Are catholics christians or not?

Question

I've been told a thoulsand times at least that they are not. Please explane me what christian means then, and why do they not fit in?

Answer 1

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.

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 2

Until Henry VIII was denied a divorce by the Pope, and Martin Luther decided to go his own way, Catholics were the ONLY Christians. The two words were synonymous.

The Catholic church is the only church that has an unbroken tradition all the way back to Christ. Most other "Christian" churches broke away from the Catholic church some time in the last 600 years. Other "Christian" churches are invented out of whole cloth and have no relation or history that connects them to the Catholic church or Christ (i.e. Mormons, etc.)

Answer 3

In reality there are two kinds of catholics.

They are the roman catholics and the Christian catholics.

The roman catholics are the ones that take there orders from the Pope (the ones that believe and pray in the Saints and the Virgin Mary)

The Christian catholics are the ones that believe and pray to Jesus (not the pope, virgin marry or the saints)

both parties believe in Jesus as the son of God and in the Holy Trinity, but are two very different groups.

The roman catholics go by the name catholics and the christian catholics go by Christians.

This is why many people tell you that catholics are not Christians (even though they both follow a similar Christ believe).

In most cases people just don't know how to explain themselves, but that is how things work.

Answer 4

Catholics are Christians. They believe in Jesus Christ and strive to follow his teachings. Catholicism is the oldes extant Christian faith. There are three main branches of Christianity:

1. Catholicism (Roman, Celtic, etc.).
2. Greek Orthodox Christianity.
3. Protestantism (many sects).

Some people believe that 'Christian' has become too equated with 'Fundamentalist' in colloquial language, and so they prefer not to call themselves 'Christian.'

Also, some Protestant Christians believe that, because Catholics look to the Pope as their religion's leader, that they regard the Pope, not God, as the supreme religious authority. This is not the case. There are probably also other reasons why Catholics' being Christian is disputed, but I don't know them all.

Answer 5

Yes, Catholics are Christians. Christians are people who believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, that he died on the cross for our sins, he rose from the dead and that he will come again.

Catholics believe all of that, so the makes them absolutely Christians.

What we are not is a "bible only" based religion. We believe that sacred scripture, sacred tradition and the authority of the church are all valid for determining the teachings and will of God. Many protestant denominations are based on the erroneous thinking that the Bible is the only and final authority in all spiritual matters. This is a rather interesting notion since the Bible does not say that anywhere. So, for those believing this...that belief is not supported by scripture.

But for a Biblical perspective...John 3:16 sums it up and by that scripture alone Catholics qualify as Christians.

Answer 6

Yes, we are Christians. We were the first.

Christianity is defined by the life, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. It is repentence of one's sins, receiving baptism, and submitting to Jesus in the hope of eternal life. This has been taught by the Catholic Church since the beginning 2,000 years ago as it is taught today. The anti-Catholic propaganda you are hearing comes from people who's religious origins only go back 500 years ago and do not have apostolic succession.

Answer 7

Hello,

First they are the first main organized church from which all the other protestant and Greek Orthodox sprang.
They believe in God, that Jesus is who he says he is and acknowledges them as their savior. They have the same new testament gospels as other denominations. On these, they meet the official criteria on being Christian. If they are not, by reason all other churches that sprang from the same well would not be Christian either.

Cheers,

Michael Kelly

Answer 8

Some Christians, in an attempt to distant themselves from atrocities committed by the Church, say that Catholics are not Christian. Yet they still count the billion Catholics when claiming Christianity is the most popular religion.

Answer 9

A Christian is someone who has a relationship with Jesus Christ. Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholic

Answer 10

Generally speaking, based on doctrine and traditions, No. But people who belong to a Catholic church can be Christian if they adhere to the Bible. But like I said most catholics get their faith from traditions not biblically based. But there's plenty of "christians" who aren't Christian so go figure.