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Well to some extent Protestantism is a reaction against Catholicism. If you read the original Reformers they say things about the Pope just about the same as some here who upset Catholics like you or I.
So if Catholicism is completely credible a Protestant could fear that means in some ways the Reformation was a waste of time. Some get around that by saying it was the Catholicism of the sixteenth-century that was "not credible" and now we're all okay with each other. Which is nice, but logically I see why that can be problematic. Because many of the things the original Protestants disliked of Catholicism (Celibacy, teachings that aren't explicitly Biblical, Papal Supremacy, Intercession of Saints, Seven Sacraments) are all still there. The Reformation wasn't simply about reforming Catholicism to be less corrupt. It was about Re-Forming Christianity based on a purely Biblical basis and the influence of Greek translations. So in some ways all Protestantism is based on the notion Catholicism is, in some sense, wrong or misguided. And also that all Orthodoxy is wrong or misguided as, though not Catholic, Orthodoxy did not reach Protestant conclusions.
Granted "credible" can be different than "completely credible." To be a Protestant I think you'd have to believe Catholicism is in some way incorrect. However you could do that without deciding it's all incorrect or that it's actively bad. And I think most Protestants manage that.
Not to pick nits but Jesus didn't found the Roman Catholic church because he was dead for 200 years and the Armenian church is the first established Christian church.
This is incorrect.
As early as 107 A.D., that same group was referred to as the “Catholic Church”. In a letter to the Church of Smyrna, Ignatius of Antioch wrote, "You must all follow the bishop as Jesus Christ follows the Father, and the presbytery as you would the Apostles. Let no one do anything of concern to the Church without the bishop. Wherever the bishop appears, let the people be there; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church." (Letter to the Smyrnaeans, A.D. 107, [8,1])
Notice that Ignatius does not introduce the term "Catholic Church"; instead he uses it in a manner suggesting that the name was already in use and familiar to his audience. This further suggests that the name, Catholic Church, had to have been coined much earlier in order to have achieved wide circulation by the time of this writing. That means that the Christian assembly was probably calling itself the Catholic Church during the lifetime of the last Apostle, John, who died near the end of the first century.
The priest hit it on the nail when he talks about small sects where folks become theologians without having a formal education. OTOH, it is not uncommon to find a priest with four years of theology and four years of philosophy.
I think that is the problem of both protestants and catholics, we see a pastor or a father as someone closer to God. It is as if a person wants to be a fr or pastor they must go to school. That has no scriptural proof. It is like when i say i will baptize my own kids, people wonder what authority i do that on. Well, i am the priest of my home. I will not let some dude with a theology degree take that from me. Or how people say, " tell the pastor/father so he can pray for you" it is sad but people have raised them up to a level that they have no authority to be.
To answer the question in the title of the thread, "Why do some Protestants have a need to discredit Catholicism?" -- maybe because they feel it is wrong and that it teaches a false gospel.
Or it could be that they are hatemongers who just can't sleep unless they have pointed the finger at someone. ;-)
As early as 107 A.D., that same group was referred to as the “Catholic Church”. In a letter to the Church of Smyrna, Ignatius of Antioch wrote, "You must all follow the bishop as Jesus Christ follows the Father, and the presbytery as you would the Apostles. Let no one do anything of concern to the Church without the bishop. Wherever the bishop appears, let the people be there; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church." (Letter to the Smyrnaeans, A.D. 107, [8,1])
Notice that Ignatius does not introduce the term "Catholic Church"; instead he uses it in a manner suggesting that the name was already in use and familiar to his audience. This further suggests that the name, Catholic Church, had to have been coined much earlier in order to have achieved wide circulation by the time of this writing. That means that the Christian assembly was probably calling itself the Catholic Church during the lifetime of the last Apostle, John, who died near the end of the first century.
But was it called the "Roman" Catholic Church? The term "Catholic Church" by itself simply means "universal church," a term I, as a Protestant, have no problem with.
But was it called the "Roman" Catholic Church? The term "Catholic Church" by itself simply means "universal church," a term I, as a Protestant, have no problem with.
"The Creed which we recite on Sundays and holy days speaks of one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. As everybody knows, however, the Church referred to in this Creed is more commonly called just the Catholic Church. It is not, by the way, properly called the Roman Catholic Church, but simply the Catholic Church. The term Roman Catholic is not used by the Church herself; it is a relatively modern term, and one, moreover, that is confined largely to the English language. The English-speaking bishops at the First Vatican Council in 1870, in fact, conducted a vigorous and successful campaign to insure that the term Roman Catholic was nowhere included in any of the Council's official documents about the Church herself, and the term was not included."How Did the Catholic Church Get Her Name?
Perhaps the English wanted to differentiated themselves and called the Catholic Church the Roman Catholic Church. It may also have to do with the Latin rite.
Nevertheless, I always called myself a Roman Catholic.
2 Tim 4:3(KJV): For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
"The Creed which we recite on Sundays and holy days speaks of one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. As everybody knows, however, the Church referred to in this Creed is more commonly called just the Catholic Church. It is not, by the way, properly called the Roman Catholic Church, but simply the Catholic Church. The term Roman Catholic is not used by the Church herself; it is a relatively modern term, and one, moreover, that is confined largely to the English language. The English-speaking bishops at the First Vatican Council in 1870, in fact, conducted a vigorous and successful campaign to insure that the term Roman Catholic was nowhere included in any of the Council's official documents about the Church herself, and the term was not included."How Did the Catholic Church Get Her Name?
Perhaps the English wanted to differentiated themselves and called the Catholic Church the Roman Catholic Church. It may also have to do with the Latin rite.
Nevertheless, I always called myself a Roman Catholic.
I call myself Roman Catholic because the Bishop of Rome heads it as Jesus' Vicar on Earth.
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