Since When Are Catholics Not Christians?

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I’ve heard this statement a few times by Protestants while debating about Catholicism. I have only heard this a few times usually when the person I’m debating with has no other response, so I’m not accusing anyone of anything. I was just wondering why certain Protestants thought this (I never got a straight answer.)
Of course Catholics are Christians. However, many Catholics will identify themselves as Catholics before identifying themselves as Christians. I even heard Catholic Answers apologist Tim Staples identified with being Catholic with the absents of the identity of being Christian on his Catholic apologetics radio program.
 
heretics what a harsh sounding word lol
Do you guys remember that game for the PC years ago around the time doom was out
 
Of course Catholics are Christians. However, many Catholics will identify themselves as Catholics before identifying themselves as Christians. I even heard Catholic Answers apologist Tim Staples identified with being Catholic with the absents of the identity of being Christian on his Catholic apologetics radio program.
Why sound he have to identify himself as Christian if he identified himself as Catholic? It should be understood.

Out of curiosity, why do you identify yourself as 2nd Adam? Christ is the 2nd Adam.
 
heretics what a harsh sounding word lol
Do you guys remember that game for the PC years ago around the time doom was out
Are you talking about the game “Catechumen”, by chance? I downloaded a demo of it at the time, and played it. It was kind of - well - weird.

But I suppose it was a Christian effort at video games, anyway. And I knew it wasn’t going to take, unfortunately.

Snert
 
Why sound he have to identify himself as Christian if he identified himself as Catholic? It should be understood.

Out of curiosity, why do you identify yourself as 2nd Adam? Christ is the 2nd Adam.
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

I requested a name modification with the administrator to “In 2nd Adam” a week ago. I think the biblical name of disciples of Christ is Christian. I don’t think the early Christians were called Catholics, do you?

Acts 11:26
and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.
 
However, many Catholics will identify themselves as Catholics before identifying themselves as Christians.
To me it is the same. By identifying myself as a Catholic I have also identified myself as a Christian.

Probably the same reason a Lutheran or an Anglican doesn’t have to clarify that they are Christians.

God bless you
 
To me it is the same. By identifying myself as a Catholic I have also identified myself as a Christian.

Probably the same reason a Lutheran or an Anglican doesn’t have to clarify that they are Christians.

God bless you
I don’t identify myself with my particular church. I’m simply a Christian. I think Catholics should be labeled as Christian Catholics. The word Christian should be in front of the word Catholic. 😉 I can fellowship with most all Chrstiians, regardless if they attend a Baptist, Catholic, Anglican, Reformed, Methodist, Orthodox, ext. church.
 
I don’t identify myself with my particular church. I’m simply a Christian. I think Catholics should be labeled as Christian Catholics. The word Christian should be in front of the word Catholic. 😉
I have no problem with Catholics identifying them selves as Christian. I just don’t see the need to, after telling you I am Catholic, to further clarify that I am Christian.

Again, it is the same reasoning behind someone telling me they are a Lutheran-Christian… It would make my head explode. Are there Lutheran-muslims? Lutheran-Mormons? Lutheran-pagans? 😉

God bless you
 
I have no problem with Catholics identifying them selves as Christian. I just don’t see the need to, after telling you I am Catholic, to further clarify that I am Christian.

Again, it is the same reasoning behind someone telling me they are a Lutheran-Christian… It would make my head explode. Are there Lutheran-muslims? Lutheran-Mormons? Lutheran-pagans? 😉

God bless you
Personally, I think it is an insult to Christ when we identify with our particular church before identifying with Christ in name, mind and in heart. We have to be very careful to not make our particular church an idol over an above our love and affection for God alone. I see this tendency in Protestants and Catholics alike.
 
To me it is the same. By identifying myself as a Catholic I have also identified myself as a Christian.

Probably the same reason a Lutheran or an Anglican doesn’t have to clarify that they are Christians.

God bless you
That’s how I see it, as a Catholic, I automatically view myself as Christian. I don’t distinguish between the two.

Since most Catholics identify their faith as the original one established by Christ, they don’t see it as anything but Christian. And since Ignatius of Antioch called the faith “catholic” approx 100AD, long before other denomations even existed, I don’t see a problem with it either.

Although I do notice that non-Catholics often identify themselves simply as Christain, oftentimes not revealing which denomination they belong to. The only time I say I’m Christian is when I suspect a non-Catholic would be offended by my Catholicism. Although I usually reveal that later in the conversation.

