Do Protestants believe that Catholics are Christian?

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Up in my neck of the woods in the “Definitely Not The Bible Belt”, I can count 18 churches in my county’s phone book that are Protestant. Of these churches, possibly two of them would consider Catholicism as a whole not-Christian.

So the ratio is (at best) 1;9 if the metric is by church. However, my county has one megachurch of 400 people or so (that is the one I attend) that is not one of these two (which I think are smaller congregations of 50 or less). So if the metric is by population the ratio is even greater than 1:9.
 
With_Questions said:
Up in my neck of the woods in the “Definitely Not The Bible Belt”, I can count 18 churches in my county’s phone book that are Protestant. Of these churches, possibly two of them would consider Catholicism as a whole not-Christian.

So the ratio is (at best) 1;9 if the metric is by church. However, my county has one megachurch of 400 people or so (that is the one I attend)
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That’s not a megachurch by the normal definition. It’s a moderately large church.
that is not one of these two (which I think are smaller congregations of 50 or less). So if the metric is by population the ratio is even greater than 1:9.
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Yes, that sounds reasonable. Fundamentalists split all the time, so if you count the number of their congregations they seem bigger than they do if you count heads.

But to be fair, in the “Bible Belt” the proportion would be higher.

Edwin
 
Steadfast said:
Unfortunately, this is a website and a messageboard devoted to hi-lighting division, populated, largely, by people who want to “win the internet” thus, any opportunity to see the other as an enemy will not only not be lost but is often actively sought out.
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Very, very true.
 
Contarini said:
I was 14.
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And I was 13 and didn’t know Karl Keating from a hole in the ground. So we were all kids in '88. 😃

But no doubt, Karl did start what was sorely lacking in the United States, which was a better articulation of the faith than existed. I think it was Von Balthasar who called this generation the “hour of the laity.” I think it has helped immensely anyway.
 
My Presbyterian friend’s minister told her that Catholicism was a cult. His definition of a cult was a church that wasn’t based on the bible alone. I don’t think all Presbyterians think this but he was pastor of a large church near Washington, DC.
 
Contarini said:
Mainline Protestants would say without hesitation that Catholics are Christians, because we define Christians as baptized people who profess faith in Jesus Christ, or more strictly as those who believe in the Trinity and the Incarnation. We consider your Communion to be one expression of orthodox Christianity.

Some very conservative confessional Protestants would say that the Roman Communion ceased to be Christian (in the same sense that we might all say that Mormons are not Christians) at some point in history, usually the Council of Trent, which conservative Lutherans and Calvinists and some other Protestants accuse of having “anathematized the Gospel.”

More common among evangelicals is a use of “Christian” to mean “someone who has living faith in Jesus Christ.” Many evangelicals hesitate to say that members of any institutional Church are all Christians, because from their perspective this is a statement about whether people are in a state of grace. Obviously Catholics do not think that all Catholics are in a state of grace! However, it gets trickier, because many, perhaps most evangelicals think that some Catholic teachings tend to obscure the Gospel and get in the way of people having a living relationship with Christ by faith. Generally evangelicals would admit that Protestant denominations do the same thing. They see the job of the Church as the proclamation of the Gospel without too many qualifications or complications. Naturally they think that they, evangelical Protestants, do this best:rolleyes:. And they may be heard to express a concern that many people in more traditional churches (particularly churches that have infant baptism, or a formal, liturgical style of worship, or a hierarchical organization, etc.) may be content with the rote practice of “religion” and thus lack the living faith in Christ that makes someone a “real Christian.” This is often what evangelicals mean when they say things like “some Catholics are Christians, and some aren’t.” They would say that the same is true of Protestant denominations, but they generally and understandably think that their own churches are likely to have a relatively higher proportion of “real Christians,” over against Catholics (except for Catholic churches that really emphasize personal faith, such as parishes influenced by the charismatic movement) or non-evangelical Protestants. This does not mean that these evangelicals consider Catholicism to be an invalid form of Christianity. It has to do with their rather idiosyncratic use of the word “Christian,” combined with their doctrinal disagreements with (and practical concerns about) Catholic doctrine and polity.

Edwin
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Thanks for your thoughts Edwin. I’m glad you decided to participate in this thread. As a knowledgeable, and seemingly faithful Episcopalian, you often serve as a bridge here on CAF.

I consider the Episcopal/Anglican church essentially in between mainstream Protestantism and Catholicism, so it’s helpful to get your take on things.

JB
 
:banghead: : confused: It’s difficult to say that Protestants believe that Catholics are Christian? But I think some of Protestants agree with this and some of disagree. Whatever they thinks But I believe deep down yes, they are. In short, some believe a Catholic is a true Christian if they don’t practice Catholicism, but instead the religion of Carm.:banghead:
 
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