Protestants

[Mikhail]

In reading over several posts here, I noticed that whenever the members refer to non-Catholics, they use the word Protestant. The Protestants are actually a minority among the non-Catholics. Not being a Catholic does NOT make you a Protestant.

[God Conquers]

It does unless you are also non-christian.

[MichaelFilo]

[quote]Prot·es·tant  Audio pronunciation of "Protestant" ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (prt-stnt)
n.

  1. A member of a Western Christian church whose faith and practice are founded on the principles of the Reformation, especially in the acceptance of the Bible as the sole source of revelation, in justification by faith alone, and in the universal priesthood of all the believers.[/quote]

-Dictionary.com

Principles of the Reformation. Non-Apostlic = Protestant, or non-Christian.

God bless,
Mikey

[Brother Adam]

I recognize what you are trying to say, and respect that. As a non-Catholic Christian growing up in society today you did not necessary yourself reject the Catholic Church. It could have been your parents, grandparents, or some other relative, and becuase of that you were raised in a different faith. You yourself may have never actually protested the Bride of Christ. If that is you, then you very well may not be a Protestant in the strictest sense of the term.

I hope if it is you, you will stick around here and ask questions about the one, true, holy, and apostolic faith, founded by Jesus Christ. Hopefully you will find as I did, just last year, that being fully united to the Bride of Christ is the best move in your faith journey you can ever make.

Welcome to phatmass and God bless you in your search for truth.

[conservativecatholic]

The word Protestant is derived from the word "protest." (They protest the Catholic Church) If one protests the Catholic Church and is not Catholic or Orthodox but is of another Christian sect, they are Protestant.

Edited April 10, 2005 by conservativecatholic

[Guest Eremite]

For those interested, here's a classic book written by Louis Bouyer. I haven't read it, but I've seen it referenced many times as an irenic look at Protestantism (and, incidentally, it was written before the Council). It's called "The Spirit and Forms of Protestantism":

[url="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1889334316/qid=1113174565/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-6715577-9107929?v=glance&s=books"]http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=glance&s=books[/url]

Edited April 10, 2005 by Eremite

[infinitelord1]

i am catholic.....but i do recognize one thing about the laws of this world.....Nothing is perfect......i dont believe that the catholic faith is 100% perfect. I think religion itself is not perfect. What does religion do? It causes fights and sometimes wars. I do recognize that there is only one truth and that is god. But nothing in this world is perfect. You can say that the bible is perfect, but each in every bible has a torn edge or a torn page or etc.. Now the actual abstract teachings of the bible is perfect. Religion takes these teachings and divides people because they all have different ideals of what it says (the truth). I believe that catholicism is the closest to the truth, but it still cant be perfect....just like everything else in this world. Even the catholic church was divided amonst these: greek orthodox and byzantinian churches. they all teach the same things buth the other churches felt the old traditional way of teaching is better than the new (catholic church).

[Fides_et_Ratio]

[quote name='infinitelord1' date='Apr 11 2005, 03:10 PM'] i am catholic....i dont believe that the catholic faith is 100% perfect. [/quote]


That last bit sort of contradicts the first bit... and I'd recommend a history lesson.

Edited April 11, 2005 by Fides_et_Ratio

[Melchisedec]

[quote name='infinitelord1' date='Apr 11 2005, 03:10 PM'] i am catholic.....but i do recognize one thing about the laws of this world.....Nothing is perfect......i dont believe that the catholic faith is 100% perfect. I think religion itself is not perfect. What does religion do? It causes fights and sometimes wars. I do recognize that there is only one truth and that is god. But nothing in this world is perfect. You can say that the bible is perfect, but each in every bible has a torn edge or a torn page or etc.. Now the actual abstract teachings of the bible is perfect. Religion takes these teachings and divides people because they all have different ideals of what it says (the truth). I believe that catholicism is the closest to the truth, but it still cant be perfect....just like everything else in this world. Even the catholic church was divided amonst these: greek orthodox and byzantinian churches. they all teach the same things buth the other churches felt the old traditional way of teaching is better than the new (catholic church). [/quote]
I would agree with Fides_et_Ratio. You either believe it or you dont. You are basiclly making up your own religion to suit your personal opinions on life. But you are asking the right questions.

