Catholic Or Christian

[TheDisturbedOne 1]

Recently I have had to deal with the conflict of Religion. I have been raised a Catholic, but recently I am starting to consider myself more of a Christian than a Catholic. Some people are against this, but I think that if you are a part of the Christianity religion, you should be able to worship at any Christian Church no matter what religion you are. After all, you are praying to the same God, and all the other Christianity Religions were all part of the Catholic Church at one point or another, and branched off for one reason or another.I could see that some people are against this, but I would like to know your opinions on this...

[kingjim007 0]

You should read some Christian history my friend. Martin Luther was known as the great reformer. He was a Catholic Priest and he was involved in the translation of the Bible into every day language.At that time the Bible was not available to the common man and religious figures used this to keep people ignorant. They misused the Word of God in many ways to keep people in fear. The Catholic Church is all about maintaining control.One such thing they did was that of Indulgences. For a price you could basically pay for your sins buy way of buying indulgences. So called 'Preachers' would go from town to town, put the fear of God into ignorant people and make a killing!Luther read his Bible well and came across the Doctrine of Grace. Clearly in scripture it says we are saved by grace and not by works and that salvation is a free gift. This went against the Catholic tradition of having to confess to a priest and by doing other things to work you way into Heaven. He was ex-communicated and there was basically a civil war by people of the Catholic Church's domination of the common man.Each person's salvation was provided by the sacrifice that jesus made on the cross when he 'died for our sins'. Therefore if we believe that he did this for us and that he rose again and we confess this with out mouth the bible says we are 'saved. Grace= God's unmerited favour. In other words we did nothing to deserve it (we can't work for it as the Bible says our 'righteousness is as filthy rags i.e. the best we can do still falls short). Also it says 'while we were sinners Christ died for us.So if I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord I will be saved. It's a free gift. That is the major difference between Catholic and Christian Doctrine. Are there Christians who believe this in the Catholic Church? Yes. And there are many Catholics who worship a religion (i.e. a man made set of rules that they obey thinking that this pleases God and they can work their way into Heaven).The difference between religion and faith is this. We must focus on what Jesus has DONE and not on what we can DO. It has all been done we just have to accept it.So you are wanting to fellowship with other Christians outside of the Catholic Church. And what is the reaction? The fruit of the Holy Spirit is peace, patience, love, joy, gentleness, self-control etc. If people are not acting with this sort of character in relation to your wishes then is their 'religion' something to be followed?Go where you are going to get fed the Word of God and where you feel free to worship God. The Word says we must 'work out your own salvation with fear and trembling'. In other words it is a personal journey and you are responsible to God at the end of your life on earth when we must all 'give account of our lives'.You need to take responsibility to find out things and 'study to show yourself approved' as Paul the Apostle says. If you do this you will begin to understand more about your faith and also about human nature. You will understand how the structures of things like churhes and organisations work. How people like to control others and how freedom to worship God cannot be squashed by rules and regulations.God bless you in your journey and I hope you find places to fellowship that meet your needs.KJ

[TheDisturbedOne 1]

I read a lot about about Martin Luther last year, and I personally think what he did was good. Before that, the Catholic Church had complete control over everyone, and (like you said about Indulgences) I think it was wrong. I am still actively with the Catholic church, but I think that not many people that are Catholic would be able to take the step from Catholicism to going to pray or worship (not even being a member of, necessarily) another type of Christian Church.

[networker 0]

I think Christianity is the important thing rather thanindividual denominations.I always found the catholic faith tobe too dogmatic and doom and gloom anyway.I'm a protestant, but a Christian first.

[Ash-Bash 0]

I tink Christianity is the improtant one at Networker said.I would foucus on that, Read the bible and ect...

[Misanthrope 0]

I never failed to be horrified at this misguided notion a Catholic is not also a Christian. It is one the Enlightened Misanthrope has repeatedly heard espoused by Protestant denominations, blatantly ignorant of their own faith's origins. Here's a quick newsflash for uneducated readers: If you're Catholic, you are out of necessity, Christian. One does not exist without the other. And contrary to popular belief, Catholics do not sacrifice new-born-babes to Satan, nor do they drink blood out of black goblets while fornicating on black alters adorned with inverted crosses. They do, however, drink red wine out of goblets, which I'm about to do right now...

