I was watching the news last night and the commentator mentioned Catholicism and Christianity as if they are two different things. I found this odd, but I’ve heard people talk this way before. You’re either Catholic or you’re Christian. But Catholic’s are Christian, aren’t they?
First, my writing isn't about me. Don’t want the attention, don’t want to feed my ravenous ego (yep, I’m just a typical pride-plagued human).
But I love writing - it gets me out of bed when it's way too dark, just so I can do some writing before heading off to work. I write because I’m passionate about God, Jesus, His Spirit, and His truth. And, I feel the Holy Spirit gets shortchanged in the world we call Christianity. The truth is sometimes lacking too.
Generally speaking, no, I do not believe Catholics are Christians. Because if you adhere to Rome’s teachings, many of them are in direct contradiction with scripture. That does not mean that there may not be Christians who attend a Catholic church (although I have no idea why they would continue to do so if they have been truly regenerated), but as such they can no longer be called Catholics.
You may find this site interesting – by a man who was a Catholic for 46 years and is a Christian ministering to Catholics for many years now – there is an article on there called “Is a Catholic Christian an Oxymoron?” that demonstrates some critical differences between a bible-based believer and a person practicing Catholicism. http://www.pro-gospel.org/site/cpage.asp?cpage_id=180066646&sec_id=180014816
(sorry I cannot link directly to the article because of how his site is set up) This and many other articles point out the ways in which biblical Christianity and Roman Catholicism do not agree.
I could say much more, but for the sake of space I will leave it at that.
If they have had a ‘born again’ experience with Jesus, accepting by faith He died for them, and rose again to give them eternal life and they have asked forgiveness of their sins and believe, yes, they are as much a Christian as anyone else. There is only a difference in the form of worship or church doctrine that separates all of us Christians in the way we worship, what church we belong to.
June 5, 2015 at 7:00 am
Generally speaking, no, I do not believe Catholics are Christians. Because if you adhere to Rome’s teachings, many of them are in direct contradiction with scripture. That does not mean that there may not be Christians who attend a Catholic church (although I have no idea why they would continue to do so if they have been truly regenerated), but as such they can no longer be called Catholics.
You may find this site interesting – by a man who was a Catholic for 46 years and is a Christian ministering to Catholics for many years now – there is an article on there called “Is a Catholic Christian an Oxymoron?” that demonstrates some critical differences between a bible-based believer and a person practicing Catholicism. http://www.pro-gospel.org/site/cpage.asp?cpage_id=180066646&sec_id=180014816
(sorry I cannot link directly to the article because of how his site is set up) This and many other articles point out the ways in which biblical Christianity and Roman Catholicism do not agree.
I could say much more, but for the sake of space I will leave it at that.
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June 5, 2015 at 7:13 am
Jennifer, thank you so much for sharing this.
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June 5, 2015 at 7:26 am
To be a Christian is to be Christ-like, and we can find people like that in every denomination.
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June 5, 2015 at 8:00 am
If they have had a ‘born again’ experience with Jesus, accepting by faith He died for them, and rose again to give them eternal life and they have asked forgiveness of their sins and believe, yes, they are as much a Christian as anyone else. There is only a difference in the form of worship or church doctrine that separates all of us Christians in the way we worship, what church we belong to.
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