What do Protestants have against Catholics?

Question

I am on a team with a Christain orginization, and all the families are Baptist. They haven't insulted me to my face, but I have heard things said about Catholics, in a negitive attitude (when they thought I wasn't listening, or before they found out I was Catholic).
What is so weird about Catholics? I love being one! We don't have anything against Baptists!

Answer 1

Laura, I'm a convert the other way -- from Baptist to Catholic. So I know, a bit, what you're talking about. There wasn't any active Catholic-condemning or preaching about the whore of Babylon going on from the pulpit, which (I've been told) is the case in other sects.

But there was this sort of undercurrent. If someone was talking about a Catholic, all of a sudden their voice would lower to a stage whisper and there would be sober nods from others -- like people used to talk about girls at school who were pregnant (probably way before your time, but I remember it).

If the subject came up as to whether Catholics were Christian, there was much hemming and hawing. Nobody wanted to come right out and say no, but neither would they concede that all or even the majority of Catholics are Christian; maybe "some of them, we just don't know", but all those statues and crucifixes and incense and stuff ... well, it sort of freaked folks out, to tell you the truth.

It's mostly a matter of not understanding -- of making assumptions based on how things appear, rather than actually knowing. A very big deal was made of the fact that Catholics don't carry Bibles to church on Sundays. That sort of thing. If they can't even get beyond the externals to actually looking at doctrine, then we might as well be on different planets.

Instead of being hurt or angry by what you hear, or taking it as an insult, why not just talk about what you believe and what the Church teaches when one of your teammates makes a comment? No need to get all heavy and preachy about it, just calmly and in a matter-of-fact way explain one or two things that they bring up. If you're not confident enough about the basics to do that, there are LOTS of Catholic apologetic resources out there to help you put it in a nutshell.

Answer 2

There are a lot of people who have misconceptions about the Catholic church, which gives rise to all sorts of strange ideas. I was raised Catholic and am now a Baptist (yes, Southern) but I don't live in the south. I won't waste time telling you some of the ideas people have told me. Misunderstanding breeds lots of negativity. I have done a lot to inform many about the correct practices of the Catholic church. This is not the time or place to discuss why I no longer am Catholic. But please, do not do the same thing and lump all So. Baptists into the same stereotype. Our churches are autonomous. That means we are not all alike and have some say over how we do things.

Growing up in the Catholic church I was told it was a sin to go in a protestant church. From an early age I thought God would zap me if I so much as looked in the door!! So there was some negativity from that direction also - while they might not have run down specific churches, the message was clear that we were to stay away from those poor misguided non-believers, all non-catholic churches, where everyone was headed for heck because they were not R.C.

Please note - some say Baptists are not protestants. Our historical roots trace back to the Anabaptists and English Separatists, not the Lutheran Protestant Reformation. I have studied church history.

Someone needs to check their definitions better - not all Baptists are fundamentalists - there is a difference between a conservative evangelical and a fundamentalist!!! I looked at several definitions for fundamentalist and they differ from the one quoted in another answer. There are fundamentalist Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Mormons,...etc.

Answer 3

Some people just don't like people who are in the least bit different. I am sure just as many Catholics hate protestants. The thing is and I was this way not too long ago until I began to understand you guys more. Things you do look strange to non-Catholics. Not that you actually do any of these. But to many non-Catholics it appears you worship and pray to idols. Place Mary equal with God. And practice many non-biblical things. if one does not try and get beyond this and truly understand then it is easy to hate or put someone down.

Honestly since talking to Catholics on here I have a lot fewer problems with your denomination. It takes effort to understand which many people are not willing to do. I have had many Catholics on here brand me with protestant stereotypes that I do not believe at all. It goes both ways. We need to just remember we are both God's children. We are both Christians and work from there.

Answer 4

The ones who "say things about Catholics, in a negative attitude" usually don't have any idea what they're talking about and are just repeating lies that they've heard about the Catholic Church.

The *real* dispute Protestants have with Catholics is that we Protestants do not equate temporal punishment with separation from God. We believe that we are clothed in Christ's righteousness, and that therefore even when sin has weighed heavily on our lives and done great damage that must be mended, it does not follow from this that when we die we must be separated from God in Purgatory.

Every other difference between Catholicism and Protestantism flows from this single disagreement. To the extent that we have a concept of Penance, it is quite different and does not work toward our salvation--only toward our healing. We do not believe in indulgences. We have differing views on how many sacraments there are, and what their purpose is. We do not consider the saints to have a special position of influence, and so we do not pray to them.

Hope this helps!

Answer 5

Unfortunately, a lot of Protestants don't like Catholics because they think Catholics believe that they have a monopoly of the true interpretation of salvation and the Bible. Ironically, Baptists feel that they have an exclusive monopoly on the proper interpretation of salvation & the Bible as well.

Answer 6

Well, historically, Catholics have had a great deal against Baptists and other non-conformists. One Catholic official at the Council of Trent is reported to have said it was a good thing they had killed so many Baptists, because otherwise they would likely be much more numerous. But we can set that aside, and just look at official doctrine. Your Council of Orange had this to say about us non-Catholics:

“It firmly believes, professes, and proclaims that those not living within the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics cannot become participants in eternal life, but will depart "into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels" [Matt. 25:41], unless before the end of life the same have been added to the flock; and that the unity of the ecclesiastical body is so strong that only to those remaining in it are the sacraments of the Church of benefit for salvation, and do fastings, almsgiving, and other functions of piety and exercises of Christian service produce eternal reward, and that no one, whatever almsgiving he has practiced, even if he has shed blood for the name of Christ, can be saved, unless he has remained in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church.”

