All Christianity is Catholic

[ForMary]

Let me suggest something…

You may agree, or disagree, but let me suggest that all Christianity is Catholic.

Jesus founded a single Church. From it, some have “taken their bat and their ball and gone home” to form their own congregations, but all are under the umbrella of Catholicism.

Israel was to be a light unto all nations of the one true living God. It failed in this, not because it could not simply follow the rules, but because it broke itself into factions. Those who thought themselves righteous followers of the law set themselves apart from those who in their opinion were sinners. Let alone shining for other nations.

Jesus came to those sinners, those outcasts; he cleansed them to bring them back as one nation so that they could shine for ALL people.

Then He turned His ministry over to the apostles and said bring the people together (ALL the nations of the world), teach them about God, use me as an example, I will be with you, the Holy Spirit will guide you with the words.

It is most unfortunate that the Catholic Church has become, in ways, what Israel became, setting itself apart with rules, exegesis and leadership that few understand, believe or agree with in their entirety. Though there are still some of us who remain obedient to them.

So my brothers and sisters what ever your congregation is called, if it is one that believes in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in the trinity of three persons one God, then we are all Catholic, we are all of the one church Jesus built.

All may not be in perfect communion with the Vatican, but all are welcome in this place (the inner room…the heart) where the Holy Spirit resides and Jesus is with us until the end of times, but also in communal worship. Jesus wanted us together; brothers and sisters to worship God.

 

[elvisman]

Let me suggest something…

You may agree, or disagree, but let me suggest that all Christianity is Catholic.

Jesus founded a single Church. From it, some have “taken their bat and their ball and gone home” to form their own congregations, but all are under the umbrella of Catholicism.

Israel was to be a light unto all nations of the one true living God. It failed in this, not because it could not simply follow the rules, but because it broke itself into factions. Those who thought themselves righteous followers of the law set themselves apart from those who in their opinion were sinners. Let alone shining for other nations.

Jesus came to those sinners, those outcasts; he cleansed them to bring them back as one nation so that they could shine for ALL people.

Then He turned His ministry over to the apostles and said bring the people together (ALL the nations of the world), teach them about God, use me as an example, I will be with you, the Holy Spirit will guide you with the words.

It is most unfortunate that the Catholic Church has become, in ways, what Israel became, setting itself apart with rules, exegesis and leadership that few understand, believe or agree with in their entirety. Though there are still some of us who remain obedient to them.

So my brothers and sisters what ever your congregation is called, if it is one that believes in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in the trinity of three persons one God, then we are all Catholic, we are all of the one church Jesus built.

All may not be in perfect communion with the Vatican, but all are welcome in this place (the inner room…the heart) where the Holy Spirit resides and Jesus is with us until the end of times, but also in communal worship. Jesus wanted us together; brothers and sisters to worship God.

**Whereas your post may be interesting and somewhat charitable, I must ****disagree ****– and I think ****many **Protestants would disagree with you also.

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Jesus’s prayer was for unity - the unity of ALL of his followers. The entire Chapter 17 of John’s Gospel is dedicated to this prayer.

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**1 Corinthians 1:10-17, 1 Corinthians 4:6, Galatians 5:15 **all explicitly teach against factions or “denominations”. The unity of Christ’s Church is paramount. This is why the Catholic Church teaches that there is no salvation outside of it.

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Whereas we may all have some common beliefs, sadly, we are not all Catholic.

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**The condemnation of factions and divided groups among believers came ****early ****on in Church history. It really came to a head some ****1500 **years later when some rebellious men felt that they were more knowledgeable than the Church and broke away to found their own bickering versions of Christianity.

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Finally, I disagree with your assertion that “the Catholic Church has become, in ways, what Israel became, setting itself apart with rules, exegesis and leadership.” Rules are usually developed because of the refusal or unwillingness of some to follow a set of beliefs. That is why there are laws against stealing and murder.

 

[NPC]

I disagree with you, ForMary. You acknowledge that Christ founded one Church - which is absolutely plain in Scripture. However the thousands of Protestant denominations which have sprung up over the past five hundred years are, according to you, still under the “umbrella” of the Catholicism. I fail to see how this can be so. Look at all the teachings of the Church which have come to us through the millennia - from Christ Himself - which are so frequently disputed and denied by Protestants. To name but a few: the True Presence of Christ in the Blessed Eucharist, the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Confession of one’s sins to a priest, the priesthood itself, the papacy, infallibility of the Pope. If these beliefs are lost, neglected or denied by those claiming to follow Christ, then the Catholic Church which Christ founded is also lost or denied. You acknowledge that Christ promised that the Holy Spirit would guide the Apostles to teach the truth - yet some of the most fundamental truths which they taught are rejected by countless denominations which have separated themselves from the Catholic Church.

In addition, the Catholic Church has not set itself apart with rules and leadership that few understand. Perhaps you could give us an example of a rule of the Church which is contrary to Scripture to explain your statement. I would suggest that it is not that the rules are difficult to understand or that they are incompatible with Sacred Scripture, but rather that some of the rules are “hard to take” - in modern society, contraception and divorce are obvious examples. If you trust that the Holy Spirit is to remain with the Church for ever that it may teach the truth, then trust that what the Church teaches comes from the Lord Himself and that He will not let is fall into error. Christ founded a Church of sinners - no one will dispute that - but it is the only Christian Church which was founded by God Himself. God guides the Church, but He does not cause people to separate themselves from it; people are more than capable of doing that for themselves. The invitation is there for all to embrace Christ and His Church, but one has the power to reject both also.

