You see this is exactly the problem with the Catholic (and to a lesser extend, Orthodox) mentality.I tend to take an “either - or” view.
Either you are a Catholic or you aren’t.
The Protestant world is huge and has lots of different branches. You can be a high-church protestant or a low church protestant and still agree that the Pope isn’t the leader of your church, that scripture only will save you and that infant baptism is bunk. Just because your protestant church has more in common w/Catholics than the “low-church” folks doesn’t make you Catholic.
Coming into the RCC from a Low-church background, I still have a hard time with mass because it is fundamentally different than what is offered as worship in low-church settings.
Individual Catholics may disagree with what is taught on the social stuff, but Church leadership is clear on what the proper position to take on any issue is. That opinion doesn’t change whether you go to the “Liberal” or “Conservative” parish.
My standard is whether you can take communion in the RCC or you can’t. If you can’t, then either you are an unbeliever (can be in various ways) or a protestant Christian. Either way, you aren’t in alignment with the RCC and its beliefs.
I was deeply offended that, as a protestant Christian, I couldn’t take communion in an RCC. However, after learning and growing in the Catholic faith and becoming a Catholic, I understand why there’s that standard.
I am more offended these days that my RCIA director is okay with non-Catholics taking communion because my husband made it quite clear when we were dating that non-Catholics weren’t supposed to participate because we (as protestants) don’t believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. I’ve since learned that there are a few exceptions, but still, for the most part, either you are in-line with teachings of Catholicism or you aren’t.
There is room to question w/in both traditions. Still, I don’t consider my Catholic doubting friends, protestants just because they have doubts. There has to be clear rejection of what the RCC teaches on other things besides the social stuff. It’s a given that most people in America have problems with the church’s stance on the social stuff.
And this should remind us that even the term “protestant” has nothing to do with protesting the teachings of the Catholic Church. The term comes from the protestation at the Second Diet of Speyer in 1529, which was a protest against the restriction of religious practice by government.=Brandall;10586911]I was a cradle Baptist and enjoyed that very much. There was nothing I was protesting as I was following the religion of my parents. That is pretty much the same for most following the religion of their parents. They aren’t protesting anything and I hate the term protestant. It is long past being a definitive term since the reformation happened centuries before any of us was born.
That’s because, at least according to the Catholic Catechism, that Christ’s Spirit uses protestant communions “as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church.”There are Catholics that use the term “the church” when talking about the body of Christ as being all encompassing of all denominations. Then they will turn around and use the term “the church” to mean the Catholic Church. That can be very confusing and it’s probably an intentional use.
Except for a very biased Catholic lean, particularly regarding Orthodoxy, it actually has a rather accurate breakdown of non-Catholic western communions.View attachment 16894
I think this is a little off topic but it may help others to see when their churches started.
Personally, I usually apply “protestant” to the latter groups as well as the former. But note that I’m using “protestant” as a simple adjective, not “Protestant” as the proper name of one group.It seems in this forum one is often categorized into one of two factions. One is either Protestant or Catholic (OK, one could be Orthodox, but let’s leave them aside for a moment.)
Yet, this categorization becomes very sticky, especially when many of the threads are titled, “Protestants, Why Do You Believe _____?” And, I think, “which Protestants are you asking? I certainly don’t believe that.”
I’m trying to avoid countless regurgitations from Wikipedia’s entry, so tell me how you are using the word “Protestant?”
For me, if you write “Protestant,” and mean Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians and Methodists, then OK, I’m fine with that. We have similar beliefs and one could lump us together for discussion’s sake.
But if you write “Protestant” and mean Non-denominational, Pentecostal, Evangelical, Charismatic and Fundamentalist, then I take issue. I don’t have much in common with those folks and couldn’t speak on their behalf, nor would I want them to speak on mine.
What are your thoughts? I’d like to hear from Catholics and non-Catholics (see what I did there?) alike.