A question for Catholics- was Paul a christian?

Question

I often hear catholics holler 'protestants, protestants!', ok- so what was Paul? There was no catholicism at the time (just regular paganism)- so are you telling me he wasn't of Christ?

Do you see how ridiculous this sounds now?

No religions necessary, no titles, no man-made structures- just faith in Jesus and His word to be a christian.
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And to those who are struggling with comprehending this question- I am simply asking the structure that is Catholicism- was Paul, a believer in Christ- a christian? Because there was no way he was catholic.

It simply exposes how ridiculous it is to assume the catholic church as 'Christ's church', and no one else is christian.

Call Paul a protestant. Call James a protestant. Peter? Don't think a follower of Christ would have you pray to dead people and worship statues.

www.loveyouJesus.com

Answer 1

Well, there was Christianity, then Catholicism, then Reformation then the protest churches which is what the word protestant means by they way, then the restoration movement, then all the modern cults.

The restoration movement tried to restore New Testament Christianity as it was in first century, the problem with this , is they use the bible which came about by the decisions of men appointed by a pagan emperor in 336 A.D. at the council of Nicea. shortly after the Catholic church was born.

I doubt Christianity will ever be restored to what it was in the first century because the council of Nicea decided so many of the things we consider to be Christianity today, they decided Jesus was God they decided about the trinity.

Yes we have fragments of writings by certain so called church fathers, but even those were influenced by the Catholic church. A good many documents that early Christians used were destroyed because the council of Nicea decided they were heresy.
BB

Answer 2

Yes.

According to Acts 11:26 "it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians."

Mary and Joseph believed that Jesus was the Messiah even before He was born. They were the first Christians even it the word had not been invented yet.

Paul was also a Christian even if it was before anyone preached in Antioch.

The same goes along with the word Catholic which is Greek for universal. The universal Christian Church has always been universal even if it took the early Church a while to learn that.

The three (non-Jewish) Magi visiting the baby Jesus was one of the first signs that Christianity would reach out to the entire world.

Later Jesus treated non-Jews like Romans and Samaritans with dignity and respect. In consequence, these Romans and Samaritans became some of the first Christians.

After Jesus' Resurrection, more and more Gentiles became believers and the Apostles decided under the influence of the Holy Spirit that they did not have to convert to Judaism to become Christians.

The Church has referred to itself as the “Catholic Church” at least since 107 C.E. (about 10 years after the last book of the New Testament was written), when the Greek term "Katholikos" appears in the Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans:

"Wherever the bishop appear, there let the multitude be; even as wherever Christ Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church."

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/te...

We do not know how long they had been using the term "Catholic" before it was included in this letter.

All mainstream Christians were mainstream Catholics from Pentecost until 1054 when the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches split.

With love in Christ.

Answer 3

*Is Catholic*

St. Paul was and is a Catholic. He is listed amongst the Saints of Christ. He wears the red crown of martyrdom.

Here is what St. Paul looked like in his earthly body. Paul was short of stature, was broad-shouldered, somewhat bald, with slightly aquiline nose, closely-knit eyebrows, thick, grayish beard, fair complexion.

You are silly if you think there was no Catholicism. The universal faith which all men are called to worship the Triune God, receive remission of their sins, partake in the common life, the life of the sacraments, receive the Eucharist, and work out their salvation in fear and trembling of the Lord, that is Catholicism and that is the Gospel that St. Paul preached to the Gentiles as commanded by Christ.

Religion, by its definition, is those ties that bind us to God and if one does not have a religion then one is not binded to God and cannot worship. What is faith? It is a form of knowledge based on a relationship with the God who reveals himself.

There is no salvation in "faith alone". One must, by grace, enter into communion with God to approach salvation. Salvation is to live in God, to "put on Christ", and to be conformed to Christ. Anything else in one way or another denies the incarnation, that the Son became man and remained man and still is man. Being justified is not a magical pronouncement, it is rather a real entering into Christ's death, physically and spiritually. The justified human must be made anew and the Spirit must dwell within the body.

When we look at Christ and worship him, we do not simply think of his divinity, but we worship his flesh, the flesh of the living God, the total incarnation of the Son is worshiped. And this worship can only occur if we worship in the spirit AS WELL AS the flesh because humans are not only spirit and it is not only our spirit which is justified and saved but also our flesh.

Now it is completely laughable to say that Catholics pray to dead people. It shows a complete lack of understanding of what Catholics do and well as what it means to be dead. The saints are not dead. They live, even now.

Any criticism of prayers to the saints is a direct denial of the Creed of our Faith. We believe in the communion of saints. That is the Faith which has been passed down to us from Christ.

I know of no Catholic who "worships statues".

PAX CHRISTI TIBI

Answer 4

>>There was no catholicism at the time<<

Yes, there was.

"As a Jew coming to the Catholic Church, it was natural for me to find the relationship between Judaism and the Catholic Church among the most interesting things in the world. It was obvious to me that for a Jew to enter the Catholic Church wasn't a matter of conversion at all, but was rather simply coming into the fullness of Judaism — into the form that Judaism took after the coming of the Jewish Messiah." -- Roy Schoeman, author of 'Salvation is from the Jews'

Answer 5

Hello, Paul started out as an educated 'religious roman leader, who thought it was His so-called God given duty to persecute the 'christians'. That was until, 'he saw the light' on the road to Damascus. It was then that Jesus blinded his natural vision, and opened the eyes of his 'spiritual' understanding to see, that 'he was being used by the roman leaders to 'squelch' the 'christian message' and it's increasing influence over the people, through fear of death. That Divine Encounter with Jesus, transformed 'Saul', 'killer of the 'followers of Christ, into Paul, a humble, yet great, follower & leader of Jesus Christ, himself. He in'deed' became a true christian. A follower and teacher of the gospel message of God's Grace etc. The 'protestant' church concept and it's teachings had'nt begun, till long after Paul left the earth. As for praying to dead saints and statues, neither of them have ears to hear our prayers. I never read anywhere in the Bible, where Jesus directed us to pray to anyone, but Himself. Not even to any of the great prophets, or men of God, such as Moses, Elijah, or Enoch! It matters not, what labling badge or hat you wear on the outside. It's 'Who's on the inside of your heart that really counts! That's 'who' I always look for, when I meet people! Sincerely, Rose

Answer 6

catholics put some things that are unimportant into the traditions(do stuff that God doesnt say u have to do. ie. no meat on fridays, proestantism, cane around in rennaicance time.us so i think he was a regular christian

Answer 7

Amen! the only thing important is our relationship with Jesus.