Does the church YOU attend talks about the Catholic Church?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Patavium
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
I was raised a protestant. When I was going to a Lutheran Church about a year ago, I only heard the Catholic Church mentioned once on reformation day. Oddly enough, this was the only time I ever heard Martin Luther mentioned in that church too.

When I was going to a very nationaly popular non-denomonational church when I was a kid I only remember the Catholic Church mentioned once.

I was in Sunday School. I was probably 10 or 11 years old at the time. Another kid asked our sunday school teacher (This Sunday school teacher was a ex Catholic) “Do Catholics use the same Bible as us?” My teacher told him somthing along the lines of “For the most part yes, but they have additional books”. This of course is true. But then he said “But I think they change their bible every ten years or so”

I am not kidding about this! I remember as a kid thinking “Man, those Catholics are weird” because of that teachers statement.

Other than that I cannot remember when else I heard the RCC mentioned.
 
i once foolishly attended an “end of times” seminar in a new community i had just moved to. it was summertime and i took care of my grandson during the day, so i looked forward to finding adult activities to do in the evening. the seminar lasted several days. it was not held at a particular church, but at the library at the university in town in an auditorium. there were probably about 75-100 peope who attended each evening.
i attended the first night and saw some other people from my parish there. the first night was interesting and i found the man very knowledgable of scripture and it was a nice evening. i looked forward to going back. the second night was just as interesting. it was the second or third night that i asked which church was putting this on and the people were so friendly and they said they were 7th Day Adventists. i was open minded and the community i had just moved from my naturopathic doctor was 7th Day Adventist and she also was very friendly and helpful.
anyhow, th 4th or 5th night, the attacks on Catholics began with the seminar. it started with the death of John Hus. i was a little taken aback at the animosity expressed towards the Catholic church. i admit and the Popes do as well, that the Catholic Church has been guilty of some bad things, but it is history and the death of John Hus happened 800 years ago, in the 15th century. my heart started beating rapidly and i thought to myself, what wil i be hearing here.
so, the next night i sat with the other Catholics from my parish, which was a good thing because he really let the Catholic church have it that night. i couldn’t beieve what i was hearing. he also knew that there were Catholics in the audience and he seemed pleased that we were hearing him bash our Church. they had raffles every night and, surprisingly,
2 of us from my parish, including me, had won one of their Bibles (I have since given mine away to a used bookstore because i didn’t want it in my house!)
two of us never went back, but the other 3 did.
so beware of 7th Day Adventists. it was sad, because, they really were nice people, but once they began attacking the Catholic church, i just couldn’t allow mysef to attend any more nights of the seminar.
 
I don’t like mentioning this, but at the Alliance Church I went to would have a lot of people being baptised that were former Catholic. They all had a similar story about how they grew up in the Catholic Church and were not true Christians (apparently when they visited that church, they were told the Catholics had “false teaching.” ) I know now that my former chrch was not a good one. They have no right to condemn a person or another Christian denomination. They just wanted to make sure they would keep all their members and get a lot more.
They were very driven by money, I think. They would announce at the church that it was their goal to have a certain amount of members who donated several thousand a year. That was used to make those who did not have high incomes feel guilty so they would either leave or give them every penny they had.
 
Jesusismyfriend said:
I don’t like mentioning this, but at the Alliance Church I went to would have a lot of people being baptised that were former Catholic. They all had a similar story about how they grew up in the Catholic Church and were not true Christians (apparently when they visited that church, they were told the Catholics had “false teaching.” ) I know now that my former chrch was not a good one. They have no right to condemn a person or another Christian denomination. They just wanted to make sure they would keep all their members and get a lot more.
They were very driven by money, I think. They would announce at the church that it was their goal to have a certain amount of members who donated several thousand a year. That was used to make those who did not have high incomes feel guilty so they would either leave or give them every penny they had.
Click to expand...
wow. Which Alliance Church was that? I attended a CMA and they seldom said anything about the Catholic Church. That was in the 70s.
 
Wisely said:
We bash 'em in every wednesday at Bible Study lol.
But only in doctrinal things.
Click to expand...
hahaha lol. I attend bible study also, we get together two times a month, and we bash the Protestants also at times lol.
 
I consider myself to be ‘Christian’ rather than methodist, though I was baptized and confirmed in a methodist church. They never really mention the catholic church that much in sermons, and only occasionally has catholic church been painted in a negative light. We do learn about our catholic heritage in confirmation classes. And during many bible studies we will discuss certain important catholic figures and saints in a positive light. However, the modern methodist church does not believe in canonization or praying to a certain saint. The general belief is that all believers are to be considered saints. So while we honor certain figures who are important to church history, we don’t treat saints the way the catholic church does.
 
