why do some Protestants think that Catholics are not Christians?

Question

where did Martin Luther stole the Bible, that they are now using, from? before Martin Luther decided to edit it?

FYI, Martin Luther chose some passages that only agree with what he wants to believe in, so he took away the passages that don't agree to what he wants to believe in like the Maccabees and Tobit.

Answer 1

some protestants believe that catholics arent christians essentially because according to them salvation is through faith alone but in the traditional catholic dogma, it is said that salvation is through faith plus works.
also protestants believe in sola scriptura, while catholics value man's tradition just as much as God's scripture

Answer 2

Here are some of the reasons. Most are overstated, and Catholics most certainly are Christians. The reasons do have elements of truth, however.

Somewhere around the year 600, the Roman Government and some others basically combined all the religions of the day into one Universal Church, and promoted that as the answer to all religions. The word "Catholic" means Universal.

Some of the teachings of the Catholics are set aside in book different than the Bible. Non-catholics fear that this book contains teachings that are not of Christ and the Apostles.

The baptism of babies is also an issue. Most other Christian religions do not promote this, since babies do not have the capability of making an informed decision.

The position of the Pope is not described anywhere in the Bible. As a matter of fact, no leadership structure beyond the assignment of Deacons and Elders at the congregational level is described in the Bible. Any church with a "National Office" or some other central leadership structure is questionable, because it does not conform to the descriptions of congregations in the Bible.

There are claims that the leadership of the Catholic church can be traced all the way back to the apostle Peter. In truth, there really is no such lineage. Several men have claimed to be the leader of the church, but the Bible clearly states the the one and only leader of the church is Jesus Christ. No one else was ever appointed to this leadership positon, and Jesus has never left it to my knowledge.

Very few churches comply to all of the descriptions listed in the Bible. This does not mean they are not Christian. It may mean that they are listening to manmade rules and regulations. The Bible cautions us against this, and encourages each person to compare the teachings they hear to the facts of the Bible him or her self.

Answer 3

I'll adress the original question first and explain why some protestants don't believe catholics to be Christians.

The primary cause of this stems from some of the unbiblical practices of the catholic church and the decrees of the papacy, which in itself has no biblical support. The practice of saint worship, the extra, non-inspired books in the catholic bible, and the unbiblical decrees set forth by the papacy, which is the leading body of the catholic sect all make protestants wish to distance themselves from the catholics, as they do not feel they should be responsible for expaining the practices or behaviors they have no part in.

This is of course the incorrect way of going about it, as anyone who's accepted Jesus as savior is a Christian for all intents and purposes, and deserves the same treatment as any other in the family of Christ.

As to Martin Luther picking and choosing parts of the bible to either include, or exclude, and to such books as Maccabees and Tobit being excluded by him personally, such arguments are not accurate. It has been shown from records written by the early church fathers as well as those at the councils that met specifically to outline the books to be included in the bible showing clearly that those in the protestant bible are the inspired work of god, having been written by either prophets, patriarchs, or direct disciples of Jesus. Anything else that may be included in the catholic bible, such as the Apocrypha were not included because they are not inspired books, though they do provide a look into the period between the old and new testament that can help set the stage for Jesus' arrival on earth.

God Bless,
Chake-Ri Shcos

Answer 4

It's a shame that people think that. Catholics are Christians. Anyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ, that believe that God did raise him from the dead, and follow him as Lord are Christians. Now I don't agree with alot of Catholic teaching and back in the Dark Ages they could hardly be called Christians... but anywho...

I believe the books the Protestant churches use were decided on at the Council of Nicea?(sp?) I'm aware of the Maccabees and Tobit although I'm not too familiar with it's history. It's one of the things I've been meaning to look up.

And Martin Luther translated it into German. Just thought I'd throw that in... I know he had issues with the book of James.

Answer 5

Because they have been taught that their particular brand of Christianity is the only way. And somewhere along the line, they forget that the Catholic Church represented Christianity long before their denominations ever existed.

But by the way, Martin Luther loved the book of Tobit. He did not consider it canonical but thought it was beautiful religious literature.

Answer 6

The Reformers had 5 solas. Two of these was sola gratia and sola fide, or grace alone and faith alone. The Reformers taught that salvation came by grace through faith (i.e. not through the Catholic church and the sacraments).