 

[Randy_Carson]

Christianity is completely summed up within the Catholic faith.

ALL other Christians profess subsets of the true faith with varying degrees of error mixed in.

Therefore, all that is true about Christianity is Catholic, and Protestantism has added nothing true that did not exist first within Catholicism.

 

[Belloc_Fan]

You may agree, or disagree, but let me suggest that all Christianity is Catholic.

This is true, if understood properly. As Catholics, we believe that the Church is the deposit of all revealed truth. So any authentic Christian beliefs are Catholic beliefs. Any beliefs disagreeing with Catholicism also disagree with Christianity.

I think that this might sound harsh, so let me contextualize it. There’s a debate within Protestantism over infant v. adult baptism, and between symbolic and efficacious baptism. Both sides can’t be right. Jesus agrees with one side at most. So the other side holds a view not held by Christ. To call that *contra Christus * view “Christian” deprives the term of all meaning. I don’t think that the person who holds the incorrect view is necessarily a less devoted follower of Christ (we’ve seen far too many examples to the contrary), but they’re factually wrong on at least this area.

So all of non-Catholicism is Catholic Christian in the areas where it is right, but not in areas where it is incorrect. In some cases, like the Eastern Orthodox, this may come down to only a handful of incorrect beliefs. The core of Protestant Christianity is still the affirmation of Jesus Christ as the son of God, His life, death and resurrection, and the atonement of our sins brought about through belief in Christ. So at heart, they are Catholic. But when it comes to things like ecclessiology, some of their views are non-Christian. If they weren’t wrong on these issues, they would be Catholic.

I think we need to affirm Protestants and Orthodox as Christians, while still being honest about the importance of our differences.

Israel was to be a light unto all nations of the one true living God. It failed in this, not because it could not simply follow the rules, but because it broke itself into factions.

I think Romans 2:17-24 disagrees with your view here. The Jews believed themselves saved by the Law, and couldn’t live up to it, bringing condemnation upon themselves remedied only by the atonement of Christ. Paul says in v. 23-24: “You feel proud of the Law, yet you do not obey it, and you dishonor your God. In fact, as the Scriptures say, the other nations despise the name of God because of you.” So I think Paul is disagreeing with you here, and he’s finding his belief squarely in “the Scriptures.”

Jesus came to those sinners, those outcasts; he cleansed them to bring them back as one nation so that they could shine for ALL people.

Then He turned His ministry over to the apostles and said bring the people together (ALL the nations of the world), teach them about God, use me as an example, I will be with you, the Holy Spirit will guide you with the words.

Amen.

It is most unfortunate that the Catholic Church has become, in ways, what Israel became, setting itself apart with rules, exegesis and leadership that few understand, believe or agree with in their entirety.

The Church’s exegesis is a gift from the Holy Spirit. Remember that in Acts 8, when St. Phillip came upon the Ethiopian reading Isaiah, he asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?” to which the man replied, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” Left to their own devices, every individual reading the Bible will emphasize different parts, understand it in a different (and sometimes contradictory or inaccurate) way, and so on – the countless Protestant denominations attest to this. In many cases (remember the example of the Eucharist), what one person believes it is a grave sin to believe, another believes it is a grave sin not to believe.

As for the clarity of the leadership, pray for our spiritual fathers, that they may be lucid and unambiguous when proclaiming the fullness of the Gospel. Personally, I feel we’ve been very blessed with Popes John Paul the Great and Benedict XVI. I think they’re very clear, cogent thinkers and speakers.

Finally, the rules: some of the rules are a burden, perhaps. I think married men should be able to become priests (even though I don’t think priests should be able to marry or remarry, once they’ve taken their final vows). I follow the Latin Rite’s views out of obedience, but there may be some wiggle room. Other rules, however, are a great benefit - they instill a true reverence for God, a real discipline, and we won’t know exactly how important they are until they’re stripped away. Phillip Lawler, in The Faithful Departed, makes a strong case that the post-Vatican II stripping away of rules lead to the sex scandal because there was no more discipline, and certain men’s darker desires lead them.

So my brothers and sisters what ever your congregation is called, if it is one that believes in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in the trinity of three persons one God, then we are all Catholic, we are all of the one church Jesus built.

All may not be in perfect communion with the Vatican, but all are welcome in this place (the inner room…the heart) where the Holy Spirit resides and Jesus is with us until the end of times, but also in communal worship. Jesus wanted us together; brothers and sisters to worship God.

I agree that those views are Catholic, and that we should worship our God together, and I love it when non-Catholics attend Mass (my girlfriend’s Pentecostal sister went with her to Midnight Mass for Christmas, which was wonderful). It’s a real blessing. But the Eucharist, the central part of the Mass, is still unavailable to non-Catholics by their own choosing. If non-Catholics want to partake in Jesus’ Body and Blood, they will need to “get right” with the Church all the way.