Why do Catholics consider themselves to be true christians?

Question

Catholic Church accepts Big Bang, Evolution and rejects Young earth creationism and intelligent design.

So why do you consider yourself more of a christian than evangelicals or methodists?

Instead you go against your own basic beliefs from bible.

C.L. Richardson... I'm asking Catholics and I don't respect protestants like you.

Martin Luther was a sucker.

Answer 1

They consider themselves true christians because the Roman emperor Constantine wrote it into the catholic manifesto when he created the Roman Catholic church in the 4th century.

Answer 2

Simple enough... Catholicism has a history of over 1500 years of theological inquiry, philosophy and such... They were there for for some of the greatest breakthroughs in science, and the first ones to label those scientists as heretics.
However, they have an organized heirarchy that actively debates and reviews points of scripture. They seem to have more an understanding on the origins of the church, and the teachings of Jesus than the average person does. No that they have follwed them through the years, but if you go digging in the Vatican Library, you will find some things that would blow your mind.

So, it makes me laugh when back country yokels and their evangelical beliefs start wondering why people don't follow the bible so literally, as if its some sort of revelation, and they ignore 1500 years of theological debate and argument... these are people who are the same as cavemen to me.

But the main reason they consider themselves more Christian than Protestants is the Protestants denunciation of papal authority, and therefore is a break of their communion with God through the church.

But in the end...its all fairytales.. At least the Pope knows it though.

Answer 3

Remember Jesus chided the Pharisees for taking Holy Scripure too literally.

Most Christians do not take the stories of creation in the Bible literally. Catholics believe the book of Genesis tells religious truth and not necessarily historical fact.

One of the religious truths is that God created everything and declared all was good.

Catholics can believe in the theories of the big bang or evolution or both or neither.

On August 12, 1950 Pope Pius XII said in his encyclical Humani generis:

The Teaching Authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions, on the part of men experienced in both fields, take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter - for the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God.

Here is the complete encyclical: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_12081950_humani-generis_en.html

The Church supports science in the discovery of God's creation. At this time, the theories of the big bang and evolution are the most logical scientific explanations. However tomorrow someone may come up with better ideas.

As long as we believe that God started the whole thing, both the Bible and responsible modern science can live in harmony.

With love in Christ.

Answer 4

Hello,

Catholics have evolved over time in their attitude towards science, evolution and the mechanics of the universe.
Besides faith, many of us believe God has also given us the powers of reason so we see no reason why the two should be in conflict with one another.

Please consider that the bible was not written to be an accurate historical work in the sense of a high quality academic history book nor a science book explaining the mechanics of the universe. It is a manual to tell you God exists, revealed himself to us and how we should get along to please Him and our fellow man. To me, this fight over creationism vs evolution is a foolish waste of time because God / Jesus has told us what we'll be askes at judgement time. Did you forgive your brother, cloth me when I was naked , feed me when I was hungry, welcome me to your house as a stranger, visit me when sick or in prison etc - NOT
is the Earth 6400 years old, did men walk with dinosaurs and was that creation 4.5 billion years or that 6400 years ago at 11:45 EST.

The Catholic church regards all other denominations as Christian as well but just thinks they got midguided. These differences I leave alone in my belief except one:

Eternal security: (believed by some sects)

You know, a paradox can be defined as a seeming contradiction.
The biggest one I see are those who believe in eternal security - once saved always saved!

Christ does say that I am the vine, you are the branches and you only get to the father by me. Also he says that he who believes in me will never die. Now from there he goes on repeatedly to say things like if you do not forgive your brother and even enemies, you will not be forgiven; he will ask you did you cloth me when I was naked, visit me in prison, welcome me as a stranger, visit me when I was sick, feed me when I was hungry and the list goes on to say that under duress if you deny his reality or existance he will deny you to God and, oh yes, do not forget about the sin against the Holy Spirit.

