is there a chart or reference somewhere out there that breaks down the anti-Catholic attitudes of other religions–especially Protestant sects? I am loooking for something that identifies those who are antagonistic toward Catholicism…you know the ‘whore of babylon’ ‘pope is the antichrist’ thing?
I don’t think there is a chart, but here’s a brief summary:
The conservative branches of the Lutheran and Reformed traditions (i.e., not the big “mainline” denominations but the smaller groups that claim to preserve the faith in a purer form) are still anti-Catholic in the old-fashioned sense. They consider Catholicism to be in serious doctrinal error, and in some cases would still say that the Papacy as an institution is Antichrist (that is, it sets itself in the place of Christ and opposes the Gospel).
Fundamentalist Protestants who hold to a dispensationalist view of the end times and are suspicious of all Christians who are not fundamentalists have a particular hatred toward Catholicism, which they regard as the Whore of Babylon and expect to be a major pillar of the Antichrist’s coming one world religion.
Seventh Day Adventism is in a somewhat different category. They have their own distinctive theories about the end times, which give Catholicism a prominent place, particularly in mandating the keeping of Sunday as the Sabbath (which they think will be the “mark of the Beast”). They share the general fundamentalist belief that Catholicism has been essentially pagan since the time of Constantine.
Evangelical Protestants who are not fundamentalists (i.e., they are open to Christians with whom they may disagree on some point) may or may not be anti-Catholic to some extent. Few if any would say that Catholicism is simply evil or pagan, but many would say that Catholicism does not teach the Gospel very well and that its errors result in most Catholics not having a personal relationship with Jesus (and thus not being “real Christians”). This is not a hard-and-fast issue. Most evangelicals think that Catholics are at some disadvantage in this respect (this is to be expected, since they disagree with Catholic doctrine and naturally think that having a wrong view of salvation is a bad thing), but they vary on just how serious a matter this is (non-fundamentalist evangelicals don’t think that you have to have all your doctrine right in order to be saved). Some think that it’s very hard to be a Catholic and a “real Christian,” others that it really makes no difference–most are somewhere in between. They do not agree with the more extreme and sensationalistic anti-Catholic claims, but to some extent share the view that Christianity tends to become corrupt over time and that many Catholic-Protestant differences can be explained in this way. However, by and large evangelicals would say that all churches have some corruption, none are perfect, and that what matters is to have a relationship with Jesus, which is compatible with membership in any church that confesses Jesus as Lord (which they recognize Catholics do).
Mainline Protestants have rejected the traditional Protestant anti-Catholicism, but the more liberal mainliners are opposed to Catholic “intolerance” and “oppression of women,” etc., and these days this attitude can be quite fierce. (In arguments with liberal Episcopalians about homosexuality, a citation of the Catholic position is often met with a blaze of scorn about the Catholic sex-abuse scandals and a denial that Catholicism has anything meaningful to say on the subject given its moral failings.)
Edwin
- people are often Protestant, because there is simply no reason in their consciousness for them to be Catholic - or Sikh, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, or whatever. That does not make them “anti-Jewish”, etc.