Why is this??

[105lynne]

Why do some Protestants think Catholics go to Hell because of idolatry, Marian devotion, etc…when they believe that all sins are forgivable with the exception of sins against the Holy Spirit? Theoretically, as long as we Catholics say “God, please forgive me for any form of worship that may offend you”, then we should be all good. Am I just not understanding what they view as being damnable? What are we Catholics doing that is so very wrong and unforgivable that we deserve to go to Hell?

 

[Esdra]

Why do some Protestants think Catholics go to Hell because of idolatry, Marian devotion, etc…when they believe that all sins are forgivable with the exception of sins against the Holy Spirit? Theoretically, as long as we Catholics say “God, please forgive me for any form of worship that may offend you”, then we should be all good. Am I just not understanding what they view as being damnable? What are we Catholics doing that is so very wrong and unforgivable that we deserve to go to Hell?

Many Protestants think that Catholics haven’t given their life to Jesus and don’t have a relationship to him. (And in their eyes that’s absolutely necessary for salvation, unlike Baptism. - I am talking about Baptists, Anabaptists, Pentecostals and non-denominationals)
In their eyes they are atheists - or in other words not Christians.

They will tell you, if you are a Christian (a reborn one), you won’t do any “idoltary” etc. anymore. It’s comparable to a guy/woman who practiced Esoterics and came to Christ - she also won’t practice Esoterics anymore. - Same goes for Catholics.

And tell me one devout Catholic who would pray, “Please forgive me any style of worship that might offend you!”

Note: That’s not my opinion, but of some of my fellow-Christians, brother and sisters in Christ Jesus.
I believe that Catholics (the devout ones) are also Christians and it depends on God’s mercy if they go to heaven or not.
Christ also has died for them on the cross and Catholics do believe ('though sometimes in another way) in Him (which is absolutely necessary for salvation!). Thus they are saved. - Only speaking of the devout ones!

 

[bogeydogg]

Why do some Protestants think Catholics go to Hell because of idolatry, Marian devotion, etc…when they believe that all sins are forgivable with the exception of sins against the Holy Spirit? Theoretically, as long as we Catholics say “God, please forgive me for any form of worship that may offend you”, then we should be all good. Am I just not understanding what they view as being damnable? What are we Catholics doing that is so very wrong and unforgivable that we deserve to go to Hell?

I would think that no one who thinks of themselves as a Christian would ever presume to stand in God’s place and instruct God on who should go to Heaven and who should go to Hell. Furthermore I think that people who have deliberately declared that when the Bible says that Jesus drank wine that the Bible is lying (Baptists) have turned abstention from alcohol into an idol (that is something which much be observed in order to go to Heaven) and therefore should not cast stones seeing as how they live in a glass house.

God Bless

 

[bogeydogg]

Oh yes one more thing.

The thing we have done by which we deserve Hell is sin and that is non-specific to a denomination.

However the only unforgivable sin is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit which I am pretty sure the veneration of Mary does not fall into that category.

God Bless

 

[PJM]

=105lynne;8272233]Why do some Protestants think Catholics go to Hell because of idolatry, Marian devotion, etc…when they believe that all sins are forgivable with the exception of sins against the Holy Spirit? Theoretically, as long as we Catholics say “God, please forgive me for any form of worship that may offend you”, then we should be all good. Am I just not understanding what they view as being damnable? What are we Catholics doing that is so very wrong and unforgivable that we deserve to go to Hell?

The answer is of couse “ignorance”; the more debatable question is why are they so informed?

For those who may not be aware of WHY this claim is false, allow me to share the answer.

Yahweh [God] Himself on at least two seperate occasions specifically COMMANDED Moses to build [to Gods specifications] what protestants are terming “false gods.” or at least Idols.

1 Chr. 18 “for the altar of incense made of refined gold, and its weight; also his plan for the golden chariot of the cherubim that spread their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD” [Cheribum are a class of Angels]

Exod.25: 18, 20 And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. [20] The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be

Num.21: 8-9 And the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

God has NO ISSUE with statues and other holy images. NO what God forbids is FALSE God’s [gods] that ARE worshiped. And yes I am aware that we catholics are accused of Worshiping Mary ect. THAT do is untrue.

