Curious: Why is it so many seem to keep implying that Catholics are not Christians?

Question

I have asked this many times in the distant past but it continues. What is it in your opinion that makes one a Christian if it is not following Christ and being a believer in Christ as the Savior?

Answer 1

Debra, blood-feuds die hard, and when you look at the history of the Catholic Church you must admit it has started a lot of blood-feuds along the way.

It was, after all, the Catholic Church that denounced Protestantism as not being "Christian", and then started and encouraged wars against Protestants, as it had done for hundreds of years against any group it considered heretical.

The death toll directly accountable to Catholic politics is staggering.

Is it any wonder so many protestants have been raised to believe Catholics are not Christian?

Is it not written that he who sews the wind shall reap the whirlwind?

The Catholic Church is directly or indirectly responsible for the crusades against Muslims, the massacre of Jerusalem (men, women and children), the sack of Constantinople, pogroms against the Jews in Spain and elsewhere, the war against the Huegenots, and the purging of Anglicans in England (Queen Mary).

That last one has led to wide-spread bigotry and hatred within the english-speaking world as the Anglican British Empire expanded into America.

Indeed, compare the results of British expansion with French (Catholic) expansion and many can argue that the Catholic faith has hindered human development far more than it advanced it.

And you have a serious problem with perception when it comes to reviewing the history of the Second World War. That the Church signed a concordance with Nazi Germany, and did not oppose the Nazis more forcefully does not sit well with a lot of people who fought the Nazis and liberated the death camps.

The virulent anti-semitism that led through Luther (originally a Catholic) to Hitler is a direct result of Catholic policy in Europe for centuries, and that Pope John Paul II apologized for it does not wash away all the deaths, all the pain, all the suffering this policy caused and is still causing.

In today's world, Catholicism has threatened Canadian politicans with excommunication in an effort to prevent gay marriage in Canada. In Canada, -many- view this intervention into our secular politics as an insult and a threat to our right to govern ourselves rather than be governed by the Pope in Rome. That the Church still encourages persecution of homosexuals by denying them a right to openly and honestly enter into state-sanctioned marriage is a direct attack on basic human capacity to love one another.

The same concerns were raised in America, most notably with JFK.

With the world already heavily over-populated, the Catholic Church still refuses to see the wisdom of birth control, beyond the natural method of abstinence.

And there is the wide-spread angst raised against Catholicism that women are not permitted to participate in religion to the degree that men are permitted. No woman can be Pope, and that smacks of misogyny, regardless of the religious arguments made in favour of this policy.

Furthermore, on the religious side, there is the argument that the Trinity is polytheistic, contrary to the monotheistic teachings of Judaism from which many Protestants draw their inspiration.

You cannot simply wipe all of this aside and replace it with a simplistic creed that anyone who believes Christ is saviour must be "Christian". The Church has created too many bitter memories handed down from generation to generation out of fear of what will happen to the rest of Christianity should the Catholic Church again achieve political supremacy.

I doubt the animosity towards Catholicism will die soon. The Church has struggled over centuries to control Christianity and such an investment will reap the whirlwind for generations to come. That may not seem fair to individual Catholics such as yourself, but you and they support a church that is responsible for much misery and death.

Thus you are associated with the policies that have given rise to this animosity.

Answer 2

Let me preface this by saying being a member of a Catholic church does not exclude you from being a true Christian, however... What you are saying is ignoring the Protestant movement all together, and the history of the Catholic Church. In the time of Martin Luther, a German priest, the Catholic church was corrupt to the point that you could pay an exact price to be absolved from a sin, so if you wanted to rape someone you could pay a certain amount and be able to do it. It was called indulgences. For many years the Catholic church prohibited the public from reading the Bible, or translating it from Latin to anything else. Only the priests could read the Bible. The Catholic church looks the other way when great heresies and cults are formed within the Church such as people worshiping Mary the Mother of Jesus. The false doctrines, errors, and immoral practices of the Catholic church is a very long list. Space does not permit what I have to say about the Catholic church. I was raised a Catholic, and I became a believer in Christ when I was in the Catholic church, so you can be saved, but the Catholic church says that if I leave the Church I'm going to hell. So who's saying who is not a Christian?? The Catholic Church is.

Answer 3

What is being parroted by the anti-Catholics is the fanciful history of Loraine Boettner a leader in the anti-Catholic movement.

History:

Roman Catholic faith is the earliest form of Christianity, copies of the Eucharistic prayer have been found from as early as 65 AD.

Fundamentalism came into existence in the mid 1800s as a response to early German Lutheran Higher Criticism in theology.

Roman Catholic faith believes in the Nicean Creed as it was created out of the Apostles Creed at the Council of Nice (Nicea) in the early 300s.

