Catholics and Protestants: Let's us deal with each other on our own terms

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Can we add to the list that we have all come to believe in Christ through His Apostles?
 
We believe that Jesus is also God the Son, second person of the Holy Trinity.
 
ignatius777 said:
Yes it can be VERY frustrating!!! Amen for your confesion and attending Mas. Welcome home!!! We missed you.

Just deal patiently with your boyfriend and pray for God to show him the truth
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That I will do. Thank you.
 
John1 said:
Can we add to the list that we have all come to believe in Christ through His Apostles?
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I’m not sure if that kind of emphasis is held in common. As a non-Catholic who’s been around non-Catholics for my whole life, I know there’s a pretty good amount of emphasis on Acts 8. In the first verse, we learn that there was a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered through Judea and Samaria- “except the apostles.” They stayed in Jerusalem; everyone else was scattered.

The part that really gets emphasized, though, is in verse 4: “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.” As we know from verse 1, the people who went about preaching the word are specifically identified as all the believers from Jerusalem “except the apostles.”

We make a point of emphasizing this passage in order to identify a precedent for regular laypeople sharing their faith and preaching the gospel. A lesser point of emphasis, of course, is the way in which this contrasts with the narrative of chosen/authorized apostles who had an exclusive right and responsibility to do…

the thing that all Christians except the apostles were doing in Acts 8.
 
John1 said:
Thanks for clearing that up. So far we have managed to list the following things that Christians believe in common:
  1. We believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God.
  2. We believe that Jesus was sinless.
  3. We believe that Jesus was born from a virgin named Mary.
  4. We believe that Jesus lived, was crucified and died, and was resurrected.
  5. We believe that the Bible is the Inspired Word of God, without error.
  6. We believe in the power of Prayer
  7. We believe in eternal life with God
  8. We all believe John 3:16
  9. We believe in the sainthood of believers.
  10. We believe in the Trinity.
I’ll bet we can come up with a lot more things to add to the list. Lets make as long of a list as we can!🙂
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We believe that God is the creator of all things.
We believe in the forgiveness of sins.
 
John1 said:
Absolutely!
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I think God the Son is important, many people call Jesus Son of God, but not God the Son.
To me that kind of weakens the Holy Trinity, and makes Jesus kind of subordinate.

So far it looks like basically we are re-writting the Apostle’s creed. Except for the bible part.

I believe in the Catholic definition of innerency, but not the Protestant fundamental one which if I understand it correctly teaches that the Bible is literal fact, every word even when it comes to history and science.

That is what the denomination I converted from taught anyway.
 
cooterhein said:
I’m not sure if that kind of emphasis is held in common. As a non-Catholic who’s been around non-Catholics for my whole life, I know there’s a pretty good amount of emphasis on Acts 8. In the first verse, we learn that there was a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered through Judea and Samaria- “except the apostles.” They stayed in Jerusalem; everyone else was scattered.

The part that really gets emphasized, though, is in verse 4: “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.” As we know from verse 1, the people who went about preaching the word are specifically identified as all the believers from Jerusalem “except the apostles.”

We make a point of emphasizing this passage in order to identify a precedent for regular laypeople sharing their faith and preaching the gospel. A lesser point of emphasis, of course, is the way in which this contrasts with the narrative of chosen/authorized apostles who had an exclusive right and responsibility to do…

the thing that all Christians except the apostles were doing in Acts 8.
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Thanks for (name removed by moderator)ut. I’ll leave that one off the list, but I wonder if those other Christian that went around spreading the good news, had actually learned the gospel from the Apostles, so in a sense everyone that came to believe in Jesus, really did so via the Apostles. That is a very interesting view of what it says in Act 8 and I will definitely give it some thought and pray for the Holy Spirit for guidance.
 
pipper said:
I think God the Son is important, many people call Jesus Son of God, but not God the Son.
To me that kind of weakens the Holy Trinity, and makes Jesus kind of subordinate.

So far it looks like basically we are re-writting the Apostle’s creed. Except for the bible part.

I believe in the Catholic definition of innerency, but not the Protestant fundamental one which if I understand it correctly teaches that the Bible is literal fact, every word even when it comes to history and science.

That is what the denomination I converted from taught anyway.
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Hi Pipper,

I agree, I think that God the Son, is important to realize as well. I know that the Jehovah Witnesses see Jesus as a god, but not God. I think that they also think Jesus is the Arch Angel Michael.

You used the “C” word and the “P” word in your post.!?!?:eek: No problem,but we were going to refrain from using those lables while we were compling our list. I know that’s going to be tough, especially when there some topics, like you pointed out, where the deeper meaning of the belief may be different. Like I know that most Christians believe in “the blood and body of Christ”, but there are differing beliefs about what they acutally mean. In a case like that, if most of the posters agree they believe in the Eucharist, or offering of bread and wine, then we could add it to the list, but maybe put a star beside it to indicate that the deeper belief varies among Christians. That’s just my two cents, what do y’all say.
 
Dave_Noonan said:
Good points. For there to be dialogue we have to first discover what really divides us. I for one do not think that Catholics worship Mary; never have.

I think one helpful step would be to ban the word “Protestant” from our discussions.
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Would it be okay to say that English is more of a Protestant language than Catholic?