As a Christian (I don't necessarily call myself Protestant), I think that Catholics who trust the church are trusting an institution instead of trusting God. I see sacraments as good works that Catholics try to perform to earn their way into heaven. Ephesians says that we're saved by grace through faith and not of ourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works, so we can't boast about saving ourselves. I do think some Catholics are Christians, just like some Protestants are Christians, but not all.

To my knowledge, Luther used Erasmus's Greek New Testament. The authenticity of Maccabees and the rest of the Apocrypha was in doubt, so it was not considered to be Scripture. There was an accepted canon of Scripture starting around 400 AD, so Luther probably chose to use that.

Answer 7

Why do people without the education necessary to make a proper statement in regard to certain subjects bother to come in with their unfounded conclusions based on a little reading they did somewhere or what they heard someone say sometime that they didn't fully understand.

Luther was a devoted monk who did everything he was told to do including kissing all the steps on his way up to Saint Peter's Basillica in Rome. One day he went into the library and the Bible was opened to the scripture; "The Just Shall Live By Faith." God used that scripture to show him the hypocrisy of the Roman Catholic church and that is when he wrote his 95 Theses and posted them on the door of the church in Wittenburg, Germany.

The Catholic heirarchy called him to the Diet of Worms and told him to recant or die. He would not recant and their effort to kill him failed and he started what would later be known as the Lutheran Church.

He didn't steal any Bibles, and acknowledged that the books of the Apochrypha were spurious just like the early church fathers did and rejected them because they were not part of the Christian canon of scripture.

He also realized that the scriptures were the authority in and of themselves and didn't need the Catholic church or any other church to approve them whereas the Catholic church taught that the authority rested in the church that had the scriptures - which is a grievous error.

When he saw the money pouring into the coffers of the Catholic church through the selling of indulgences and the traditions and practices of the Catholic church were nothing but form and ritual he decided to hook up with God in a personal relationship as do all real Christians and separate himself from the lies and hypocrisy of the Roman Church that tried to kill him and others who left the church.

Answer 8

It is not up to me to judge whether a person is a Christian or not. But I do know one thing... when Christ died, the veil in the temple was "rent" (torn) in 1/2, from the top to the bottom. From the top, showing that God Himself did it. He said then, that we no longer needed a priest to go to the Father for us. We could go directly to Him. Take that how ever you want to, thats just what the Bible says.
I imagine that there will be Catholics and Christians alike in heaven when it comes down to the end, and there will be some who say they are Catholic, and some will say that they are Christian, but the question will be, did they know God? Does God know them? In the end, what church you attend isn't going to mean much, but whether or not you accepted Christ as YOUR savior and whether or not you walked as He walked.
May you know Him. Like He meant for us to know Him. The --walk in the cool of the evening/fellowship with Him --(Genesis) kind of know Him.

Answer 9

Some Protestants claim that Catholics are not Christians because it is obvious that the new traditions introduced by their human founders, such as sola scriptura, rejection of the priesthood and the sacraments, etc. are in direct conflict with the teaching of the Catholic Church. So, if the Catholic Church is what it claims to be, and what history plainly reveals it to be, namely the one Church founded by Jesus Christ for all mankind, then their modern manmade traditions place them in direct conflict with Christ Himself. The only way they can avoid that unpleasant reality is to claim, against all the historical evidence, that the Catholic Church is not the Church founded by Christ. Which would mean that Protestantism is an offshoot of a non-Christian church that somehow suddenly became Christian, and now teaches the truth through thousands of contradictory manmade denominations, in direct violation of the stated will of God, "that they all may be one". of course, this doesn't make a bit of sense, but they are desperate to validate their existence. They recognize that they came into existence through a rebellion against the Catholic Church. So they are hard pressed to demonstrate that what they rebelled against was BAD. Because, again, if the Catholic Church is the one Church founded by Christ, and the only Church ever approved by Him, then it was their rebellion that was BAD, and the ungodly mess that has resulted from it cannot be within God's plan.

Answer 10

it fairly is loopy to think of that Christ became waiting to stay 33 years on the earth w/o committing a sin, became water to wine, walk on water and elevate the lifeless....yet could no longer foresee that the church He pronounced He became going to start and be with till the top of time could fall down interior of years of the dying of the apostles! That makes Jesus the two an entire liar or no longer God. shame on the Protestants for questioning that!