Fundamentalism believes in the "Bible" as the sole source of doctrine. They will assert that the autographs of the Bible preexisted the Roman Church -- that is a provable lie. The Bible came into existence in any recognizable form as a direct result of an action of the Council of Carthage in 397, acting on a resolution from the Synod of Hippo in 393. Prior to that some churches had a book, some had no books, some had several books -- some of those books are books in the present Bible, many were books that aren't in the present Bible. The autographs however never existed (see Dr. Bart Ehrman; Misquoting Jesus; Harper)

Worship-wise, the Roman Church continues to celebrate the same sacraments that were celebrated in the first century. Fundamentalism uses a type of worship, depending on the branch, developed sometime between 1650 and 1920.

Jesus Christ foresaw that there will be groups that will breakaway from the Church he founded and so he gave the Church the sole authority to interpret Sacred Scripture. The teaching authority of the Catholic Church comes directly from Christ and is, therefore, infallible.
Matthew 16,18-20: "And so I tell you Peter, you are a rock, and on this rock foundation I will build my Church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven; what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven."
Matthew 28,20: "And teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age."
Timothy 3,15: "But if I delay, this letter will let you know how we should conduct ourselves in God's household, WHICH IS THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD, THE PILLAR AND FOUNDATION OF TRUTH."

What did Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformer, state about the Bible? In his "Commentary On St. John," he stated the following: "We are compelled to concede to the Papists that they have the Word of God, that we have received It from them, and that without them we should have no knowledge of It at all." Regardless of what non-Catholic Christians may think or say, according to secular, objective historians, the Catholic Church alone preserved Sacred Scripture throughout the persecution of the Roman Empire and during the Dark Ages. All non-Catholic Christian denominations owe the existence of the Bible to the Catholic Church alone. Why did God choose the Catholic Church to preserve Scripture if It is not His Church

That about covers it. I am not Roman Catholic btw -- but I am honest.

Answer 4

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.

Answer 5

Remember, you asked.

A Christian is someone who follows Christ. If you follow Christ, then you follow His teachings.

Catholics pray to statues which is idol worship.
Catholics pray to Mary and assorted saints. This too is idol worship.
Catholics say the same prayers over and over. Christ taught that you shouldn't do that because that's what heathens do.
Catholics call priests "Father". The Bible states you are to call no man "Father" except God.

Those are just a few of the things I can think of and I was raised a Catholic and went to a parochial school.

I just read a few of the answers. I think it's really interesting that there are people who think that the first Christians were Catholics. I would laugh if that wasn't so sad.

Answer 6

Catholics are Christians its just that people focus more on the title as a Catholic instead of being a follower of Christ and many of Christians say that Catholics ain't christians because they lack understanding. The Bible says that people perish because the lack of knowledge. Have a great day God bless you

Answer 7

People are often Anti-papist.

Also Catholics believe in a holy trinity and the imacculate conception (MARY IN THE HER MOTHER'S WOMB WITHOUT SIN)...Jesus is the Virgin Birth.

So there are some problems with monotheism in it's purist.

Some of my Catholic Religion teachers claimed we are technically still Christianized Jews, as Catholics continue more of the Jewish Traditions in worship service than say, Lutherans.

Catholics also use more of the Hebrew Scriptures and no longer call it the old testament (at least formerly).

Answer 8

Dear Debra M,

i think that Catholicism has many practices which are almost in conflict with some basic Scriptural teachings. For example saying Hail Marys (the Bible clearly teaches that no one is to be worshipped but God). Praying for the dead (A person's eternal destiny is decided by their decision for or against Christ before they die), going to confession (the Bible teaches that there is only one mediator between man and God).

That being said i don't think it's fair for Christians to assume that because someone is a Catholic that they do not know Christ. Personally i have many Catholic friends and as i speak to each one individually i find that they have different beliefs about who Jesus is. At the end of the day i think that's what determines whether someone knows Christ or not. What is their personal relationship and what do they believe about Jesus? i have Catholic friends who i believe are saved, and Catholic friends who are not.

But anyhow that's why i think some Christians question whether Catholics are saved or not. i think you have to ask each person individually and what you believe will show in one's life.

Hope that helps. Kindly,

Nickster

Answer 9

Weird, isn't it? I know exactly what you mean (as a Catholic myself.) If you go with the true definition of Christianity, which is belief that Jesus was the Son of God, then of course of Catholics are Christians. I think a lot of people are just ignorant about the terminology. Let's try to forgive them for their stupidity.

(Oh, screw it, I'm just not *that* Christ-like. Listen, you morons, Catholics ARE Christians. Open a dictionary!)

Answer 10

Hi Debra, nice to talk with you again. Most Protestants do not think of Catholics as Christians because of , and I hate to say it but, ignorance. They have been spoon fed some type of anti-Catholic rigmarole by people with questionable agendas and they never bother to look any further into it. Like Scott Hahn, they should set out on purpose to prove the Church wrong by their own studies and I am sure they will end up Catholic just like he did.