So according to Catholicism, Baptists are doomed to hell-fire, even if they die for the name of Jesus. Vatican II backed away from this rhetoric, but never actually revised dogma to include non-Catholics as full brothers/sisters in Christ, though many rank and file Catholics so believe. The new Pope, Ratzinger, is rapidly pulling Catholicism back into the medieval cocoon which inspired the Reformation. He is taking the old, hard line against non-Catholics, and technically, you are testing the limits with your “questionable” ecumenical association with Baptists.

Why such tension? Because Catholicism has a radically different view of salvation, church, authority, Scripture, Mary, and yes, even Christ. This last is perhaps the most important, and probably was the trip wire of the Reformation and much of the ensuing conflict. We Baptists will never accept the sacrifice of the Mass as anything but idolatry. It is a wholly invalid interpretation of the Eucharist/Lord’s Supper, as it reduces the living Christ, whose work of sacrifice on our behalf is now complete, to one who performed an incomplete work which must be performed over and over again, by the initiative of the fearful sinner, under control of the mediatorial priest, placing our dependency for salvation entirely under the thumb of sinful men, and not God.

Whereas the Scriptures teach there is but one mediator between men and God, the man Jesus Christ. Idolatrous intermediaries need not apply. As long as we have breath to preach it, we will never cease to say that Jesus alone grants salvation. It does not come through the church; the church comes through it. It is not produced by participation in the rituals of the church; participants in the ordinances of the church are giving testimony of a salvation already produced in them by the grace of God. He grants it to whom He will, as He wills, and no one can stop His hand and say, “what are you doing.” Neither priest, nor Bishop, nor Pope can claim to be Christ on earth as a dominator of men's hearts and minds. Through Scripture and the Holy Spirit, all believers have access to the presence of the living Christ, whose kingdom is centered, not in Rome, but in every believeing heart.

That’s the short version. Hope it helped.

Answer 7

Deep down most Protestants feel a little itchy about the fact that they have no historical connection to Christ except through the Catholic church. Since they can't raise themselves over this hurdle, they try to drag the Catholic church down.

Only by demonizing Catholics with a lot of untrue slander can they feel better about the choice they made when they broke away from the universal church.

I have noticed that the Catholic church is the only church that doesn't even discuss other denominations from the pulpit.

Answer 8

Something about it that many of these people harbor senseless hostilities .Why I'm not sure .Do they forget where they came from or is the satanic message/propaganda that the religious leaders promote more than superstitious thinking people can deal with . It may help insure a congregation in memoid terms but it isn't a very desirable trait . The Christian paradigm is for one to accept there personal crosses but not to crucify there fellow humans.

Answer 9

Baptists are fundamentalists that's why.

Fundamentalism is defined as “the practice of asserting the absolute truth of your own beliefs and practices to the deliberate exclusion of the possibility of truth in the beliefs and practices of others.” It is nothing but bigotry.

Fundamentalists have this "holier than thou" attitude, which gets in your nerves. They always presume to know more about your religion than you do. Fundamentalists talk as if no case could be made for the Catholic faith.

Are they our modern day Pharisees?

How can I bring myself to even respect them? They resort to black propaganda and lies. Here are some examples of their lies and propaganda.

+ The Pope is the Anti-Christ (they have been saying this since Martin Luther made the accusation).

+ The Church is the Whore of Babylon in the book of Revelation

+ Catholics are not Christians

+ Catholics put Mary in the same level as God

+ Catholics worship statues and idols

+ The Catholic teaching on Indulgence is a permission to commit sin

+ The Catholic Church is the Mother of all harlots.

+ Catholics worship Satan

+ The Catholic Church started Islam

Source: Chick Publications and posts on YA, R&SS

If these allegations were true I would be the first to leave the Catholic Church. And to add insult to injury they justify these allegations by saying “we don't want you to go to hell; we love you” which to us is a lame excuse for bashing Catholics. Do they really expect us to fall for that line? Catholics do not bash other religions because we know we belong to the true Church. Bashing Catholicism also shows Fundamentalists are insecure people. If they are so sure about their beliefs why bash Catholicism? They have already told us a million times what they do not like about our faith. And they have also warned us a million times we will go to hell with those beliefs. So, what really is their reason for attacking our faith again and again? There can only be two reasons: to validate their own faith which means they are insecure and unsure of their own faith or they just want to bash my faith.

To my fundamentalist brothers & sisters: Jesus said, “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. – Matthew 7, 1-2 (KJV)

Answer 10

If we look at the history of Christianity, we see that Catholicism was the first Christian faith. Now, other Christian faiths have rose from Catholicism because of their dislike of their use of mortal men as representations of God, such as the Pope. Also a lot of the clergymen in Catholicism we're very greedy and wanted material things instead of being content with serving God.

Also some of the catholic belief systems such as our belief in the Virgin Mary, and such, are thought to be foolish and reminiscent of pagan faiths that people we're trying to stray from.