This is a question for christians.?

Question

i am catholic and was babtised in the catholic in 2005 and since then i have noticed when other christians find out i am catholic they will make little comments such i am not a christian. example would be i was at a AA group and they open with prayer which went fine, afterwords a lady said well were all christians here, oh but your catholic. i have no understanding were she comes off saying i am not a christian when i believe in Jesus and God. i think many people are confused, catholic are christians. if anyone can shead some light on why this happens i would love to know why some people believe this.

I want to think everyone who answered this question. i value everyones input.

Answer 1

It is a protestant thing. To be honest I used to feel the same way but I have done some study outside of my Baptist Denominational propaganda and I came to realize that it is not the branch of Christianity that saves you. It is your personal faith and belief in Jesus Christ. I don't have a right to say you are not Christian because you are Catholic. It is common however, for people to draw conclusions on a person that "claim" to be Christian but do not practice that faith. I say trust in Jesus always. Be careful what you believe. Examine all teachings and read the Bible for yourself. I am sure I will have many Catholic friends in Heaven.

Answer 2

I get the same kind of attitude from my protestant acquaintances and even friends. I am Eastern Orthodox though. Protestants, I've noticed, seem to have a type of 'Rome-a-phobia' since much of their faith is based upon protesting the questionable practices and dogma of the Roman Catholic church. Over time, this has further developed into a fearful ill-attitude towards any kind of tradition that implies the Church knows better than you do. The same attitude can be applied (in most cases) to traditional worship practices like crossing yourself, chanting, prostrations, fasting, Sacraments, incense, and so on. Many protestants have come to believe that Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians have been tricked into worshiping the Theotokos (The Mother of God), icons, the Church, or the spiritual practices of the Church. Some believe the practices such as crossing yourself and using the oral tradition of liturgies has produced bad doctrine in the Church. Many make these assumptions without even giving our Churches a chance. Almost all Protestants believe that the Early Church became corrupt and can't be trusted, so Scripture is the only source that can be trusted. By doing this, they each become their own Pope, in a sense, as they believe themselves, on some level, to be an inerrant or mostly inerrant interpreter of Scripture. This attitude leaves the door wide open to pride, which can cause a protestant to be judgemental of anyone who has a very different view of Christianity and/or the Church from them. Many of them will accuse your beliefs as being 'unbiblical' because it does not agree with the way they were taught to interpret the Scriptures. Because the Scriptures are their sole authority, this anathematizes your Church (although many would not say it that way). Anything unscriptural, according to their interpretation, must be demonic, then, since the Scriptures 'speak for themselves'.

The doctrines and practices Protestants have the most trouble with are the immaculate conception, Papal Infallibility, the Filioque, the use of icons (graven images to them), and calling a Church elder "father". (not all of these are doctrines and practices of the Eastern Orthodox Church).

By the way, I do not make any judgment upon a person, regardless of his faith. If you ever see me outright judge someone, I encourage your confrontation and rebuke against me. The Eastern Orthodox do exclusively believe themselves to be the Church that Christ started, but it is as I hear all the time said by our priests and bishops "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it isn't."

Forgive me, I'm probably being fairly offensive here. I'm giving what I experienced as well as what is apparent through observation. This is hard to do without coming across as judgmental.

Forgive me, the thrice wretched sinner.

Answer 3

A Christian is one who follows Christ and his teachings and has been baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. The literal definition of Christian is "christ like".

Now the obvious question is.. do catholics follow Christ and his teachings? The answer is not completely.

Catholics follow the teachings and edicts of the pope. They believe that the pope is the head of the church, which goes against scriptures that state Christ is the head of the church. The church cannot have "two heads". If catholics follow the pope, they are not following Christ and do not fit the description of a Christian.

There are many teachings of the catholic church that are contrary to Jesus' teachings and the scriptures.

Infant baptism is not taught in the Bible.
Christ is the head of the church, not the pope.
Catholics claim that New Testament is uninspired.
Sprinkling for baptism not taught in the Bible.
Peter was not the first Pope.
The Bible is the authority, not the church.
Concept of "holy water" not found in the Bible.
Priests cannot forgive sin.
Priests are not the mediator between us and God.
Sacrament Of penance not found in the Bible.

These items, and many more, show that the catholic church is NOT the church founded by Christ. The catholic church does not follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and again, cannot be referred to as Christians, based on the Biblical definition.