Patavium said:
A question for our nonCatholic friends, and former nonCatholic friends. Does the Church YOU attend spends time during the services, bible studies, and other church activities talking about the Catholic Church?

No, not in any Methodist Church I have attended (and I’m old:))

My experience

I am a born and raised Catholic. I lapsed during some period, but returned to the Catholic Church. During my 14 years as Catholic, I went to a Jesuit High School, and I attended for years Mass, I NEVER heard about other noncatholic christians teachings or mentioning of them during Mass. I learned about noncatholic christians through books, and private talk (with fellow catholics, priests) outside the parish services.
Click to expand...
 
As a former Methodist I would sometimes hear stories about the Early Church and Saints which of course did not come from Methodist history and I will admit they did spur a hunger in me to know more about these pieces of Christian history that I had not been brought up on in Sunday School. Our associate pastor was a former Catholic herself and she was the one who would be the most likely to incorporate Early Church figures or people like Mother Theresa into her sermons. As I was going through RCIA this past year, I still attended a women’s Bible study for a while at my old church and there was a Beth Moore study on the book of James and the discussion came up about Catholic belief about Jesus’s brothers as Beth Moore in the DVD kept calling St. James Jesus’s little brother which led to discussion about the perpetual virginity of Mary and my friends were surprised to know that John Wesley also believed this doctrine. It got a little awkward to keep attending the Bible study as I felt as a neophyte Catholic I have so much to learn in my new Church and now is not the time to engage in mini apologetics with my Methodist friends, though I would love to see more ecumenical Bible study as my friends seemed very interested to hear what I had to say about Church history, it was not contentious at all. I like to say I am bilingual now so to speak and I think there really is a middle ground where we can learn so much- I pray every day for Christian unity.

God Bless,

Val
 
In my years attending Methodist churches (one at home and one at college), the Catholic church has never been brought up in a negative way. As I usually attend the traditional service, the liturgy I’ve experienced is very similar to that of a Mass, and that also goes for the Eucharistic liturgy. We cannot focus on our differences if we want to coexist.

That said, I have heard Catholic churches come up in two ways in my church. Once when there was a small fire at a nearby church, and our pastor requested prayers and financial contributions to aid that congregation. The other way was during Confirmation class when I specifically asked how our beliefs were different from Catholics’. Even while answering those questions, the pastor was never disrespectful. Though we may not agree on everything, making enemies doesn’t solve anything.

Long story short, I’ve never heard disrespectful or unnecessary things said about Catholicism at my churches.
 
Yes! That was him. From what we were told, he must have been an exceptionally godly man.
 
Born and raised Seventh Day Adventist before converting to Catholicism, the Catholic Church was frequently mentioned in my denomination in a negative manner as a persecutor of God’s people, the Whore of Babylon, the source of the Mark of the Beast, and the future anti-Christ. Individual Catholics, of course, are to be loved and brought to the Truth.
 
My pastor occasionally makes Catholic references, but not terribly often.

Sometimes they are rather negative. In the service today, for instance, she was talking about how our Protestant tradition lets laypeople read the scriptures in worship, in contrast to the “bad old days” when only the ordained were permitted to. She didn’t explicitly say the word “Catholic”, but it’s obvious what she meant. Today, of course, Catholics let laypeople read too, so it’s a rather moot point.

And in confirmation class she was teaching us this charming little analogy. Apparently it’s from Kierkegaard originally, but she applied it to Protestants and Catholics.

**Catholic view of worship is wrong: Priest=actor, people=audience, God=prompter.
Protestant view of worship is right: People=actors, God=audience, pastor=prompter. **

But on the more positive side, I remember when Pope John Paul II died and she made a sympathetic remark.
 
Bran_Stark said:
My pastor occasionally makes Catholic references, but not terribly often.

Sometimes they are rather negative. In the service today, for instance, she was talking about how our Protestant tradition lets laypeople read the scriptures in worship, in contrast to the “bad old days” when only the ordained were permitted to. She didn’t explicitly say the word “Catholic”, but it’s obvious what she meant. Today, of course, Catholics let laypeople read too, so it’s a rather moot point.

And in confirmation class she was teaching us this charming little analogy. Apparently it’s from Kierkegaard originally, but she applied it to Protestants and Catholics.

**Catholic view of worship is wrong: Priest=actor, people=audience, God=prompter.
Protestant view of worship is right: People=actors, God=audience, pastor=prompter. **

But on the more positive side, I remember when Pope John Paul II died and she made a sympathetic remark.
Click to expand...
Aha… I wonder what she will think of the liturgy in the Early Church.
 
