what's the Catholic view of Protestants?

[Peg]

I feel sorry for Protestants because of all that they have lost by following religions of men. The source and summit of the Catholic faith is the Eucharist. Jesus said it is the bread of life and we must eat it to have eternal life. To have the Eucharist, you have to have a valid priesthood. Most protestants have had no contact with the Eucharistic Christ.

It is awesome that Christ became man and died for our sins. But he did not stop there. Because of this we share in his divinity. We are fed with the true bread from heaven. The Old Testament exodus foreshadows Christ. That is what Jesus was discussing with Moses at the transfiguration, the new exodus. Our journey through this life in the Church, fed with the true bread. When the bread is, as the early church fathers said, Eucharisted it becomes Christ. Under this species, God waits for use to come to him.

Fr. T Dubay said that the way to know if a religion is true, examine the people who most closely follow what that religion teaches. For the Catholic church, that would be the saints. All the great saints, those who show the most heroic virtue, have a very great devotion to the Eucharist and to Mary.

 

[space_ghost]

Just like the rest of us… just a bunch of Hindu’s doing the best we kindu… if i have a concern about protestants, it’s their practice of trying to constantly rock the world of people that don’t think as they do… and amongst themselves they are so divided as to what you should believe and i truly feel they will implode (faithfull speaking)… They are searching as we are for that connection with God, but I feel they are more concerned with the splinter in the eye of someone who doesn’t toll their line, and less with the timber in their own…

 

[Rogo]

Greetings, fellow fat person!

I tried doing a search in the CCC (Cathechism of the Catholic Church) on what is current official teaching on our relations to other churches, and so far this is what I’ve come up with. It’s not much, but (I hope) to the point. Notice the acknowledgement of Protestant “Holy Supper” at the end of §1400. It’s a good thing as far as it goes, but it lacks the fullness of the Real Presence.

Apart from this, a lot of what you are going to hear from Catholics about protestants is personal opinion. (Even if it’s correct )

838 “The Church knows that she is joined in many ways to the baptized who are honored by the name of Christian, but do not profess the Catholic faith in its entirety or have not preserved unity or communion under the successor of Peter.” Those “who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church.” With the Orthodox Churches, this communion is so profound “that it lacks little to attain the fullness that would permit a common celebration of the Lord’s Eucharist.”

1400 Ecclesial communities derived from the Reformation and separated from the Catholic Church, “have not preserved the proper reality of the Eucharistic mystery in its fullness, especially because of the absence of the sacrament of Holy Orders.” It is for this reason that, for the Catholic Church, Eucharistic intercommunion with these communities is not possible. However these ecclesial communities, “when they commemorate the Lord’s death and resurrection in the Holy Supper . . . profess that it signifies life in communion with Christ and await his coming in glory.”

 

[katiem]

My veiw of Protestants is they have a portion of the truth, just not the fullness of the truth.I live in the Bible belt, which means I as a catholic am in the minority. Around these parts there is a lot of mistruths about catholicism spoken from protestant pulpits. Most of the people I am friends with are protestant. The most intolerant denominations here are baptists, church of Christ or any evangelical denominations. They think they know the teachings of the church, but they don’t even get it partly right. I feel like the protestants I named above are very intolerant and almost hateful about catholicism. I can only speak for my area and my personal experiences. I also find these gruops to be very closeminded, meaning they will not hear what the catholic church has to say about the catholic church. They would rather hear about the catholic church from non-catholic sources who are prejudiced.An example : My husbands step-mother and I were discussing church history. I was telling her about the canon of scripture and when and how it was canonized, she got so mad that the church put together the Bible. She said she does not care about history or anything the Catholic church claims in history. She has the Word of God and that is all she needs. She even called herself close-minded. I could not fathom the idea a Christian , who was so into the Word of God was not interested in how scripture came together since their was no inspired table of contents. This is what I run into alot around here. People are always telling me my church kept the Bible from the people, chained up, not written in the people’s language ect… Yet noone will investigate their claims.
Sorry for this lengthy post, I guess my experiences have led me to see some protestants as close-minded, self-righteous and angry. I love them all though. I just wish they would learn what our faith really is instead of what they think it is.
My best experiences with protestants have been with Lutherans, Episcopalians and Methodists. They are much more tolerant and not so closeminded. Again this is not meant to offend anyone, this is only from personal experiences in my part of the world.

