Why do many christians think that Catholics are not born again.?

Question

What I find strange is that many christians will do anything to "convert" people including catholics (who believe christ died for their sins), they will tell them that they are not "saved" and are in fact going to hell because they attend mass every week and devote themselves to Christ.

Yet they say that they do this out of Love and call any attempt to stop such activity persecution against Jesus.

It confuses me because when I speak to people like that they really have no understanding of Sytematic Theology, Church history etc.

The catholic chuch as been around 2000 years while the protestant movement has been around a few hundred.

What is wrong with devoting your life to Jesus despite the denomination. Since in effect, knowledge right or wrong doesnt affect salvation its about faith.
Further didnt Jesus say that the world would recognise the church because it is one, as far as I can tell the Catholic Church is the only one not fragmented into 9000 denominations globaly

Note: Already I am getting answers saying that Catholics teach a "works" Gospel. Nothing could be further than the Truth. Catholics teach Grace Alone.

Most non Catholics have to do with a ton of laws, dont swear, dont drink, dont date, tithe a min of 10% gross, suffer suffer suffer

People you cant use Catholic hateing sources as reliable.

Infant baptisim isint excluded in the bible. Priests are told they can forgive on earth what will be forgiven in heaven.
Pennance isn not outlawed in the bible.

The bible mentions the prayers of the saints so it is clear we are to ask them to pray for us as you would a friend.

Serious answers only no crazy hateful fundies.

Answer 1

Catholics don't believe in "born-again" except by baptism....not the wholly unbiblical "ask Jesus to come into your heart..." No Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, Episcopalian buys into this stuff.

*** The Church was indeed founded by Jesus
*** Peter was the first Pope
*** The term "Pope" is NOT in the bible.....NEITHER is General Superintendent which is the title of the head honcho in the Assembly of God
*** Christ IS the head of the Church but any institution that counts more than 1 billion members MUST have an earthly figure to coordinate it all. After all, the Jews took their "mandates" from the Pharisees whom Jesus said occupied the "Seat of Moses" and that they MUST obey and DO EVERYTHING they tell you to do (MT 23:2)
*** The bible is AN authority but needs a final authority for interpretation. If it is self-interpreting, 100% of the people would come to 100% same conclusion 100% of the time. This self-interpreting garbage is why there are more than 30,000 Protestant groups. Paul himself -- in his first letter to Timothy (3:15) -- called the Church "the pillar and foundation of the truth". He never told anyone to check it out in scriptures. According to the Methodist Church, "tradition is a lens through which Scripture is interpreted" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodist_Church).
*** Jesus died, rose and ascended in 33 A.D. The first book of the NT was written in approx. 54. The Gospel, then was handed down during that time span by ORAL Tradition. In fact, Paul wrote MOST of his letters BEFORE the first Gospel was even written. He, too, was taught by Oral Tradition.
*** When YOU tell your children the story of the first Christmas or Easter, YOU, TOO are passing on Oral Tradition.
*** Priests CANNOT and DO NOT forgive sins -- ever. It is Jesus acting THROUGH the priest who forgives sins
*** Infant Baptism NOT found in Bible.....not disputed either. In those days, when a man changed religion he HAD to also have his entire family baptized at the same time. Besides, in the OT, circumcision was the Jews' entry into the Covenant with God. God absolutely insisted that this formal entry be done on the infant's 8th day. If infants were good enough for God to receive in the OT at 8 days old, why would he change his mind? Jesus told ONLY adults that they had to believe.
*** Penance not found in the Bible BUT insisted upon even by Martin Luther -- the grand-daddy of the Reformation who championed the idea of Sola Scriptura.
*** ALSO not in the Bible --- the idea of hiring pastors and ministers for churches like Protestants do. The mandate to "send in your resumé for consideration" is NOT biblical. In countless places, the apostles, disciples and others were SENT initially by Jesus and then later SENT by a higher HUMAN authority: SEE Acts 8:14; 9:30; 9:38; 11:22; 13:3; 15:30; 17:10; 19:22
*** Nicodemas is the ONLY person to whom Jesus ever mentioned being born again. NO-ONE else in all of Scripture -- even Paul who a strict letter-of-the-law kind of guy ever mentioned this.
*** Sprinkling for baptism has been in use for nearly 1800 years. The one synagogue left in Bethlehem that had been converted to a church has a baptismal pool -- but it is far too small for a full-size person to be immersed in.
*** Many Protestant churches do have a "central headquarters": Assembly of God = General Superintendent in Springfield, Missouri; Church of God in Christ = Cleveland, Tennessee (or perhaps, Memphis); Evangelical Methodist Church = Indianapolis, Indiana (again with a General Superintendent)....plus many others.

