Protestant does not necessarily mean Evangelical

[Wannano]

Brad_Williams:

It is imprecise. Apologetics uses reason to argue for one’s beliefs. Gross over generalizations are fallacious.

Which is why the use of the term Protestant, when speaking of doctrine and practice, is folly.

Exactly, and in my opinion to refer to all “Protestant non-mainline” Christians as Evangelicals is equally folly.

 

[JonNC]

Exactly, and in my opinion to refer to all “Protestant non-mainline” Christians as Evangelicals is equally folly.

And then there are Lutherans, who are actually Evangelical Catholic.

 

[Wannano]

Wannano:

So now here on CAF I have experienced this in reverse from a few Catholics who rant and rave that non-Catholics are divisive, schismatic and going to hell…are these the Catholic evangelicals?

I’m not quite sure if evangelical would fit in that context. Maybe? I happen to think that discussions almost always get muddled in that area. Perhaps fundamentalist might take primacy over evangelical in that situation

Perhaps in either case the person is equally concerned out of what they would perceive as love for their fellow man and concern for the others eternal destiny.

 

[Wannano]

Wannano:

Exactly, and in my opinion to refer to all “Protestant non-mainline” Christians as Evangelicals is equally folly.

And then there are Lutherans, who are actually Evangelical Catholic.

And in my community there is an independent group with the word Lutheran in the name of their church who are extremely charismatically fanatical and is operated as a one man show controlled by the Pastor alone!

 

[JonNC]

In that context we are talking about Lutherans who are liturgical and who do confess a belief in some sort of real presence.

If you are speaking of SELK, or other confessional Lutherans, they don’t believe in “some sort “ of real presence. They believe in the real presence, and Christ described it. “This is my body”, etc.

 

[OnAJourney]

I think it would be fair to say that their approach is probably not the best to take

 

[ltwin]

It is imprecise. Apologetics uses reason to argue for one’s beliefs. Gross over generalizations are fallacious.

Where did the post in question generalize? He said, “When I was a Protestant . . . .” He did not say, “All Protestants believe this . . .” I mean, do we have to include fine print in all our comments?

And “evangelist” is used in many churches as a specific title or ministry in which one evangelizes, so him calling himself an “evangelist” should not be misunderstood as a reference to being an “evangelical Protestant.”

But I agree that in general it’s best to be as precise as possible about one’s religious affiliation, especially if you’re speaking about something as broad as Protestantism.

 

[KathleenT]

He said “Protestant evangelist” and then used “evangelist” later. I don’t think he was trying to say all Protestants believe this. I also think a Catholic audience would understand what he means.

But, truthfully, I don’t dabble in apologetics with the Protestants much so maybe Catholics believing all Protestants believe the same thing is a big issue.

I actually kinda like the Evangelicals. They are wrong, but you gotta admire their commitment.

 

[KathleenT]

Really?

That’s interesting because I have found the Lutherans to be the most argumentative and less than pleasant.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Perhaps it varies by area. The Lutherans are in the minority where I come from, as are all of the Protestant churches. The large churches are all either Catholic or Orthodox. I suspect that the Protestant churches in my area prefer to just get along with their neighbors, and act friendly in hopes of perhaps enticing some Catholics and Orthodox over to their church. If you’re in some area where there are a huge number of Lutherans, they probably are more inclined to argue because there’s strength in numbers.

 

[KathleenT]

I suspect you are right. I grew up in a heavily Protestant area.

There are a lot more Catholics where I live now, which is a pleasant change.