Reverence, respect, pray THROUGH as intermediatries; yes! Worship is reservered to God Alone! Period! And we do this becausr they [Mary and the Saints] ADD there own prayers and petitions to ours amking them more effective and meaninful because THEY are where we desire to be. In Gods actual Presence. Amen!

God Bless,
Pat

 

[BrianH]

I am not going to let either group off the hook on this. Protestants should know better and more Catholics (you guys on this forum being an exception) should confront this more. Just my opinion

 

[asd72]

Many Protestants think that Catholics haven’t given their life to Jesus and don’t have a relationship to him. (And in their eyes that’s absolutely necessary for salvation, unlike Baptism. - I am talking about Baptists, Anabaptists, Pentecostals and non-denominationals)
In their eyes they are atheists - or in other words not Christians.

They will tell you, if you are a Christian (a reborn one), you won’t do any “idoltary” etc. anymore. It’s comparable to a guy/woman who practiced Esoterics and came to Christ - she also won’t practice Esoterics anymore. - Same goes for Catholics.

And tell me one devout Catholic who would pray, “Please forgive me any style of worship that might offend you!”

Note: That’s not my opinion, but of some of my fellow-Christians, brother and sisters in Christ Jesus.
I believe that Catholics (the devout ones) are also Christians and it depends on God’s mercy if they go to heaven or not.
Christ also has died for them on the cross and Catholics do believe ('though sometimes in another way) in Him (which is absolutely necessary for salvation!). Thus they are saved. - Only speaking of the devout ones!

 

[BigFellaMick]

Christ died on the cross long before protestantism was even thought of. So to say that Catholics believe in God (sometimes in another way) simply isnt a valid claim. There was only ONE way taught by Christ and that ladies and gentleman is the Catholic faith. Protestants do not have apostolic succession and their ministers are invalid as they are not ordained through God. They are men who ordain themselves because they want too. It’s when you have entire churches built upon this that you have people like that Phelps fella who just predicted the world would end. Or worse still the money grubbing Joel Osteen types. Christ taught his apostles, his apostles taught their disciples and their disciples taught their disciples up to the present days Pope, Bishops and Priests. The further teaching strays from the Catholic faith, the further those followers stray from Christ. Period. God Bless.

 

[Jim27290]

Why do some Protestants think Catholics go to Hell because of idolatry, Marian devotion, etc…when they believe that all sins are forgivable with the exception of sins against the Holy Spirit? Theoretically, as long as we Catholics say “God, please forgive me for any form of worship that may offend you”, then we should be all good. Am I just not understanding what they view as being damnable? What are we Catholics doing that is so very wrong and unforgivable that we deserve to go to Hell?

Well as a Reformed Christian I would say that anyone who commits idolatry is sinning. I don’t know of any Protestants who limit idolatry to the Roman Catholic Church, as though Protestants can’t commit it too. For John Knox idolatry was the doing anything in worship that was not explicitly commanded in Scripture… since it had no scriptural basis it must have been created in the minds of men and be “will worship” aka idolatry. Most of us don’t think like that. However we believe that to be forgiven for sin one must ask faithfully and truly not flippantly for forgiveness. There must be an examining of conscious, recognition and admittance of guilt and sin, and a petition for forgiveness before one can truly be forgiven.

Probably what Catholics are doing that is wrong is viewing every single thing that protestants say about everybody (including themselves) as being solely about Catholics.

 

[Jim_Dandy]

Why do some Protestants think Catholics go to Hell because of idolatry, Marian devotion, etc…when they believe that all sins are forgivable with the exception of sins against the Holy Spirit? Theoretically, as long as we Catholics say “God, please forgive me for any form of worship that may offend you”, then we should be all good. Am I just not understanding what they view as being damnable? What are we Catholics doing that is so very wrong and unforgivable that we deserve to go to Hell?

