What Catholics believe about Prostestants

[SyCarl]

No, no - I think you may have missed the point. The question was not what does Methodism teach about other religions, but what does it teach about itself?

1. The rejection of Papal Authority or Primacy.

Does Methodism teach that there is a Pope who has authority over the whole Church, and the right to tell people what to believe? (No.)

1. The rejection of fundamental doctrines of the Catholic Church.

Does Methodism reject certain doctrines of the Catholic Church? (Yes; it considers itself to be founded by liberators who freed them from the requirement to believe these teachings.)

1. The rejection of Apostolic Succession (in some degree. Anglicans claim to have this because they have bishops).

Do Methodists consider themselves to have Apostolic Succession; is Apostolic Succession considered to be an important feature for a Church to have? (No.)

1. The Bible is the final authority in all faith and moral issue.

I’m not sure that Methodism even recognizes the concept of a “final authority,” or what it would be, if they had one.

1. The belief in Faith Alone.

No, Methodists don’t believe in this.

1. The priesthood of believers, which is also believed by both Catholic Christians and Eastern Orthodox Christians.

I think Methodists agree with this idea.

Most Protestants don’t even really think about Catholicism. Those of us here are not typical of Protestants just as I expect most Catholics here are not typical either. I don’t know anyone at my church who consciously thinks about rejecting the Pope.

 

[BrianH]

PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN UNITY
STATEMENT BY REV. DONALD BOLEN
Catholic-Methodist relations
Working for a “joint living out of the Gospel”
The year 2006 saw the completion of two important texts which will hopefully serve to strengthen relations between Catholics and Methodists.
In May of 2006, the International Methodist-Catholic Dialogue Commission completed its most recent report, entitled The Grace Given You in Christ: Catholics and Methodists Reflect Further on the Church, and submitted the text to Methodist and Catholic authorities.
Two months later, in Seoul, South Korea, the Member Churches of the World Methodist Council (WMC) voted to approve and sign a “Methodist Statement of Association” with the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ), the agreement which was reached and officially accepted in 1999 by the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation.
Official representatives of the Catholic Church and Lutheran World Federation joined Methodist officials in signing a common affirmation which welcomed the Methodist association with the JDDJ, and committed the dialogue partners to “strive together for the deepening of their common understanding of justification in theological study, teaching and preaching”.
As will be set forth below, these two documents have a different status. The Grace Given You in Christ remains the work of a dialogue commission and not an official statement of the Catholic Church or the WMC, while the Methodist Statement of Association with the JDDJ has been officially received by the dialogue partners.
In complementary ways, however, both texts bring to fruition years of patient and persevering dialogue; and both mark a starting point for subsequent reflection, helping to set the agenda for further steps and initiatives in Methodist-Catholic relations.
In turn, Methodist and Catholic commission members identify various ecclesial elements and endowments that might form part of a fruitful exchange of gifts.
Catholics can see in Methodists a vigorous Trinitarian faith, which gives great emphasis to the ministry of the Word, is strongly committed to mission and to social responsibility, has a great zeal for the salvation of all, and upholds the importance of lay ministry and the place of lay people in the governance of the Church.
For their part, Methodists are increasingly recognizing that the 15 centuries prior to the Reformation constitute a shared history with Catholics, and are gaining new appreciation for neglected aspects of the Catholic tradition.
They can see value in a sacramental approach to the Church, appreciate the benefits of a more developed ecclesiology and theology of the Eucharist, and see the richness of diverse forms of spirituality and ecclesial life in the Catholic Church which foster a growth in holine

 

[jmcrae]

Most Protestants don’t even really think about Catholicism. Those of us here are not typical of Protestants just as I expect most Catholics here are not typical either. I don’t know anyone at my church who consciously thinks about rejecting the Pope.

True - but at the same time, they certainly don’t consider themselves to be bound by his decisions, either, right?

