Catholics aren't really Christian? Huh?

This is correct,The RCC teaches( or taught) because they feel they left the RCC and started another religion. They use the Bible’s statement that Peter was the Rock on which Jesus built his church, and Jesus promised that what Peter bound on earth was also bound in Heaven.And the gates of Hell would not prevail over it.

In reality it could be said that the Christian church was a break from Judaism.

Yes, but a book of matches under the sink is a nice back-up. Be prepared, I always say. :smiley:

I thought that when we get to Heaven all our worldly needs and cares are forgotten-so why are we bothering the saints that earned a special place up there with our worldly needs and cares?

Are you kidding? In the US there are *Anglicans *who don’t consider other Anglicans to be Christian. I am not making this up.

Pray to her to pray for us. I don’t think she takes e-mail or has a cell phone. :slight_smile:

Over what? Gay rights? Or something older?

The former.

Here is my own anecdote.

Growing up, my Dad took us to a non-denominational church though he himself was raised as a baptist, I believe. He was a pretty hardline “christian” (though a terrible drunk so go figure), and firmly believed that Catholics were not true Christians and would not be going to heaven. I believe some of the reasons he proffered included:

The idea of having a pope and a hierarchy of some guys being closer to God than others is inherently un-Christian. The infallibility of the pope (or whatever it’s really called) is supposedly against Bible teachings.

The Catholic church’s “obsession” with Mary and Saints. Not really sure why this is so anti-Christian, but it sure rubbed my dad and others in the church the wrong way. The idea of praying to Mary, asking her to do stuff, etc, is just weird to guys like my dad and not very Christian.

I think there was something about Protestants being against Catholic Icons, and I heard my dad talk about it a few times, about how they “worship idols.”

Anyhow, I’m an atheist now and I see the Catholic Church as infinitely more tolerable than any other branch of mainstream Christianity I know about, so don’t take any of the above as my own point of view or opinion. But it was certainly drilled into my brain that Catholics are evil hethens, as bad as Muslims or Athiests.

For what it’s worth, there was a billboard that read “The Pope is the Anti-Christ” outside my small Southern Oregon town for over a decade. I have no idea who put it up or why it was there.

Presumably they wouldn’t cause the miracles that the church needs to canonize them. If the miracles do happen then the saint wants to be bothered. If they don’t, then the saint doesn’t.

Mostly the former, but there are also lingering issues about women’s ordination, and accusations of various heresies.

I’ve posted this before but it bears repeating: My SIL is convinced (probably by her pastor) that the RCC is the Scarlet Whore of Babylon.

Jehovah’s Witness literature is… interesting. I seem to recall the Vatican represented by a whore riding a tiger in one left on my door.

It couldn’t be against The Bible’s teachings because it was the RCC and Orthodox that decided what was God’s word, or inspired by God,plus, if Jesus gave the power that the Bible says Jesus gave to Peter that what was bound or loosed on earth would be bound or loosed in Heaven, then what ever Peter and his successors did would be the word of God. People forget that it was not God who said or did anything it was humans the word of the Bishops in the 300s.

This is the point I like to make, that Belief is not fact, they have the right to believe as they wish, but that doesn’t make it true.

People honor a lot of people now, and ask other people to pray for them they are not giving the person the same level as God, however if the Bible is correct then according to the psalmist and Jesus who agreed with the psalmist used the phrase"I said you are gods and sons of god. That puts a whole new light on the subject. Of course the psalmist was just a human being, and how one translates it makes a whole lot of difference.

There are statues of many famous people and no one thinks they are being worshiped, just honored and some people pray in front of a statue to help them consentrate on the prayer. I personally believe that if God is all knowing ,loving etc. than prayer is a lack of trust in God.

A conversation with my wife (well, with my girlfriend, when the conversation happened):

“Catholics aren’t Christian.”

“Yes they are.”

“No they aren’t.”

“OK… how do you define “Christian”?”

“Someone who believes in Christ… and isn’t Catholic!”

“That would be what is known as a Protestant. Or an Orthodox Christian, actually, but that’s not really the point… Then you have the Anglicans…”

I’ve been known to wander off on tangents.

Why don’t you just trust that God being a good( and all knowing) father would not give anything harmful to you, or hold anything back as a good human father would when he knows for sure that it would be in his child’s best interest?

But the poor saint-to-be doesn’t have a vote in the matter. She/he doesn’t get a chance to say,“Dude, I swear that cancer went into remission all by itself, and that picture would ‘cry’ less if you purchased a dehumidifier.”

Someone wrote “the apostles were 12 Aramaic men. If priests don’t have to be Aramaic (Jesus didn’t have any American disciples back then), then why do they have to be men?”
It was just the culture at the time (how women were regarded). People (even with their modern prejudices) love to read into scripture the things they want to hear.

I was raised Lutheran and have gone over to the Episcopal Church. God is supposed to be about love, not hate, fear and regimentation.

Asking saints to intercede for you is no different, really, than asking your friends or family members to pray for you. It’s not a sign of lack of trust in God to do good. When you ask your best friend to pray to God for you, no one accuses you of worshipping your friend.

(I’m not RCC and don’t venerate saints but I understand the reasoning behind the practice).