Why do catholics think they are Christians ?

Question

When most of their teachings are completely contrary to what Jesus taught?

First christian were the jews that put their faith in Christ.
All scripture comes from GOD, only put in writing by men.
There is no such place as purgatory(read your Bible).
Mary had sex( read your bible)

First christian were the jews that put their faith in Christ.
All scripture comes from GOD, only put in writing by men.
There is no such place as purgatory(read your Bible).
Mary had sex( read your bible)MAT1:25
The Bible is in the form it is because of GOD.
The people who do go to Heaven do not remember this place and all the suffering or it wouldn't be Heaven.
I was raised a catholic until i found the truth.

Answer 1

because the pope says so... which in fact proves they are not... because only God may delclare any one to be of The Chruch... All who come to God in The Way He prescribes will receive His free gift of Salvation. Those become part of The Body of The Church of which Jesus The Christ is The Head. those are the ones of The True Christian Faith.

No man, or man invented doctrin or "tradition", can make any one a Christian

Answer 2

Do you know the difference between exigesis and eisigesis? One is an attempt to extract the meaning from a passage. The other is an injection of meaning into a passage. If you want to quote "proof texts", you should expect contradictory verses back.

Matthew 1:26 points out that Mary was a virgin UNTIL Jesus was born. It says NOTHING about afterwards. The point of the "until" was that Jesus was incarnated rather than conceived, NOT that Mary started having sex after that. The contemporary understanding of "brother" and "sister" clearly allows an afilial relationship, not just a blood relationship. The Bible does not clearly show wether or not Mary was always a virgin because doctrinally it isn't important. It's about Christology, not some soap opera of Mary's life.

Your contention is that Christianity went off the rails soon after it was formed, and that Protestantism's emphasis on "sola scriptura" a thousand years later brought it back. (So much for Christ's promise that he would "always be with you," at the end of Matthew's gospel!) But this attitude presumes that the gospels and letters were written and canonized immediately after Christ's death. The differences in theological doctrine in the books clearly shows a gradual development of the theology of Jesus as "Son" of God. They were debating Christ's nature as they were writing, and long afterward. The canon of the New Testament was not finalized until the Fourth Century, by ecumenical councils that could not be regarded as anything but "Catholic".

"Sola scriptura" was Martin Luther's way of getting around the long break. The Roman church defensively pointed to an unbroken succession of duly ordained pastors. Luther had to find something that would predate the institutions of the Church. The Bible was his solution. Unfortunately, subsequent scholarship revealed that the New Testament was generated during the time of "human traditions" along with those hateful intercessory conventions of Catholicism. "Sola scriptura" is intrinsically not "sola", but as infused with the uncertainties of human debate as everything else.

To be sure, the Reformation tackled many grave abuses in Church administration and practice, but it also adopted quite a few of the doctrinal elements necessary for consistent theology but not clearly indicated in the Bible (The Trinity, and the dual nature of Christ, for example). And in the course of its experience, mainline Protestant churches have experienced spiritual crises and reforms similar to the ones dealt with long before by their older sister.

Since then, more and more knots of Christians have broken away over scraps of scripture "wrongly" interpreted by their parent congregations. The stronger the feeling, the more vociferously the group condemns all others as apostates and heretics. They feel a passionate need to be certainly, absolutely "right", and everyone else wrong. Short of a relentless isolation, the longer a denomination is around, the more likely it is to recognize the common Christianity shared with its purported "enemies".

Many of the "teachings" young, independent denominations claim Jesus "taught" are actually not in the gospels or the letters, but cobbled together out of unrelated and ambiguous verses and filled-in assumptions (like with Matt 1:26). It's not even important that the doctrine make sense or help people lead better lives, but that someone else is proven wrong by it.

You don't have to be Catholic to be Christian. It's far from a perfect organization. But you don't have to NOT be Catholic either. All humans are flawed, and all Christian churches are human. Jesus may be "the Way", but his highway has more than one lane.

Answer 3

It seems the protestants are 1500 years late and a dollar short

Evodius was the first Bishop of Antioch, and he is credited with being the first person to call the followers of Christ, "Christians", as shown in Acts 11:26. See Eusebius, book 3, chapter 22.
Saint Ignatius (35-107), the second Bishop of Antioch wrote a letter to the Smyrneans in 107 A.D..
In this letter is recorded the first known use of the words "Catholic Church"...
Paragraph #8
"You must all follow the lead of the bishop, as Jesus Christ followed that of the Father; follow the presbytery as you would the Apostles; reverence the deacons as you would God's commandment. Let no one do anything touching the Church, apart from the bishop. Let that celebration of the Eucharist be considered valid which is held under the bishop or anyone to whom he has committed it. Where the bishop appears, there let the people be, just as where Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not permitted without authorization from the bishop either to baptize or to hold an agape; but whatever he approves is also pleasing to God. Thus everything you do will be proof against danger and valid."

By the way Protestants arent christian they are Heritics

Answer 4

Some Christians do not remember Roman Catholics to be truly Christians, and those are customarily protestants. But nearly, Roman Catholics are Christian however now not all Christians are Catholic. Roman Catholics are lead through the Pope in Rome. Protestants do not appreciate the Pope's authority and are equipped into 1000's of special denominations. The Eastern Orthodox(Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox) additionally don't appreciate the Pope, despite the fact that their teachings and ceremonies are similar to the Roman Catholics. The Eucharist is meant to be Jesus's Body and Blood, this is a Holy Sacrament, an excessively essential side of Catholic church rite. I do not consider in it. I can form of comprehend the idea however I am now not Catholic or Christian. Never be fearful of asking questions of your priest or fellow parishioners.

Answer 5

If you were indeed raised a Catholic, then the truth was under your nose the entire time.

Try actually studying your Bible, as opposed to cherrypicking a verse here and a verse there. You can argue any position by quoting parts of Scripture to the exclusion of others -- and unfortunately that's what many have based an entire theology upon.

Answer 6

Here is the Nicene Creed from 324 C.E., a summary of Catholic faith. Please point out the parts that are contrary to what Jesus taught.

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.

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 believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son, He is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

For a complete description of what Catholics believe, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/index.htm

With love in Christ.

Answer 7

Catholicism is Christianity par excellent and is exactly what Jesus taught. Your interpretation of Sacred Scripture is not correct. Authentic and authoritative interpretation is needed for the Word of God, some will say this and some will say that, who's right? Yes you may invoke the Holy Spirit but we as individuals are not guaranteed the Holy Spirit but the Church is, given by Christ Himself

Answer 8

It is easy to make accusation without being specific.

yes, Jesus had brothers and sisters. They could've been Joseph's children from a previous marriage. The Bible does not rule out that possibility.

Can you show me where in the bible that it says that EVERYTHING that Jesus taught is in the Bible?

With your prejudiced attitude, why do you think YOU are a Christian?

Answer 9

They believe in Jesus Christ born of the virgin Mary. This makes them Christian.

Many Catholics believe in loving God and Neighbors -- I think Jesus taught that.

Catholics ARE Christians

Answer 10

Our teachings are contrary to what Jesus taught? OKAY um, no. We kept the rules the Jesus taught about while other christian groups took them out.

and no we dont worship Mary or saints, we ask them to pray for us. Yes I do believe dead persons can still pray. No where in the bible does it say they cannot.

Answer 11

Because Catholics are Christian. And if you really believe Catholic teaching is "contrary" to what Jesus taught, you clearly have not studied Catholicism.