The Catholic Christian – Are Catholics Christians?

Is there such a thing as a Catholic Christian?

In the past few weeks I’ve stumbled onto a couple of debates asking “are Catholics Christians?” On the face of it, it may seem like an odd question to ask. Catholics go to church, they celebrate Christmas and Easter. They generally are into the whole “God” thing.

If you were to dig a bit deeper and ask if the Catholic Christian exists, you may agree with me that the correct answer to the question is “no, they do not.”

My comments may seem outlandish to the practicing Catholic, but as someone who left legalized religion and knows many “recovering Catholics” as my brother-in-law calls himself, I believe I am speaking, well writing actually, Biblical truth.

This post is not written to start an argument or meant from me to be judgemental. I hope to open an honest conversation and answer some questions. I think you will find though that the Roman Church has added to the scope of Christian doctrine and is misleading the flock.

On a side note: If you want a few sources, I’ve included those as well, and I hope you take the time to review. 

The first is from Dave Hunt and The Berean Call – http://www.thebereancall.org

If you are not familiar with Dave Hunt, he is one of the most intelligent and informed Biblical scholars today.

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To counter the Reformation, Rome’s foremost theologians met from 1545-63 in the Council of Trent. Its Canons and Decrees, which rejected every Reformation doctrine, remain the standard authoritative statement of Roman Catholicism, and adherence thereto is required by Catholic catechisms. 

Opening Vatican II, Pope John XXIII declared, “I do accept entirely all that has been decided and declared at the Council of Trent.” Vatican II went on to reaffirm Trent’s Canons and Decrees. No, Rome has not changed since the Reformation

Hunt goes on to say:

Catholicism was formed through a union of “Christianity” and paganism and has always adapted itself to whatever religion it Christianized. Haiti, for example, is said to be 85 percent Catholic and 110 percent Voudun. Every voodoo ceremony begins with Catholic prayers. … Catholicism’s paganized Christianity was developed by Constantine to unite his empire. 

http://www.thebereancall.org/node/5909

I once asked a friend “How does a Catholic get to Heaven?”

The answer was basically, By “doing stuff” such as infant baptism for salvation or believing in the REAL presence of Christ in the Eucharist (The Lord’s Supper is a symbol and NOT the actual body and blood of Christ). I can’t leave out all the additional traditions like: The Mass, Penance, Veneration of Mary, Purgatory, Indulgences, the Priesthood, the Confessional, the Rosary, Venial and Mortal Sins, and statues in the Church. In fact, the Catechism states that both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence.

While this next link is just a lay person giving an answer, I believe it sheds a lot of light onto what Catholics believe:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080812001443AAomPMa

Quote: “One of the popes has said that Eucharist is the safest and quickest way to Heaven. The more you receive the Eucharist, and the more worthily you receive it, the more your spiritual life will improve.”

If all of the above is true, according to the Catholic rules, there could be no death bed conversions because a person is not worthy enough to get into the club as they have not done enough good works. I guess that person can go and sit in Purgatory, which by the way, is NOT found in the Bible.

One more source:

Roman Catholics [are] Christians [if] … they have trusted in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of their sins. However, if they believe that the are saved by God’s grace and their works, then they are not saved — even if they believe their works are done by God’s grace — since they then deny the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice.

http://www.carm.org/catholic/saved.htm

So I stand by what I wrote earlier. I do not believe that a Catholic Christian exists. Catholics by definition (who follow the teachings of the Pope, the Church, and for example, the Canons from the Council of Trent) are not Christians. http://www.carm.org/catholic.htm

Catholics who trust in Jesus alone are Christians and will spend eternity in Heaven. Then again, for a catholic to place their trust in Jesus they would have to go against the teachings of the Catholic Church. Once you do that you are no longer Catholic.

The truth will set you free indeed!

Respectfully submitted,
Chris