Now they say, if you are a con man or liar, the biggest risk you can take is to change your story. The way I see things, along with the majority of Christians is that there are built in requirements to achieve Jesus' promise for eternal life.
Saying praise Jesus; he is my savior and getting baptized is a first step but not all he requires. Living according to his teachings by trying to do good and avoiding sin, in toher words, works is a big part of the equation.

I am not afraid to take the risk here and say that if this eternal security were true then it proves that Jesus himself is a paradox and perhaps the greatest con man and liar in history since he is totally contradicting himself. Those who believe in eternal security and teach it are doing a great job in illustrating the Paradox.

Cheers,

Michael Kelly

Answer 5

I'm sorry, but they are Christians.

Christianity = "belief in Jesus Christ as divine figure."

And Catholics are smart enough to accept scientific theories and to wrap their heads around big ideas, at least more so than most of their Christian peers. A 14-billion year old universe is more elegant and ancient than the tabletop project the creationists believe in and teach to their kids as truth, while rejecting the scientific advancements of the past four centuries.

In my opinion, fundamentalist evangelicals express everything that is wrong with religion, though I have a problem with faith. Fact denying is no surprise from them. "True Christian" is just a way to say "true snob." All Christians all believe in the same deity. And C.L. Richardson's hate spew is not unlike other "true christian" garbage I've seen peddled around this site.

Answer 6

All Catholic teachings are Biblical. In fact, we GAVE you the Bible!

Here is my counter question:
I have read numerous posts saying what "Christians" believe and don't believe, and most of them by protestants (who usurp the name "Christian" unto themselves). My questions is: How can a group that represents less than 20% percent of Christians say what Christians believe? Here are some simple facts:

The total number of Christians in the world is: 2.1 billion. This is how it breaks down:

1) Catholics: 1.3 billion
2) Eastern Orthodox: 0.4 billion
3) Protestansts (Baptists, Lutherans, etc. etc): 0.4 billion

In light of these statistics, how can a group that represents less than 20% percent of Christians say what Christians believe? And, more than that, among themselves they argue endlessly because that small group is divided into hundreds of "denominations" who all disagree on doctrines. Yet they claim that the Holy Spirit guides them when they read the Scriptures. The arrogance is stupifying. I really would like to hear someone try to answer this question.

Answer 7

The Church accepts these possibilites of the beginning of creation because faith and scientific reason do not oppose each other and come from the same God.

Answer 8

St Francis of Assisi needs to read his bible. The Catholics kept the word of God from the public. It was not allowed to be read by the general population. It became more available after Martin Luther rebelled. They believe they are christian because they have statues of Jesus hanging still impaled in their churches, which I think is pretty weird.

Answer 9

Catholics consider themselves true Christians because they are followers of Christ. They belong to the one Church established by Jesus himself, with Peter as the first of a long line of leaders, authorized to make decisions that are bound in heaven (Matt 16:18).

Science flowered during the Middle Ages in Catholic Europe because Catholics, following their Jewish forebears, recognized that God created the world as an orderly, law-governed universe, and created man in his image as free, intelligent thinkers designed to know God, love him, and serve him.

While the Catholic Church recognizes God's creativity in making the universe out of nothing, it recognizes that gathering empirical evidence to sort out scientific theories is the province of science, not theology. Catholics are free to believe in the Big Bang, evolution, creationism, and intelligent design.

As a Catholic layman and scientist, I see strong evidence for the Big Bang and for intelligent design. Neither young-earth creationism nor evolution is able to account for the evidence in the fossil record of a very rapid expansion of complex species during the Cambrian explosion.

The Big Bang is consistent with God acting at the beginning of time to create the universe out of nothing. Intelligent design is especially evident in the otherwise unbridgeable gulf between inanimate matter and the vast complexity of self-reproducing cells with complex microscopic machinery directed by libraries of information in DNA.

Cheers,
Bruce

Answer 10

Catholics don't consider themselves better;
they simply believe what they believe is right.
They only accept that those theories could be POSSIBLE, but not actually believing in them.
Catholics don't take all the numbers and the book of Revolution in the Bible, literally, but rather metaphorically.

Answer 11

Apostle succession.. the currant Pope is directly connected to Peter through succession.