Peace be to all!

 

[Shibboleth]

space ghost:

Just like the rest of us… just a bunch of Hindu’s doing the best we kindu… if i have a concern about protestants, it’s their practice of trying to constantly rock the world of people that don’t think as they do… and amongst themselves they are so divided as to what you should believe and i truly feel they will implode (faithfull speaking)… They are searching as we are for that connection with God, but I feel they are more concerned with the splinter in the eye of someone who doesn’t toll their line, and less with the timber in their own…

You realize that this statement is mildly hypocritical.

 

[Makerteacher]

Officially the Catholic view is that those outside the Catholic Church are our “separated brethren.” Here’s the most relevant quote from the Catechism, available online here www.scborromeo.org/ccc

817 In fact, "in this one and only Church of God from its very beginnings there arose certain rifts, which the Apostle strongly censures as damnable. But in subsequent centuries much more serious dissensions appeared and large communities became separated from full communion with the Catholic Church - for which, often enough, men of both sides were to blame."269 The ruptures that wound the unity of Christ’s Body - here we must distinguish heresy, apostasy, and schism270 - do not occur without human sin:

Where there are sins, there are also divisions, schisms, heresies, and disputes. Where there is virtue, however, there also are harmony and unity, from which arise the one heart and one soul of all believers.271

818 "However, one cannot charge with the sin of the separation those who at present are born into these communities [that resulted from such separation] and in them are brought up in the faith of Christ, and the Catholic Church accepts them with respect and affection as brothers . . . . All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church."272

819 "Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth"273 are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: "the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements."274 Christ’s Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church. All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him,275 and are in themselves calls to "Catholic unity."276

 

[Makerteacher]

Having been atheist, protestant, and now Catholic (Lo these last wonderful 20 years), here’s my favorite analogy: (like all analogies, it’s flawed, but perhaps helpful to one of you.)

An atheist knows God, whether or not he recognizes or acknowledges God, by the world he lives in, which is ordered and lovely, created for us by the Divine Source of All Life. It’s like hearing a distant violin song, so gently played you don’t even notice it.

An Agnostic accepts that somewhere out there is something like a God sort of thing. He can hear the violin, and sometimes a viola too, playing a lovely duet. The music is, well, “nice.”

A practicing sincere Protestant is far closer to God that the atheist or the agnostic, and can hear not only the violin’s song but also the glories of the entire string section of the orchestra, and the wind instruments as well, with harmonies and the rich layers of intertwining music that only a larger group of musicians can provide. The music is easier to hear and attractive to listen to.

A Catholic hears the entire orchestra, complete with strings, winds, percussion, keyboards, and horns, and a full 180 voice choir singing in 6 part harmony. The music is clear and vibrant and impossible to ignore, done masterfully and with passionate emotion and superlative technical skill. There’s no way to NOT hear it.

I have heard other analogies as well. We’re all playing the same song. We just have a lot more help in the Catholic faith.

 

[Britta]

fatman:

I stumbled onto this site today, and I can’t stop reading the various posts concerning the divide between Catholics and Protestants. While I realize that I’ve wandered into an online community of predominantly Catholic apologetics, I’ve been quite intrigued, perhaps even surprised, by the seemingly fervent desire to “convert Protestants.” However, I haven’t quite been able to guage what you Catholics (or the Catholic church) really think of Protestants like myself – is one’s identity as a Catholic/Protestant ultimately a salvation/sanctification issue? (And if not, why pursue conversion of protestants with such intensity?) Is one’s eternal reward ultimately at stake here?