 

[SyCarl]

The fact that within Protestantism, there are 33,000 different denominations, which different core beliefs, but maintain the core essentials such as the Trinity, the Virgin Birth, the Crucifixion, Death, and Resurrection.

The figure of 33,000 is not really accurate. Of that number 22,000 are the independent churches. They do not necessarily have different core essentials. What they do have in common though is that they do not believe in denominations; they believe that the Church consists of individual congregations or local churches.

Among actual denominations, it must be remembered that Protestant churches are organized in national units. These churches do not necessarily disagree from country to country but just because there are about 180 countries, there are at least that many of each type of Protestant confession. Yes there are some divisions such as the various Presbyterian Churches in the United States. However, the Presbyterian Church (USA) has basically the same beliefs as the Presbyterian Church in Canada or the Church of Scotland. Similarly with Lutheran, Anglican, Methodists from one country to the other.

 

[SyCarl]

True - but at the same time, they certainly don’t consider themselves to be bound by his decisions, either, right?

No they don’t, but unless they make the news, I doubt that they even know what his decisions are. I know that until I married a Catholic, I didn’t really pay attention to Catholicism or know much about it.

 

[JPatton]

I found when people search truth they do it all wrong no matter what there faith is. If you talk with a catholic who is a cradle catholic you will find they search truth from a bias veiw. They learn from there family. If you talk with a protestant you will usually find they search truth from a bias view by the person who led them to Christ. I feel these searches are both wrong because we start from the middle and work our way back. The only way to derive to complete truth is to start from the beginning and work our way to the now.

If we do this without any bias preconceived notions we will find that when we read the church Fathers writing they are with out question catholic in there practices. And we will also find that the true context of the bible is 100% in accord with the catholic teachings. It wasnt until I finally put down all my bias knowledge at the foot of the cross that I was given a clear understanding of the scriptures. Im 100% positive that the sacraments within the catholic church are the organs within the body of Christ…

TRUTH IS TRUTH…

Great stuff!

 

[kentuckyliz]

Well, I grew up Catholic, and never heard a word at home or in church or school or anywhere about protestants or any denomination. So I guess I’m a blank slate when it comes to preconceptions. The non-Catholic churches I have visited are all over the map in their beliefs and practices so I wouldn’t even try to attempt to master knowing the beliefs and practices of all the protestant and post-protestant denominations. Too big of a job and I might get around to it if and when I get done reading everything from my own tradition. I’m not sure how long it will take me to read 2000 years of church documents and history and saints writings and literature…I’m way behind on my pile of books already as it is.

 

[BMSODM]

Well, I grew up Catholic, and never heard a word at home or in church or school or anywhere about protestants or any denomination. So I guess I’m a blank slate when it comes to preconceptions. The non-Catholic churches I have visited are all over the map in their beliefs and practices so I wouldn’t even try to attempt to master knowing the beliefs and practices of all the protestant and post-protestant denominations. Too big of a job and I might get around to it if and when I get done reading everything from my own tradition. I’m not sure how long it will take me to read 2000 years of church documents and history and saints writings and literature…I’m way behind on my pile of books already as it is.

Well brother with over 20,000 Denominations and growing it would be a task to study them all…lol… I spent some time study and practicing them and I will say this until they get away from the sola scripture mentality they will only receive milk. They will think its steak but its not. I was a very, very devote protestant and I witnessed many great things and God did great blessings on my life, but the true blessings didnt come until I got into the meat(The Body and Blood). The passion of Christ is were I was able to enter the deepest channels of the most sacred heart of Jesus.

Its in the suffering Christ that a soul will gain the greatest Graces and they are magnified through the Immaculate Heart of our Blessed Mother, and these Graces are sealed in the most Holy Eucharist. Like the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit are one, The Eucharist, The Blessed Mother and the Passion Of Christ are one…

 

[Steadfast]

1. The rejection of fundamental doctrines of the Catholic Church.

Well, which ones? We don’t reject all of them. Do you know why we reject the ones we do and accept others?

