Communion at Protestant churches

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dthurmond said:
I too have been told that, and I quote…“because you’re not Catholic, you can’t take communion”, this came from my brother in law whose family is of a staunch Irish Catholic background.
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I haven’t read this whole thread, but so far I’ve heard you say…

for some reason you think that I think God can not bless you because you are not Catholic…well, I’m not Catholic yet and God has blessed me…I don’t get it…

You never been to a Catholic Mass…then… my question is…how can you make decisions about the Catholic Faith if you’ve never even attended a Mass. Looks like to me, you might would attend.

and…lastly, this quote…

why would you even WANT to take communion in a Catholic Church if you do not believe in the Real Pressence…that makes no sense…and this is the reason that the Church doesn’t allow open communion because everyone would not believe in that same theology here…so…my question is WHY? Why would YOU want to?

Anyhoo…look forward to your replies.
 
DJgang said:
I haven’t read this whole thread, but so far I’ve heard you say…

for some reason you think that I think God can not bless you because you are not Catholic…well, I’m not Catholic yet and God has blessed me…I don’t get it…

You never been to a Catholic Mass…then… my question is…how can you make decisions about the Catholic Faith if you’ve never even attended a Mass. Looks like to me, you might would attend.

and…lastly, this quote…

why would you even WANT to take communion in a Catholic Church if you do not believe in the Real Pressence…that makes no sense…and this is the reason that the Church doesn’t allow open communion because everyone would not believe in that same theology here…so…my question is WHY? Why would YOU want to?

Anyhoo…look forward to your replies.
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I choose not to attend the Catholic church based on my reading, studying and just from what I’ve seen on this board.

Do you have any information pertaining to the Lutheran ideology of the Eucharist?
 
Here is a link that gives the break down of the different churches, denominations etc on the Eucharist.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucharist#Lutherans_.E2.80.94_the_sacramental_union:_.22in.2C_with.2C_and_under_the_forms.22

In my reading, I see that the Lutheran belief on the Eucharist is the same as Catholicism.

Therefore, if a person was either raised Lutheran, or attends a Lutheran church, why would a Catholic church not allow that individual to partake in the communion?..Since the belief is the same?
 
dthurmond said:
I choose not to attend the Catholic church based on my reading, studying and just from what I’ve seen on this board.

Do you have any information pertaining to the Lutheran ideology of the Eucharist?
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OK…

I know nothing about Lutheran ideology…never been to a Luthern church and haven’t read any of Martin Luther’s stuff (you are reading him right now, right?)

I’m sure that you can search this forum about Luther…he’s pretty popular.

I wish you would consider attending a Mass…maybe you will in time. :crossrc:

And and I want you to know…I do believe God blesses all people…even non Christians…that was the reason for my statement. 😃

You were raised Lutheran?
 
dthurmond said:
Therefore, if a person was either raised Lutheran, or attends a Lutheran church, why would a Catholic church not allow that individual to partake in the communion?..Since the belief is the same?
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My quess…Apostolic Succession and education of the Catholic Church.
 
DJgang said:
OK…

I know nothing about Lutheran ideology…never been to a Luthern church and haven’t read any of Martin Luther’s stuff (you are reading him right now, right?)

I’m sure that you can search this forum about Luther…he’s pretty popular.

I wish you would consider attending a Mass…maybe you will in time. :crossrc:

And and I want you to know…I do believe God blesses all people…even non Christians…that was the reason for my statement. 😃

You were raised Lutheran?
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What is considered non-Christian? Non Catholic?

Yes, I was raised Lutheran. I knew the Apostles Creed and the Nicene backwards and forwards before I was grown… a lot of stand up sit down…etc :gopray2:

If one is considered non-Christian because they are not Catholic, my belief on the Catholic church speaks for itself.

😉
 
dthurmond said:
What is considered non-Christian? Non Catholic?

Yes, I was raised Lutheran. I knew the Apostles Creed and the Nicene backwards and forwards before I was grown… a lot of stand up sit down…etc :gopray2:

If one is considered non-Christian because they are not Catholic, my belief on the Catholic church speaks for itself.

😉
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😉 Sorry…thurmond, but you are really trying to make Catholics out to be…well…horrible.

Non- Christian…mean exactly that… such as my sister in law, she’s Wiccian…she receives blessings from God all the time, she just doesn’t acknowledge it! 😃 Non - Catholic, would be Protestants and Protestants that I know are Christians…so nope, non-Christian does NOT mean Non-Catholic…so, I think you really need to understand that.

IMHO, I find more Protestants that say Catholics are not Christian, in fact, I’ve been around those type of people…let me give you a run down of my history

Raised Baptist, in adult life attended and even became a member of …Methodist, Non Denom, United Church of Christ, Presbyterian (all of them), Episcopal,and now Catholic. :cool: Oh, and I must not forget studying new age stuff.
 
