MERGED Why do some say the Catholic Church is not Christian?

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bamaster47

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Recently I’ve encountered several people who call themselves Christian, yet reject the status of the Catholic Church as a Christian entity…I’m really wondering why some people hold this view of the Catholic Church.

I’ve had the misfortune of being in the same room with people who were speaking badly of the Catholic Church several times…on one occasion, I was doing some work while a conversation was taking place beside me, and I could hear a friend of mine who is a member of a nondenominational church saying things like “we don’t consider the Catholic Church to be Christian” and “Catholicism is the reason why Christianity is looked down upon.” Even more disappointing than that was hearing another friend of mine, a Catholic, essentially agreeing with him, saying the Catholic Church “doesn’t make sense,” or something to that effect. Needless to say, I was incredibly angered and offended by these remarks, yet I chose to stay out of their conversation, knowing that I was not well-trained in apologetics, and not wanting to be backed into a corner by his aggressive arguments.

On other occasions I’ve heard bashings of the Pope, Papal infallibility, free will, faith and works, Catholic teachings on contraception/abortion, etc. but I know these objections are common and I hold the opinion that many people who have these objections are not fully informed as to the Catholic reasoning behind them. What really bugs me the most is people preaching that the Catholic Church is exactly what is wrong with Christianity, and that it is not Christian in its beliefs.

Could someone please be so kind as to explain why some people hold this view of the Catholic Church? I’m looking specifically for the point of view of members of other Christian denominations who think this way, but anyone with information or an opinion please feel free to post.
 
Sadly, it is division in the Body of Christ that causes such claims to be made. Ignorance is also involved, as is malice in some cases. The spirit of antichrist lives.
 
po18guy really hit the mark! 👍 I would simply add ignorance of what the Catholic Church actually teaches is a major factor. Also, I suppose, there are those who can’t handle what the Church teaches.

Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” John 6:60

(I realize I’ve taken John 6:60 out of context, however, I think it can be applied to many situations.)
 
Sadly that’s what it seems to be - ignorance, malice, evil intention and jealousy. All unbiblical stuff.

Fortunately this only applies to a very small number of people which unfortunately can be found in both sides of the borders. We will notice that Protestants who are sincere in loving God would never say such thing about the Catholic Church, in fact many of them acknowledge her importance and role in Christianity.
 
Well, I can make some assumptions…

A) They are completely misinformed about the Catholic Church’s teachings

B) They hear only about the Church through the anti-Catholic biased media and/or their evangelical preacher

C) Most people when they think they know what they are talking about, completely disreguard a different point of view. This is what fundamentalism is built on.

D) They dislike anything that may contradict their personal beliefs

E) They enjoy attention, criticising things for their own self-confidence.

That practically sums it up I reckon!
When I first embraced the Catholic Church, I fell pray to these ‘evangelists’ quite easily. Now with research on apologetics, I can just laugh these accusations off at how ridiculous they are.
 
bamaster47 said:
Could someone please be so kind as to explain why some people hold this view of the Catholic Church? I’m looking specifically for the point of view of members of other Christian denominations who think this way, but anyone with information or an opinion please feel free to post.
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Unfortunately the fundamentalism (if thats the right term) appears to be esp prevalent and vocal in the US and on the internet. The hatred and ignorance of some unfortunately give ALL Christians a bad name. 😦

Also I think negative media plays a part. Esp here in the UK most news stories concerning the church are negative, and focus on child abuse and homosexuality. Even though the media is secular, with their own agenda, I think the fundamentalists pick up on this, and this increases their view.

Having said this, many non-Catholic Christians actually hold a positive view of the Catholic church. And recognise it as a godly and loving faith. 🙂
 
Dave_B said:
Also I think negative media plays a part. Esp here in the UK most news stories concerning the church are negative, and focus on child abuse and homosexuality. Even though the media is secular, with their own agenda, I think the fundamentalists pick up on this, and this increases their view.
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Notice that, in the secular media, homosexuality is bad only when Priests practise it…
Dave_B said:
Having said this, many non-Catholic Christians actually hold a positive view of the Catholic church. And recognise it as a godly and loving faith. 🙂
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Well, our Anglican brothers and sisters certainly do 👍
 
I totally agree that it’s mostly misunderstanding, though I think ego has a lot to do with it too. Nobody wants to think they “fell for it” when it comes to something as strong as religion, so people are very critical of the issues they don’t understand. I’ve had family and friends ask about these things in particular, so I also added why they understand these things to be un-Christian:


  1. *]Marian Devotion: Mary is given equal treatment to God; prayer goes to her, she’s called special names like “mediatrix” and “co-redemptrix” that put her equal to God, even though the Bible teaches that no person is equal to God. Catholics worship Mary as a God.

