The name "Christian"

[YourAverageJoe]

9 of 10 times when said on the news or in public or wherever now days, people tend to think of Protestants and not Catholics. In fact the problem is so bad that many Catholics today do not know they themselves are Christian. As an example, I have personally heard people say they are Catholic but not Christian. So what do I do. I stand up to correct them, but afterward this leaves my mind boggled and to a degree very upset. How can this be ??? Catholics should not have an Identity crisis but this problem is very prevalent. How is it that the Church (clergy and laypeople) has allowed this honorable description for Jesus followers to sort of elude us, and another take up. I understand what the word Catholic means, and how Ignatius used it to describe Christ’s Church in the 1st Century, however it seems to me at least from the time up to the reformation the Catholic Church was just called “The Church” and its followers just Christian. Then came the Reformation. Post Reformation to distinguish the split, historians, writers, and perhaps even clergy, called each side Catholic or Protestant. However nowadays, Protestants (at least most of them) refuse to call themselves such but only Christian, while post reformation Catholics have remained calling ourself Catholic. I understand the word Catholic is and adjective describing the universal Church but why did the Church stick to the post reformation label while the Protestants didnt?

 

[YourAverageJoe]

9 of 10 times when said on the news or in public or wherever now days, people tend to think of Protestants and not Catholics. In fact the problem is so bad that many Catholics today do not know they themselves are Christian. As an example, I have personally heard people say they are Catholic but not Christian. So what do I do. I stand up to correct them, but afterward this leaves my mind boggled and to a degree very upset. How can this be ??? Catholics should not have an Identity crisis but this problem is very prevalent. How is it that the Church (clergy and laypeople) has allowed this honorable description for Jesus followers to sort of elude us, and another take up. I understand what the word Catholic means, and how Ignatius used it to describe Christ’s Church in the 1st Century, however it seems to me at least from the time up to the Reformation, the Catholic Church was just simply called “The Church” and its followers just “Christian”. Then came the Reformation. Post Reformation to distinguish the split, historians, writers, and perhaps even clergy, called each side Catholic or Protestant. However nowadays, Protestants (at least most of them) refuse to call themselves protestant, but only Christian, while post reformation Catholics have remained calling ourself Catholic. I understand the word Catholic is an adjective describing the universal Church but why did the Church stick to the post reformation label while the Protestants didnt?

 

[YourAverageJoe]

sorry for the double post guys!
dont get me wrong, I love the word Cattholic because I know what it means.

In Christ!

 

[Pfaffenhoffen]

9 of 10 times when said on the news or in public or wherever now days, people tend to think of Protestants and not Catholics. In fact the problem is so bad that many Catholics today do not know they themselves are Christian. As an example, I have personally heard people say they are Catholic but not Christian. So what do I do. I stand up to correct them, but afterward this leaves my mind boggled and to a degree very upset. How can this be ??? Catholics should not have an Identity crisis but this problem is very prevalent. How is it that the Church (clergy and laypeople) has allowed this honorable description for Jesus followers to sort of elude us, and another take up. I understand what the word Catholic means, and how Ignatius used it to describe Christ’s Church in the 1st Century, however it seems to me at least from the time up to the reformation the Catholic Church was just called “The Church” and its followers just Christian. Then came the Reformation. Post Reformation to distinguish the split, historians, writers, and perhaps even clergy, called each side Catholic or Protestant. However nowadays, Protestants (at least most of them) refuse to call themselves such but only Christian, while post reformation Catholics have remained calling ourself Catholic. I understand the word Catholic is and adjective describing the universal Church but why did the Church stick to the post reformation label while the Protestants didnt?

That is something that bothers me but what can you do?
Consolation: words are meaningless untill you give them a meaning.
Catholic is fine as long as it means what it means…
Let our Protestant Brothers keep the Christian…

 

[JRKH]

I understand your frustration but there is not much you can do except that which you are already doing…Namely offering a charitable correction whenever it comes up.

Peace
James

 

[followingtheway]

I understand the word Catholic is and adjective describing the universal Church but why did the Church stick to the post reformation label while the Protestants didnt?

Some Protestants do identify as “Protestants” while others don’t. I think more of mainline Protestants (Lutherans, Calvinists, Baptists, Anglicans etc.) do but, most of the time, these are the more educated ones. But most Non-Denominational or Evangelical Christians don’t identify as “Protestants” because they feel as if they are being labeled, a lot of them say stuff like “I’m just Christian” because they don’t want to feel part of a “religion” or denomation but rather a “relationship with Jesus Christ”,