Communion at Protestant churches

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Beyrak said:
Catholics, be aware of this site and forum. It is a great tool and place to share and express ideas. But be advised where this is done, Satan will be there also. And I believe he has surfaced in this thread.
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We should pray for one another. Just because a person questions something, in no way makes them a tool of satan. I will always ask a question if I don’t understand, or I’m trying to learn.

study to shew thyself approved
 
Grace_Seeker said:
The position has been well stated here. And, as a protestant pastor, I want to say that though I may disagree with your conclusions, I can actually respect it and do not wish to argue against it. (At least not at this time.😛 ) Yet I do remain curious about a few events in my person life with respect to communion in the Catholic church.

Given the teachings of the Catholic church, why would it be that on more than one occassion I have been invited to participate in the sharing of communion with Catholic priests? Why, when I was not even yet ordained, but merely a college student, did the bishop of the diocese actually issue a letter to the catholic student body at our university saying that it was permissible for them to participate in our campus-wide Christmas communion service, with the only caveat that we offer the elements in the name of the Holy Trinity, “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost”? Why, at my first church, was I approached by the local Catholic congregation to see if I was willing to continue the tradition of a joint Christmas Even communion service between the two congregations? (Which, btw, we did.)
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I’m curious about those too, but it bears repeating that the actions of individual Catholics (even priests and bishops) can be mistakes. Not sure what diocese you’re in, but I lived in Illinois for a while and some of the churches up there were highly questionable IMHO. College Catholic communities can also be a little “experimental”. 😦
 
Beyrak said:
How dare you! That is not a lie. When one accepts the Eucharist at Mass, one says “Amen” when offered the Holy Communion. This communicates that you are a Christian in good communion with the Church, you BELIEVE you are receiving the “ACTUAL BODY & BLOOD” of Christ (not symbolic), and believe the Church’s teachings. Anything less and you are committing a mortal sin.

That’s why non-Catholics are not allowed our communion, as the priest would be allowing them to commit sin. And for a Catholic to accept communion at a protestant church, people who are out of communion of our Church is also wrong and shouldn’t be done and our Church teaches this!

I understand why you protestants can’t agree and understand what the Catholic Church, the true, original universal Church teaches, as you can’t even agree with yourselves. That’s why you now have divided into almost 30,000 denominations. And no, the Catholic Church is not a denomination. A denomination is a religious sect that had splintered.

At least Martin Luther left the Church, in error, but for reasons of faith. Not because he wanted annulments and the Pope didn’t give it to him. How any one could EVER follow the church that Henry VIII created is beyond me.
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I agree with the fact the the Catholic church does not knowingly allow non-Catholics to receive. I know that. My whole point is that the reasoning behind this is in all due respect not truthful and not Biblical. What sin would a person be committing by receiving communion if he/she isn’t Catholic. Are you saying that it is a sin not to be in good standing with the Catholic church if you are not Catholic?
 
Abira said:
Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.–Matt. 18:20

I think you’re overeacting massively there… I hope that you’re a lone voice.

I do not agree with all ideas pushed forward in this thread, and I hope you don’t think that I am ‘satan in this thread’

Just because you don’t understand something does not make the view and /or poster a tool of satan,

for goodness sake!! It’s a real shame you feel unable to engage and understand other views better
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Because I don’t understand something? I was a protestant and understand fully their incomplete teachings. I learned from many sources including this site and forum and converted. I did not mean to cast a negative light on everyone, especially protestants that are here to seek information. But again, Satan will only be concerned about attacking the true Church, not others. My only intention was for everyone to read with discernment of people’s intentions.

I did become angry when someone who doesn’t know any better called someone else a liar. Again, people who can’t even agree with themselves then try to explain to us that do understand our own teachings and beliefs is quite ludicrous. But that was only one person and one post I was referring to. I did see that this person did calm down in her future posts and became more rational.

And if I overreacted, then please accept my apologies. But unlike most Catholics, I will defend my faith.
 
Nella said:
What sin would a person be committing by receiving communion if he/she isn’t Catholic. Are you saying that it is a sin not to be in good standing with the Catholic church if you are not Catholic?
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A sin is a sin no matter who commits it. It is my understanding of Church teachings if a priest allowed a person to take communion and this person was not Catho0lic, the burden of most of that sin would fall on the priest’s shoulders.

Catholic clergy have been instructed and are bound to obey the Church teachings. They have no choice and if they disobey, it is themselves that are sinning.
 
I understand why you protestants can’t agree and understand what the Catholic Church, the true, original universal Church teaches, as you can’t even agree with yourselves. That’s why you now have divided into almost 30,000 denominations. And no, the Catholic Church is not a denomination. A denomination is a religious sect that had splintered.