First, may I suggest that “Why is this?” is an inadequate subject for a thread. Why is what? You’re not alone. I see this often on CAF.

Second, some Protestants justify their own separation from the Mother Church of all Christendom by believing that Catholics are going to hell and they aren’t. They then highlight the differences: “you worship statues (idols) and I don’t.” “You worship Mary and I don’t.” It is ignorance. And there is no excuse for it. The teachings of the Catholic Church are readily available to anyone who wishes to know (including Catholics). But some prefer fiction to fact and don’t want to know the Truth.

Why should I ask God to forgive me for worshipping the way He intended? That’s a bigger insult, since it comes from one who identifies him/herself as a Catholic.

Jim Dandy
Ex-Southern Baptist, ex-agnostic, ex-atheist, ecstatic to be Catholic!

 

[CB_Catholic]

Why do some Protestants think Catholics go to Hell because of idolatry, Marian devotion, etc…when they believe that all sins are forgivable with the exception of sins against the Holy Spirit? Theoretically, as long as we Catholics say “God, please forgive me for any form of worship that may offend you”, then we should be all good. Am I just not understanding what they view as being damnable? What are we Catholics doing that is so very wrong and unforgivable that we deserve to go to Hell?

What makes you think we should ever have to apologize for the way we worship? We worship the same way the early Christians did. Many Protestants are under the false impression that we actually worship statutes and icons, which of course would be idolatry. They are also under the impression that we worship a piece of bread and a cup of wine, which of course is ludicrous. I am not talking about all Protestants, but many believe this. And I have tried without success to correct this impression with some people, but they will not give up their false ideas, because that would mean everything they were taught about the Catholic Church was wrong. Again, I am not speaking of all, but I have found this prevalent among the fundamentalist and evangelical population, members of my family included. As far as I am concerned, that is their problem, not mine, if they fail to correct their wrong impressions after they have been told repeatedly. But I will never apologize for the way I worship or for my beliefs. I believe what Jesus and the Apostles taught.

For many years I was almost ashamed to admit I was Catholic because of the prevalence of bigotry against Catholics where I lived. When I was young, some employers would not hire Catholics. I used to even get harrassed for it. No more. I am proud to be a member of the Church Jesus Christ Himself founded, and never will I feel or say I have to apologize for worshipping God the way I do, and never will I believe that it is Catholics who believe differently, as one poster has stated. There are 1.1 Billion Catholics in the world, we are the majority of Christians, it is the MINORITY who believe differently. People seem to forget just how extensive Catholicism is.

Be proud to be Catholic, and thank God for the blessings you have received in the Catholic Church. And do this in front of those who would deride you.

 

[LinuxUser]

Why do some Protestants think Catholics go to Hell because of idolatry, Marian devotion, etc…when they believe that all sins are forgivable with the exception of sins against the Holy Spirit? Theoretically, as long as we Catholics say “God, please forgive me for any form of worship that may offend you”, then we should be all good. Am I just not understanding what they view as being damnable? What are we Catholics doing that is so very wrong and unforgivable that we deserve to go to Hell?

Because to them we do not follow the Bible alone and “worship” Mary

 

[Hail_Linus]

Because to them we do not follow the Bible alone and “worship” Mary

What bothers me more than the accusation that Catholics worship Mary is that even after we explain that we do not worship Mary, some Protestants have an attitude like “You Catholics say you don’t worship Mary but you really do; you just don’t realize that you do.”

 

[105lynne]

What makes you think we should ever have to apologize for the way we worship? We worship the same way the early Christians did. Many Protestants are under the false impression that we actually worship statutes and icons, which of course would be idolatry. They are also under the impression that we worship a piece of bread and a cup of wine, which of course is ludicrous. I am not talking about all Protestants, but many believe this. And I have tried without success to correct this impression with some people, but they will not give up their false ideas, because that would mean everything they were taught about the Catholic Church was wrong. Again, I am not speaking of all, but I have found this prevalent among the fundamentalist and evangelical population, members of my family included. As far as I am concerned, that is their problem, not mine, if they fail to correct their wrong impressions after they have been told repeatedly. But I will never apologize for the way I worship or for my beliefs. I believe what Jesus and the Apostles taught.

