Is Catholocism Christianity?

[Ovedya]

Is the Roman Catholic Church a Christian Church?

They believe that Jesus is the one true son of God, brought to the Earth to save us from sin, they preach the Bible, so I do not understand why everyone says they are not Christian.

Every denomination teaches slightly differently, but what makes the Catholic Church different from the rest? If they are teaching the Bible, and supporting what you all say, then I dont see the problem.

Would anyone enlighten me?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The RCC has a lot of doctrinal problms that separate them to a degree from the true faith. However, it is wrong to say that Roman Catholics (ie. the people of the faith) are not Christian. Being a Christian has little to nothing to do with what denomination you belong to. It has everything to do with whether you are following Christ or not. The church is not the RCC. Nor it is the Baptist, Anglicans, Pentecostals, etc. etc. The church is the corporate expression of the Triune God. It is the life contained in the members individually and corporately.

[JimR-OCDS]

So if the RCC is the one true church, does that mean we're all going to hell?

Nope, what it means is that it is the Church established by Jesus and it is the Church that Jesus promised, that the gate's of hell would not prevail over. It is the Church that Jesus promised to send the Paraclete to, in order to guide it and protect it.

In other Christian denominations, there are germs of truth, and you will find that those truths came out of the Catholic Church, which has the fullness of revealed truth.

While the early Christians (prior to Constantine's conversion) called themselves "universal" which translates into Catholic, this does not mean that the Catholic church of today was the Christian (Catholic) church of yesterday.

Well the Catholic Church has the documentation to show the lineage back to the apostles. Also, Constantine didn't convert to Christianity until he was on his death bed. What Constantine did was to bring the persecuted Church, up from the cathacombs and into society. Constantine had no intention of converting to Christianity, nor determining what Christians believe. His call for the council at Nicea, was to bring the Bishops together, to address the issue of Arianism and to formulate a standard for Christians to believe. The Nicene Creed was the result of what Christians believed.

One of the interesting things is that many of the unbiblical teachings come post-converstion. I mean, I find it amazing that Catholics believe that Catholocism could have been elevated to a state religion overnight by a Pagan government and NOT be corrupted.

It wasn't elevated to state religion, by Constantine. Theodosius 380AD, who was became a Catholic, issued and edict defining Catholic Christianity as "the religion taught by St. Peter to the Romans." He gave the Christianity, full protection against all other beliefs, who up until this time, persecuted the Church.

I don't want to get into a debate about it, but I do suggest you study the history...that is a plural you. Both sides should. The Catholic church has been around since the time of Christ...but it has also endured a massive change in theology.

OK, tell us what massive changes in theology were made?

[Ovedya]

I don't want to get into a debate about it, but I do suggest you study the history...that is a plural you. Both sides should. The Catholic church has been around since the time of Christ...but it has also endured a massive change in theology.

OK, tell us what massive changes in theology were made?

Can we not turn this into a debate over Catholic doctrine, please? A question was asked, and if it's been thoroughly answered then we should probably move on without re-hashing all the old arguments.

Thanks

[RustyAngeL]

There's a lot that the Catholic Church teaches that you cannot back up with scripture. One..they want you to confess to a priest. The only one we as believers confess to is the High Priest Jesus. No man can forgive you of your sins. God is the only one who can do that. Two,.. Catholics pray to saints and the Virgin Mary. The only one that will hear from heaven is God. When we pray to our Heavenly Father through Jesus we have a direct line into the Throne Room. Three,... they pray for the dead to get them out of Pergatory and into Heaven. That is a false teaching. Nowhere in the Bible will you find anything that even hints of Pergatory. Only Heaven and Hell. One rule of the Catholic that really disturbs me is, if your not Catholic you cannot take communion in their church. If Jesus died for us all then we who know him as Lord and Saviour should and do have every right to recieve communion. You said that they believe that Jesus is the one true Son of God, well so does satan so what is the point? There are a lot of cults around, but as I said, it you cannot back up what they believe and preach with the Bible don't buy into it. I don't care how long the Catholic Church has been around, they need to get back to what scripture says and stop making things up as they go along.

Edited December 15, 2004 by Rustyangel