Snert
 
Personally, I think it is an insult to Christ when we identify with our particular church before identifying with Christ in name, mind and in heart.
And you know this for sure or you are just presenting your opinion? Either way it does not matter. When I say I am Catholic, I am saying that I am Christian. That is what I have been trying to explain to you.

And it is not my Church. It is His.

God bless you
 
And you know this for sure or you are just presenting your opinion? Either way it does not matter. When I say I am Catholic, I am saying that I am Christian. That is what I have been trying to explain to you.

And it is not my Church. It is His.

God bless you
Here’s the challenge. If we identify in something other than Christ, then we are saying there is something more than Christ. Jesus Christ is the Apex; we were saved to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. There is nothing more than that in the Christian life, because God is the greatest joy in all of eternity.
 
And you know this for sure or you are just presenting your opinion? Either way it does not matter. When I say I am Catholic, I am saying that I am Christian. That is what I have been trying to explain to you.

And it is not my Church. It is His.

God bless you
I’m curious why do you have the screen name Roman Catholic? Most Catholics get mad if we call them Roman Catholics instead of Catholics.
 
Here’s the challenge. If we identify in something other than Christ, then we are saying there is something more than Christ.
I can’t follow your logic. I am a father. A husband. A brother. A son. A Washingtonian. I am a lot of things, and by the grace of God, a Catholic also.

Me saying that I am a father, for example, does not diminish Christ. Nor does it mean that I am saying there is something more than Christ.

God bless you
 
Here’s the challenge. If we identify in something other than Christ, then we are saying there is something more than Christ. Jesus Christ is the Apex; we were saved to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. There is nothing more than that in the Christian life, because God is the greatest joy in all of eternity.
I humbly beg to differ. I got so mad at one of my friends one day because he was complaining that I follow the Pope and not Jesus and I read the Catechism but not the Bible (his own perceptions, not mine). And yet when I told him that he seems to me to worship his Bible, he told me I was absurd.

Yet that’s exactly what I saw. He held the Bible as supreme authority. Yes, even over Jesus, especially when it (ie Paul) seemed to contradict Jesus at times. So I think it goes both ways. Non-Catholic Christians see Catholics as holding something higher than Jesus, and Catholics see non-Catholic Christians as holding something equally higher than Jesus. And I suspect neither of us truly hold anything higher than Jesus, it only seems that way to the other party. So we’re even, I guess.

Snert
 
I’m curious why do you have the screen name Roman Catholic? Most Catholics get mad if we call them Roman Catholics instead of Catholics.
Because I aim to make other Catholics angry. 😃

When I converted I was “knee deep” in the Church’s history and every history book that I read told me that it was the “Roman Catholic Church”. So when I chose the name (was it really almost 4 years ago 😊 ) that was all I knew it by.

It was only after coming here and then reading on the history of the term’s origin that I realized why Catholics may not like the term too much.

God bless you
 
I humbly beg to differ. I got so mad at one of my friends one day because he was complaining that I follow the Pope and not Jesus and I read the Catechism but not the Bible (his own perceptions, not mine). And yet when I told him that he seems to me to worship his Bible, he told me I was absurd.

Yet that’s exactly what I saw. He held the Bible as supreme authority. Yes, even over Jesus, especially when it (ie Paul) seemed to contradict Jesus at times. So I think it goes both ways. Non-Catholic Christians see Catholics as holding something higher than Jesus, and Catholics see non-Catholic Christians as holding something equally higher than Jesus. And I suspect neither of us truly hold anything higher than Jesus, it only seems that way to the other party. So we’re even, I guess.

Snert
I believe the Catholic Faith has sacred written and oral tradition to base the Catholic Faith. Within sacred written tradition, the Scriptures are considered superior to other forms of sacred tradition. Christ is supreme, but how do we grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. In my view, God the Holy Spirit illuminates the Scriptures so we can grow our love for God alone. When we love something more than God, such as the Catholic Church or even the Bible… we can make these things idols of the heart. Here is the best Scripture to remember to put things in perspective.

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. - Jesus Christ

Catholics can have a tendency to try to find life in the Catholic Church over Christ in the same way Protestants can have a tendency to try to find life in the Scriptures over Christ. Both Christian communities can make the same grave error, which can become idols of the heart… instead of fleeing to Christ to find life.
 
Because I aim to make other Catholics angry. 😃

When I converted I was “knee deep” in the Church’s history and every history book that I read told me that it was the “Roman Catholic Church”. So when I chose the name (was it really almost 4 years ago 😊 ) that was all I knew it by.