Answer 2

The trinity isn't a Catholic factor in any respect, it is a facet of almost each and every Christian denomonation. Being 'born once more' is a extra normal time period amongst protestants. And only a notice to the man or woman who acknowledged the King James Bible, I'm now not definite wherein you are getting your understanding from however that variant is fitting much less and no more normal, such a lot church buildings at the moment use the NIV, and as for swearing on it, no person will have to truthfully swear on a Bible on account that the Bible itself says to not swear on something, "allow your sure be sure and your no be no".

Answer 3

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen said it simply and best:

"There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church, which is, of course, quite a different thing."

Answer 4

Booth,

You say that the Catholic Church does not follow the teaching of the NT yet it is written by Catholics, is about Catholics and was canonized by Catholics. Your point of view is without any logic. Why would members of Christ’s Church write what they do not follow and hundreds of years later canonize those same writings as truth and God’s Word?

The Bible does not teach justification by faith “alone”. This teaching cannot be found in all of Scriptures, instead the opposite is found. The Catholic Church teaches just like the Bible that works are the fruit of salvific grace and not the means of that grace. The NT contains the teaching of the Catholic Church and is about the Catholic Church; the One, Holy, Apostolic, Church created by Christ through His apostles.

In Christ
Fr. Joseph

Sirromo4u,

All Catholics are born again through their Baptism. This is the teaching of the Church.

TG says,

"Infant baptism is not taught in the Bible."

Not true the Bible teaches that all members of families were Baptized. Jesus said do not hinder the children from coming to Him.

"Christ is the head of the church, not the pope."

The Catholic Church does not claim that Jesus is not head of the Church but instead that Jesus is the high priest of the Church.

"Catholics claim that New Testament is uninspired."

Just the opposite as they are the one's that canonized the Bible and declared it inspired. They are the only ones with this authority given by Jesus and recorded in the Scriptures.

"Sprinkling for baptism not taught in the Bible."

No method of Baptism is taught in the Bible. Catholics do not Baptize by sprinkling but by pouring or immersion.

"Peter was not the first Pope."

According to the Bible he was as appointed by Jesus.

"The Bible is the authority, not the church."

Not according to Jesus who said that it is the Church which has the power to bind and to loose.

"Concept of "holy water" not found in the Bible."

Then why does the Bible state that it is by water that we are born again?

"Priests cannot forgive sin."

Jesus disagrees as He gave the power to the Church to bind and to loose.

"Priests are not the mediator between us and God."

The Church does not teach that priests are the mediators between God and man. Instead it teaches that the priest does his work "in persona Christi" and not as a mediator of any kind.

"Sacrament Of penance not found in the Bible"

Again the power to bind and loose was given to the Church by Jesus.

Answer 5

You are incorrect on the origins of the catholic church. It is NOT the church founded by Christ in the first century. Peter was NOT the first pope. The catholic church was founded in in A.D. 606. Old emperor Phocus, who was himself a murderer and an adulterer, appointed Boniface III as the first pope. There are many things that the catholics would like you to believe that are contrary to the scriptures.

The church that Jesus founded is named in the Bible. It is the church of Christ. Romans 16:16. No where in the Bible do you find the word catholic, pope, cardinal, etc. Neither is there any scriptural backing for those ideas. Here is a short list of beliefs that the catholic church teaches that are contrary to the scriptures. See source for detailed information.

