Catholic vs. Christian

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Well great responses. This is the corollary thing I’ve heard, and someone actually told me that her friend had said this to her awhile back- “Catholics aren’t Christians.” I think that this is something that people must be hearing from their ministers in some Protestant churches, certainly not all, certainly not many of the Episcopalian/Anglican/Anglo-Catholic churches since they seem to want to be like Catholics, or Protestants and Catholics at the same time, in some respects.

I’m sure there are some folks who can never be convinced that Catholics are at least as Christian as the Methodists and the Southern Baptists and the Presbyterians etc. Of course some of those people probably still think that Catholics practice ritual cannibalism and idolatry:shrug:
 
Only catholics are Christians? Wow, didn’t know that. :rolleyes:
There is only one Christian Church because Christ only founded one Christian Church. This does not mean that those outside of the Catholic Church do not possess the wonderful truth of our saving God and receive his daily grace, but they certainly do not possess the fulness of that truth. Christian organizations outside of the Catholic Church are more properly called ecclesial communities. The point is, of course Catholics are Christians, as they are the original Christians. On an individual basis, however, the fact that one may identify themselves as a Catholic doesn’t mean that they have anything over another Christian and, sadly, I can say that I know many Protestants who live a much more Christian life than do many who call themselves Catholic. Bottom line is that we all must walk the talk and when we don’t we do damage to the body of Christ as a whole.

Officially, the Catholic Church considers most Protestant communities as our brothers and sisters in Christ, and so do I. At the same time I pray for the unity that Christ intended for his Church.
 
I do it all the time, my brain and fingers don’ t work together sometimes.😉
 
There is only one Christian Church because Christ only founded one Christian Church. This does not mean that those outside of the Catholic Church do not possess the wonderful truth of our saving God and receive his daily grace, but they certainly do not possess the fulness of that truth. Christian organizations outside of the Catholic Church are more properly called ecclesial communities. The point is, of course Catholics are Christians, as they are the original Christians. On an individual basis, however, the fact that one may identify themselves as a Catholic doesn’t mean that they have anything over another Christian and, sadly, I can say that I know many Protestants who live a much more Christian life than do many who call themselves Catholic. Bottom line is that we all must walk the talk and when we don’t we do damage to the body of Christ as a whole.

Officially, the Catholic Church considers most Protestant communities as our brothers and sisters in Christ, and so do I. At the same time I pray for the unity that Christ intended for his Church.
Well stated, and Amen.
 
=lizaanne;8775084]Catholics are THE ONLY and ORIGINAL Christians.
You explained this and I accept it.
Everything else is a watered down version, lacking the fullness of Truth,
Orthodoxy too?
and some aren’t even Christian at all (Triune God) , as in the case of the Mormons or JW.
Agreed. So, since protestants are Christians, these are not protestants.
And that little fish (ichthus)? That’s ours too darn it!!! We used it first, it’s ours, and it is NOT a Protestant symbol!!!
Darn right!! It is a Christian symbol. And so is a crucifix. And the Blessed Virgin and St. Peter belong to all of us, too.
The reason it’s all become wishy washy and murky in the minds of so many, is because Catholics have allowed the co-opting of Catholic identity and said nothing about it. Because it’s not “charitable” or “nice” to tell someone they aren’t what they think they are.
Who isn’t what they think they are, Liza?

Jon
 
***We are and they ARE DIFFERENT!

WHY?

Because God Himself always and everywhere taught; demanded and accepted ONLY:

Belief in One God Triune

ONLY the ONE set of Faith-beliefs [including what the Bible actually says and means]

And Only ONE Church: that founded by Jesus Himself. Today’s CC

Because the Bible was 100% written by the end of the First Century:

Every reference to “church” or “Churches-regional terminilogy” refer by FACT to the CC of today.

The Bible dear friends is a Catholic Book;

The OT was assembled as guided by the HS by men known today to ahve been Catholics

The Entire NT is authored by men known today to have been Catholic

So in FACT and in effect the Bible is By Catholic and For Catholics.

Protestants would not come on to the scene for more than ONE THOUSAND YEARS after these FACTS.