Do you care? Or is it more convenient for you to just subsume everything under sweeping indictments?

 

[Steadfast]

There is only one Body of Christ.

Protestants err when they divide over non-essentials.

Catholics err when they require submission of consciences to dogmatic renderings on issues on which we should have liberty.

But still, there is only one church; One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism

 

[homewardbound]

I try not to generalize about Protestants. I spent 20 years of my life as a Protestant(I’m turning 22 soon so pretty much all of my life) and anything I say is usually from what I witnessed myself in my Baptist upbringing. I do realize not all Protestants believe the same thing and I know I don’t know what they all teach exactly, but have a pretty good idea. I know I probably have made sweeping generalizations and I will try to be more careful in the future when posting. However, I will always believe a Protestants ideas on Catholicism is wrong no matter how much they have studied it due to my own belief of the Church being true, as I have found in my own search of Truth while studying Catholicism for the past 2 years. Its all merely opinion.

I sometimes say uncharitable things here on CAF because I am a sinner and I am still growing and learning how to be a good Christian. I definitely hope to mature and be able to have my posts be better and less offensive and demeaning then some of them might be. No matter what differences of doctrines we like to focus on, we are all Christians and we all believe th basics, we are all God’s children, and we should all try to maintain a level of respect and love for out brothers and sisters.

 

[cascherman]

But you said “teaches”. I know that is a different concept. In Catholicism what your church teaches…officially…infallibly maybe is a better word is VERY important.
In a Protestant church, what the official denomination teaches is A LOT less important than what we hear every week.
I know that may or may not seem logical to you but that is definitely the way I see it:shrug:
It may be different for other Protestants…I dunno

Your comments remind me of a situation I found myself in as I was converting from being a Lutheran. I was a Lutheran for 17 before converting, funny I’ve never heard anything in a sermon about the Lutheran denominations take on the Anti-Christ being the pope.

So, just because it isn’t preached doesn’t mean it’s not a true idea of that particular church.

As others have, I have pretty extensive experience in the protestant idea (mainly Lutheran and went to an AOG high school with many apologetics classes), so, I wouldn’t say none of us know anything about the protestant church.

 

[Metaron]

There is only one Body of Christ.

Protestants err when they divide over non-essentials.

Catholics err when they require submission of consciences to dogmatic renderings on issues on which we should have liberty.

But still, there is only one church; One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism

One church?! There are thousands of Protestant communities!!! Some are non-trinitarian, some baptize only in the name of Jesus, and all of this is from the man-made doctrine of Sola Scriptura.

 

[stringbeanduck]

Many people these days get bored of one church and they start their own. That’s the problem. They want to make Sunday fun for themselves. One new denomination is another dividing point between Christians. It draws us away from each other. Too many ideas on how people think we should celebrate Sunday and not enough caring for one another. That’s one of the reasons why I will always be catholic. I know that Jesus wants us to be one big family. Not 20,000 little ones saying this is how I think Sunday should be celebrated.

 

[BrianH]

One church?! There are thousands of Protestant communities!!! Some are non-trinitarian, some baptize only in the name of Jesus, and all of this is from the man-made doctrine of Sola Scriptura.

New groups form as well from those who adhere to doctrines other than Sola Scriptura.
I also believe we are one church as well. I know that is hard for you to accept.

 

[cascherman]

Catholics err when they require submission of consciences to dogmatic renderings on issues on which we should have liberty.

Liberty is a funny thing. Do we really have the liberty to interpret our faith by what feels right to us? Do you not agree that this is why there are multi-tens of thousands of protestant denominations (whatever number you like, it’s up there).

When someone says to me ‘all protestants are really just one big Church.’ I have to disagree. I remember being treated by baptists when I was a Lutheran practically like I was Catholic. One Church? Doubt it.

Isn’t every denomination of protestantism a denomination because it disagrees with its ‘mother group’ just enough to feel like it should break off?

