Are Other Denominations of Christianity Christian?

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Hey there everyone. So I got myself involved in a bit of a debate a couple days ago with a Catholic who denied that non-Catholic denominations are truly “Christian.” He was a young kid who wants to become a priest, but he seemed a little elitist and almost Sedevacantist on the issue. He cited the Council of Trent as his source, saying that it completely denied any non-Catholic denominations to be with Christ because they deny Papal Primacy and the Church, and said that the Church’s teachings do not change. I myself was a little taken aback, but I did cite the fact that, growing up, I was taught (went to Catholic school my whole life) that other denominations are in fact Christian, and knew that there were a good amount, like Eastern Orthodoxy, that are in communion with Rome, and I’ve even seen Eastern Orthodoxy priests filling in for Roman Catholic priests when I was Catholic. Doing some more digging I found that also Cardinal Ratzinger wrote (before he was Pope Benedict) a delcaration, Dominus Iesus, that agrees with me. Yet all still, this kid denies me and says “the Council of Trent was infallible and ex cathedra” and thus can’t be denies. Can anyone give a solid answer for me on this? I’m still slightly irritated at this, to be truthful.
 
He’s just being silly. Tell him to look up the word “Christian” in a good dictionary. If he says that Methodists, for example are not Christians, he is simply displaying a less than adequate knowledge of the English language.

This is the first time I’ve had to give this answer to a Catholic. Usually it’s to Calvinists who are claiming that Catholics aren’t Christians.
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Well he claims that they can’t be “truly” Christian because they aren’t truly following Jesus or incorporated in his spirit because they deny his Church. I find it quite arrogant.
 
Whether or not a person is a Christian is ordinarily determined by their baptism. If they received a true baptism, then they are true Christians.

From the Council of Trent, Session VII, Canons on Baptism:
Canon 4. If anyone says that the baptism which is given by heretics in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, with the intention of doing what the Church does, is not true baptism,[12] let him be anathema. (source)
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TBH, there’s an active thread on here…(can’t link from my phone)… where there is a Catholic who believes non-Catholics aren’t Christians. Might be either the Catholics in exile or the choosing a non-Catholic denomination.

Edit: it’s the “Are you still Catholic if you leave” on Liturgy board.
 
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And where the Catholic Church is in minority we are asked “Are Catholics are Christians?”
 
Yes, non-Catholic denominations of Christianity are Christian. Do they have the same fullness of Truth that the Catholic Church does? No. They have truth in them but not the fullness of Truth that was given the Catholic Church by Jesus Himself, who is the Founder of the Catholic Church.
 
There’s a poster around here who preaches the same thing. He’s wrong.
 
The way I heard it defined was that someone has to believe in the Divinity of Christ and in the Trinity for someone to be Christian. So a Baptist would be Christian, a Methodist would be Christian, a Lutheran would be Christian, a Catholic would be Christian… but if someone believes that Jesus is St. Michael, or Jesus was a prophet but not divine, or God is something besides Three Persons/One God… those wouldn’t be considered part of Christianity. Which is why no one argues that Judaism or Islam are part of Christianity (Jesus was a prophet, but ultimately human), and why there’s such a controversy over Mormonism (different branches believe in different things, but look at how they handle God/Adam/St Michael/Jesus).
 
The council of Trent denounced heretical beliefs, not individuals or denominations. Since the time of the Reformation there have been many people born into these different non-Catholic groups so that they’re not responsible for the changes in doctrine themselves; their Protestant beliefs have become a tradition in their own right. So the Church is no longer dealing with the same situation as Trent although Trent was absolutely correct-and very beneficial-in its defining of Catholic teachings. The Church continuously references and quotes Trent on many matters.

And so the current position of the Church is, while continuing to recognize her unique position as that one Church that God established for His purposes in this world, she must take a more caring and maternal approach to the “separated brethern”, as they’re called in Vat II docs, recognizing that most are still part of the Christian fold while imperfectly united to it-and lacking the “fullness of truth” that only the Church can provide. Read UNITATIS REDINTEGRATIO to get the full understanding of the Church’s position on this:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_...ecree_19641121_unitatis-redintegratio_en.html
 
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And…there’s my cue.

Friendly neighborhood Calvinist here (I’d say a 4.5 pointer, but who’s counting). I’m around Reformed Christians a whole lot - pretty much every day actually. I’ve never heard one of them say that our Catholic brothers and sisters aren’t Christian. Actually quite on the contrary - we’re thankful to the Catholic Church for protecting our faith for thousands of years.