BECAUSE of ALL of the above ALL Salvation MUST and DOES Flow through the CC. Any possibility of salvation outside Her is at best IFFY. Sins can be forgiven for example ONLY in the Manner COMMANDED By Jesus Himself in John 20:19-23. Mortal mens teachings of OSAS, the Sinners prayer and the like WILL NOT get ANYONE to heaven whom God makes available the actual truth. HIS TRUTHS, now guarged, guided and protected by BOTH the HS and Jesus Himself.

Jn.14:16-17 [fuliffied in John 20:19-23] and jn.17:15-19.***

This in NOT to disparage Protestant Faiths; because Jesus himself taught:

**Mark 9:38-42 **"John said to him, “Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is for us. For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose his reward. “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung round his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” 👍

BUT dear friends KNOW that charity and professed belief in Christ ALONE are insufficient to get anyone into heaven. "To “KNOW GOD” MEANS to actually know and then DO ALL that he taught and commnads. And that friend is the difference bettween Catholic who Do; and protectant who FAIL to do ALL.:o

God Bless and May he lead you to HIS Truth:)

Pat
My goodness, you better have the Pope copyright everything that you mention so that it can’t be used by Lutherans and other Churches.
 
*"…And yet, my brother, be not troubled; Christian is my name, but Catholic my surname. The former gives me a name, the latter distinguishes me. By the one I am approved; by the other I am but marked." *- St. Pacian, Bishop of Barcelona, Epistles to Sympronian - 375 A.D.

I have several more non-Catholic Christian friends who would dearly like me to leave the CC because they like me and fear for my salvation.

However, I have a Seventh Day Adventist friend who has stated that he now believes I am “saved” (after many discussions) but he says that I am most probably out-of-step with the Catholic Church because he can’t believe it’s Teachings are what I say they are. He can’t acknowledge that what he has been told about the CC is extremely incorrect.
 
*"…And yet, my brother, be not troubled; Christian is my name, but Catholic my surname. The former gives me a name, the latter distinguishes me. By the one I am approved; by the other I am but marked." *- St. Pacian, Bishop of Barcelona, Epistles to Sympronian - 375 A.D.Nice, haven’t heard this quote before. Very apropos!

I have several more non-Catholic Christian friends who would dearly like me to leave the CC because they like me and fear for my salvation. Do they know about the ritual cannibalism we practice in Mass?:eek::rolleyes:

However, I have a Seventh Day Adventist friend who has stated that he now believes I am “saved” (after many discussions) but he says that I am most probably out-of-step with the Catholic Church because he can’t believe it’s Teachings are what I say they are. He can’t acknowledge that what he has been told about the CC is extremely incorrect. Easier to accept that a Catholic can be wrong about his or her own faith, than that the Seventh Day Adventist Religious Ed teachers could be disseminating misinformation about the Catholic faith, eh? 🤷
 
I hear that quite regularly, even from Catholics. When I say that Catholics are Christians, the response is basically they are using the same terms as everyone else. It’s just my personal impression, but it seems like those who do this are not “into” Catholic apologetics.
Whenever I hear this…and I have heard it many times, if I believe it to be a faux pax I just let it go. Most of the time I use it as a spring board to teach the person a few facts…ie: The Catholic Church is the largest and the original Church established by Christ with Peter at the head. We believe that since Christ established the Church that it is the truest expression of Christianity. There are some other nice truths about the Catholic Church would you like to hear? Whether they are innocent of insult or not I don’t usually let a statement like that go unanswered. If it accomplishes nothing but make me feel better…I am going to respond that way. Your mileage may vary:shrug:
 
LOL. Yeah this is so true.

My cousin, baptised as Catholic but not practicing, when she just migrated to America, she told me she found a church but that it’s Christian, not a Catholic one. She meant Protestant. LOL. Her friend has to explain to her that Catholics are Christians.

And when I went to visit friends, one of them wanted to invite us to his church. He asked “Are you guys Catholics or Christians?” I replied “I’m a Catholic. And Catholics are also Christians.”… So he said, “let me rephrase that, are you guys Catholics or non-Catholic Christians?”
 