I grew up Presbyterian. In the services, the Catholic church was never explicitly addressed, but you could definitely tell that that’s who they were talking about during faith vs. works sermons and the like. I do remember one sermon where he referenced a Catholic saint who lived on top of a pillar by himself to be closer to God (it was like 5 years ago, so I’m kind of fuzzy on the details ;)). He said that we should not be like St. X, but rather spend our lives evangelizing. Other than that I don’t really remember them addressing the Catholic church in any sermons.

Most people in the Church were fine with Catholics, although I think it was mostly due to the fact that there aren’t many Catholics around here so most people had no experience with them. I remember asking one of the pastors about the Catholic church once. His mom was Catholic, and he said that they are still Christians, although some of their theology is “whack.”

The church also has a school that I went to for 8 years (until 8th grade). This was a completely different story. The “history” and “bible” classes were extremely anti-Catholic. Everything the popes did was all about power and control. They sold indulgences to get rich and promised salvation to anyone willing to fight there wars (the Crusades). The Church systematically squashed all dissent and refused to let common people have access to the Word of God. It’s only by God’s grace that Martin Luther was able escape execution and put Christianity back on track. In 8th grade, we took an ‘Apologetics’ class. I’ll suffice it so say CARM was his the teacher’s favorite resource. We spent time learning to debate people and convince them why they are going to hell if they don’t accept our interpretation of Christianity (including that God made us 6000 years ago).

Needless to say, it’s only by the Grace of God that I’m even here! 😃
 
cajunhillbilly said:
wow. Which Alliance Church was that? I attended a CMA and they seldom said anything about the Catholic Church. That was in the 70s.
Click to expand...
Yeah. One good thing is that you did not have to be a member or frequent attender to take communion. They said that all born-again Christians were welcome to take it.
Usually when I heard about the Catholic church, it was when someone left it to become protestant. There were some members of the Alliance Church that had their own personal opinions about the Catholic Church as well. The main thing they didnt like was that Catholics pray to the saints. They said you should pray to Christ exclusively. There is a way to pray or thank God for the saints without praying in their name right. You can end the prayer in Christs name, which a Catholic Bible study I went to said you must always do.
 
Cavaradossi said:
Yes, we talk about our own Church at every liturgy when we confess faith in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. References to the other churches which call themselves Catholic are sparse, typically when converts from the one of the Latin variety ask questions about doctrinal differences. Once our priest used a story about a Latin priest who ministered to lepers on some island as an example of what a good Christian is like. Otherwise, we do not speak much of your Church.
Click to expand...
St. Damian of Molokai!

I love his biography.
 
Patavium said:
A question for our nonCatholic friends, and former nonCatholic friends. Does the Church YOU attend spends time during the services, bible studies, and other church activities talking about the Catholic Church?

if Yes, Do you know why they did this? What was the purpose?

if now you are Catholic, is this the same experience at Mass in the Catholic Church? or in other activities affiliated directly to the Catholic parish you attend?

My experience

I am a born and raised Catholic. I lapsed during some period, but returned to the Catholic Church. During my 14 years as Catholic, I went to a Jesuit High School, and I attended for years Mass, I NEVER heard about other noncatholic christians teachings or mentioning of them during Mass. I learned about noncatholic christians through books, and private talk (with fellow catholics, priests) outside the parish services.
Click to expand...
The only time my church has ever mention the Catholic Church is a trem as Universal Christian that all believe Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, died for our sins and was resurected from the dead, acended into Heaven and seated at the Right hand of the Father. This is a Universal (Catholic) belief of almost all Christian Churches. The all are the Bride of Jesus Christ,therfore Universal(Catholic).
Peace
 
I have attended a few Calvary Chapels in southern callifornia, Ma and N.C and the Catholic Church was brought up in almost every sermon in a negative light as well as JW’s. I have heard Protestants brought up once in Mass regarding praying for unification through the real presen. Hce of Christ. This was after the priest gave pretty indepth catachesis on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and how many people attending Mass don’t know the Catholic teaching on the sacrifice of the Mass
 
Yes, the Baptist churches, and Calvary Chapel movement churches both, but Calvary more so, teach on the early history of the church.

Mind you, the protestant church is divided out from the Catholic church out of protest (hence the name), but church history is just that, church history. The martyrs of the faith are still the martyrs of the faith. Only the most extreme fringe congregations that can not in any shape call themselves Christian with any honesty deny the link between the Catholics, and say Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Quakers, Amish, etc… We are all united in the faith and salvation through Jesus Christ.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top