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everyoneshero
Guest
I am so tired of people saying things about protestant people and assuming they all believe the same things.
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Rightlydivide
Guest
It is true…generally speaking I am tired of generalizations too. The word is almost meaningless. It is far better to try to be specific or carefully add your adjectives like “some”, “the majority of” etc etc.
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Rex_Tremendae
Guest
Has it every occurred to you that you do the same thing to the Holy Catholic Church?
Protestantism is nonsense- the product of the arrogance and pride of men.
EDIT: Why do Prots come here and complain? This is a CATHOLIC forum.
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everyoneshero
Guest
Actually, it has occured to me as I have been attending Catholic mass for about a year now. I as a personal choice do not see the point in becoming Catholic at this point when I already have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
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Rightlydivide
Guest
I do not think you are allowed to use Prots. Its in the rules. It is always important to follow the rules. When in Rome…do as the Romans do…
It is a non-Catholic thread and besides people like us here. It gives them someone to demean or argue against. Or, on some occasions, someone to be nice to as well.
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Rex_Tremendae
Guest
Have you ever attended a Tridentine Mass?
rightlydivided- Is it in the rules? If it is, then I shall abstain from using it.
You are right though, there is nothing more fun than making fun of Protestants.
- Martin Luther
Martin Luther should have named it the 95 Feces.
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everyoneshero
Guest
I was actually just curious as to how a Catholic person feels about this subject because it is something I think about often. Also, I think it is nice that its not “No protestants allowed”, whats wrong with being challenged once and awhile?
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Rightlydivide
Guest
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everyoneshero
Guest
I am really not sure what you are trying to say here.
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Prodigal_Son1
Guest
First, welcome to the forums! :tiphat:
Are you speaking about Catholics assuming that Protestants all believe the same things?
Most Catholics, that I know, think there are many Protestant denominations with just as many doctrines based on private interpretation of scriptures. We feel this is a negative derived from the reformation.
Christ formed one Church. It wasn’t until the 1500s that Martin Luther started his reformation, outside of the Catholic Church, based on his belief of private interpretation. Once this theory became known, many of his followers “reformed” and started their own Church. The splits continued, and still continue.
Depending on someone’s private interpretation, a new doctrine was or is formed for a new Protestant Church.
This is why Catholics consider Protestants our “separated” brethren. That is, the Catholic Church was, and still is, the fullness of truth. Martin Luther took some of those truths with him to start his Church. Most of all Protestants Churchs have a part of the truth that came from the Catholic Church, through Martin Luther’s reformation.
The Bible canon was defined by the Catholic Church around 400AD. Martin Luther re-defined the Protestant version of the Bible in the 1500s. His version excluded 7 books, that are still in the Catholic Bible.
But this subject will take us off topic of this thread. I just wanted you to know most of the Catholics, I know, certainly do not believe all Protestant denominations believe the same thing.
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MarcoPolo
Guest
I agree with your OP, as it is difficult to sort out the many differing beliefs among Christian churches.
To this post, perhaps I can offer you a reason why, that I recently posted for someone else who was considering joining the Catholic Church but wondered if rejecting the Church would matter:
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Eucharisted
Guest
I’m tired of everyone using generalizations! 
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Prodigal_Son1
Guest
There’s nothing wrong with being “challenged” once in awhile. It’s alway nice if the challenge comes from someone with an open mind and willing to learn.
The best thing to do, is browse the threads and find subjects you have questions about. If you can’t find one, feel free to start one on a particular subject.
Also, please realize many have discussed many of the subjects many, many times and may not show the patience in a discussion you feel it deserves. Be charitable and most will return the charitability.
Again, welcome to CAF!
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Belloc_Fan
Guest
Agreed. I’ve been frustrated the last few days with how smug some Catholics on here act towards Protestants. I hope that this is just because (a) it’s online, and (b) they’re defensive about what they view as an attack on the Faith. Obviously, it’s easy, when someone mischaracterizes your belief system to get hostile. There’s a lot to be said for thinking, or better yet, praying, before you type, and before you push submit.
The truth is, all generalizations are (almost by definition) inaccurate: even when we say uncontroversial things, like “Americans are too into consumerism,” we’re certainly grouping some good apples in there. I agree with the second poster, who says words like “some” or “most” can help us get around this.