Thanks,

Andrew

It’s not so much a salvation issue, nor is there ultimately eternal reward for us any more than it is for Protestants to fervently desire converting Catholics. For me, the desire comes from three maing points:

1. I am continually bothered by the misinformation Protestants have about the Catholic Church and am very passionate about helping others understand those misconceptions correctly;
2. It was never Jesus’ intent to have us so divided and I want to be instrumental in bringing about unity. Although, it is ultimately in God’s timing and my efforts may not bring total conversion, it is at least an attempt to bring about unity.
3. Most importantly, my desire is simply to help others truly understand the Church and the beauty of the sacraments that are so instrumental in bringing about a deeper relationship with Jesus. It’s one thing to know Him, but to “know” Him is what it is all about. I would love for others to share in that precious gift.

God Bless

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

bengal_fan:

this seems to happen in the catholic church also. though it is one church, from parish to parish you can be taught different things. i know that you will say that the one’s teaching differently (fr. mcbrien for example) are wrong, but then the question remains why aren’t they silenced by the authority? also, there are “liturgical abuses” from parish to parish but couldn’t this just be the same as people belonging to the same protestant denomination yet getting slightly different interpretations? just an observation here, not an attack.

One can also point out that some Catholics engage in “Protestant-bashing” - IMO. we have very much the same weaknesses as our Protestant brethren ​

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

bengal_fan:

this seems to happen in the catholic church also. though it is one church, from parish to parish you can be taught different things. i know that you will say that the one’s teaching differently (fr. mcbrien for example) are wrong, but then the question remains why aren’t they silenced by the authority? also, there are “liturgical abuses” from parish to parish but couldn’t this just be the same as people belonging to the same protestant denomination yet getting slightly different interpretations? just an observation here, not an attack.

One can also point out that some Catholics engage in “Protestant-bashing” - IMO we have very much the same weaknesses as our Protestant brethren ​

 

[jimmy]

fatman:

I stumbled onto this site today, and I can’t stop reading the various posts concerning the divide between Catholics and Protestants. While I realize that I’ve wandered into an online community of predominantly Catholic apologetics, I’ve been quite intrigued, perhaps even surprised, by the seemingly fervent desire to “convert Protestants.” However, I haven’t quite been able to guage what you Catholics (or the Catholic church) really think of Protestants like myself – is one’s identity as a Catholic/Protestant ultimately a salvation/sanctification issue? (And if not, why pursue conversion of protestants with such intensity?) Is one’s eternal reward ultimately at stake here?

Thanks,

Andrew

Hello fatman, and welcome to the forums. The Catholic understanding of Protestants is that they are part of the Church in a limited sense. Baptism introduces us into the Church which Christ founded.

The difference between Catholicism and Protestantism is that Catholicism is the fullness of the Truth. It is the full truth which God has revealed to us. Protestants have varying degrees of the truth, some more than others. We should all desire to worship with the entire truth of God. Our salvation is dependant on our desire to know The (complete) Truth, which is Jesus Christ.

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

Shoshana:

This is a leaflet written by CATHOLIC TRUTH PUBLICATIONS:

If you are a Lutheran, your religion was founded by Martin Luther, an ex-monk of the Catholic Church, in the year 1517.

If you belong to the Church of England, your religion was founded by King Henry VIII in the year 1534, because the Pope would not grant him a divorce with the right to re-marry.

If you are Presbyterian, your religion was founded by John Knox in Scotland in the year 1560.

If you are a Congregationalist, your religion was originated by Robert Brown in Holland in 1582.

If you are a Baptist, you owe the tenets of your religion to John Smyth, who launched it in Amsterdam in 1601.

If you are of the Dutch Reformed church, you recognize Michaelis Jones as founder, because he originated your religion in New York in 1628.

If you are Protestant Episcopelian, your religion was an offshoot of the church of England founded by Samuel Seabury in the American colonies in the 17th century.

If you are a Methodist, your religion was launched by John and Charles Wesley in England in 1744.

If you are Unitarian, Theophilus Lindley founded your church in London in 1774.

If you are a Mormon (Latter Day Saints), Joseph Smith started your religion in Palmyra, N.Y., in 1829.

If you worship with the Salvation Army, your sect began with William Booth in London in 1865.

If you are a Christian Scientist, you look to 1979 as the year in which your religion was born and to Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy as its founder.