I apologize that I misunderstood your statement in regards to non-Christians and Catholic’s.

I do not set out to indicate that other “religions” etc. are horrible. Also, I have never stated that Catholic’s are not Christian. It is my understanding that if you believe that Jesus the Christ died for your sins then you are a Christian. Anything other than that would be considered non-Christian.

However, in this forum, I have felt that the consensus is the Catholic church is the end all and be all of existence and anything other is incorrect.

I myself tend to focus on my relationship with God. I’m not hung up on ideology, theology and religious dogma.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!
 
Grace_Seeker said:
Where in anything that I wrote (in this thread or any other) do I even come close to imply that perceive God as just “phoning it it” to the Catholic church? I wish to repent of such statements right now, if I have. I think no such thing. But in saying that I do not belong to a church but to only an ecclesiastical body, you are indeed saying that I belong to something less than the Catholic church.

An “ecclesial body” is a body of believers, true, but a body of believers outside of Christ’s founded Church. It’s not that you belong to something less than Christ’s Church; you are separated from it, but, as I keep telling you, you DO have a life of Grace because of valid Baptism, some shared doctrine, and Scripture.

I am not offended by that statement. I don’t even believe it to be true. But I do think it does show that not only to my own mind, but to yours also, that you do not see my congregation as being the equal of any Catholic congregation.

The equality we share is definite belief in Christ.

I don’t forgoe the Catholic mass because I think it is somehow less than what we have at my church. But I do think that what we have is equal to what is found in the Catholic church.

’Equal’ is not the best term. I would rather use ‘valid’, and even that is a misnomer. It IS valid in the sense that “where two or more are gathered, there I AM in the midst of them.” And I truly believe that. If you want to continue using the term ‘equal’ then you must realize that there really is no comparison because the UMC rejects the priesthood and, hence, the Real Presence in the Eucharist. That is a very major difference.

So do you agree with me, or with Lilym?
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dthurmond said:
Here is a link that gives the break down of the different churches, denominations etc on the Eucharist.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucharist#Lutherans_.E2.80.94_the_sacramental_union:_.22in.2C_with.2C_and_under_the_forms.22

In my reading, I see that the Lutheran belief on the Eucharist is the same as Catholicism.
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There are some differences. Lutherans believe in consubstantiation, which means that the bread and wine co-exist with Jesus in the Eucharist. They also believe that Jesus departs from the bread and wine after the ceremony is over, so they don’t reserve it in a tabernacle, or anything.

We believe that the bread and wine is transferred to Heaven, and perfectly displaced on earth by Christ, who remains until there is neither the appearance of bread nor the appearance of wine remaining.
Therefore, if a person was either raised Lutheran, or attends a Lutheran church, why would a Catholic church not allow that individual to partake in the communion?..Since the belief is the same?
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Even if they had the identical belief, they would not be able to receive it in our church, because of the fact that they are not members of our church - they are not in full communion with us, for a variety of reasons.
 
dthurmond said:
Here is a link that gives the break down of the different churches, denominations etc on the Eucharist.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucharist#Lutherans_.E2.80.94_the_sacramental_union:_.22in.2C_with.2C_and_under_the_forms.22

In my reading, I see that the Lutheran belief on the Eucharist is the same as Catholicism.

Therefore, if a person was either raised Lutheran, or attends a Lutheran church, why would a Catholic church not allow that individual to partake in the communion?..Since the belief is the same?
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I guess it could be argued by a high church Lutheran that they believe the same about the Eucharist as Catholics. I don’t believe they accept Transubstantiation, but that is up for some Lutheran to tell me.

We do not accept that they have a legitimate and valid Priesthood to consecrate the species of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. Maybe some Lutheran would like to comment.

I have seen on TV, ministers say that any elements, bread, and even water, in some manner become the Eucharist. I could not follow any reasoning there. This does not mean that Lutherans would do the same, but if you have no legitimate priesthood, it is all the same, bread, water, grape juice, wine.

I would like to hear a Lutheran’s view on the matter.

peace
 
jmcrae said:
Two things, only, that you are not allowed to do.

I am quite sure that I would not be allowed to vote at your Session meetings or Board of Elders without signifying in some way that I affirm your core beliefs, but you don’t see me getting upset about that. I don’t go around saying that Methodists “deny democracy” to Catholics. 😉
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First, I didn’t know that I was excluded from confession till now. I’ve actually known a number of protestants who have gone to confession at one time or another, many being helped by talking with the priest there. Maybe the priest didn’t treat it as confession, but no one that has told me about the experience realizes that.

Second, my point that I made to LilyM still remains. We United Methodists don’t treat Catholics the same way the Catholics treat United Methodists, which means that her statement is false:
Obviously you guys believe the same thing of your respective churches [that somehow God dresses up nice on Sunday goes to the Catholic church then phones it in to the Baptists down the street], to a greater or lesser extent, otherwise we’d see all y’all at Catholic Mass a whole lot more often, no?
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We don’t believe that. Nothing even close to that. It is something she is projecting on us that simply isn’t true. But it does seem by the way she phrased it that she affirms that it is true of your beliefs with regard to us.