Even those of us Catholics who realize that there’s nuance in Protestantism can have a lot of trouble grasping it. Each of the major faith traditions within Protestantism - Lutheranism, Calvinism, Methodism, Arminianism, Anglicanism, (and if you consider it Protestant) Pentecostalism - have at least a century (some much more) of history and doctrinal development. There are those who embrace congregational polity, presbyterian polity, and episcopal polity. Certain trends, like Calvinism, are doctrinal developments that cut horizontally across denominations, so a Calvinist Southern Baptist likely has more in common with a Calvinist Presbyterian than he does with an Arminian Southern Baptist. From my conversations with friends, it seems that it can be pretty confusing for cradle Protestants. And for those of us who grow up in the Catholic Church, the whole thing seems sort of confusing.
I try and avoid generalizations, but to be honest, there’s not really any positive,* universally Protestant belief at all. There doesn’t seem to be anything that **all and only **Protestants affirm. But there are certain things which are distinctively, if not universally, Protestant: sola fide, sola scriptura, the primacy of individual judgment and reason over the authority of ecclesiastic councils, and faith is generally described more in relation to the individual alone (“personal relationship with Jesus” tends to be the focal point) than with the individual as part of an earthly Body (the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ).
*by positive, I mean that Protestants share things which they reject: the structure and authority of the Church, almost always the Deuterocanon (they’d say Apocrypha), etc.
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Belloc_Fan
Guest
I’m elated that you’re going to Mass. I don’t think that Catholics would suggest you don’t have a relationship with Jesus, but I think that there are two things which we can offer in addition, which might justify a conversion:
(1) the Eucharist. This is the physical Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. If you believe this, than I think it justifies converting, no matter what the cost.
(2) the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church. Jesus said in Matthew 13:45-46, “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he found a pearl of great value, he went out and sold everything he had and bought it." In Matthew 16:19, He gives to Peter the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. If Jesus is right that the Kingdom of Heaven is worth everything, then surely it is worth voluntarily subjugating ourselves to Peter and his successors. [as a side note, while there’s lingering debate within Protestant camps over Matthew 16:18’s use of the term *petra, there’s no question that Matthew 16:19 is directly at Peter individually].
#1 and #2 are certainly connected. St. Paul explicitly connected Catholic unity and the Eucharist in 1 Corinthians 10:17, “Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.”
Jesus prayed in John 17:
His meaning is clear. A complete unity, “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind struggling together for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27), is needed for us to convert the world. Conversely, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and no town or house divided against itself will stand.” (Matthew 12:25). As Ben Franklin said, “We must indeed all hang together, or most assuredly, we will all hang separately.”
Our own souls, as well as the souls of all non-Christians, hang in the balance. How many people have remained unconverted throughout history due to our centuries of infighting? How much more good for Christ could be done if the hordes of Protestants converting Latin American Catholics every day were converting, say, non-Christians? This fighting has marred Christian’s record (additionally, anti-Catholicism lead to what is known as the Black Legend, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Legend, which convinces non-Christians that Christians are awful people - this is just one example among many, of course).
Even if factionalism weren’t a damnable sin, as St. Paul says it is in Galatians 5:19-21, we should still want to obey Christ out of love. So I don’t think you’re part of a separate house than Christianity, nor do I think you’re outside of the Church because of malice or pride, but I still wish you’d join our ranks more fully so that we had nothing to squabble about.
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Eucharisted
Guest
In general, yes.Is that generally speaking?
Jon
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reteeks21
Guest
You are absolutely disgusting, especially with your little Luther comment. “But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and it is those things that make a person unclean.” Matthew 15:18. Grow up. Prot. and Cath. alike who act like yourself need to be banned.
Why do you need rules to tell you to be polite and not so rude and venomous? Common sense tells anyone to treat others with charity. Don’t they teach you that in church? I’m so glad you are the exception to the rule here.
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CHESTERTONRULES
Guest
Can you cite a specific example of this generalization you have posted?
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Church_Militant
Guest
I don’t recall doing so.
I generally (no pun intended) wait for the n-C/ Protestant to specify which particular branch or whatever they come from, but most of you folks are non-specific in your profiles, so that isn’t our fault.
Moreover, we have often heard that there is some kind of unity of doctrine among you, which further complicates things because we soon discover that that unity is a fiction.
If you want specific discussions then it would be best if you opened a thread and made your case or asked your question from a single and specific position, otherwise, generalizations are all anyone should be expected to offer.
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