Answer 4

Because they think only their Protestant way is the right way. For myself I know my Catholic grandmother is one of the truest Christians I have ever seen or even heard of. I mean me and my Protestant family will talk about Christ and all that but we watch violent movies with profanity and such. The Catholics, from my experience, are more devout than us Protestants. Many of us Protestants tend to be Christians only on Sunday from 10-11 am. But my grandma is a Catholic, and a Christian, every day, all the time.

I don't agree with the institution of the Catholic church, that is, bishops, priests, cardinals, Popes, etc, and I disagree on many of their doctrines like communion being literally the blood and body of Christ.... but I do recognize they are pious people and in my opinion, respect for the Supreme Being is more important than being a Protestant or a Catholic or a Baptist or an Anglican. I would rather be friends with a devout Muslim than a lukewarm Calvinist.

But for me I do not say "Christian/Protestant vs Catholic" I consider them both Christian. But in general from what I have seen, the Catholics are more devout and godly than Protestants.

Answer 5

You think they treat you bad for being Catholic (I'm sure they do) try being Pagan and accidental have it get out in school.

How can our species continue?
Muslims of different sects (denominations) kill each other daily.
Christians of different denominations (sects) kill each other daily.

If either religion ever unifies their sects or denominations the situation will not get better because the unified religion will attack the other religion creating a new crusade.

Both religions show no tolerance for different interpretations of their own religion, much less tolerance for other religions.

It seems the more convinced one is of their own righteousness the move damage they do to the human race.

I meditate and pray for peace in a world of intolerance, but it will do no good unless people drop their self righteousness enough to find love for their fellow man, and quit lying to themselves and others that the hate they spread is somehow proof of their love.

Blessed Be

Answer 6

Some people that don't use their heads only thing of Protestants as Christian, but that's just wrong. Christians are those who believe in God and Jesus. She may not have meant anything by it, though. Some people who don't know much better just don't know what words mean what. However, some people, unfortunately, are that judgemental.

Answer 7

people think that because there insecure about there own religion.Id like to think of myself as a Christine too,i believe in God and Jesus.I have also had my own religion question me and judge me because i don't share there same thoughts.This type of people need to go to church more or read the bible more.Well actually its just common courtesy,Treat others the way you would want to be treated,and if you don't have anything nice to say than don't say it at all.Your beliefs are your bizz and if your a good person and your kind that's all that matters to me.God bless,and ignore people who think there better than you.

Answer 8

i think people are just confused. they are people who have never been to a catholic service. they only get their ideas from what they see in movies or on the news. i have been raised mormon and people always told me that i should leave the church because it is not christian but a cult, but they had never actually been to a service or even talked to other mormons. people usually say things before they have the knowledge of what they ar saying.

Answer 9

The only reason I can think of is ignorance. I am not Catholic, but Catholics are definitely considered Christians.

Answer 10

I am a Protestant Christian. I have heard many Christians say that Catholics are not Christians. I argued with my sister once because she said that very thing. To sum it up, nobody is a Christian just because they attend a certain church or are raised with certain beliefs. What makes one a Christian is not only the belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and Saviour to us all, but a relationship with Him wherein we talk to Him directly and invite Him into our hearts and try to live by His example.

I think why many Protestant Christians say that Catholics aren't Christians is because one of the beliefs that Catholics have is that one needs to pray to Mary or a saint or go through a priest as an intermediary to God. Protestant Christians believe that we can come to God directly ourselves, through Jesus Christ. Protestant Christians also believe it is wrong to pray to anyone but God Himself because anything else constitutes idol-worship. Now I have studied the Catholic Church a tiny bit and my sister-in-law is Catholic. I think Catholics have a lot of very nice traditions and rituals that when practiced with a sincere heart, can increase one's love for God and make them feel closer to God. I respect that. It is not for me or anyone else to judge the depth of one's love for God and one's relationship with Christ. For someone to make a blanket statement about someone's Christianity or perceived lack thereof, is wrong. Only God can make that determination, for He alone sees our hearts. Many Protestants who faithfully attend church one or more times a week are not Christians because though they "do all the right things", they lack the personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It's simple. One only needs to tell God they know they are a sinner, ask God to forgive them, and ask Jesus to come into their heart to help them live the life that God wants them to live. That's it. Then, when one prays, one prays directly to God or Jesus, for they are One in the same.

There are many Christian Catholics and many Christian Protestants. There are also many people who claim to be Christian who are not, only because they do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ. That's the difference. It has nothing to do with church affiliation and everything to do with one's relationship with Christ. Shame on those people for saying you are not a Christian. It is not for any of us to decide, but God.