Catholic vs Protestant Spirituality: Lets compare faith walks

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Gab123 said:
Protestant spirituality is lacking in that it is devoid of the Sacraments which revolve around the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. The Sacraments were instituted by Christ to give us sanctifying grace. One can try to have a spiritual life outside of the means which Christ established, however the terrible words of Christ in John 5:53 which made many of His disciples to stop following Him in John 6:66 is a reminder that without Him we are bound to fall away down a path of lifeless self-deception.
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And we would greatly disagree on this point. In the Lutheran faith we observe the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion and Confession and Absolution. Additionally, we marry, ordain priests, pray over the sick, etc., we just do not call these other rituals “sacraments” as we have a different definition of what a sacrament is. In other words, we observe all of these.
 
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Hodos said:
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Gab123:
Protestant spirituality is lacking in that it is devoid of the Sacraments which revolve around the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. The Sacraments were instituted by Christ to give us sanctifying grace. One can try to have a spiritual life outside of the means which Christ established, however the terrible words of Christ in John 5:53 which made many of His disciples to stop following Him in John 6:66 is a reminder that without Him we are bound to fall away down a path of lifeless self-deception.
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And we would greatly disagree on this point. In the Lutheran faith we observe the sacraments on Baptism and Holy Communion and Confession and Absolution. Additionally, we marry, ordain priests, pray over the sick, etc., we just do not call them sacraments as we have a different definition of what a sacrament is. In other words, we observe all of these.
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He’s not even right from the Catholic perspective. The Catholic Church recognizes that the vast bulk of Protestants have two sacraments, not zero.
 
HopkinsReb said:
He’s not even right from the Catholic perspective. The Catholic Church recognizes that the vast bulk of Protestants have two sacraments, not zero.
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Agreed. At this point he is hair-splitting for the sake of hair-splitting.
 
Gab123 said:
Thus Christianity without the cross is a counterfeit Christianity.
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I don’t know of Protestant denominations who deny the crucifixion or resurrection. Are you saying people can’t believe in either unless they have a crucifix?
 
Which reminds me - as Christianity is really all about resurrection and new life - I’ve always wondered why our symbol isn’t an empty tomb, the fact that it would look a bit odd on a necklace notwithstanding…
 
Okay, guys. I’ve been following the conversation as best I could this morning. My boys just got their wellness check done, we had lunch and now off to the therapist!

Any prayers are welcomed and appreciated.

That being said: I grimaced when I saw the thread going into another argument over things that’ll never get resolved. Thank God that the problem stopped when it did.

The point of this thread is to share faith walks; not argue over doctrines. I’d like to hear your guys’ stories and let’s compare together. Especially the Protestants: I’d love to hear how you guys live out your faith.

Now, as a Catholic, I’m sad to see people leave the Church. But, I pray that those people at least remain Christian and are received into a community that stays faithful and sincere to Scripture as well as they understand it. God willing, I pray they receive the mercy of salvation. If any of your folks come to us, thank God; we’ll gladly receive them.

I love TULIPed’s post concerning the good effects of their faith communities for their members. Awesome, great; thank God!

As I see it, God works however He wills. For be it for me to the man His business. At least the Protestants are Christians.

That being said: Please, let’s stay on topic and let’s share our stories on how we live out our faith.
 
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I never said they had zero. marriage and baptism are valid Sacraments, yet divorce and remarriage is not a problem among Protestants, which again, is against the teachings of Christ.
 
He/she started it (pointing across the room at the guilty looking person)!!!

But seriously Michael - I think it’s kind of hard to respond to your question without appearing prideful. “I live out my faith by lovingly and selflessly building homes for the homeless…”

Perhaps we could discuss how we could better live out our faith. I’ll start. I could better live out my faith by selflessly building homes for the homeless. (And really being more selfless in general - like a LOT more selfless.)
 
Michael16 said:
The point of this thread is to share faith walks; not argue over doctrines. I’d like to hear your guys’ stories and let’s compare together. Especially the Protestants: I’d love to hear how you guys live out your faith.
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Just to clarify, what types of spiritual disciplines are you thinking of for the purposes of this conversation? You initially referred to praying the rosary, could you elaborate further as far as what you want to compare?
 