Just today, for the umpteenth time, I heard someone refer to “Christians” (meaning Protestants) and Catholics as if they were two completely different categories. So yet again, I explained, patiently, that Catholics are indeed Christians. Has anyone else experienced this? I assume it comes out of the 1980’s evangelical explosion, which kind of came and went, but it seems to persist. Whence comes this public perception that only “Protestants” qualify as “Christians?”:eek:
As a catholic is seems that way doesn’t it! Maybe because Catholics act like those who are not are not true christians–I’m not sure. I do know that sometimes it’s not intended. Like at a christian book store–forget about anything catholic. That’s because of the church rules on selling items of the catholic faith that christian books stores would not be able to adhere to.

So sometimes what you see as intentional division is merely separate views that can cooperate but not compromise.
 
Just today, for the umpteenth time, I heard someone refer to “Christians” (meaning Protestants) and Catholics as if they were two completely different categories. So yet again, I explained, patiently, that Catholics are indeed Christians. Has anyone else experienced this? I assume it comes out of the 1980’s evangelical explosion, which kind of came and went, but it seems to persist. Whence comes this public perception that only “Protestants” qualify as “Christians?”:eek:
I think because long ago when People asked us what Religion we were we said Catholic or Protestant. And then it just stuck:shrug:
 
As a catholic is seems that way doesn’t it! Maybe because Catholics act like those who are not are not true christians–I’m not sure. I do know that sometimes it’s not intended. Like at a christian book store–forget about anything catholic. That’s because of the church rules on selling items of the catholic faith that christian books stores would not be able to adhere to.

So sometimes what you see as intentional division is merely separate views that can cooperate but not compromise.
You mentioned a Catholic bookstore, as Lutherans, my wife and I found that protestant bookstores are all Evangelical and they have nothing that Lutherans, Catholic or Orthodox could use. All their books tend towards Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, etc. We shop at local Catholic bookstore for books, cards and religious items. Surprisingly, the Catholic bookstore does carry items from the LC-MS Concordia Publishing House.
 
I think because long ago when People asked us what Religion we were we said Catholic or Protestant. And then it just stuck:shrug:
It’s deeper than that. As another poster said, some try to “save” us. In my own case, the first time I heard that Catholic wasn’t Christian was when I was in college and I found out that some of my friends had been praying for me because I’m Catholic.

Check out the internet and you’ll find lots of Protestant debate, with some saying Catholics are Christian, some saying not, and other saying that Catholics CAN be saved, but not those who actually follow Catholic teachings.
 
…and other saying that Catholics CAN be saved, but not those who actually follow Catholic teachings.
Yeah, that’s the interesting part. If you explain what the Church really teaches they usually accept it as fine but then do this thing where they figure you’ve figured the truth about salvation out but other Catholics haven’t and so they’re not saved, etc. etc. Or they think you have it right but that’s not what the Church really teaches.
 
Yeah, that’s the interesting part. If you explain what the Church really teaches they usually accept it as fine but then do this thing where they figure you’ve figured the truth about salvation out but other Catholics haven’t and so they’re not saved, etc. etc. Or they think you have it right but that’s not what the Church really teaches.
That’s my experience exactly. I they agree with what I say I believe, they think I don’t properly understand what the Church teaches. They can’t accept that they are mistaken about the CC.
 
It’s deeper than that. As another poster said, some try to “save” us. In my own case, the first time I heard that Catholic wasn’t Christian was when I was in college and I found out that some of my friends had been praying for me because I’m Catholic.

Check out the internet and you’ll find lots of Protestant debate, with some saying Catholics are Christian, some saying not, and other saying that Catholics CAN be saved, but not those who actually follow Catholic teachings.
Yes, I know what you mean. My cousin is kinda different can we say, she is born again and says she will pray for me because I am not Christian but Catholic.

I asked her once what does it mean to be Christian. Got her there.

I said in the Catholic Church to be Christian is to be CHRIST like. CHRISTian.

I guess when it all come down to it, God will let us know if we are Christian or not. Its not who we SAY we are I guess its how we treat others and how much Christ is really in us.

Remember the song, you will know we are Christians by our love by our love! But it all comes down to how we love others, respect others and treat others. I personally believe thats how God will judge us. 😃
 
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