Friday, May 26, 2006

Catholics Not Christians? Duh!

Recently, my daughter came home from school and asked: “Are we really Christians? My friend said we are Catholics so we are not Christians”. Aaaargh! That one again. And she goes to a Catholic school.

Now I am not a religious person; but I was so angry. Catholics know they are Christians, so you can guess who the ignorant are, who are spreading their disease.

I gave her the facts: There are two varieties of Christians: Catholics, and Protestants – those who broke away from the original Church.

Another one hit me a few days later when the front page blurb of a local weekly for a column called “Think” (Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrgh!) displayed the same ignorance, together with the “thinker”, in his introduction to his article.

Aren’t the facts of the matter out there and easy to determine? I asked myself. So I went to Google, and typed in “difference between christians and catholics” and hit the return button.
Anyone who wants a simple, straight answer is going to have a tough time because there are a variety of sites and many are more evangelistic than they are informative.

Here is one that can be a starting point if you want to dig a little deeper in to the question. It gives a list of differences between Catholic and Protestant churches. Here is one site that gives the Catholic view. Remember, these are starting points. Do explore other sites to get an even more rounded view.

But here’s a shortcut, a surefire way of determining for yourself whether Catholics believe in Jesus Christ and are therefore Christians. Go to a Catholic church this Sunday, and hear what they profess to be their faith. They do it at every Mass, which Protestsants call Service. Here is what they declare:

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. AMEN.


Catholics declare this at each Sunday Mass. Hear it yourself. Yes, some may not move their lips, but many will be declaring it loud and clear . Judge for yourself, when you hear someone say “I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,” whether he is a Christian.

A listing of Catholic churches and Mass times can be found here.

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