How Catholics view protestants

[KingdomKey]

In my limited understanding, it seems that most prodistants have issues with whether or not Catholics will go to hell (it seems they think they will). Do Catholics think that prodistants will go to hell?

And is Prodistant properly capitalized??

 

[Bonnie]

Whether or not any Catholics or Protestants go to hell is up to God. There are many Protestants who are good Christians. Many Protestant churches hold the same belief about Catholics. When I was a Protestant I heard very little against the Catholic Church. Mostly it was a matter of thinking, why be Catholic when you can be Pentecostal?

 

[holy_wood]

In my limited understanding, it seems that most prodistants have issues with whether or not Catholics will go to hell (it seems they think they will). Do Catholics think that prodistants will go to hell?

And is Prodistant properly capitalized??

For one thing its “Protestants” as in they protested Holy Mother Church.

I’m Catholic and I do’nt think my Protestant friends are going to go to Hell for there beliefs as long as they did not denounce the church do to pride, bigotry, or sin.

 

[dosdog]

In my limited understanding, it seems that most prodistants have issues with whether or not Catholics will go to hell (it seems they think they will). Do Catholics think that prodistants will go to hell?

And is Prodistant properly capitalized??

The presents the three criteria that must be satisfied for a sin to be mortal. First, the act committed must be considered grave or serious matter. Mortal sins are heinous in the eyes of God. Throughout the moral section of the , some sins are noted as “gravely sinful” (No. 2268). For example, “The fifth commandment forbids direct and intentional killing as gravely sinful.” Second, the sinner must have full knowledge of the sinful character of the act; in other words, he must be acting with an informed intellect and must know this act violates God’s eternal law. Third, the sinner must give full consent of the will, meaning that he has reflected on doing the action and deliberately wants to do it.

Mortal sin destroys our union with God and the presence of sanctifying grace in our souls. Because these are heinous actions in the eyes of God, for a person to knowingly and willingly commit them indicates a turning away from the love of God. Anyone conscious of a mortal sin must undergo an interior conversion and then receive forgiveness and absolution through the sacrament of penance. Until making a good confession and receiving sacramental absolution, anyone conscious of being in a state of mortal sin cannot receive holy Communion, except under extraordinary circumstance, e.g. no possibility of going to confession (Cf. , No. 1457). Moreover, an unrepentant person guilty of mortal sin objectively risks eternal damnation in hell; however, “although we can judge that an act is in itself a grace offense, we must entrust judgment of a person to the justice and mercy of God” (, No. 1861).

Sadly, some individuals misconstrue fundamental option in such a way there are no particular mortal sins. Instead, the one “mortal sin” which would take a soul to hell is for a person to willingly, knowingly reject God and His love entirely. Such a stance would reduce fundamental option to some psychological game, whereby a person says, “I love God. I do not reject God. My individual choices or particular actions do not affect my total being. Therefore, although I committed adultery, or murdered someone, or fornicated, or robbed the bank, (or committed any other mortal sin), God still loves me, I love God, and I think I am going to heaven.” Think again. While only God can probe the depths of our soul and judge a person, objectively, those actions are mortal sins. To choose mortal sin indicates a contempt for the divine law. To commit such actions evidences a lack of love for God and for neighbor. In essence, particular mortal sins show a rejection of God.
ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/MORTSIN.HTM

 

[Sixtus]

KingdomKey posted:

How Catholics view Protestants

We see Protestants as our Seperated Brethren with the emphasis often on ‘brethren’ rather than ‘separated’.

I have some very good friends who are Protestants. A 100% committed Catholic, I have in the past and for several years been a regular attender at a Protestant [Methodist] Chapel [their service fitting in nicely with the end of Sunday Mass].

My wife by pure coincidence is involved with a Methodist Chapel in another part of town and is a regular attender with other practicisng Catholic women. She too is 100% Catholic. A very good friend of mine is an Anglican Minister [Rector].

There are doctrinal and theological issues which seperate us. But at the local- level, Catholics and Protestants are still brothers and sisters in Christ. Christian Charity does not allow us to be negative, do negative or think of who is or is not going to hell; that is the sole jurisidiction of Almighty God. We are called by Christ ‘to love’ I love my unified and separated brethren equally.

God bless you

 

[Contarini]

In my limited understanding, it seems that most prodistants have issues with whether or not Catholics will go to hell (it seems they think they will).

No. Most Protestants do not think that, though of course Catholics may go to hell (as may Protestants)! No religious affiliation is a guarantee against hell.

Edwin

 

[Tonks40]

No. Most Protestants do not think that, though of course Catholics may go to hell (as may Protestants)! No religious affiliation is a guarantee against hell.

Edwin

True - association (with either being Catholic or Protestant) does not equate guaranteed salvation.

 

[BeProf]

Not to be a downer, but…

Will there be plenty of Catholics in Hell? Yes. There will also be plenty of Methodists, Lutherans, Anglicans, Baptists, Evangelicals, and fill-in-the-blanks in Hell too. It’s a hard reality to face but the fact of the matter is that (without being presumptuous) most of the people in our churches are “pew warmers” and not much else. They’re there for many reasons , but ultimately they’re not there for Jesus. They live like the Devil on Saturday and show up on Sunday and think that they’re “safe” because they got baptized or they said the Sinner’s Prayer or they had some kind of “experience”. When they get to Final Judgement, they’re going to have a surprise waiting for them because they just went through the motions and never had any real conversion. Am I in that number? God, I hope not. I trust that I’m not. I have assurance that I’m not. But ultimately (even speaking as a Calvinist) I won’t know for certain until I get there.