[Priscilla]

I'm not Catholic, but I don't like to think of myself as Protestant either. There are many things about the protestant mind-set which is horrid. I came across some of the literature and heard a tape once from "The Protestant Truth Society" and I didn't like it at all.

[Brother Adam]

If you have learned the truths of the Catholic faith and reject them, then you are Protestant. To be protestant doesn't mean you must ascribe to any one set of beliefs. In fact, it means you you come up with your own interpretation of scripture and ascribe to that. This is why there are tens of thousands of Protestant sects. To protest the truth of the Catholic faith is to be Protestant.

[Mikhail]

I was recommended to this site by a Catholic friend of mine who told me that I could debate with Catholics on matters of their faith. However, what I'm seeing here is people who just consider me deceived and they state what they believe to be facts and anything that I say is not facts.

Like it or not, the world doesn't revolve around the Catholic church. The term Protestant belonged to the Lutherans, the Anglicans, and the Calvinists (and even the Zwingliians). To associate other Christians with these groups is offensive to me. You throw me in with all the other non-Catholics, something that I am not.

[MichaelFilo]

Wait... we are not simply stating we are right and you are wrong. We are giving you reasons. You have failed to do this, but I am sure you will provide excellent ones upon realizing that you haven't.


To be a Protestant is to ascribe to the beliefs of those men... it would be very silly to say every Calvinist belives the same thing, or every Luthern (why few believed in Mary's perpetual Virginity, but Luther did!). Those people were Protestants nonetheless. They protested the Christian Faith as it stood. Their beliefs were united on some points, most especially Sola Scriptura and salvation by faith. In effect, anyone who ascribes to these beliefs nowadays, and anyone who did back then, is considered a Protestant.

Please don't take offense... but it's how it is. Your beliefs are rooted in the Protestant Reformation, and that I cannot help, and the title cannot be shaken off unless you join a church that has psuedo-baptisms, at which point you cease to be a Christian.

God bless,
Mikey

[Brother Adam]

Do I sense frustation?

If you want to debate, then debate! If you want to ask questions, ask questions! Or just stay and observe.

If you are offended, I'm sorry, Christ did not come to make everyone happy. You're comment 'The world does not revolve around the Catholic Church' is abrasive. The Church is sojourning in this world. It is not of the world, and Christians are alien residents to the world.

If believe you have a religion of your own that does not come out of another sect, that's fine. Perhaps you are not historically connected to old Protestant movements, yet none the less, if you openly reject the Bride of Christ, you ultimately reject Christ himself. I know that is extremely difficult to understand, and I don't blame you for disagreeing, but if you disagree, say so, and tell us what about the Catholic Church you disagree with. Let's move foreward to open dialogue in truth and love, instead of being stuck on something you may find offensive.

I hope you will find as so many others do, myself included, that when they put Catholicism on trial she wins every time. To every question and to every disagreement there is a clarification that needs to be made. You are welcome here, and we love you, and Christ loves you, but we will of course hold steadfast to the faith which we love.

[photosynthesis]

what's the difference between a Protestant and an Evangelical and a Fundamentalist?

[Brother Adam]

A fundamentalist is a Protestant who ascribes usually to Baptistic beliefs.

An evangelical is someone who proclaims the good news of the gospel to all men.

A protestant is someone who protests the one, true, holy, apostolic faith.

[cmotherofpirl]

[quote name='Mikhail' date='Apr 11 2005, 08:42 PM']

Like it or not, the world doesn't revolve around the Catholic church. The term Protestant belonged to the Lutherans, the Anglicans, and the Calvinists (and even the Zwingliians). To associate other Christians with these groups is offensive to me. You throw me in with all the other non-Catholics, something that I am not. [/quote]
If you are a member of the Jewish faith, your religion was founded by Abraham about 4,000 years ago.
If you are a Hindu, your religion was developed in India around 1,500 B.C.

