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Protestants, mainly low church evangelical and fundamentalists, usually claim that the Catholic Church changed the Bible, and the 10 Commandments, and that they righted the wrong - which gave rise to the King James Version of the bible.. (which is the only unadulterated and uncorrupted form of the bible according to them)
But on the OP, a lot has changed since 2008-9 when this thread was last active.
Things have probably intensified, which could even mean we are in "the last days", or "end of times" madness, the so-called Rapture.
You only have to look at the number of youtube videos that make such claims, and have evangelicals attacking Catholics:
Moderator cut: orphaned video
Ultimately, it comes down to the heart of a person. If a person has given their heart to Christ and desires a relationship with Him, they are a Christian. I do believe the Catholic church is ripe with false doctrine, but that doesn't mean their relationship with Christ is not real.
I also believe Catholic priests do carry out real exorcisms and they have to be in tune with the Holy Spirit to claim victory over such demonic forces.
Last edited by Miss Blue; 06-07-2017 at 09:37 PM..
If any branch of Christianity can legitimately lay claim to being the One True Church, it is the Eastern Orthodox. Yet when my wife, a Baptist, joined me here from Belarus, it was her position that the Eastern Orthodox were "not Christians at all." What she really meant was that (1) for most of the Russian Orthodox the religion is largely a matter of tradition, with many of them lacking even the most rudimentary knowledge of the Bible or core doctrines; (2) the Russian Orthodox church is so closely aligned with the government, and was during the Soviet era, that it is difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins; and (3) upon the collapse of the Soviet Union, former supposedly atheistic Soviet officials were assimilated into the Russian Orthodox hierarchy so swiftly and seamlessly that it was head-spinning. This set me off on an in-depth study of Eastern Orthodox history and doctrine that pretty well convinced me it is indeed the One True Church. (The Great Schism with the Catholics occurred in 1054.) If someone held a gun to my head and said "You gotta pick one," my choice would be the Eastern Orthodox. I have even managed to soften my wife's stance.
The Protestant branch is so fragmented, largely over matters of doctrine, that for any denomination to say the Catholics "are not Christians" is somewhat comical. Yet in my Southern Baptist phase I did indeed hear this (and worse). Not often, but occasionally. The papacy has a very checkered history, and there is no question the office of the Pope is a lightning rod for believers who don't regard any man on earth as having that sort of spiritual authority. The worship (sorry, veneration) of Mary is to such an extreme degree that it is indeed troubling even to me. (Latin American Catholic theology was once described as "There is no God, but Mary is his mother.") The Christianity of Catholicism, like that of Eastern Orthodoxy, is a matter of the Bible, other authoritative writings, history and tradition, with the latter three often carrying as much or more weight than the Bible. Protestants, on the other hand, give (or at least say they give) primacy to the Bible alone (Sola Scriptura). The road to salvation is likewise viewed quite differently, particularly in the once-saved-always-saved Protestant denominations.
I do believe there are "Christian essentials" that go beyond merely having Jesus as a role model or picking and choosing those doctrines that make you feel warm and fuzzy. I do indeed believe there are many wearing a Christian mask who are not Christians. But insofar as the essentials are concerned, I don't see the Catholics (or really the Eastern Orthodox, since I know more about them) as being seriously deficient or as not being Christians. With 40,000+ branches on the Christian tree, clearly some have to be on something other than the correct path, perhaps way off the path, but I suspect there are few so far off the path that they are no longer on the tree (for you fans of mixed metaphors). It is the Happy Face "Christians" that I believe are completely off the path and are precisely what Jesus warned would appear in the last days - but no one would ever accuse the Catholic Church of promoting doctrine-free Happy Face "Christianity."
Seriously. I used to sit in a location at work not far from the desk of a Methodist minister's son. He liked to talk about Christianity. He seemed to hold it in a different light and make an off-handed comment about Catholics not being Christian.
I kept it to myself but thought it was so stupid that I couldn't get mad.
To me, any religion whose scriptural works are ONLY and BOTH the Old Testament and the New Testament, with the emphasis that your faith is put in practice largely through the New Testament, is a Christian religion. Period.
I'm not a religious expert, but I don't know what to make of religions that profess to be Christian but have OTHER books. I just don't know.
So, are Catholics Christians in your mind?
ME TOO!! And I'm a protestant!!
I'm sorry that that Methodist minister's son said that about you. Reminds me of those knuckleheads that say trans people like myself can't be Christians.
Seriously. I used to sit in a location at work not far from the desk of a Methodist minister's son. He liked to talk about Christianity. He seemed to hold it in a different light and make an off-handed comment about Catholics not being Christian.
I kept it to myself but thought it was so stupid that I couldn't get mad.
To me, any religion whose scriptural works are ONLY and BOTH the Old Testament and the New Testament, with the emphasis that your faith is put in practice largely through the New Testament, is a Christian religion. Period.
I'm not a religious expert, but I don't know what to make of religions that profess to be Christian but have OTHER books. I just don't know.
So, are Catholics Christians in your mind?
Take a piece of paper and on one side write down church beliefs, and on the other side write down Bible beliefs and see how well they match up or don't match up.
For example:
Since Jesus taught the soul can be destroyed at Matthew 10:28, which is in harmony with Ezekiel 18:4,20 that the soul that sins dies, besides what gospel writer Luke wrote at Acts 3:23 that the soul can be destroyed, then if a church teaching is teaching an immortal (death proof) soul, then that teaching is Not in harmony with Bible beliefs or teachings.
Bibles used by Catholics differ in the number and order of books from those typically found in bibles used by Protestants,............................
Yes, differ in number because the "66" are in harmony with each other by their parallel or corresponding cross-reference verses or passages.
The apocryphal books simply exclude themselves by being out of harmony with the "66".
For example:
Sirach 25:23 blames Eve for sin's beginning instead of Adam who did Not have to listen to Eve - Romans 5:12.
I'm sorry, did any ex-Catholics, like myself, think that was funny!!
I don't know about "funny" (Ha-Ha funny) but "funny" (odd) because what Catholics used Bibles!
My first Bible was given to me when I turned 20 by a Protestant Sunday School teacher.
That was the first time I had a Bible of my own in my hands.
Later on I had to track down a Catholic book store in order to find a Douay Bible.
The reason I purchased one was because an atheist took me to tour the United Nations and wanted me to explain the Isaiah Wall at the UN Plaza to him which says the words from Isaiah 2:4 that nations will Not learn war any more.
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