Why Do Protestants Care What Catholics Do?

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GeorgiaPeach

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What I mean to say is, most Protestants believe that you are saved by faith alone, so why are they (some) so bothered by Church teachings? As Catholics we accept Christ as our savior and ask for the foregiveness of our sins. So, if by their definition we are saved, why do they worry about our salvation so much?

I attend a Protestant Bible study on Daniel. A couple of ladies, although they are polite and use tack, are obviously anti-Catholic. I find it mildly amusing that two in particular are trying to witness to me.

Side Note: Before someone asks, “why are going to a Protestant Bible study?”… I was told it was non-denominational and figured out quickly that non-denominational doesn’t include Catholic. I’m strong in my faith so I can handle whatever they throw at me. After a post here and CA and much prayer I decided to stick with the study for fear if I left it would turn into an anti-Catholic, the pope is the anti-Christ, Rome is the Whore of Babylon type study. I’ve actually been able to bring up some thought provoking points regarding dispensationalist ideas. Also, I don’t roll my eyes when they try to predict who the anti-Christ will be.
 
nowadays, i think is the minority (although they seem to be the most vocal) that would question the validity of a catholic’s salvation. i think the big reason for talking about our differences is to understand, learn, and maybe eventually reach an agreement and reunite.
 
GeorgiaPeach said:
What I mean to say is, most Protestants believe that you are saved by faith alone, so why are they (some) so bothered by Church teachings? As Catholics we accept Christ as our savior and ask for the foregiveness of our sins. So, if by their definition we are saved, why do they worry about our salvation so much?

I attend a Protestant Bible study on Daniel. A couple of ladies, although they are polite and use tack, are obviously anti-Catholic. I find it mildly amusing that two in particular are trying to witness to me.

Side Note: Before someone asks, “why are going to a Protestant Bible study?”… I was told it was non-denominational and figured out quickly that non-denominational doesn’t include Catholic. I’m strong in my faith so I can handle whatever they throw at me. After a post here and CA and much prayer I decided to stick with the study for fear if I left it would turn into an anti-Catholic, the pope is the anti-Christ, Rome is the Whore of Babylon type study. I’ve actually been able to bring up some thought provoking points regarding dispensationalist ideas. Also, I don’t roll my eyes when they try to predict who the anti-Christ will be.
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Because if Catholics are right them Protestants or Evangelicals are at best incomplete, at worst outright wrong.
 
Very good question. I myself have wanted to ask this question.
Why are we in need of conversion in a protestants eyes?
We have all the basics they do like proclaiming Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we read scripture and confess our sins as the original posters said.
 
This is an excellent question. You can tell it’s an excellent question because of the strange and silly answers that you will get back. Usually they’ll say something about preaching another gospel, which is totally irrelevant to having faith in Christ. Or they’ll say that by believing we must obey Christ, that somehow proves we don’t have faith in Christ. Now that’s weird! :eek:
 
GeorgiaPeach said:
What I mean to say is, most Protestants believe that you are saved by faith alone, so why are they (some) so bothered by Church teachings? As Catholics we accept Christ as our savior and ask for the foregiveness of our sins. So, if by their definition we are saved, why do they worry about our salvation so much?

I attend a Protestant Bible study on Daniel. A couple of ladies, although they are polite and use tack, are obviously anti-Catholic. I find it mildly amusing that two in particular are trying to witness to me.

Side Note: Before someone asks, “why are going to a Protestant Bible study?”… I was told it was non-denominational and figured out quickly that non-denominational doesn’t include Catholic. I’m strong in my faith so I can handle whatever they throw at me. After a post here and CA and much prayer I decided to stick with the study for fear if I left it would turn into an anti-Catholic, the pope is the anti-Christ, Rome is the Whore of Babylon type study. I’ve actually been able to bring up some thought provoking points regarding dispensationalist ideas. Also, I don’t roll my eyes when they try to predict who the anti-Christ will be.
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just speaking from some of the things I have read here, I suspect:
Veneration of Mary
Praying “to” saints
Statues (idolotry)
Acceptance of Tradition (it’s not in the Bible)

These would be things that say to sola scripturists that we are on a wrong and corrupted path. Therefore they need to redeem us from these errors and bring us to the pure salvation of Christ.