You do not understand why. You have demonstrated this by lumping together 30,000 Protestant denominations. The Catholic church does meet the criteria to be a denomination and it is as such despite what you say. And when you refer to “you”, you are saying all Protestants period. This demonstrates that you don’t know what you are talking about.
 
Beyrak said:
I did not mean to cast a negative light on everyone, especially protestants that are here to seek information.

phew lol… your phrasing had me worried 🙂

But again, Satan will only be concerned about attacking the true Church, not others. My only intention was for everyone to read with discernment of people’s intentions.

I agree with that fully…although I do not believe that anybody comes here with evil/bad intentions… they just maybe don’t understand something fully

I did become angry when someone who doesn’t know any better called someone else a liar.

Yeah, I noticed that too and replied.

Again, people who can’t even agree with themselves then try to explain to us that do understand our own teachings and beliefs is quite ludicrous. But that was only one person and one post I was referring to. I did see that this person did calm down in her future posts and became more rational.
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lol ok, if you just changed the slight wording of your post I wouldn’t have taken offense and thought you were referring to all non catholic views on the forum lol

one thing i would say is that the debate i have seen on the forum shows that not ll catholics do agree with each other (though i do wish that each posters religion was written above their postings to simplify it) though they all subscribe to the same teaching they often differ and disagree within themselves

also… to say that all protestants do not agree is fairly obvious… but you could more easily say that each protestant denomination as an individual denomination is much more closely alligned in its own thought but no always to ALL protestants… hence why there are lots of protestant churches

aside from that we totally agree… I just wish when people get mad they would just try using considerate words cos it causes a misunderstanding when often there isn’t even a disagreement…like me and you lol

S
 
Nella said:
I understand why you protestants can’t agree and understand what the Catholic Church, the true, original universal Church teaches, as you can’t even agree with yourselves. That’s why you now have divided into almost 30,000 denominations. And no, the Catholic Church is not a denomination. A denomination is a religious sect that had splintered.

You do not understand why. You have demonstrated this by lumping together 30,000 Protestant denominations. The Catholic church does meet the criteria to be a denomination and it is as such despite what you say. And when you refer to “you”, you are saying all Protestants period. This demonstrates that you don’t know what you are talking about.
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The reason why the “denominations”, that is the Christians that “splintered” from the true, universal Church keeps dividing and splintering is because they have no Church authority or direction leading them. They are blind and lost and keep wandering further from the truth.

Keep calling Catholicism a denomination if it makes you feel better, but it won’t change a thing. I can trace back my Church to the times of Christ and the Apostles. No other Church can do that.

And before someone says their church is based on the scriptures, this passge convinced me that my southern baptist faith could not be correct.

Matthew 16:18 “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church], and the* gates of Hades will not overcome it**.”*

Now reading that, that tells me that even Satan himself could not overcome the Church, the motive that Martin Luther and others used when they splintered off into “denominations”.

If the Church that Christ himself instituted is good enough for Him, it is the one for me.
 
Beyrak said:
The reason why the “denominations”, that is the Christians that “splintered” from the true, universal Church keeps dividing and splintering is because they have no Church authority or direction leading them. They are blind and lost and keep wandering further from the truth.

Keep calling Catholicism a denomination if it makes you feel better, but it won’t change a thing. I can trace back my Church to the times of Christ and the Apostles. No other Church can do that.
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This issue of authority is a big issue… DrRevNorth started a thread based on an article I found about Catholic/CofE communication etc… which has a lot of ideas about Anglican authority and what it all means in it.

the thing about denomination…is that technically the catholic church is a denomination based upon what the word means in the dictionary…where youre coming at it from a different view is because you think of a denomination meaning somehting that is smaller and has broken away (I think you called them sects before which is a little inaccurate)…

you want to distinguish your true church frm the many who have left as you see it…

the way to do that is not to argue over semantics. You’re both right according to your own definition of the word… the catholic church is a group with shared ideas…so it is a denomination… it is not splintered according to your view… but then try asking that of an Eastern Orthodox or a sedacavantist (sp?) and you’ll get several answers about what is split and unsplit and what a denomination means

also… it may be that you feel that the catholic church is not a denomination because it has denominations WITHIN it…ie. orthodox and different rites etc…

so i think to get stuck on this point is unproductive and arbritrary because it simly doesn’t make much difference to faith… move onto some bigger issue lol cos this question has a right answer for every viewpoint!
 
Beyrak said:
The reason why the “denominations”, that is the Christians that “splintered” from the true, universal Church keeps dividing and splintering is because they have no Church authority or direction leading them. They are blind and lost and keep wandering further from the truth.

Keep calling Catholicism a denomination if it makes you feel better, but it won’t change a thing. I can trace back my Church to the times of Christ and the Apostles. No other Church can do that.

And before someone says their church is based on the scriptures, this passge convinced me that my southern baptist faith could not be correct.

