Are Catholics Christian?

Question

If you ask Catholics they say yes if you ask any other christian they say no.

Answer 1

Yes.

All christians know this except... how shall I put it... quite a few american christians.

Answer 2

Yes Catholics, are Christians. The Catholic church was founded by Peter; Jesus' Rock upon which he would build his church. And yes I was born into a Catholic family, but I married Mormon twice and now I'm a practicing Druid. Why Other Christians deny that Catholics are Christians. Probably because they do not like the fact that all other Christian Religions are off shoots of the Catholic Church. But every time they pick up a Bible it is a reminder that they are. Even after King James had it edited. The original Bible was compiled by the Catholic Church. And yes even the Catholic Church chose not to keep all the books in the compilation. But there all out there, you just have to look for them and you can start with the Douay Version.
Oh yes one last thing, Catholics Worship God They do not worship Mary or any of the saints. They may pray to them for petition to God on their behalf like you would to a dead relative. Prayer does not equate worship.

Answer 3

Most non-Catholic Christian denominations accept Catholics as Christians. A very few do not.

The World Council of Churches which brings together more than 340 churches, denominations and church fellowships in over 100 countries and territories throughout the world, representing some 550 million Christians accepts the 1.1 billion Catholics as Christians. http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/who/faq-e.html#07

A dictionary would say that a Christian is someone professing belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus.

Catholics would fit this definition.

In the Nicene creed, from 325 C.E., Catholics profess:

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 accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We are baptized as Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:19, "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

We truly are spiritually "born again," we just don't usually use those words.

World Council of Churches?
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is the broadest and most inclusive among the many organized expressions of the modern ecumenical movement, a movement whose goal is Christian unity.

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 4

Roman Catholicism is a Christian denomination. The name "Catholic Church" originated in 107 AD when Ignatius of Antioch used the phrase to describe Jesus' "Church.

Catholics adhere to the teachings of Jesus Christ who founded this Church. Acts 11,26 defines Christian an "adherent" of Christ. The word Catholic simply means the larger or universal church. The early church fathers were the first to use it. For example the epistles of James, Peter, John and Jude are referred to as the Catholic Epistles. So when we say the Catholic Church, we mean the universal Christian Church.

Anti-Catholics often suggest that Catholicism did not exist prior to the Edict of Milan, which was issued in 313 AD and made Christianity legal in the Roman Empire. With this, pagan influences began to contaminate the previously untainted Christian Church. In no time, various inventions adopted from paganism began to replace the gospel that had been once for all delivered to the saints. At least, that is the theory.

This accusation does not hold water because Jesus Christ promised to guide his Church till the end of the age.

"And so I tell you. Peter; you are a rock, and on this rock foundation I will build my church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven; what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven." - Matthew 16,18-20

"And teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age." - Matthew 28,20

"I have told you this while I am still with you, The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and make you remember all that I have told you". - John 14, 25

"When, however, the Spirit comes who reveals the truth about God, he will LEAD YOU INTO ALL TRUTH." - John 16,13

After making the above promises are you now saying that Jesus cannot be relied upon to keep his word?

Pagan Influence Fallacy

Opponents of the Church often attempt to discredit Catholicism by attempting to show similarities between it and the beliefs or practices of ancient paganism.

Ultimately, all attempts to prove Catholicism "pagan" fail. Catholic doctrines are neither borrowed from the mystery religions nor introduced from pagans after the conversion of Constantine. To make a charge of paganism stick, one must be able to show more than a similarity between something in the Church and something in the non-Christian world. One must be able to demonstrate a legitimate connection between the two, showing clearly that one is a result of the other, and that there is something wrong with the non-Christian item.


In the final analysis, nobody has been able to prove these things regarding a doctrine of the Catholic faith, or even its officially authorized practices. The charge of paganism just doesn’t work.

Answer 5

I'm catholic and went to a catholic school for 9 years, and I was always taught that I was Christian Catholic. So yes, I believe Catholics are Christian.

Answer 6

Ask the non-Catholics to tell you (truthfully) WHEN their church was founded, and BY whom.

Also ask them by what authority they started their particular denomination of Christianity, and ask them exactly WHAT they believe, and WHY.

The Catholic church has been known as such ... since 107 AD (only about 75 years after Christ) in the writings of St. Ignatius.

Jesus founded the Catholic (universal) church, and he promised to bless it and keep it ... no matter what ... until the end of time.

Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Mat 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Jesus never did anything of the sort for any other person or group.

Jesus authorized, empowered, and eternally guaranteed the church that he founded on Peter and the other apostles ... who were the same men he personally trained.

Jesus sent the Holy Spirit on Pentecost to provide the church with God's complete, correct, and truthful doctrines, practices, and beliefs. Then, Jesus assigned tthe Holy Spirit to remain with the church forever, as the divine arbiter of God's truth.

Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 [Even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Joh 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

The Catholic church was the only Christian church in the world for the first 1500 years of modern world history, and it still really is, as only within the Catholic church, do all of the other 50,000 or so authentically Christian denominations continue to subsist.

No Catholics ... NO Christian church at all.

It's really that simple!

Answer 7

If you read the book, Kingdom of the cults, Catholics are classified as Christians. So are seventh day adventists. Unitarians and Mormans are not.
The knock that many Protestants make on Catholics is that they really don't believe in salvation by faith alone. Catholics tend to get hung up on "good works" Protestants believe that salvation can not be achieved by good works only, lest we boast
Some Catholics, like many in Mexico believe Mary is more important than Christ. It would be fair to say those Catholics are not Christians, they are Mary worshipers

Answer 8

Umm - I was an "every other Christian" and I've always known that Catholics were Christian.

http://christianity.about.com/od/faqhelpdesk/f/arecatholicschr.htm

EDIT - Ummm, and "Other" Christians don't adhere to pagan traditions still? Tell me, are your kids putting on costumes for halloween? Are they going trick or treating? Are you planning to have a Christmas tree and wreaths and present giving this year?

OOPS- all pagan activities, some actually proscribed by the bible. OOPS!

Answer 9

I'm a Baptist and I say yes, Catholics are certainly Christians.

Answer 10

Catholics are not Christians, they are Catholics. They believe in holy water, purgatory, rosaries, baptizing babies and other things that the Bible speaks nothing about.

A LOT of people believe that Christ came to save the world from its sin, and that's right, He did; but they have not followed the plan of salvation, and therefore, cannot call themselves Christians. They are not following Christ, they are following the doctrines of men (Isaiah 29:13, Matthew 15:8-9, Mark 7:7) and try to justify their traditions by the Bible.

If you are truly a Christian, you have followed these steps:

1. You must HEAR the Word of God, Romans 10:17;
2. You must BELIEVE what you've heard, Romans 10:9-10, Hebrews 11:6;
3. You must REPENT of your sins, Luke 13:3;
4. You must CONFESS Jesus to be the Son of God, Matthew 10:32;
5. You must BE BAPTIZED for the remission of sins, Acts 2:38, 8:37-38.
After that, you must BE FAITHFUL unto death, Acts 2:42, Revelation 2:10.

ONLY after you have completed these steps, can you call yourself a Christian, a child of God. If you have not done any of these, you have not been saved, you are not a Christian.

Answer 11

I think that the difference stems from the way Catholics and Christians worship. Catholics worship not only Jesus but also many saints and Christians will only worship Jesus. However, if you take into account the true meaning of the word Christian (follower of Christ) then both Catholics and Christians can be considered Christians.