Why Do Some Christians Say Catholics Aren't Christian?

[Hilde]

I've heard this sometimes.

And one day is suddenly hear my cousin say "it's a different religion". I didn't really want to argue or anything, since it was my moms birthday and he's family. I'm not sure if he knows I'm doing Catholic studies an all.

Anyways, what makes people think this? I don't get it.

[Vincent Vega]

Mainly because they're idiots.

I really don't know why people say that. I guess cause we worship bread and the Virgin Mary.

[rkwright]

My roommate told me that one time.

Actually we were discussing suicide, he asked the Catholic teaching, and then he said "Well as Christians we believe..."

I stopped him and said "wait Catholics are Christians..."

He said "Well some Catholics are Christians..."

[Hilde]

And my mom was there when they were talking, when confession came up she said something like(don't remember 100% it was in Dec) "I know this, Protestants have a direct line to God" or something like that.
Blergh.

[Vincent Vega]

[quote name='Hilde' post='1763882' date='Jan 27 2009, 07:41 PM']"I know this, Protestants have a direct line to God" or something like that.
Blergh.[/quote]
Yes, they do. However, they severed that line in the 1500s, for reasons that still make me slap my head.

[CatherineM]

I remember signing up for Christian Conciliation (Christian mediation services), and the attorney who interviewed me asked me if I was a Christian, and I said that I was a Catholic, so I'm certainly a Christian. He told me that he had been raised a Catholic, but didn't become a Christian until he was born again,.....etc. You guys know how the rest of the conversation went. I told him that poor guidance and a lack of proper instruction in the catechism didn't mean he wasn't a Christian, it just meant his parents were bad Catholics. I still to this day wonder how I got that position.

[Winchester]

Because they are ignorant.

[Lord Philip]

[quote name='Hilde' post='1763875' date='Jan 27 2009, 04:34 PM']I've heard this sometimes.

And one day is suddenly hear my cousin say "it's a different religion". I didn't really want to argue or anything, since it was my moms birthday and he's family. I'm not sure if he knows I'm doing Catholic studies an all.

Anyways, what makes people think this? I don't get it.[/quote]

Because many arbitrarily pick one of their man-made doctrines (like justification by faith alone or sola scriptura) and then say that anyone who does not hold to that doctrine is not a Christian.

I daresay I highly suspect many of those people are not Christian.

[Selah]

Because they read too much Jack Chick.

[quote]I know this, Protestants have a direct line to God"[/quote]

[eagle_eye222001]

[quote name='Lord Philip' post='1763973' date='Jan 27 2009, 07:44 PM']Because many arbitrarily pick one of their man-made doctrines (like justification by faith alone or sola scriptura) and then say that anyone who does not hold to that doctrine is not a Christian.

I daresay I highly suspect many of those people are not Christian.[/quote]


When you do 20 minutes of Apologetcs on these subjects, you realize how incredibly self-destroying these are.

We get yelled at for making up a bazillion rules and adding stuff when they want us to follow something they definitly made up in the 1500s.

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[Selah]

[quote]We get yelled at for making up a bazillion rules and adding stuff when they want us to follow something they definitly made up in the 1500s.[/quote]

But that's [i]different[/i], remember? Martin Luther was fighting teh evul katholiks!

[Paddington]

Some Protestants have a harder time believing in salvation of Catholics due to the fact that their definition of "trusting in Jesus alone for salvation" is not compatible with how they see Catholicism or with Catholicism itself. They have to stop doing or strongly doubt what they see as necessary for their own personal salvation before they can really consider or appreciate Catholic doctrine. What I'm saying is that it can be a theological struggle within them that does not necessarily have to do with bigotry or a sense of superiority. If they do stop doing or strongly doubt what they see as the path to salvation, it will likely be a miserable experience for them and there will be Protestant apologetics that could be convincing enough for them in their miserable situation.

[sweens8403]

Mostly its because they don't know any better. I grew up as a baptist, and was regularly instructed on how to argue with Catholics. It took some patient explaining, but eventually I realized that what the Catholic Church is and teaches is something completely different from what I was TOLD she is and teaches.

Woe unto those teachers. Necks, millstones, etc.

[MithLuin]

Why do we say Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons aren't Christians? It is because they hold beliefs that are incompatible with orthodox Christian teaching.

Those who say that Catholics aren't Christian are of the opinion that we, too, share serious errors which make the name of 'Christian' inappropriate for us.

They are either misinformed of what orthodox faith in Jesus Christ is all about, or they are misinformed of the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Or they are just confused/repeating what someone else said, and they never really thought about it!

[Giolla]

Probably for the same reason that some Catholics (emphasis on some) believe that Protestants are not Christians. Ignorance. I think personally that since we also take guidance from Mary and The Saints, that in some way it takes away from Christ, but if they look further into our doctrine it is certainly not the case.

[Giolla]

[quote name='MithLuin' post='1764010' date='Jan 27 2009, 09:23 PM']Why do we say Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons aren't Christians? It is because they hold beliefs that are incompatible with orthodox Christian teaching.[/quote]

But if you look into their doctrine they are not what a Christian is, and most is bordering on heresy.

[XIX]

[quote name='MithLuin' post='1764010' date='Jan 27 2009, 09:23 PM']Why do we say Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons aren't Christians? It is because they hold beliefs that are incompatible with orthodox Christian teaching.[/quote]
Basically, JWs and Mormons reject the Trinity. They don't believe Jesus is God, hence they are not technically Christians.

[MithLuin]

Well, yes, I know .

But that's my point. When other Christians say that Catholics aren't Christian, this is what they mean.

[Nihil Obstat]

Always ask them to define what they mean by Christian before you start on that.
After you've established that, it's pretty simple to prove that we are.

"To be a Christian you have to accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour."
*point to crucifix*

[tinytherese]

Yea this issue really gets to me. In fact it's probably my biggest pet pieve when people say stuff like, "Yea I'm Catholic but wife is a Christian." Really, I wish that all christians would get the facts straight about each other's denominations, especially protestants getting the facts straight about what we catholics believe.

What's really sad is how many protestants get catholics that have not been properly catechized backed into corners with "Well why do you do this? This doesn't sound christian!" and these catholics don't know what to say, maybe even leave the church because of it. It's just pathetic the state of catechesis in the church is!!! So many go to catholic school for so many years or go to CCD classes for such a long perids of time and yet still don't know the faith. Why is it that non-catholics know their faith far better than we do? Catholic schools from pre-school through high school graduation did little for me. I learned about catholicism from EWTN, not from the catholic school system.