I Am Curious, How Many Christians Believe Catholics Are Not TRUE Christians?

Question

I cannot believe how many times I see comments like the one CJ made on this question http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070926135740AAoH5Oq&r=w&pa=FZptHWf.BGRX3OFMiDRdVL7MppcLy2_NUaBkDy_ef1ZkgFZTOA--&paid=answered#NbUvWze_UjeTT3huqC1y

where he said Catholics are not true saved Christians.

Is this typical?

Do people not realize that if it weren't for Roman Catholics they would not even have a bible, Trinity doctrine and many other basic tennants of Christian faith?

In 325AD as part of the Nicene Creed, all these basic doctrinal things were agreed upon by the first Cardinals. They sifted out which gospels to put in the bible and how they should be ordered and interpreted. If it weren't for them, you could have the Gospel of Phillip or many others in your bible right now, which said Jesus was just a man, not God.

So if you believe they were Divinely guided enough to give you the Christian doctrine and bible you have, how can you call them "unsaved"?

And do not use the "idol worship" excuse because even evangelical Christians treat a cross and the actual bible, with God-like reverence, sometimes to the point of fetishism.

One Baptist I knew was INSCENSED I had bibles in my home. How dare I a pagan, have symbols of Christianity in my home. It was almost like the bibles itself were objects of reverence.

Answer 1

As a child, I was raised a Baptist, and yes, I was taught that Catholics were not true Christians...and that neither were Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Jews, etc.... I was also taught that of all protestant religions, that Baptists were the most correct...so that we went to heaven, we Baptists, would have more "jewels" in our crown than our Methodist/Presbyterian/other Protestant brothers.

It is quite the superiority complex.

Of course Catholics are no better...look at what the pope recently said about protestants...that they in effect were not true Christians....

All of the infighting is amazing....add to this...I am gay...and yes, I am spiritual, I am a Christian...but the fundamentalists will tell me I am not.

Interesting thing...there is only one absolute authority on scripture and on someone's heart...and that is Jesus Christ...so when people make such pronouncements of judgement that are committing blasphemy by pretending to be God and know all.

Answer 2

I am a Christian and believe that Catholics are Christian too. They do not worship or pray to statutes or idols. They ask for intercessory prayer from the old saints and Mary the Mother of Jesus. They believe in the Deity of Jesus and His Resurrection. They believe Jesus is the only way for salvation. The Catholic bible does have 6 more gospels than the King James Version but they do not contradict any fundamental of the Christian beliefs.

Answer 3

You're a little off on your history. At the Council of Nicea, the cardinals agreed on a canon, but the New Testatment canon was pretty well set by the end of the first century.

Besides that little mistake, many Protestants believe that Catholics worship idols (veneration of the saints), claim the pope is infallible, pray to Mary rather than to the Heavenly Father and actually place veneration of Mary above worship of Jesus Christ, depend on the sacraments for salvation, believe that salvation is conditional, believe that a person can be saved after death.

We can't say whether another person is saved or not. That is left to the individual and God. However, judging by the teaching and behavior of the Roman Catholic Church, it would seem very difficult for a Catholic to be born again.

Answer 4

Believing in Jesus does not make one a Christian. Satan believes in Jesus but Satan is most definitely NOT a Christian! A Christian is therefore one who not only believes that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God, the promised Messiah, the word made flesh BUT in addition to that, they follow the teachings and example of Jesus as recorded in the Bible. Many cults and sects call themselves Christian but they follow a different Jesus and/or a different Gospel which means they are Christian in name only. Some of these regard the teachings of their leaders as equal to the Bible or, in some cases, as being superior to or superseding the Bible. Others have taken Pagan customs and traditions and merged them with Christianity to create a religion that is arguably more Pagan than it is Christian. Many claim that they are the only ones who can correctly interpret the Bible and whatever they say it means is what it means and you are not allowed to question or dispute this! The obvious problem here is there is the potential for them to get it completely wrong because there is no double check on what they preach - there is no constant standard it can be compared against. They can therefore get away with telling their followers just about anything. This is why there is such diversity under the Christian "Umbrella" and why not everyone who calls himself a Christian is really a follower of the Jesus of the Bible.