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 came out of Roman Paganism and the catholic church is NOT the church founded by Christ.

The church of Christ is the church founded in the first century. The church of Christ is not a denomination.
Following the plan of organization found in the New Testament, churches of Christ are autonomous. Their common faith in the Bible and adherence to its teachings are the chief ties which bind them together. There is no central headquarters of the church, and no organization superior to
the elders of each local congregation. Congregations do cooperate voluntarily in supporting the orphans and the aged, in preaching the gospel in new fields, and in other similar works. See the last two items in the source to identify the church that Christ established.


*** In response to additional comments, Infant baptism is NOT taught in the Bible. A person needs to believe, repent and confess the name of Jesus prior to being baptized. An infant cannot do any of these things. There are absolutely not scriptures in the Bible that even come close to teaching infant baptism.

Priests are NOT given the ability to forgive sins. You will NOT find that concept anywhere in the Bible. ". . . Repent there-fore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you . . ." (Acts 8:21-23). Peter did not direct him to confess his sins to a priest in order to obtain absolution. James, in giving instructions to those in the church, said, "Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray one another, that you may be healed" (James 5:16). My friends, that states, "Confess your faults one to another." It does not say to a priest.

You will also NOT find any reference to Penance in the Bible. The sacrament of penance makes the priest an absolutely necessary mediator and in this we see the design of the Catholic Church to bind the people to herself through her system of priests and sacraments which they alone can administer. But hear the apostle Paul in this matter: "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (I Timothy 2:5). There is one mediator; that mediator is Jesus Christ and that eliminates the Catholic priest from God’s order.

When stating that a catholic, man-made concept is Biblical it is helpful if you at least try to find a scripture in the Bible to support them.

Answer 6

1.) There are over 30,000 registered protestant denominations in the USA alone. 9000 by compare is chump change.

2.) Catholic is not fragmented? HUH?!

Roman Catholic
Eastern Orthodox Catholic
Old Catholic
Polish National Catholic
Ethiopian Catholic

And those are five I can name straight off the top of my head. There are hundreds of Catholic branches and 'denominations'.

Answer 7

If you repent to God of your sins and ask Jesus to be your personal savior, you are saved, therefore a Christian. Not all Catholics have don't this. There are no other requirements to salvation, no rituals or anything. we are instructed to be baptized after we get saved to be an outward sign for others to see we have accepted Jesus into our hearts.

Answer 8

The true is too hard for many to understand here, but here goes. The orignal Church was mainly Jewish in nature, but the Jews had a hard time with what to do with Jesus, since he was or was not God to many of them (as if they had a choice). And the original Church was never organized either because God is the God of everybody not just believers of him, and in God's kingdom there is not many nations, but just one Nation under God. One God one Nation One people all united for one cause and only one language. But the word Catholic means universal church, and many believe that this was the first church, and yes it was the first organized church, and all of the other organizations are daughters of this first church, just as Eve was the mother of All children born so was this church mother of all organized churches. But Eve produced two children, one was good and the other was evil.
Here is what the Bible says of Eve's first born child; 1 John 3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
Now the children of the mother look at the mother and find fault to justify themselves over the parents and use the Bible words to condemn her. John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
John 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

No Pope or any man can change the fact that to see Heaven you must be born again, but many people in the churches imagine if their church doesn't teach it, then it must not be important; Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

A man is born in the Kingdom of God and is called, it is not a choice of you mind or thinking. God chose you, you did not choose God. Your religion is you biggest hinderance to accepting God in your life when he calls you, and Catholic's are not born again if they cannot say they are born again or do not even know what it is! Ignorance is not an excuse for the Law of God.
A baby cannot make a choice to serve God or repent and that is what baptism is, but one of the Popes made that discision apart from the Bible many years after the Bible was written. I do recall any babies hearing Peter speak asking to be baptized Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Answer 9

i dont think that .. and i wouldnt assume it .. but its like in timothy where its said that some have a form of Godliness and deny the power of it ...

Answer 10

*is catholic* no clue