Catholic vs. Christian

[Heathen_Dawn]

Racer X:

The people outside it are (1) heretical Christians (2) heathens, or (3) atheists.

AnAtheist:

…thank you for not putting us into category #2.

Funny, atheists are heathens in my book—godless heathens (I’m a godful heathen).

 

[mrS4ntA]

rmikulas,

hope this quote from St. Pacian of Barcelona helps:

“Christian is my name, and Catholic my surname. The one designates me, while the other makes me specific. Thus am I attested and set apart. When we are called Catholics it is by this appellation that our people are kept apart from any heretical name. [T]hose [Christian Catholics] alone are embraced in the unity of the Church who are united to the chair of St. Peter.”

 

[quijote]

rmikulas:

I once was turned down for a job at a marketing company because I am Catholic and the marketing company was owned by a Christian Church.

If that company is in the U.S. it broke the law. You might want to write them a letter and tell them that so that they may not do it again and have someone less charitable than you sue them.

Cheers.

 

[Makerteacher]

Even if it’s been a while since this happened, I would still at least speak on the phone with a lawyer about it. Practices like that don’t change unless their hearts change or the law forces them to change. It’s bigotry and it’s wrong. I hope you have settled into another job by now.

I’d say the major difference between most Christian denominations (not all) and Catholics are:

1. The authority of the Pope and the Magisterium
2. The Real Presence in the Eucharist (BIGGIE!)
3. The understanding of the Bible (where’d it come from? What’s it for? how many books does it have?)
4. The role of Mary and the saints

Most of the other differences fall under one of these four, with minor exceptions.

 

[oldschoolcath23]

Catholic simply means universal. Bible-thumping protestants hijacked the name from us as a way to demonize our faith.

To them we’re not truly christians but are instead pagans trying to hide our heathen beliefs behind Christian imagery. Some Protestants even accuse us of worshipping a different Jesus than they do! Since our church isn’t Christocentric enough because we “worship” Mary and pray to saints we therefore don’t deserve to be called Christian.

 

[Eric_Goodrich]

space ghost:

that’s easy… We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

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,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with 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 believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

 

[Eric_Goodrich]

space ghost:

that’s easy… We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

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,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with 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 believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Remember, we Lutherans believe the same thing, and recite this SAME Creed every Sunday. Be careful when you call those with the same Beliefs as heretics, when they may not Practice the same way as you. When you choose to judge me as less than a child of God because of ‘practices’ you act just like the Pharisee’s in Christ’s time.

 

[Eric_Goodrich]

Makerteacher:

Even if it’s been a while since this happened, I would still at least speak on the phone with a lawyer about it. Practices like that don’t change unless their hearts change or the law forces them to change. It’s bigotry and it’s wrong. I hope you have settled into another job by now.

I’d say the major difference between most Christian denominations (not all) and Catholics are:

1. The authority of the Pope and the Magisterium
2. The Real Presence in the Eucharist (BIGGIE!)
3. The understanding of the Bible (where’d it come from? What’s it for? how many books does it have?)
4. The role of Mary and the saints

Most of the other differences fall under one of these four, with minor exceptions.

Lutherans believe in the real body and blood of Christ in the bread and wine, we do not practice the Holy transformation with the words and the ringing bells however. We practice the Lords Supper just as Christ instructed us to do it.

As far as the books of the Bible is concerned, the Catholics have left many books as well. No one is quite certain of the authenticity of EVERY book. Check out this Catholic Group that questions some of the long standing traditions of the Church. osjoseph.org/

 

[teri]

One of the many things that led me to want to return to the Church was anti-catholic bigotry. In all my years away from the Church I never bought into the “saved” stuff from dear evangelical friends. I believed God kept me from it with the feeling that there was something that just didn’t set right.

The universal call to holiness had a big appeal to me. I wasn’t hearing that were I was.

