Ever notice Protestants say 'Jesus' more, and Catholics use 'Christ' more?

[ahimsaman72]

Evan:

I know if you spend time reading the epistles that ‘Lord Jesus Christ’, ‘Christ Jesus’, ‘Jesus Christ’ etc are everywhere. A single Jesus is found but many times so is a single Christ.

I would not use the bible as a reason for the difference. Only in the Gospels do we find ‘Jesus’ consistently refered to without titles.

For example, Romans Chapter 1 begins
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.

Which he had promised before, by his prophets, in the holy scriptures,

Concerning his Son, who was made to him of the seed of David, according to the flesh,

Who was predestinated the Son of God in power, according to the spirit of sanctification, by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead:

By whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith, in all nations, for his name:

Among whom are you also the called of Jesus Christ:

To all that are at Rome, the beloved of God, called to be saints. Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

First, I give thanks to my God, through Jesus Christ, for you all: because your faith is spoken of in the whole world.

Hello Evan,

Yes, to be sure the Epistles refer to Jesus by His titles, of course. Paul used them intentionally because of the theological implications behind using them.

I did a search and found that all NT books except for Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Hebrews and Revelation use titles associated with Jesus consistently. That would mean the bulk of books include titles. These are of course doctrinal in nature compared to the biographical books which do not include titles consistently.

So, your point is valid. I still see my point as valid also. The gospels are the heart of the Bible and are the most read (by laypeople) and preached passages of Scripture in the Baptist churches I grew up in. I certainly don’t think it’s the only reason, but is one of them.

Others have mentioned the personal nature of a relationship with Jesus as a factor in referring to him in a personal way. That is a valid point also in my life. When speaking to others about Jesus (as I often did) I never referred to him as Jesus Christ my Lord. I referred to him as Jesus. And, let me tell you, most people I talked to knew who I was talking about . I never saw that adding his title made any difference on any level, so why add it?
Peace…

 

[Protestante]

I think that this is a VERY broad statement. I think we say Christ very often.

 

[GoLatin]

Jabronie:

Actually, Protestants pronounce it, “JAAAAY-sus”. Sorry, that wasn’t very nice at all. :bigyikes:

I thought that only red-faced preachers from the South said “Jesus” that way.

 

[1962Missal]

I think that it is largely a cultural difference. Evangelicalism is culturally American, with all the informality, and enforced PC egalitarianism, of the Land of the Handshake. Just as one is likely to quickly be on a first name basis with someone you’ve just met in America, so do Evangelicals go straight to Jesus.

Catholicism’s European roots run deep. The Catholic Church still bears the manners of an older, more courtly, ceremonious, and hierarchical society. Old Frenchmen may still call each other Monsieur when they’ve been lifelong friends. And the practice of how one behaves in the presence of royalty is still alive in many European countries. The Church bears much of that with her. One bows to the Altar, kisses the Bishop’s ring, and genuflects to the Blessed Sacrament. Calling our Lord “Christ” is part of the whole “Monarchical” package.

As an aside, the relationship works the other way, too. Orthodox and Eastern Rite Catholics (distant echoes of the Byzantine Empire) often find us Latins to be frighteningly familiar when speaking of sacred things. I’ve an acquaintance who shudders every time I speak of Mary. He will only refer to her as “The Theotokos”.

Justin

 

[tjmiller]

Well said!
And it brings to mind a similar question applicable to Catholics:
how many of us say just plain old “Mary” most of the time, and how many of us prefer to say, “Our Lady”, “the Blessed Virgin”, etc.?

(Count me among the latter…)