic Christians of today are living the same reality and first century Christians wouldn't generally recognize Protestants as Christian.

If you are going to remain Christian, then I strongly recommend you remain Catholic and instead learn about your church and the depth and breadth of it. Go to an Eastern rite Church and see the other parts of the Catholic Church most Roman rite Catholics miss.

As I said, I am not Christian any longer but I have read the historical documents from the first century forward and Protestant Christianity would never pass muster with Paul or the Eleven. The Christians in them might, but their churches never would.

There is a wonderful translation of the apostolic fathers by Bart Ehrmann an evangelical theologian and translator. He also wrote the wonderful book "Misquoting Jesus." I recommend it also. The reason I suggest the apostolic fathers is that they are the people the apostles chose in person to pass on the traditions, the stories, the practices and the scriptures. They are the first hearers of the word. Also, pick up a copy of the liturgy of James or Mark. Peter's liturgy isn't fully extant anymore, but if you have been to the Roman Easter Vigil with its 13 old testament readings, 13 psalms, epistle and gospel readings, hymns, baptisms, chrismations, litanies and so on you are seeing a very close approximation.

Christianity began in the Middle East, not Europe or America. When you go to a Catholic, Orthodox or Coptic Church you are seeing the "old time religion." It is the religion of the followers of Jesus.

As I said, I am not Christian, but I believe in intellectual honesty. If you do believe in Jesus, then being Protestant only makes sense if you are Protestant by birth.