It’s interesting to note a non-Catholic is more likely to accept the Latin Ave Maria song or even sing it than say a Hail Mary in English. Why is that?

I’ve always maintained that if the non-Catholics ever get you into an English discussion regarding theology or the Bible, they’ve essentially beaten you. Not necessarily true but food for thought.
 
I wish I could add this to the list:
" We all believe that all of us are Christians "
but clearly that isn’t universal to all who call themselves christian.
 
John1 said:
Thanks for clearing that up. So far we have managed to list the following things that Christians believe in common:
  1. We believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God.
  2. We believe that Jesus was sinless.
  3. We believe that Jesus was born from a virgin named Mary.
  4. We believe that Jesus lived, was crucified and died, and was resurrected.
  5. We believe that the Bible is the Inspired Word of God, without error.
  6. We believe in the power of Prayer
  7. We believe in eternal life with God
  8. We all believe John 3:16
  9. We believe in the sainthood of believers.
  10. We believe in the Trinity.
I’ll bet we can come up with a lot more things to add to the list. Lets make as long of a list as we can!🙂
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Point # 5 and # 8 are redundant.
What exacty do you mean by, "We all believe John 3:16?"**

Catholics believe that the Bible is the inerrant written Word of God.
We don’t believe in Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone). We Believe in Sola Verbum Dei (the Word of God Alone).
 
traillius said:
I wish I could add this to the list:
" We all believe that all of us are Christians "
but clearly that isn’t universal to all who call themselves christian.
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Hi Trailius,

I think that would be a wonderful thing to add to the list , but like you said, I don’t think that is ageeable to all parties concerned. Maybe someday we’ll be able to add that to the list! Maybe we could add that we love all of our brothers and sisters in Christ and we all believe in the “Golden Rule”, do you think we can add those to the list, even if we have to put a star next to one of them?
 
elvisman said:
Point # 5 and # 8 are redundant.
What exacty do you mean by, "We all believe John 3:16**?"

Catholics believe that the Bible is the inerrant written Word of God.
We don’t believe in Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone). We Believe in Sola Verbum Dei (the Word of God Alone).
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Hi Elvisman,

You are correct, #5 and #8 are redundant, but Chris, a new member, suggested adding it to the list. I don’t think anyone had a problem with adding it to the list, if they did they didn’t say anything. We were trying to make a list of beliefs that Christians have in common without using the terms “Protestant” or “Catholic”. When the beliefs were the basically the same, but different on a deeper level, I think that we were going to put a star next to the entry. Can you think of some beliefs that all Christians have in common that we can add to the list?
 
John1 said:
Hi Elvisman,

You are correct, #5 and #8 are redundant, but Chris, a new member, suggested adding it to the list. I don’t think anyone had a problem with adding it to the list, if they did they didn’t say anything. We were trying to make a list of beliefs that Christians have in common without using the terms “Protestant” or “Catholic”. When the beliefs were the basically the same, but different on a deeper level, I think that we were going to put a star next to the entry. Can you think of some beliefs that all Christians have in common that we can add to the list?
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Sure - I’ll make a list.
But - what exactly does, "We all believe John 3:16" mean?**
 
elvisman said:
Sure - I’ll make a list.
But - what exactly does, "We all believe John 3:16**" mean?
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Do you believe that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son?
That all who believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life? Is this the part you are having trouble with?
 
elvisman said:
Sure - I’ll make a list.
But - what exactly does, "We all believe John 3:16**" mean?
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Thanks Elvisman. I may not have a chance to check the forum for the next few days, but I will definitely check it the next chance I get. I’ll be looking forward to seeing your additions to the list. John 3:16 is a great verse in the Bible, as are the rest, maybe it has a special meaning for Chris. May God bless you and the rest of our brothers and sisters in Christ!
 
rev_kevin said:
Do you believe that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son?
That all who believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life? Is this the part you are having trouble with?
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Sure - but what do you mean by “believe”.
You see, friend - The Bible says that those who believe in Jesus will not perish but have everlasting life - but it doesn’t stop there.

It ALSO says that we must be Baptized (Matt. 28:19-20, John 3:5, Rom. 2:29, Col. 2:12-17, 1 Pet. 3:21).
Pick up our crosses daily and follow Christ (Matt. 16:24, Luke 9:23).
Do the will of the Father (Matt. 7:21).
Obey his commandments (John 15:10).
Suffer with christ (Matt. 10:38, Mark 8:34, John 12:24, Rom. 8:17, 2 Cor. 1:5-7, Eph. 3:13, Phil. 1:29, 2 Tim. 1:8, 1 Pet. 2:19-21, 4:1-2).

In other words - TOTAL SUBMISSION.

You see, friend - believing is only the beginning. It is the initial grace we receive from God on our journey to salvation.
 
Howdy .Somewhere in that list should be a qualification for John 3:16, that faith is a gift from God.That is ,it is not from “me”, which then leads to the need for “regeneration” ,or the new testament event of being “born again”. This is what really separates us from other religions…We are born separated from God ,that is spiritually dead (born with a sin nature).Also ,do we have Christ returning for His bride ?Thanks.
 
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