There may even be one less “real” Christian than I think there is!
I too would love to know this.
Ummm…do you have any proof that what I underlined and bolded? If someone denounces God, then they wouldn’t say they were Catholic/Christian.
So True!!I read on New Advent in an article on their homepage that the number of those who follow all the teachings of the Church is something like <5%, and, if you count up all the US Catholics who have ever spent a single dollar at a Catholic bookstore or volunteered at there parish, it’s only around 1.5 million.
Our Church needs prayers indeed.
There seem to be an awful lot of politicians and other celebs who claim to be Christian or Catholic but support things quite contrary to Church doctrine. I could mention one prominent Congress person who claims to be devout Catholic but recently accepted the Margaret Sanger Award from Planned Parenthood for work in support of abortion.Ummm…do you have any proof that what I underlined and bolded? If someone denounces God, then they wouldn’t say they were Catholic/Christian.
Even the most devout Catholics/Christians are sinners. If someone messes up, that still makes them Catholic/Christian.
I understand that. But the OP said that people claim to be Catholic/Christian but don’t believe in God. I’m not saying that people don’t sin or follow Church teaching like they are supposed to. I’m saying that I’m sure these people, even when they are blatantly going against The Church, aren’t denouncing God. They still believe, they just may have a distorted view. I have never heard of a person who has said, “I’m a Catholic/Christian, but I don’t believe in God.”There seem to be an awful lot of politicians and other celebs who claim to be Christian or Catholic but support things quite contrary to Church doctrine. I could mention one prominent Congress person who claims to be devout Catholic but recently accepted the Margaret Sanger Award from Planned Parenthood for work in support of abortion.
I agree with you.
The premise of your statement would seem to be that when one sins, or entertains some doubt, one ceases to be a “true” Catholic. I don’t believe that to be doctrinally or theologically correct, whatever your definition of “true” may be.
Agreed. I also agree with Deanna83. How can you tell for sure? Some people believe that “real” or “true” Catholics are those who not only believe in the Creed but who also regularly attend mass, participate in the sacraments, read the bible, and pray daily. Others would add that a real/true Catholic goes the extra mile by evangelizing or performing acts of charity for those in need. Both are valid definitions.
If we freely choose to sin it doesn’t necessarily mean we are atheists, it just means we are human…thankfully even though we do stupid things like sin willingly, and knowingly, Christ instituted the sacrament of reconciliation to repair the damage we’ve done to our relationship with God …and, while atheists probably would not go to confession, Catholics do!
Good point. But I was only talking about the actual time when we Catholics/Christians are willingly indulging in the sin. During that time, we want nothing to do with God. So, in this way, I say that we (at least those of us who repeatedly struggle with mortal sins) are temporarily like atheists. But kind of like what you are saying, the difference between this and being a committed atheist is that we do come back. Although many who are committed atheists became that way after not coming back. The way I see it is I had my big conversion to Christianity, and since then I’ve had a lot of little conversions because of my struggles with sin.
Have you heard about “culture Catholics?” It’s a derogatory term, so I don’t use it, but it’s the most well-known term that describes Catholics who view the “Catholic” label as one of inheritance (e.g. I grew up in a Catholic household, therefore I am Catholic). I knew a couple Catholics in college (as in they were baptized and Confirmed) who completely reject the religion but call themselves Catholic out of heritage.