Matthew 16:18 “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church], and the* gates of Hades will not overcome it***.”

Now reading that, that tells me that even Satan himself could not overcome the Church, the motive that Martin Luther and others used when they splintered off into “denominations”.

If the Church that Christ himself instituted is good enough for Him, it is the one for me.
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If your claim is that RCC is the only church that can trace its roots back to Christ, then why doesn’t scripture depict the authority that Christ supposedly gave it to be centered in Rome. Face it, you are a denomination by the dictionary definition. And, I’ll bet Eastern Orthodox churches would make a very strong challenge to you claiming to be the only one who can trace back to Jesus.
 
Abira said:
so i think to get stuck on this point is unproductive and arbritrary because it simly doesn’t make much difference to faith… move onto some bigger issue lol cos this question has a right answer for every viewpoint!
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I don’t get my Christian faith direction from a dictionary.

I have heard quite a few Cardinals and bishops on EWTN who explain why the Church isn’t a denomination. I have explained it to the best of my ability. But if people want to go by a secular dictionary for their relgious direction, that is up to them. Again, my Church has authority instituted by Christ, and I will follow their teachings and direction, and they do not consider the RCC a denomination.

And even the scriptures support the Church authority and Pope infallibility in Matthew 18:18,

“Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”

Yet another Bible passage that scared me to death as a protestant.
 
the RCC would actually have to be considered Protestant to the Orthodox churches on the count that it was Rome who changed the Creed to say “from the father and the son” from its original statement of “from the father”. They changed it without approval of the counsils in place as well. They went on their own to do it. Isn’t that similar to what you accuse all Protestants of doing to the RCC?
 
Nella said:
the RCC would actually have to be considered Protestant to the Orthodox churches on the count that it was Rome who changed the Creed to say “from the father and the son” from its original statement of “from the father”. They changed it without approval of the counsils in place as well. They went on their own to do it. Isn’t that similar to what you accuse all Protestants of doing to the RCC?
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The Filioque is semantics. So no. If this were the only reason for our differences, we would have united by now.

IMO, it is now pride that separates us. They would have to come under the authority of our Pope, and I don’t think their church leadership, full of original sinful pride will submit. Again, I use Matthew 18:18 in our support on this issue.

Great dialoge on this thread though. It has gotten off path a few times on side topics, but very interesting. Also please understand that I am a recent convert to Catholicism, and no authority on anything. I can only give my opinions and the reasons I derived to them in my search for the truth and my conversion.
 
Nella said:
If your claim is that RCC is the only church that can trace its roots back to Christ, then why doesn’t scripture depict the authority that Christ supposedly gave it to be centered in Rome. Face it, you are a denomination by the dictionary definition. And, I’ll bet Eastern Orthodox churches would make a very strong challenge to you claiming to be the only one who can trace back to Jesus.
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that is a valid question and it’s something that I would partially argue also… but make another thread for it and you’ll get a better answer

S
 
Beyrak said:
I don’t get my Christian faith direction from a dictionary.
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lol…well the word ‘denomination’ is used in the common language, understood through common usage and used in secular society that is not limited to religion…it is defined in the dictionary.

I’m not saying your *ideas * are invalid, but that your argument over the semantics of this word is pointless.

of course you have to interpret words according to how people use them!! lol… To say that someone shouldn’t use a word as it is commonly defined is pointless… langauge has to have a similar meaning to all of us else we’d all be speaking different languages individual to our own definitions of words lol 🙂

I’d be interested to hear their explanations but it is kinda off topic for this thread maybe? maybe you and nella could get together and start a thread together to discuss it further.
 
Abira said:
that is a valid question and it’s something that I would partially argue also… but make another thread for it and you’ll get a better answer

S
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As I understand it, the reason our Church is based in Rome is very simple. Peter was the head of the Church and was Bishop of Rome. Once he died in Rome, that is where the head stays (no relic pun intended). If he had died in Paris, it would have been there.
 
Beyrak said:
As I understand it, the reason our Church is based in Rome is very simple. Peter was the head of the Church and was Bishop of Rome. Once he died in Rome, that is where the head stays (no relic pun intended). If he had died in Paris, it would have been there.
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Peter was Bishop of Jerusalem far longer than he was Bishop of Rome. He was executed in Rome.
 
Beyrak said:
Keep calling Catholicism a denomination if it makes you feel better, but it won’t change a thing. I can trace back my Church to the times of Christ and the Apostles. No other Church can do that.
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In my understanding of the way lineages work, all the children of a parent can trace their history back to include anything that is true of the parent. So, if protestant churches like Lutherans and Anglicans are offshoots of Catholicism, then anything that is true of Catholicism before those respective denominations emerged would be part of their history also.

You don’t have to agree with their theology or recognize their authority, but I think you do have to recognize their lineage.
 
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