If you belong to one of the religious organizations known as ‘Church of the Nazarene,’ ‘Pentecostal Gospel,’ ‘Holiness Church,’ Pilgrim Hoiliness Church,’ ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses,’ your religion is one of the hundreds of new sects founded by men within the past hundred years.

If you are Roman Catholic, you know that your religion was founded in the year 33 by jesus Christ, the Son of god, and it is still the same Church.

I will share my experience with my brother who was raised Catholic turned Anglican, turned Calvary Gospel, turned Faith Tabernacle in another post. He believes all Catholics are going to hell…:crying:

Shoshana

Christianity began life as just another sect within Judaism (not all sect-type bodies are schismatic, as in Christianity they seem to be) ​

 

[ChristianUser]

It’s very sad to read too many wrong facts about protestantism (christianity).

I was Catholic for 25 years. This being to change when I started to read the Bible. Just read it and adopt a critical position about the rest of “doctrine” (catechism, councils, traditions and all things created by human -not divine- mind). I know it’s hard to admit you had been wrong for a lot of time, but do you prefer your pride over truth and salvation?

I hope Christ will touch your hearts, so you can accept Him as your only Saviour.

This is a leaflet written by CATHOLIC TRUTH PUBLICATIONS:
If you are Roman Catholic, you know that your religion was founded in the year 33 by jesus Christ, the Son of god, and it is still the same Church.

Let me correct your text:
If you are Christian, you know that your religion was founded in the year 33 by jesus Christ, the Son of god, and it is still the same Church.

God bless you all.

 

[nickybr38]

It’s very sad to read too many wrong facts about protestantism (christianity).

I was Catholic for 25 years. This being to change when I started to read the Bible. Just read it and adopt a critical position about the rest of “doctrine” (catechism, councils, traditions and all things created by human -not divine- mind). I know it’s hard to admit you had been wrong for a lot of time, but do you prefer your pride over truth and salvation?

I hope Christ will touch your hearts, so you can accept Him as your only Saviour.

Let me correct your text:
If you are Christian, you know that your religion was founded in the year 33 by jesus Christ, the Son of god, and it is still the same Church.

God bless you all.

I was Protestant. I knew my New Testament forwards and backwards… studying the Bible drove me away from Christianity. The Holy Spirit pulled me back, to Holy Mother Church.

I pray for you while you pray for me I’m sure.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I will be frank. I have a great deal of admiration for many, many protestants. I have none whatever for protestantism itself. Sorry, but one assumes one asks because one wants frankness.

Why do I not respect protestantism? While, again, I respect many protestants, including IN THEIR FAITH LIVES, I don’t respect protestantism as such because, no matter how one defends it or what one says about it, at its core is the notion that one is morally free to adopt whatever interpretation one wishes of God’s will. Even the most strict protestant groups fundamentally believe that. I’ll grant that the relativism is not total, but that particular thing I find a fatal concession to one of mankind’s greatest temptations; self-justification.

And yes, I know protestants think Catholics’ submission to the magesterium of the Church is slavish and awful, “violates the conscience” and so on. Heard it all my life. But to me, failing to do so amounts to “re-inventing the wheel” with each individual. One ignores the wisdom, scholarship, apostolic mandates and moral teaching of 2,000 years in favor of what one, perhaps, spun out of his own head yesterday.

Yes, I know, some churches, like Lutheran Church for example, have a fair amount of scholarship and teaching behind their theologies. Most, of course, don’t, and the reason why they don’t is precisely because, once you assume to yourself a decisionmaking superior to that of the Church and defend it as a matter of doctrne, even to a limited degree, you open the floodgates to “inventing one’s own church”. And no one could possibly deny that the open floodgates have given rise to contradictory interpretations and theologies. There is but one “truth”, but many kinds of “falsehood”. So, as with the various Baptists; some of whom believe in “once saved, always saved” and some who do not, only one position can actually be true. But protestantism endorses the notion that both can simultaneously be right if, for the individual conscience, his position is right. I believe truth is indivisible and does not depend on the belief of the one holding a position.

Now, I fully expect to be verbally shot at. Let 'er rip!