Peace
James
 
GeorgiaPeach said:
What I mean to say is, most Protestants believe that you are saved by faith alone, so why are they (some) so bothered by Church teachings? As Catholics we accept Christ as our savior and ask for the foregiveness of our sins. So, if by their definition we are saved, why do they worry about our salvation so much?..
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I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s because most of them are closet gnostics. They believe that one cannot be saved without the attainment of some specific set of knowledge.
 
We know why we wish Protestants would come back home but Protestants look at the Church and know we are right but can’t quite admit it. Also, the “king of the hilll” idea plays into this.

CDL
 
blossom02 said:
Very good question. I myself have wanted to ask this question.
Why are we in need of conversion in a protestants eyes?
We have all the basics they do like proclaiming Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we read scripture and confess our sins as the original posters said.
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Because some of them think we are a cult. “What??!” you say? Some define a cult as a religion that does not believe the bible alone and in its entirety. They see that we also rely on Sacred Tradition and on the Magisterium (teaching authority of the church). They think, therefore, that we have other sources of revelation, rather than this all being part of the same revelation. I was told this by a Presbyterian friend. As she said, “Friends don’t let friends go to hell.” So she was concerned about this.
 
I should probably just ask. For now I’m just waiting to see what they will do next. I know I confuse them because I own a Bible AND I read it too. I brought my Navarre Bible (Major Prophets) to class one day and I was asked in an odd manner what kind of book it was. Umm, a Bible. I don’t know what exactly she was expecting.

In line with my original question something else dawned on me. Many Protestants that believe ‘once saved, always saved’ don’t believe someone can lose salvation. Furthermore, even if one could lose salvation it would be lost forever.
 
My question would be; Why wouldn’t they wonder? They did branch off (okay, as to whether or not they could be considered still connected in some minor/major way not to be argued) of the Catholic Church, so they do essentially owe a) Christian history earlier than 1500, b) the Bible, c) most major theology and refutations of heresy, and d) the form of the mass (though subverted and watered down as it has been through the centuries, so much that it wouldn’t be considered anything resembling a mass); to Catholics.
 
strngrnrth said:
I thought Presbyterians were predestinarian.:confused:
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Well, the way she explained that was what we would call God’s omniscience. That God knows what we will do.

She was a very fervent lifelong Presbyterian and very knowledgeable, a deacon in her church, daily bible reader, etc. She entered the Church last year at the Easter Vigil.

I don’t know if Presbyterians believe in double predestination; she didn’t. Also, there is a lot of individual diversity in what the people within a particular congregation believe.
 
Most aren’t like that, you get the odd extremist who thinks Catholics aren’t Christian because they place some emphasis on the need for good works and thus ‘are not relying on God’s grace’ despite the fact that it is very clear that those works are only possible through the grace of God and through faith
 
I think that Catholics in general need to get a little more concerned about what Protestants believe and do. Why should we Catholics always be the ones on the defensive, always the ones dodging the bullets? The day that Catholics start evengelizing Protestants with the same fervor that Protestants try to evangelize Catholics will be a happy one. After all, Protestantism is the heresy (or rather, heresies). Let us not forget that. Their souls are unnecessarily in danger.

At the very least, it would remind them what they are protesting against.
 
Cajetan said:
I think that Catholics in general need to get a little more concerned about what Protestants believe and do. Why should we Catholics always be the ones on the defensive, always the ones dodging the bullets? The day that Catholics start evengelizing Protestants with the same fervor that Protestants try to evangelize Catholics will be a happy one. After all, Protestantism is the heresy (or rather, heresies). Let us not forget that. Their souls are unnecessarily in danger.