If you are a Buddhist, your religion split from Hinduism, and was founded by Buddha, Prince Siddhartha Gautama of India, about 500 B.C.

If you are Catholic, Jesus Christ began your religion in the year 33.

If you are Islamic, Mohammed started your religion in what is now Saudi Arabia around 600 A.D.

If you are Eastern Orthodox, your sect separated from Catholicism around the year 1000.

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

If you belong to the Church of England (Anglican), 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 remarry.

If you are a Presbyterian, your religion was founded when John Knox brought the teachings of John Calvin to Scotland in the year 1560.

If you are a Unitarian, your religious group developed in Europe in the 1500's

If you are a Congregationalist, your religion branched off from Puritanism in the early 1600's in England.

If you are a Baptist, you owe the tenets of your religion to John Smyth, who launched it in Amsterdam in 1607.

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

If you are an Episcopalian, your religion was brought over from England, to the American colonies and formed a separate religion founded by Samuel Seabury in 1789.

If you are a Mormon (Latter-Day Saints), Joseph Smith started your church in Palmyra, N.Y., NOT Salt Lake City, which would have been my guess. The year was 1830.

If you worship with the Salvation Army (yes, it's a religious group, not just an organization that collects money in kettles on Christmas and serves dinners to the homeless), your sect began with William Booth in London in 1865.

If you are a Christian Scientist, you look to 1879 as the year your religion was founded by Mary Baker Eddy.

If you are a Jehovah's Witness, your religion was founded by Charles Taze Russell in Pennsylvania in the 1870's.

If you are a Pentecostal, your religion was started in the United States in 1901.

If you are an agnostic, you profess an uncertainty or a skepticism about the existence of God or a Higher Being.

If you are an atheist, you do not believe in the existence of God or any other higher power.

[Priscilla]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' date='Apr 11 2005, 10:00 PM'] If you are a member of the Jewish faith, your religion was founded by Abraham about 4,000 years ago.

If you are Catholic, Jesus Christ began your religion in the year 33.

[/quote]
The gospel was preached to Abraham and he was called the Friend of God. Abraham rejoiced to see Christ's day.

Our Lord Jesus Christ did not start a new "religion" surely?

The Lord was Jewish and He IS till Jewish: He boasts in Revelation "I am the ROOT and OFFSPRING of David" and He is coming back to reign on David's throne in Jerusalem.

The Apostle Paul was in chains "for the hope of Israel".

What IS the "Hope of Israel"?

Is it not the establishment of God's Kingdom on earth ?....when the Lord Jesus returns to earth to reign as King of the Jews from Jerusalem, the City of the Great King, and then there will be peace?

As I understand it, Catholics DO believe in the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to earth don't they? I thought it was in the Creed?

On of the things I love in th Mass (when I sing it in choirs) is the "Benedictus": "Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord" because this YET HAS TO BE FULFILLED again - our dear Lord told His disciples as He wept over Jerusalem "I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord'".

I want to reign with christ in His Kigdom: that is my desire; if God will be gracious to me on that Day when He comes to judge the quick and the dead.

[Priscilla]

By the way - I do not like the word "religion".

"Religion" has caused more wars and hatred than anything else and I believe the Lord does not like it either: in fact, the word "religion" is only used about twice in Scripture - and this is the Lord's take on it:

"TRUE RELIGION IS THIS: TO VISIT THE FATHERLESS AND WIDOWS IN THEIR AFFLICTION"

Surely, it is not "religion" - but RELATIONSHIP - a relationship with the true and living God?

[Brother Adam]

Are you Jewish? Where exactly are you getting your education from? Are you going to address the points others have been bringing up to you over various threads, or keep dodging and side stepping them?