[KansukeKojima 0]

I do not consider Catholics who practice what the Catholic church teaches. This "church" is apostate and does not believe in one of the basic doctrines of Christianity. There are specific doctrines which lay at the core of Christianity and these are:

 

1) Jesus is both God and man (John 1:1,14; 8:24; Col. 2:9; 1 John 4:1-4). (Accepted by the Catholic Church)

2) Jesus rose from the dead physically (John 2:19-21; 1 Cor. 15:14). (Accepted by the Catholic Church)

3) Salvation is by grace through faith (Rom. 5:1; Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 3:1-2; 5:1-4). (Denied by the Catholic Church)

4) The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus according to the scriptures (1 Cor. 15:1-4; Gal. 1:8-9). (Accepted by the Catholic Church)

5) There is only one God (Exodus 20:3; Isaiah 43:10; 44:6,8) (Accepted by the Catholic Church)

 

-- http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ --

These are doctrines which are essentially to Christianity and these are the doctrines which are backed up by scripture. Those who deny any of these are not Christians because they do not affirm the beliefs of Christianity. These are the beliefs which were historically taught by the early Christian Church. I would like to examine point number three:

 

3) Salvation is by grace through faith (Rom. 5:1; Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 3:1-2; 5:1-4). (Denied by the Catholic Church)

This is a very important doctrine to affirm. Christ took our sin upon Himself when He died on the cross so that we could be forgiven our sin and be acceptable before God. It is only by His grace that He took our sin and bared the wrath of God. In Catholicism, they add works to this. In other words, YOU have to do something in order to win God's favor. That is not grace. Grace is something undeserved, not something worked for. Lets examine Rom. 5:1; Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 3:1-2; and 5:1-4.

Rom 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

- Justification is a legal term which means that we are no longer seen as guilty. Under God's law, all who have broken it are guilty of sin.

Eph 2:8 For by such grace you have been saved through faith. This does not come from you; it is the gift of God

Eph 2:9 and not the result of works, lest anyone boast.

- We see here that it is only be the grace of God (a gift) that we are saved. It is not the result of our own works. Catholicism affirms that we need to do specific things so that we may be saved.

- When we consider this as well as Rom 5:1 it is apparent that nothing we can do is able to justify us before the law of God. It is clear that our works are not capable of justifying us and that they cannot save us from God's wrath.

Gal 3:1 You foolish Galatians! Who put a spell on you? Before your very eyes you had a clear description of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross!

Gal 3:2 Tell me this one thing: did you receive God's Spirit by doing what the Law requires or by hearing the gospel and believing it?

- None of us is capable of obeying the Law of God and that all our unrighteous and under condemnation (Rom 3:10-3:20). If that is the case, then there is no way we could be saved because we cannot fulfill what the Law requires. We can only be saved by the Gospel of Christ. If we are not even capable of obeying God's laws, it is illogical to believe that we can be saved by obeying the laws of the Catholic church which are invented by men. The rituals of Catholicism have no power to save.

Gal 5:1 Freedom is what we have---Christ has set us free! Stand, then, as free people, and do not allow yourselves to become slaves again.

Gal 5:2 Listen! I, Paul, tell you that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, it means that Christ is of no use to you at all.

Gal 5:3 Once more I warn any man who allows himself to be circumcised that he is obliged to obey the whole Law.

Gal 5:4 Those of you who try to be put right with God by obeying the Law have cut yourselves off from Christ. You are outside God's grace.

Gal 5:5 As for us, our hope is that God will put us right with him; and this is what we wait for by the power of God's Spirit working through our faith.

- This scripture is talking about men who had placed their faith in obeying the Law instead of putting their faith in the Gospel and God's grace. Putting our faith in the tenets of the Catholic church and relying on our own "goodness" robs Christ's sacrifice of its saving power.

 

The Catholic Church outright rejects this biblical truth and instead relies on man-made traditions and rules. This is why Catholicism is not Christianity.

 

For more information on this please read the articles found here:

http://carm.org/roman-catholicism

The author of these articles, Matt Slick, has done excellent comparative research of what the Catholics believe compared to Christianity.

[RedAlert 0]

Matthew 16:19 - I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

if you believe the the bible is the word of god, you must believe that the church is infallible. Basically, if the bible is right, Catholicism is. So you bible thumpers better convert asap