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Gab123 said:
That’s the point, it’s hard to keep track of what each one teaches as they are all founded by individuals teaching different things. Self-appointed freelance Bible interpreters is the scourge of Christianity in that it introduces confusion, false teachings and chaos, which are all hallmarks of demonic deception…
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I find it somewhat ironic that you are trying to nail HopkinsReb and Tulip to the wall about freelancing when it was demonstrated above that your own statements are not even in unity with your own ecclesial body. Again though, you are off topic…
 
It’s ok @Hodos. As the token Calvinist around here, I’m used to it. Nail away. It was all predestined anyway. Plus, as totally depraved as I am, I deserve it.
 
Hodos said:
your own statements are not even in unity with your own ecclesial body.
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Nonsense. There’s one Catechism of the Catholic Faith. One Church and one faith. That doesn’t mean that there will be individuals who reject that teaching; but the faith is one.
 
Gab123 said:
That doesn’t mean that there will be individuals who reject that teaching
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Such as, for example, NOT THINKING OF ANYBODY IN PARTICULAR WHEN I SAY THIS, someone who posts anonymously on online message boards, claiming that Protestant spirituality is meaningless and they have no valid sacraments, both points contrary to Catholic teaching on the matter?
 
Gab123 said:
I’m trying to understand what you are complaining about. You seem to have a problem with me stating that the there are 7 Sacraments and that this is lacking in Protestantism.
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Where, exactly, did I say that I have a problem with stating either of those things?

You’ll find that I didn’t.

I objected to specific false claims you made.
First: that Protestants don’t use crucifixes. This is false; many Protestants do.
Second: that Protestantism is devoid of the sacraments. This is false; the vast bulk of Protestants have two valid sacraments, Baptism and Matrimony (even if they reject marriage as a sacrament or reject the idea of a sacrament altogether).

The point of this thread is not to attack Protestants and Protestantism. It is to compare the spirituality of Protestants and Catholics. You have spent the entire time stating directly or otherwise implying that Protestant spirituality is worthless because it does not center around the Sacraments.

But not all Catholic spirituality centers around the sacraments, and God is not limited to the sacraments. Protestant spirituality is not devoid of God. It is not demonic. It may be wrong in some ways, it may be inferior to Catholic spirituality, it may simply be unappealing to you. But to suggest that Thomas Cranmer’s Prayer of Humble Access, one of the most beautiful prayers I’ve ever read and – gasp! – Protestant is demonic is ignorant and hateful.

If you want a thread to talk about how Protestantism is demonic and worthless and Protestants have no sacraments, make one. You’ve completely hijacked this thread.
 
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Perhaps.

I’ve found though that, when serving side by side next to them, they serve food, rebuild houses, take care of the sick, and generally live out their faith pretty darn similarly. In fact, I would say that if you saw us next to each other doing these things for the Lord we both serve, you’d be hard pressed to figure out which was which.

Like a counterfeit bill? Maybe. I think it’s more like family personally.
 
HopkinsReb said:
I objected to specific false claims you made.
First: that Protestants don’t use crucifixes. This is false; many Protestants do.
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And I explained to you the usage of the crucifix in the Episcopal and other Protestant denominations that initially broke away fro the Church. For the past 500 years Protestantism has disintegrated and morphed into countless sects. Every single Protestant denominations will eventually be in ruin as it does not have Christ’s promise that the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.
HopkinsReb said:
But not all Catholic spirituality centers around the sacraments,
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Any Catholic who knows better and studies the Catechism certainly knows that the Holy Eucharist is the Source and Summit of Christian Spirituality. Thus ask any Protestant that converts to Catholicism and they will tell you this.
HopkinsReb said:
Protestant spirituality is not devoid of God. It is not demonic.
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Again, I never said Protestant spirituality is devoid of God or that it demonic. What I did say is that division, contradiction and confusion are the hallmarks of demonic activity, as Satan always seeks to divide people against the truth…

It’s never good to spread lies.
 
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