    *]Intercession/Mediation: When Catholics pray to Saints they are blatantly commiting a sin (necromancy). Prayer is worship, and to worship anyone other than God is wrong, but Catholics do it anyways.

    *]Repetetive Prayer: The Bible says not to babble and say repetetive prayers, but the Catholics do it all the time.

    *]"Extra books" in the Bible: The Bible is the inspired Word of God and needs no editing or addtions, but the Catholic Church added books to justify their beliefs.

    *]Tradition: Jesus tells us not to put the traditions of man above the Traditions of God, but Catholics hold their man-made traditions as more important than the Bible.

    *]Non-Biblical teachings: Beliefs like purgatory are not mentioned anywhere in the bible, nor is infant baptism, so those things are not Christian teachings.

    The truth about all of these issues can be found on this site, so I added links :D.
 
  1. are orthodox christians " christian?"
  2. Mocking the words of Jesus, if you say that the Catholic Church isn’t Christian
    " No bad tree can bear good fruit. " All other churches( excluding orthodox, for this argument) came either out of the catholic church, or out of a noncatholic church, and all due to a human decision against the original group doctrine or dogma. So if those Churches are good, they are the fruit of a good tree- the catholic church. If the catholic church is bad, then so are all the churches from it, and any churches from them, etc… down to the 33,000th denomination ( or whatever it is ) You can’t have it both ways.
 
traillius said:
  1. are orthodox christians " christian?"
  2. Mocking the words of Jesus, if you say that the Catholic Church isn’t Christian
    " No bad tree can bear good fruit. " All other churches( excluding orthodox, for this argument) came either out of the catholic church, or out of a noncatholic church, and all due to a human decision against the original group doctrine or dogma. So if those Churches are good, they are the fruit of a good tree- the catholic church. If the catholic church is bad, then so are all the churches from it, and any churches from them, etc… down to the 33,000th denomination ( or whatever it is ) You can’t have it both ways.
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Good, but then you will have the occasional loon who buys into the Trail of Blood version of “history”
 
Rightlydivide said:
But our church is not from the Catholic Church…
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AT some point it is. I can tell from previous discussions you are somewhat Calvinist. Modern fundamentalism is a rather modern innovation starting in the US in the 19th century. Fundamentalists are Baptist, and that movement started in the UK in the 18th century. Baptists came out of Scottish Presbyterianism, which was the name given to Calvinism that was exported to Scotland. Calvinism was created out of whole clothe. perhaps with some influence Hus. Your claim that “may Church was never Catholic” is untenable." Learn Church history.
 
traillius said:
its from a human, who I would wager attended another church before starting the one you are in, and not the catholic church.
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The person who started it did not attend another church. It started as a small Bible study after he was saved by a personal evangelism encounter on a college campus. He, other than weddings and funerals, had never really gone to church.
Neither had I! In fact, as an atheist, I actively worked against the Lord with my debates and interactions with others
 
StTommyMore said:
AT some point it is. I can tell from previous discussions you are somewhat Calvinist. Modern fundamentalism is a rather modern innovation starting in the US in the 19th century. Fundamentalists are Baptist, and that movement started in the UK in the 18th century. Baptists came out of Scottish Presbyterianism, which was the name given to Calvinism that was exported to Scotland. Calvinism was created out of whole clothe. perhaps with some influence Hus. Your claim that “may Church was never Catholic” is untenable." Learn Church history.
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I am not a Calvinist. I am a Christian. Our church does not stem from any organization. It is as grass roots as one can get.
I know my history well…but you already know that
 
Rightlydivide said:
The person who started it did not attend another church. It started as a small Bible study after he was saved by a personal evangelism encounter on a college campus. He, other than weddings and funerals, had never really gone to church.
Neither had I! In fact, as an atheist, I actively worked against the Lord with my debates and interactions with others
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So how would know if “he” is right? Is it a blind faith experience, or what?
 
pablope said:
Where did you get the Trinity? The Bible (NT if you will)? Who spread Christianity beyond the confines of Jerusalem, of Palestine?
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The Bible has God as its author. Which is of course Catholic doctrine as well
But yes, the majority text has its origins in Anglicanism and prior to that Catholicism/Orthodoxy.
Of course there is thousands of years of history but our church itself does not come from the Catholic Church.
Of course prior Christians existed but any relationship is quite small.
 
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