It was only after coming here and then reading on the history of the term’s origin that I realized why Catholics may not like the term too much.

God bless you
I too want to change my screen name to “In 2nd Adam” instead of 2nd Adam. I’m not having much luck on that request.
 
I believe the Catholic Faith has sacred written and oral tradition to base the Catholic Faith. Within sacred written tradition, the Scriptures are considered superior to other forms of sacred tradition. Christ is supreme, but how do we grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. In my view, God the Holy Spirit illuminates the Scriptures so we can grow our love for God alone. When we love something more than God, such as the Catholic Church or even the Bible… we can make these things idols of the heart. Here is the best Scripture to remember to put things in perspective.
That’s a good description of your way of thinking, and I respect that. However, I want you to try to understand that Catholics like me believe that the Holy Spirit illumates the Church as the Bride of Christ and that the Church herself alone can interpret Scripture. Countless individuals under the guidance of the Holy Spirit through history. We as indivuals can interpret it to a small degree, but not on major things like the Trinity, etc. These things are not contained in Scripture yet are alluded to. And since the Catholic Church developed the human understanding of the Trinity, I’m using it as just one example.

Individual interpretations vary from very pious to very heretical in our Church, so you know you can’t trust individuals on interpretation. But as Catholics we believe you can trust the Church as a whole, by reading various official documents throughout history. This is why the Catechism of the Catholic Church is so important to us. It explains our faith by using all the past documents of the Church as well as Scripture. And of course, we believe that Jesus is the head or our Church and through the Holy Spirit He gives us the Truth.

I understand where you’re coming from, but I hope you understand where we’re coming from too. Jesus is the head of the Church, the Holy Spirit guides the Church, so we as members can one day join the Father in Heaven. Jesus Christ comes to us through the Catholic Church. That’s how we find Christ.

Hope this helps you to understand our viewpoint. If I didn’t believe the Catholic Church, I certainly would hold what you believe to be true. It’s a very reasonable view. I simply believe ours is more reasonable.

Besides, you can’t love an institution like you can love a person. The Catholic Church as an institution, even the one Christ gave us in his physical absence, is no substitute for Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit. I love my Church, but nothing, and I mean NOTHING, compares to God in all of His Glory.

I have no doubt you are sincere and you love God with all your heart, as you seem to defend Him stoicly. You and I both are loving Him in the best way we know how. And with time, we will learn more and love Him even more. I’m sure of that.

Snert
 
That’s a good description of your way of thinking, and I respect that. However, I want you to try to understand that Catholics like me believe that the Holy Spirit illumates the Church as the Bride of Christ and that the Church herself alone can interpret Scripture. Countless individuals under the guidance of the Holy Spirit through history. We as indivuals can interpret it to a small degree, but not on major things like the Trinity, etc. These things are not contained in Scripture yet are alluded to. And since the Catholic Church developed the human understanding of the Trinity, I’m using it as just one example.

Individual interpretations vary from very pious to very heretical in our Church, so you know you can’t trust individuals on interpretation. But as Catholics we believe you can trust the Church as a whole, by reading various official documents throughout history. This is why the Catechism of the Catholic Church is so important to us. It explains our faith by using all the past documents of the Church as well as Scripture. And of course, we believe that Jesus is the head or our Church and through the Holy Spirit He gives us the Truth.

I understand where you’re coming from, but I hope you understand where we’re coming from too. Jesus is the head of the Church, the Holy Spirit guides the Church, so we as members can one day join the Father in Heaven. Jesus Christ comes to us through the Catholic Church. That’s how we find Christ.

Hope this helps you to understand our viewpoint. If I didn’t believe the Catholic Church, I certainly would hold what you believe to be true. It’s a very reasonable view. I simply believe ours is more reasonable.

Besides, you can’t love an institution like you can love a person. The Catholic Church as an institution, even the one Christ gave us in his physical absence, is no substitute for Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit. I love my Church, but nothing, and I mean NOTHING, compares to God in all of His Glory.

I have no doubt you are sincere and you love God with all your heart, as you seem to defend Him stoicly. You and I both are loving Him in the best way we know how. And with time, we will learn more and love Him even more. I’m sure of that.

Snert
Thanks for the kind and Christ-like posting. If you have found that the Catholic Church has helped you to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, then I rejoice with you as a fellow Christian. God is an infinite God with various means to grow His adopted children to the image of His Son.
 
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