Is there any question that God stands for just one way? How can we all disagree and still be unified? THAT is when you realize maybe we were not designed to interpret our own religion because it feels good in our hearts.

Maybe, just maybe, Christ left us a Church to follow and trust. My money is on that he did.

Just my thoughts.

 

[maximus]

This is a very interesting thread. Having been Catholic all my life and was pretty much isolated from Protestantism until my early30s. I was introduced to the Protestantism via the Jehovah Witnesses who are probably the most extreme form of Protestantism. I decided to learn more about my faith and then came across materials from former Protestants like Scott Hahn, Tim Staples, Catholic Answers, and many apologists who were former Protestants. From their witnesses and some other Protestants I have come across I have learned about Protestantism. I am rather confused by Protestants especially those who are obsessed with attacking the Catholic Church; to me they seek to undermine historical Christianity. I find Protestantism too diverse in theology and in salvation and Church history to grasp. I could concede the point on Sola Scriptura, but with the removal of certain books from the traditional canon really way after the time of founders of Protestantism that to me was a gross violation of one of their founding principles. This is what I know; perhaps my knowledge is incomplete and maybe biased.

Just answering the question as honestly as I can.

God Bless

 

[Mijoy2]

That is exactly why my signature is what it is.

I read your signature. I do not understand. Why would let the “superiority complex” of some prevent you from entering the Church? Any well informed Catholic will readily admit there have been (and are) some much worse sins that have come from our One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church then a superiority complex. But this, in no way, detracts from this being the Chruch Christ started. He came for the sinners not the saints.

You shouldn’t judge the Church by some (or all for that matter) of it’s members. You should investigate if this is the Church of Christ. If it is, even if you alone become it’s faithful member, and swim the Tiber too it’s banks.

 

[Pixie_Dust]

I just checked the board before I am out the door for two days. I read a few threads and let me just say this…

A lot of you claim that what I am posting is not the truth about Catholicism but I see grave errors, assumptions and sweeping generalizations (all protestants, etc.) about Protestants made by many of you.

Before you start laying claim at my door that I don’t know what I’m talking about (BTW: I’ve probably studied Catholicism longer than some of you) maybe you should take a dose of your own medicine and check out the truth about protestantism before defaming it. What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

Maybe that would be the charitable thing to do.

Chiming in as another convert who was Protestant for longer than I’ve been Catholic. In fact, I experienced a crisis of faith a couple of years ago when I started looking into every major denomination out there to find out what they believed and how it differed from what I (as a Baptist then) believed, and also because I was conversing with many different people on another forum and it helped me to study their denomination’s doctrine so I’d know where they were coming from in our discussions.

So yes, I know a lot about Baptists (independent, fundamental, pre-Tribulational, KJV only Baptists specifically. My friend jokes that there are 57 varieties of Baptist.) I know a lot about the Lutheran faith because I camped there for nearly two years on my way to the Catholic church. I also have a good working knowledge of Methodists, Presbysterians, Pentecostals, Apostolic Pentecostals, Assembly of God, Episocopalian/Anglicans, Church of God, Church of Christ, Christian Church, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ),those pesky, “anything goes” non-denominational and seeker oriented churches where specific doctrine isn’t really a big deal, as well as Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The Catholic faith was one of several that I researched as thoroughly as I could in order to figure out exactly where I would fit. When I found myself defending the Catholic faith more often than not, I knew God was moving me. I wasn’t ready to be Catholic, I was perfectly comfortable and happy at my Lutheran church which was as close to being Catholic as I wanted to get. When I finally got over my issues with authority, I knew God was making me Catholic and it didn’t really matter if I fit, God would mold me and make me more like Christ so that I would be “fit” for Heaven. And that’s a much better place to me than the Atomic Church of Me.

 

[AgnosTheist]

That is exactly why my signature is what it is.

Your sig:
*Swam the Tiber in '06. Came halfway back in '07, due to the superiority complex of many within the church. *

In my experience, I agree with you.