As far as sueing someone- forget it! We need to turn the other cheek. and pray for those who dispitefully use us.

Do we really want someone sueing a Catholic School or organization because we won’t hire them because of their religion or sexual politics?

As a former ELCA Lutheran communion ain’t the same. As an altar guild member, I put the wafers back in the box or the broken ones in the trash after the service and dumped the left over wine out the side door of the sacristy.

Jesus said, “this is my body”.

 

[funkyhorn]

Eric Goodrich:

Lutherans believe in the real body and blood of Christ in the bread and wine, we do not practice the Holy transformation with the words and the ringing bells however. We practice the Lords Supper just as Christ instructed us to do it.

As far as the books of the Bible is concerned, the Catholics have left many books as well. No one is quite certain of the authenticity of EVERY book. Check out this Catholic Group that questions some of the long standing traditions of the Church. osjoseph.org/

Lutherans may practice the Lord’s Supper as Christ instructed, but they do not believe in it the way Christ and the apostles did. Lutherans believe in CONsubstantiation…the belief that Christ is present along WITH the bread and wine. Jesus, the apostles, and Catholics believe in TRANSubstantiation…that the bread and wine actually BECOME the body and blood of Christ. There IS a difference.

Also, the Catholic Church IS quite certain about the divine inspiration of EVERY book in the Bible. The Catholic Church has used the same canon of Scriptures ever since 382 AD. As I have noted in several other posts, the Church is the “pillar and bulwark of truth” (1 Tim 3:15). The Bible comes from the Church. Since the Church holds the truth and the Bible comes from the Church, we know that it can be trusted as divinely inspired. Among protestant churches, however, there may be some dissention as to what is and isn’t inspired…but not in the Catholic Church.

As for this website you cited, it doesn’t prove anything. No doctrine of the Catholic Church is in danger of being changed. There are several people throughout history who have disagreed with the Church’s teachings. There were even people who disagreed with Jesus’ teachings. Nevertheless, we still hold fast to the traditions that were passed down to us.

 

[funkyhorn]

oldschoolcath23:

Catholic simply means universal. Bible-thumping protestants hijacked the name from us as a way to demonize our faith.

To them we’re not truly christians but are instead pagans trying to hide our heathen beliefs behind Christian imagery. Some Protestants even accuse us of worshipping a different Jesus than they do! Since our church isn’t Christocentric enough because we “worship” Mary and pray to saints we therefore don’t deserve to be called Christian.

On the subject of protestants “hi-jacking” the name from Catholics, I’ll repeat what I said in a similar thread:

Historically speaking, I think that most of the time when the early Church Fathers refered to the Church, they called it either the “Church” or the “Catholic Church,” not the “Christian Church.” This was done to emphasize the unity in the one true Church. There were other heretics who considered their own congregations to be Christian churches, but they believed different doctrines and were not a part of the whole Church. So whenever people (even the heretics) wanted to refer to the one true Church, they refered to it as the Catholic Church. St. Augustine puts it this way:

“We must hold to the Christian religion and to communication in her Church, which is Catholic and which is called Catholic not only by her own members but even by all her enemies. For when heretics or the adherents of schisms talk about her, not among themselves but with strangers, willy-nilly they call her nothing else but Catholic. For they will not be understood unless they distinguish her by this name which the whole world employs in her regard” (The True Religion 7:12 [A.D. 390]).

“We believe in the holy Church, that is, the Catholic Church; for heretics and schismatics call their own congregations churches. But heretics violate the faith itself by a false opinion about God; schismatics, however, withdraw from fraternal love by hostile separations, although they believe the same things we do. Consequently, neither heretics nor schismatics belong to the Catholic Church; not heretics, because the Church loves God, and not schismatics, because the Church loves neighbor” (Faith and Creed 10:21 [A.D. 393]).

So all things considered, I guess I don’t mind refering to myself as “Catholic” seeing as how the early “Catholics” kinda had to do the same.