Yes, you might find someone on the internet looking for attention. Yes, there are some guys with big followings who pick on Catholics (and ignore the sequoia national forest in their own eye) - but I would say that, for the most part, your average, garden variety reformed Calvinist calls Catholics our brothers and sisters in Christ.
 
Thank you for the good news about Calvinists! I have engaged in conversations of this kind with three or four different people, all on the same website, an Anglican blog called Archbishop Cranmer. You may be familiar with it; if not, I warmly recommend it, though the blogger, Adrian Hilton, has repeatedly warned that he is thinking of closing it in the near future.

https://archbishopcranmer.com/cross-of-christ-anything-everything/
 
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“Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward."

- Mark 9:39-41
 
He did give a quotation.

He believed that this quotation here is all that is needed to denounce non-Catholics.
"Which Symbol is as follows: I believe
in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and
invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, and born of the
Father before all ages; God of God, light of light, true God of true God; begotten, not
made, consubstantial with the Father, by whom all things were made: who for us men,
and for our salvation, came down from the heavens, and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost
of [Page 17] the Virgin Mary, and was made man: crucified also for us under Pontius
Pilate, he suffered and was buried; and he rose again on the third day, according to the
Scriptures; and he ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of the Father ; and again
he will come with glory to judge the living and the dead; of whose kingdom there shall be
no end: and in the Holy Ghost the Lord, and the giver of life, who proceedeth from the
Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is adored and glorified; who
spoke by the prophets and one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one baptism
for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the
world to come. Amen. "- Council of Trent

Particularly as it states one holy Church. Moreover, he considers baptism to be given from other denominations as baptism by heretics and thereby invalid baptisms. I would consider this entirely untruthful as Dominus Iesus stated explicitly that denominations in communion with Rome were “true Churches.”
 
He sounds like a Feeneyite - followers of a rogue Jesuit priest who was condemned for teaching heresy.

Actually, faith is sufficient only if one has no opportunity to be baptized, i.e. St. Dismas on the cross. Our Lord commanded baptism. If they are not baptized (and many reject this simply out of anti-Catholicism) then they are not Christian by Christ’s rules. Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:16.

Post-reformation Christian denominations who baptize are indeed Christian, as they follow Christ’s command. However, they are in an imperfect communion with Christ’s Church.

Crystal clear.
 
Riquisimo said:
He believed that this quotation here is all that is needed to denounce non-Catholics.
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Thank you. That is the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed that comes from the First Council of Constantinople in 381, which was asserted by the Council of Trent (Session 3, 1546) as “the principle on which all who profess the faith of Christ necessarily agree and as that firm and only foundation against which the gates of hell will never prevail”.

This is the first I have ever heard of this creed being used to deny that non-Catholic denominations are truly Christian. This seems ironic since this creed is more common amongst various Christians than any other except, perhaps, the Apostles Creed. The Orthodox Churches profess this Creed (except “from the Father” not “from the Father and the Son”, and, I think, without “God of God”), and so do Anglicans (Episcopalians), Lutherans, Methodists, and Presbyterians. Others too, probably.

Of course, Catholics believe that Christians of other Churches and ecclesial communities do not have the fullness of faith and truth, and in many cases do not administer valid sacraments. But that is not at all the same as believing they are not Christians.

Since your friend has provided a quotation, now it is his job to explain, step by step, how this use of the creed by the Council of Constantinople means that non-Catholic denominations are not Christian. Catholics do indeed believe in one Church only, but also that there are more ways to belong to it, or be joined to it, or be related to it, than being formally members of the Catholic Church. God bless you.
 
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It sounds typical to me of a young person. They think they know everything and they are often blinkered in their views. It most certainly is not the teaching of the Catholic Church that non-Catholics are not Christians. We recognise the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches as being full churches, with apostolic succession and valid sacraments. That is why the Catholic Church refers to them as non-Catholic Christian churches (my emphasis). All others, often lumped under the umbrella ‘Protestant’ do not have apostolic succession, do not have validly ordained clergy and most of their sacraments are invalid but the Church still considers them to be Christian. These Christian groups are called non-Catholic Christian ecclesial communities (my emphasis).
 
It seems to me the source for Catholics might be the Catholic Catechism, which states:
818However, one cannot charge with the sin of the separation those who at present are born into these communities [that resulted from such separation] and in them are brought up in the faith of Christ, and the Catholic Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers . . . . All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church."272
819 "Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth"273 are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: "the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements."274 Christ’s Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him,275 and are in themselves calls to "Catholic unity."276
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