For many years I was almost ashamed to admit I was Catholic because of the prevalence of bigotry against Catholics where I lived. When I was young, some employers would not hire Catholics. I used to even get harrassed for it. No more. I am proud to be a member of the Church Jesus Christ Himself founded, and never will I feel or say I have to apologize for worshipping God the way I do, and never will I believe that it is Catholics who believe differently, as one poster has stated. There are 1.1 Billion Catholics in the world, we are the majority of Christians, it is the MINORITY who believe differently. People seem to forget just how extensive Catholicism is.

Be proud to be Catholic, and thank God for the blessings you have received in the Catholic Church. And do this in front of those who would deride you.

I don’t think we should apologize and ask for forgiveness for being Catholic or the way we worship. I was merely making that statement up to pacify the Protestants should I be questioned again. All I’m saying is that, according to Protestants, all we must do is apologize and then we’re good to go. I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear…
I know we shouldn’t care what they think, but I’ve been involved in some “discussions” with many know-it-all Protestants and there was NOTHING I could say that they were even open to. All of my in-laws are Protestant, so I’m sure it’ll come up again at some point. I wanna be prepared to say “well, if you believe (regardless of what sins I commit) that accepting Jesus is good enough to get to Heaven, then I’m ok!” I just feel like even that answer wouldn’t work for them simply because I’m Catholic. Why are WE the exception? shrug
And I agree wholeheartedly with your answer!

 

[Jim_Dandy]

I don’t think we should apologize and ask for forgiveness for being Catholic or the way we worship. I was merely making that statement up to pacify the Protestants should I be questioned again. All I’m saying is that, according to Protestants, all we must do is apologize and then we’re good to go. I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear…
I know we shouldn’t care what they think, but I’ve been involved in some “discussions” with many know-it-all Protestants and there was NOTHING I could say that they were even open to. All of my in-laws are Protestant, so I’m sure it’ll come up again at some point. I wanna be prepared to say “well, if you believe (regardless of what sins I commit) that accepting Jesus is good enough to get to Heaven, then I’m ok!” I just feel like even that answer wouldn’t work for them simply because I’m Catholic. Why are WE the exception? shrug
And I agree wholeheartedly with your answer!

Buy a supply of this little book, available from Catholic Answers and from Amazon. It’s Where We Got the Bible, by Henry Graham. Give it to every Protestant who challenges you.

It’s also on line at this url:

catholicapologetics.info/apologetics/protestantism/wbible.htm

Protestants are usually shocked and incredulous when they are told that the New Testament consists of 27 of the Catholic Church’s own writings, but that’s the absolute truth.

Learn to defend your faith! You’ll never again feel you should apologize for it. Catholics worship the way Christ and the Apostles taught us to worship before the NT was ever written.

If I can help you, I would be glad to.

Jim Dandy
Ex-Southern Baptist, ex-agnostic, ex-atheist, ecstatic to be Catholic!

 

[105lynne]

Buy a supply of this little book, available from Catholic Answers and from Amazon. It’s Where We Got the Bible, by Henry Graham. Give it to every Protestant who challenges you.

It’s also on line at this url:

catholicapologetics.info/apologetics/protestantism/wbible.htm

Protestants are usually shocked and incredulous when they are told that the New Testament consists of 27 of the Catholic Church’s own writings, but that’s the absolute truth.

Learn to defend your faith! You’ll never again feel you should apologize for it. Catholics worship the way Christ and the Apostles taught us to worship before the NT was ever written.

If I can help you, I would be glad to.

Jim Dandy
Ex-Southern Baptist, ex-agnostic, ex-atheist, ecstatic to be Catholic!

You’re very kind! Thanks!