At the very least, it would remind them what they are protesting against.
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The results of the just released Pew Study of Religious Affiliation in the U.S. said that 10 percent of those born into the Catholic Church have left it. About half for various denominations, a few to the JW’s, Mormons, Judaism, and Islam, and about half to total religious indifference. Without the influx of Catholic Hispanics and a smaller number of converts, the Catholic Church would not be holding at 22 to 25% of the population in the U.S. That’s why the recent Popes have been calling for a new evangelization of those warm bodies in our pews or maybe better yet absent from our pews.
 
GeorgiaPeach said:
What I mean to say is, most Protestants believe that you are saved by faith alone, so why are they (some) so bothered by Church teachings? As Catholics we accept Christ as our savior and ask for the foregiveness of our sins. So, if by their definition we are saved, why do they worry about our salvation so much?

I attend a Protestant Bible study on Daniel. A couple of ladies, although they are polite and use tack, are obviously anti-Catholic. I find it mildly amusing that two in particular are trying to witness to me.

Side Note: Before someone asks, “why are going to a Protestant Bible study?”… I was told it was non-denominational and figured out quickly that non-denominational doesn’t include Catholic. I’m strong in my faith so I can handle whatever they throw at me. After a post here and CA and much prayer I decided to stick with the study for fear if I left it would turn into an anti-Catholic, the pope is the anti-Christ, Rome is the Whore of Babylon type study. I’ve actually been able to bring up some thought provoking points regarding dispensationalist ideas. Also, I don’t roll my eyes when they try to predict who the anti-Christ will be.
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Fear not, you do not even have to belong to a different denomination to be on the receiving end of ministrations from evangelicals who are quite sure you are in need of them. (Besides, this site bears witness to the fact that Catholics are not exactly beyond that either.)
 
neophyte said:
I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s because most of them are closet gnostics. They believe that one cannot be saved without the attainment of some specific set of knowledge.
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that’s like saying catholics are closet pelagians. you can’t attain grace without doing works.

we all know neither are true so why be insulting?
 
I’m sure that many Protestants feel a genunine concern – as we do for them – to save our souls. Many will perceive us as believing and teaching various doctrines that, they believe, are leading people away from Christ. Some even believe the Church to be an active force in the damning of souls (i.e., those who believe her to be the “Whore of Babylon”). Thus, they feel that they owe it to us and to Christ to win us over. We should not doubt their sincerity, however misguided it may be.

On the other hand, there are those whose vitriol stems from pride and arrogance, as well as ignorance. Someone mentioned the “king of the hill” mentality; I’m sure that plays here, as does a certain need for affirmation: they need to denigrate our faith in order to confirm the truth of their own. For example, if Catholics worship Mary, or if the Pope is the antichrist, then the Reformation had validity and our claims to Apostolic authority don’t. We should not doubt their sincerity, either.

Ironically, the second mentality is also present among Catholics who don’t really understand their faith. That they are on the side of truth is given, but their motivations cannot always be characterized as charitable.

Peace,
Dante
 
Here’s what I think it comes down to: when serious Protestants look at the Catholic Church, they see something unique and extraordinary. Here is a Church that has been around for 2,000 years (is by far the oldest living organization in the world, the only one that stretches back to the ancient world), is totally catholic (universal) in dogma and doctrine among its different regions and branches, and is extremely powerful on the world stage. That’s something… no other Church compares to it in these respects. So there must be something behind this Church that is not merely human, but supernatural: it is either God’s Church or Satan’s Church. There is no other way to explain it. And since these Protestants are convinced that their own doctrines are totally correct and Biblical (the five solas, etc., which the Catholic Church rejects), it therefore must be the case that the Catholic Church is being guided by Satan. (Also, the discerning Protestant’s view that Catholicism is so close to doctrinal purity – it has all the theological fundamentals down and its heresies are relatively small compared with, say, Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses – just goes to show them Satan’s slick deceptiveness. If Satan were to guide a Church, he would not make it obvious. Rather, the evil one would mask his evil in a lot of truth, so as to deceive good and well-meaning people.)

I believe that this is the intellectual root behind Protestant anti-Catholicism, behind seriously labelling the Catholic Church “the Whore of Babylon” and the pope “the antichrist.” As flawed as their framework is, there is a method to their madness.
 
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