Why do some Protestants assume that Catholics aren't Christians?

Question

This is a serious question, by the way--and for the record, I'm not advocating either; I'm honestly curious as to why some (not all) Protestants have commandeered the title of "Christian" for themselves, and themselves alone--to the point where they pretty much interpret "Christian=Protestant". Given that the Catholic church is far older than the Protestant movement, and that most Protestant branches came from Catholicism, isn't that just a bit hypocritical? Also, what about Orthodoxy? Orthodoxy and Catholicism split long before any Protestants were around, and both of those branches are certainly still "Christian"--the term meaning simply someone who follows Christ.

Again--I'm not advocating any faith here; I'm curious to know why, as an objective question, what entitles some Protestants to sideline all other Christians and proclaim themselves the only "true" Christians; that kind of elitist attitude doesn't strike me as being very neighborly nor very Christian, for that matter.

Lots of great answers so far, even though more than a few people have already proved my point that some people are deliberately pig-headed in their stubbornness to adhere to their extremely narrow views and definitions of what's what... some people just can't stand that other people choose to worship in different ways than they do.

Answer 1

As someone who loves my Protestant cousins (in Christ - not actual family) and spends time with them, my understanding is that many of them no longer consider themselves Protestant.

The term Protestant came about because these people "protested" - by and large protested the Pope. Hence one of our other nicknames is "papist." A term I wear proudly.

For those of us who followed the media coverage of Pope John Paul II's funeral and the many memorials of him, we learned that many Protestants came to admire him. While they may not have agreed with him, he never fell the way many of their leaders did.

Which again brings us back to the idea that many of them no longer consider themselves Protestants. Just Christian.

This means it is not so easy to discern Catholic from Non-Catholic. We are all Christians. However there are still many older Protestant denominations who insist we are not Christian. It does no good to get angry. We just have to keep plugging along. Setting the record straight.

I find the early Christian writings help a lot. They show that Catholicism didn't come from Constantine (one of the worst lies fostered by some Protestants). When you have these letters in your back pocket, you've more or less got your ace.

Good question by the way.

Answer 2

Its a misunderstanding that is actually taught to them. They think they are following what scripture says and some they have right but on others they are not. and they rely on the bible as source of faith. Instead of scripture and tradition as Paul mentions in scripture and this same bible they cling to for their salvation is the one the Catholic church put together as holy scripture back in the year 396 and has pretty much remained the same except for the books they(Protestants) took out a few hundred years ago because they didn't fit in with their teachings. Such as the books of Maccabees which says to pray for the dead. And Mary is very much alive! Oh by the way, the word protestant means To protest. F.Y.I . Christmas as it is today was started by protestants not the Catholic Church because The Catholic Church at the beginning and still does to this day only celebrates the 25th of December as Christs birthday it is " CHRIST-MASS" this is where the word Christmas comes from

Answer 3

It's prejudicial to mention that the Gnostics had been "heretics"-- it is dependent upon your factor of view. Also that they were not Christians. They could disagree, if yoiur early Christians lef trthem aline and didn't get rid of their Gospels. As for the earliest Christians, they had been Jewish. They had no concept that they belonged to an additional faith. Christianity as a faith constructed amongst Gentiles who did not recognize any greater. The Catholic Church as such didn't exist till Christianity used to be taken over via the Roman Empire within the 4th century. Your peers, despite the fact that mistaken in being Protestant, aren't as mistaken as you believe.

Answer 4

I think a lot of it has to do with a gross misunderstanding. They (the ones that profess we are not Christian) do very little thinking for themselves when it comes to such matters.

They take the word of their pastor, who heard it from his, who heard it from his. . . If any one of these people would spend some time reading for themselves what the Catholic church teaches and has to say, they would not be so quick to condemn.

I have, many times, offered a challenge to them: prove beyond a doubt that any one of the Traditions of the Catholic Church goes against the Bible or the Teachings of Christ.

To date, no one has.

I find it funny, also, that the arguments are all the same:

* repetitive prayers
* prayers to the dead
* forgiveness of sin
* so rich we should give it all away
* worship the Holy Father
* worship the Virgin Mary

I could spend hours talking about why their opinions of the Church are wrong.

Answer 5

Anyone, including Catholics and Protestants that have asked Jesus to forgive them of their sins, through His death on the cross is saved, and a Christian. There are Catholic Christians, and Protestants Christians- however, even the Bible says that in churches He will separate the believers and unbelievers- the chaff with the wheat. No one has the right to say "they are the only true believers". Whatever church you attend, there is nothing that can save you apart from Christ- good works mean nothing. I know some Catholic churches, and also some Protestant teach that is Jesus plus works that save- NO- anyone who accepts Christ's payment for sin in full is saved, regardless if they are Catholic or Protestant.

Answer 6

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 7

I am Catholic and have heard this from some fundamentalists. It seems to be a fairly small group of holier-than-thou fundies who believe this. That is only because they have been lied to by their pastors about the origins of Catholicism/Christianity. Most of these types try to disassociate themselves from the Protestant movement (because of the obvious lack of continuity with historic Christianity), but by doing so they only make the problem worse. Again, in my experience, these types of people are not much for studying history, science or philosophy. They only want to have a feel-good religion that tells them that they are right and everybody else is going to hell.

The three answers above mine only substantiate my answer. It is a small group of bigots who hold this position. Everyone of them tried to answer your question by attacking the Church. All of them already know that there are reasonable, historical, biblical answers to their objections - but they don't care. They only want to be right and have everybody else be wrong.

Answer 8

You see that is one error of some protestant denominations.
They pretend to be all knowing and many times they interpret
the bible literally. Christianity as a whole embraces the whole
of christiandom, whether you are a catholic, protestant or
those who belong to the orthodox church. What is important
is you believe in a supreme being that is omnipotent and
is ever present in ourselves.

Answer 9

Mainly because they were raised to think that way. Most people criticize the church with out understanding it. They claim idolatry, when there isn't any, that they don't follow the bible, that the Protestants edited, etc. Its just a misunderstanding and they need to get over it.

Answer 10

Well I am not protestant I am non-denominational but Read this article and it will tell you from the Catholic Catechism which is the catholic doctrines what it really says about how they go against what the bible says. Catholics really don't know what is behind their own religion because most of it is against what the bible teaches. Catholics have changed the Sabbath day and they think the Pope is a form of God on earth which breaks the first commandment. also the catholics have a confessional which is wrong because a priest can not decide which sins to forgive only God can. They have also brought in all sorts of Pagan things into christian beliefs like christmas and easter when it clearly states in the bible from Jesus to celebrate the Passover to remember him. (Jeremiah 10) says not to have a christmas tree either so that should tell you something about how God doesn't like christmas
Do some research and you will see why the Catholic Church is not a real christian church from the bible because I am not making this up or trying to make anybody mad but if you do a little research you can see the truth.

http://www.bibleonly.org/exp/rccfalse.html