But on the other hand, there will be plenty of Catholics and Lutherans, and Methodists, and Baptists, and fill-in-the-blanks in Heaven too. And on that day, the division we see now won’t matter. We’ll all meet together at the same altar and receive communion from the same hands - the hands of our great High Priest, the hands that were pierced for our sins.

<cue “When We All Get to Heaven”>

 

[kaycee]

Not to be a downer, but…

Will there be plenty of Catholics in Hell? Yes. There will also be plenty of Methodists, Lutherans, Anglicans, Baptists, Evangelicals, and fill-in-the-blanks in Hell too. It’s a hard reality to face but the fact of the matter is that (without being presumptuous) most of the people in our churches are “pew warmers” and not much else. They’re there for many reasons , but ultimately they’re not there for Jesus.

Yup, there will however be no real Christians in Hell.

 

[Church_Militant]

Yup, there will however be no real Christians in Hell.

Well duh, right?

 

[Ani_Ibi]

Sadly, some individuals misconstrue fundamental option in such a way there are no particular mortal sins.

It’s been years since I heard the term ‘fundamental option.’ Actually I thought it had gone out of use. How are you using it here?

…The traditional understanding of a person’s fundamental option is that it can be changed according to concrete acts… More recent theories associated with fundamental option have attempted to separate the fundamental option from a person’s acts…

…Some contemporary theologians deny that an individual act, even though it involves grave matter, full knowledge, and free consent (i.e., mortal sin), can separate man from God. In other words, they say that man’s fundamental option is not eradicated by individual sins, no matter how grave, even when done willingly and with full knowledge of this gravity.

As Pope John Paul II notes, “According to these theologians, mortal sin, which separates man from God, only exists in the rejection of God, carried out at a level of freedom which is neither to be identified with an act of choice nor capable of becoming the object of conscious awareness” (Veritatis Splendor no. 69).

According to the Church, individual acts of sin have the capacity to reorient the person, effectively changing the direction of his fundamental option. Venial sin that is not repented of can slowly lead a person to mortal sin (Catechism, no. 1863).

Mortal sin (see Catechism, nos. 1857-59) destroys the life of God within us, thus making necessary “a new initiative of God’s mercy and a conversion of heart” (Catechism, no. 1856). While venial sin can slowly reorient us to the point that our fundamental option is altered completely, mortal sin accomplishes this change in one act.

 

[Jerry-Jet]

Protestants who don’t know better and do not die in a state of mortal sin go to Heaven.

All Protestants who do know better–who resist the Holy Spirit drawing them towards the Catholic Church–who mortally sin and die without perfect contrition for their mortal sins–

Those Protestants do go to Hell.

It really is that simple and Jesus will Justly and Mercifully Perfectly judge.

But not to single out just Protestants–the same is true for everyone!

If anything Catholics will be judged to a higher standard because they do know the truth and can die in a state of grace by availing themselves of the Sacrament of Reconciliation where imperfect contrition suffices.

Not to mention all the other sacraments or fountains of grace that they have access to.

Here’s the one thing that most people don’t want to face: It is very easy for anyone to go to Hell!

Jesus said “The road to eternal life is narrow and few there are that find it.”

Jesus does not lie.

Few never has meant a majority.

Are you better than most in God’s eyes?

You better better be one of the few who is better than most.

If you aren’t you’ll join the majority that goes down the wide road to Hell.

Lord have mercy on all of us sinners!

 

[Renton405]

No. Most Protestants do not think that, though of course Catholics may go to hell (as may Protestants)! No religious affiliation is a guarantee against hell.

Edwin

Wouldnt a christian going to hell be a contradiction in terms based on the promise of Christs blood??

 

[Sixtus]

Christians can apostacise.

But offered Christ on their death-bed it is difficult to see how anyone would take a different route…unless they were seriously mentally ill or possessed.

 

[Jerry-Jet]

Most people die the same way that they live–if they are unrepentent during their life why would they suddenly repent at death?

I’m not saying that none do–I am saying that most don’t.

 

[Renton405]

So saying a fully confessed genuine penance(write down every sin you can remember) right before death would probably increase manys chances greatly

 

[DebChris]

The ministry of Jesus was about healing. As he healed, he often said “Your sins are forgiven you,” or “Your faith has saved you.” The individuals healed were primarility Israelites with a few Gentiles thrown in–ie the Canaanite woman. It is not the denomination to which we belong that determines whether or not we are saved. We are saved by faith. Being saved by faith does not mean simply claiming the promise of salvation. It means living the life to which God has called each of us. "It is not the one who cries “Lord, Lord, who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of the Father.”
Each of us will be called into account at the judgment seat. It is Jesus, not I who knows who will admitted to heaven and who will be cast into Gehenna.

 

[Contarini]

Wouldnt a christian going to hell be a contradiction in terms based on the promise of Christs blood??

No. Evangelicals often use “Christian” to mean someone with a saving faith in Christ. Christ has indeed promised that by His blood such people will be saved, but obviously that is not merely a matter of “religious affiliation.”

Edwin

 

[Teeliumtrozzle]

I don’t.I respect Prodestants and communicate with them through interfaith dialougue.I do not agree with their Doctrine, but I respect them.They love Jesus just as much as us.We are all Christians.I have a Baptist and SDA friend.

 

[KingdomKey]

I knew my spelling was way off. Sorry about that!

Thank you for explaining. I don't live in a very Catholic area, and because of that and some assumptions I was raised with, I just wanted to clarify. My knowledge of such things is very limited, and I'd rather go to the source.