Do you believe in accordance with the views she has expressed as well?
 
Grace_Seeker said:
First, I didn’t know that I was excluded from confession till now. I’ve actually known a number of protestants who have gone to confession at one time or another, many being helped by talking with the priest there. Maybe the priest didn’t treat it as confession, but no one that has told me about the experience realizes that.
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Or else the priest didn’t realize that they were Protestants. Did they say the Act of Contrition and receive Absolution?
Second, my point that I made to LilyM still remains. We United Methodists don’t treat Catholics the same way the Catholics treat United Methodists, which means that her statement is false: We don’t believe that. Nothing even close to that. It is something she is projecting on us that simply isn’t true. But it does seem by the way she phrased it that she affirms that it is true of your beliefs with regard to us.
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Do you believe in accordance with the views she has expressed as well?
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What I believe is that Jesus Christ founded the Catholic Church (because of evidence from Scripture and history), and that He is present, Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Taberacle and after the Consecration at Mass.

I do not believe that Jesus Christ founded any of the post-Reformation non-Catholic Christian churches, nor that He can be present Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in those places.

I certainly think that He can be present in a spiritual way, and that He gives them whatever grace they can receive from the things that they do, and I also believe that He does not hold people accountable for things that they don’t know anything about or that they can’t understand very well.

For myself, I left Protestantism to become a Catholic because I wanted to get to Heaven on the basis of a clear and honest relationship with Jesus Christ, rather than on the basis of my ignorance of history and my lack of ability to comprehend things.

I’m still something of an idiot, as most people will freely tell you, but at least I now know where to find accurate information, and most importantly of all, I know where the Holy Grail is, and I have drunk out of it in a state of grace, thus uniting myself with my True Love, Jesus Christ, and to me, that’s the most important thing. 🙂
 
mgrfin said:
I guess it could be argued by a high church Lutheran that they believe the same about the Eucharist as Catholics. I don’t believe they accept Transubstantiation, but that is up for some Lutheran to tell me.

We do not accept that they have a legitimate and valid Priesthood to consecrate the species of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. Maybe some Lutheran would like to comment.

I have seen on TV, ministers say that any elements, bread, and even water, in some manner become the Eucharist. I could not follow any reasoning there. This does not mean that Lutherans would do the same, but if you have no legitimate priesthood, it is all the same, bread, water, grape juice, wine.

I would like to hear a Lutheran’s view on the matter.

peace
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Lutherans believe in the Real Presence but do not believe in Transubstantiation. They believe in what they describe as the “Sacramental Union”. It is described as Christ’s body and blood being “in, with and under” the bread and wine.
 
jmcrae said:
For myself, I left Protestantism to become a Catholic because I wanted to get to Heaven on the basis of a clear and honest relationship with Jesus Christ, rather than on the basis of my ignorance of history and my lack of ability to comprehend things.

I’m still something of an idiot, as most people will freely tell you, but at least I now know where to find accurate information, and most importantly of all, I know where the Holy Grail is, and I have drunk out of it in a state of grace, thus uniting myself with my True Love, Jesus Christ, and to me, that’s the most important thing. 🙂
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And, as I have told you before, I’m glad you have found a home in the Catholic church. It appears to fit you very well.

I just take exception to comments like LilyM made in which she implied that protestants feel that Catholics are not a part of Christ’s true Church in the same way that Catholics do toward protestants. Yes, there are a few that think terrible things with regards to Catholics. I don’t approve of their attitude either. But for LilyM she was basically putting words in my mouth that I would never have said. That is what I object to.
 
Why would you want to take communion in the first place untill you saved by faith alone in Christ?

DLC
 
DLC said:
Why would you want to take communion in the first place untill you saved by faith alone in Christ?

DLC
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How is that relevant? Are you suggesting that someone/some group is taking communion that does not have faith in Christ?
 
Grace_Seeker said:
First, I didn’t know that I was excluded from confession till now. I’ve actually known a number of protestants who have gone to confession at one time or another, many being helped by talking with the priest there. Maybe the priest didn’t treat it as confession, but no one that has told me about the experience realizes that.

Second, my point that I made to LilyM still remains. We United Methodists don’t treat Catholics the same way the Catholics treat United Methodists, which means that her statement is false: We don’t believe that. Nothing even close to that. It is something she is projecting on us that simply isn’t true. But it does seem by the way she phrased it that she affirms that it is true of your beliefs with regard to us.

Do you believe in accordance with the views she has expressed as well?
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If the priest knew you were non-Catholic, I don’t know what would his rationale be to hear your confession, and more, to give you absolution (if he did).

If he did, he doesn’t know his Canon Law very well.

peace
 
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