Answer 5

I believe catholics are Christians.
If a person believes thatJesus died on the cross for their sins and accepted Him into their heart to live a life that God wants us to live then they are a christian.

there is no such thing as a perfect christian. We can not be made or maintain purity on our own. We all fall short of righteousness.

The different denominations is a difference of rituals/methods of worship.

I do not call them unsaved. It was the Pope that made that statement about anyone not catholic a few months ago.

Answer 6

Well, I personally believe Catholics to be "true" Christians. However, when I lived in Memphis, Tn (where there are few catholics) I remeber people telling me they weren't really Christians. I think they just weren't well educated, and didn't know any Catholics. Catholic services are VERY different from your standard Protestant service (except Anglican and a few others-but certainly Baptist services which are the most common in Memphis) and Catholics are seen to be worshipping idols, something the Ten Commandments explicitly forbid. As for the saved bit-many born again Christians believe anyone not "saved" is not a Christian. *shrugs*
Even a good ole protestant like me. Coming from Presbyterian stock I deemed it sufficient to have been born only once.

Answer 7

I think they can be but most people who claim to be Christians really aren't. So if they have accepted Jesus as their personal savior and Lord then they are in fact a Christian. If they are going to their church because of tradition or family then no they're not.

I must say that I know quite a few Catholics who say that it is very hard to be a true Christian in a Catholic church. I can't remember the reasoning they gave but thats what they said. I'm not saying its impossible but I've never been Catholic and they had been so I'm taking their word seriously.

Answer 8

People like him get an idea in their heads and can't let go even when they're shown the error of their ways. The Jews didn't have an organized Bible. They had scrolls in various places that we're just lucky survived all the invasions. The Bible as we know it today was put together by the Catholic church. All one has to do to know this is to read about the council of Nicaea. I personally have no problems with Catholics, especially since my church (Episcopal/Anglican) came directly from the Roman Catholic church. No matter what any of them say, every church that we have today can trace its roots back to the Roman Catholic church.

Answer 9

A wretched criminal hung on the cross beside Jesus dying for his crimes. The criminal pleaded to Jesus "Remember me when you come into your kingdom (heaven). Jesus answered "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." Luke 23:41-42.
Notice Jesus didn't ask him if he was Catholic, Protestant, Baptist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Church of Christ, or Pentecostal. Satan provokes these wars between Christians to destroy the credibility of the body of Christ (so Satan can deceive as many souls as possible). Satan knows many non-Christians look to the actions of Christians as a representation of the example of Christ, rather looking to the Holiness of Jesus Christ Himself. What better way to destroy the church than have the church (the body of Christ) destroy itself.
That is why Jesus came to destroy religion. Religion was and is powerless to redeem the human spirit from sin.


Throughout the Bible, Jesus spoke God’s requirements to becoming a Christian. If you know in your heart that you have obeyed His word and have followed His blueprint for salvation, regardless of religion, you are a child of God (a Christian).
1. Believe
John 3:16.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever (Catholics included) believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
2. Confess
Matthew 10:32
"Whosoever shall confess me (Jesus) before men, I shall confess before my Father in heaven. Whosoever shall deny me (Jesus) before men, I shall deny before my Father in heaven."
3. Repent
Romans 3:23
"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
1 John 1:9
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
4. Surrender
Matthew 16:24
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
5. Be born again.
John 3:6-8
"Flesh gives birth to the flesh, but the (Holy) Spirit gives birth to the spirit. Be not surprised at my saying, you must be born again."
Romans 6:4
"Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even we should also walk in a newness of life"

I think the answer is to stop focusing on all the differences, between religions and just get busy following the Lord's greatest commandmant.
"Love God with all your might and all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself."
Accomplishing that should keep us all too busy to argue.

Answer 10

Catholics are no less Christian, in my view.

However, based on what little I know about Catholic belief, they may not view me as such (being a protestant).

I can live with that, though