Is there any difference between a Protestant and a dissident Catholic who obstinately rejects Church authority?

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livingwordunity

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Is there any difference between a Protestant and a dissident Catholic who obstinately rejects key doctrines of faith and morals of the Church such as on abortion and marriage and who obstinately rejects the authority of the Pope and the Magisterium?

I don’t mean to offend any Protestants with this comparison.

🙂
 
To clarify - are you looking for answers from Protestant perspectives? You’ve posted this question in the ‘Non-Catholic Religions’ Forum…
 
When to boil it down to the least common denominator… no difference at all.

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steido01 said:
To clarify - are you looking for answers from Protestant perspectives? You’ve posted this question in the ‘Non-Catholic Religions’ Forum…
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I’m curious to see opinions from Catholics and Protestants. By the way, this isn’t about when a Catholic sins or struggles with sin since that applies to all of us including myself. 🙂
 
livingwordunity said:
Is there any difference between a Protestant and a dissident Catholic who obstinately rejects key doctrines of faith and morals of the Church such as on abortion and marriage and who obstinately rejects the authority of the Pope and the Magisterium?

I don’t mean to offend any Protestants with this comparison.

🙂
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I would say there is a difference. Firstly, most Protestants are not “obstinately” rejecting anything. Most have no idea what the Church teaches–they are Protestant because they were brought up Protestant.

Secondly, I would say that even Catholics who are doing what you say may be misinformed about their faith and have come to simply accept what society around them tells them is what they should think and believe. A good many Catholics have been poorly catechised. Only those who with full knowledge reject the Church’s teachings can be said to be fully culpable of doing so.
 
Della said:
Secondly, I would say that even Catholics who are doing what you say may be misinformed about their faith and have come to simply accept what society around them tells them is what they should think and believe. A good many Catholics have been poorly catechised. Only those who with full knowledge reject the Church’s teachings can be said to be fully culpable of doing so.
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I’ve seen some Catholics (at least online) that even when presented with the official teaching of the Church such as in the CCC or a Papal encyclical still flat out reject it and show absolutely no respect for the authority from which it comes. And then there are the many politicians who are also like this who boldly continue to trumpet things like “abortion rights” and so-called “same-sex marriage” even after being corrected multiple times by their bishop.

Disclaimer reminder: This isn’t about when a Catholic sins or struggles with sin since that applies to all of us including myself. 🙂
 
The primary difference is that Catholics are subject to Canon Law and the punishments contained therein. A Catholic who is a material heretic is also a formal heretic; whereas with a Protestant, that is not the case.
 
It would depend upon the person involved and his motivations. Only our LORD really knows.

I was Catholic and became a Protestant, then reverted. But at the time of my “deconversion”, I genuinely believed that all religions were equivalent and that which one you found yourself in (or none at all) depended on your family and birthplace. So I was less “dissident” than mistaken.

Each person has his own faith story, and no doubt nearly everybody will meet up in Purgatory.

ICXC NIKA
 
livingwordunity said:
I don’t mean to offend any Protestants with this comparison.
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I don’t see how you wouldn’t offend a well meaning Protestant with this question, even if you say you don’t mean it.

To answer the question, I would say there is a big difference: the Protestant might have been raised with it, whereas a dissident Catholic definitely wasn’t.
 
livingwordunity said:
I’ve seen some Catholics (at least online) that even when presented with the official teaching of the Church such as in the CCC or a Papal encyclical still flat out reject it and show absolutely no respect for the authority from which it comes. And then there are the many politicians who are also like this who boldly continue to trumpet things like “abortion rights” and so-called “same-sex marriage” even after being corrected multiple times by their bishop.

Disclaimer reminder: This isn’t about when a Catholic sins or struggles with sin since that applies to all of us including myself. 🙂
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It would help to see exactly what points are being debated. Sometimes there’s confusion over interpretation of Church documents. Sometimes the beam in our own eye blocks our view of the mote in our brother’s eye.

Even though you’ve added a disclaimer, Catholics believe in ‘invincible ignorance.’ One cannot look at another and know exact circumstances. We are not equal in intellect, knowledge, wisdom, guidance, piety, strength of faith, or fear of the Lord even.
 
GEddie said:
It would depend upon the person involved and his motivations. Only our LORD really knows.

I was Catholic and became a Protestant, then reverted. But at the time of my “deconversion”, I genuinely believed that all religions were equivalent and that which one you found yourself in (or none at all) depended on your family and birthplace. So I was less “dissident” than mistaken.

Each person has his own faith story, and no doubt nearly everybody will meet up in Purgatory.

ICXC NIKA
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👍
 
livingwordunity said:
Is there any difference between a Protestant and a dissident Catholic who obstinately rejects key doctrines of faith and morals of the Church such as on abortion and marriage and who obstinately rejects the authority of the Pope and the Magisterium?

I don’t mean to offend any Protestants with this comparison.

🙂
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Of course there is. The Protestant isn’t going to Hell for his beliefs.
 
TheRealJuliane said:
Of course there is. The Protestant isn’t going to Hell for his beliefs.
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There’s a problem with what you said. I implies Catholic would go to hell. As far as I know, the Church teaches we cannot know who will go to hell.
 
aemcpa said:
A Catholic who is a material heretic is also a formal heretic
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Not necessarily. A Catholic who holds a heretical belief but who does not know that the belief is heretical is not guilty of formal heresy.
 
RyanBlack said:
Not necessarily. A Catholic who holds a heretical belief but who does not know that the belief is heretical is not guilty of formal heresy.
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True. I was imprecise; I was referring to the dissident, obstinate Catholic referred to in the original post.
 
Prodigal_Son1 said:
There’s a problem with what you said. I implies Catholic would go to hell. As far as I know, the Church teaches we cannot know who will go to hell.
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OK, for the Protestant, since he’s not Catholic, he isn’t judged on the same basis. For the Catholic, his chances of going to hell are increased because he’s in a heretic state and probably stacking up mortal sins.
 
aemcpa said:
We can judge material and formal heresy. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be such a thing.
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We are saying the same thing. I qualified that we cannot see inside someone’s heart and know their intent. Knowledge is required.
 
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