Catholicism = Christianity?

[Rinoa89]

I feel that catholicism is a denomination to christanity. It does practice the teachings of the bible, however, some of the practices condridict the bible. The thing that bothers me the most is the prayers to mary. I feel that praying to her is idolary, which is forbidden. If prayers go to anyone it should be to Jesus, not his mother. I feel that she should be honored, but not worshiped. This is just my personal opinion.

[Dead & Grateful]

Originally Posted by Rinoa89

I feel that catholicism is a denomination to christanity. It does practice the teachings of the bible, however, some of the practices condridict the bible. The thing that bothers me the most is the prayers to mary. I feel that praying to her is idolary, which is forbidden. If prayers go to anyone it should be to Jesus, not his mother. I feel that she should be honored, but not worshiped. This is just my personal opinion.

I don't know how many times this has to be stressed: Catholics do not worship Mary. They do honor her. And they stress the importance of not worshipping her, because she is not holy in the same since as Jesus. I think a problem with some of the posts in this thread is that some peoples' opinions are based on heresay, things they hear from others about Catholics, but not things they've experienced firsthand. No offense to anyone who actually has or is part of a Catholic church.

The bottom line: Catholics are a denomination of Christianity just as much as Baptists, Lutherans, etc. They all have similarities and differences.

[TomStrife]

Wow, this thread is going in circles. When someone gets proved wrong, they state the same thing and ignore that they were proved wrong. Just like Politians.

Christianity is not a religion. It is a relationship with God. Religion=Uselss practice that is done over and over. That's the REAL definition. I had to share that, but I know very few will agree or not even understand what I'm talking about (like the 90% of the people of this thread who don't know what Christianity is).

Catholics are Catholics. Christians are Christians.

There is no divisions. If there were, are you saying denominations spawn off of my beliefs?

People who disagree with Christianity go off and start their own thing. I have no problum admiting as far as the belief system of Lutherens and Baptists go, I am ignorant. However, if they are believed to be a division of my beliefs, than there are obviously disagreements or they would be just plain Christians.

That's the result of taking things out of context.

To conclude, define Christianity.

[Dead & Grateful]

As defined by Dictionary.reference.com:

Chris•ti•an•i•ty P Pronunciation Key (krsch-n-t, krst-)
n.
The Christian religion, founded on the life and teachings of Jesus.
Christians as a group; Christendom.
The state or fact of being a Christian.
pl. Chris•ti•an•i•ties A particular form or sect of the Christian religion: the Christianities of antiquity.

Cath•o•lic P Pronunciation Key (k th -l k, k th l k)
adj.
1. Of broad or liberal scope; comprehensive: “The 100-odd pages of formulas and constants are surely the most catholic to be found” (Scientific American).
2. Including or concerning all humankind; universal: “what was of catholic rather than national interest” (J.A. Froude).
3. Catholic
a. Of or involving the Roman Catholic Church.
b. Of or relating to the universal Christian church.
c. Of or relating to the ancient undivided Christian church.
d. Of or relating to those churches that have claimed to be representatives of the ancient undivided church.
Lu•ther•an P Pronunciation Key (l th r- n)
adj.
1. Of or relating to Luther or his religious teachings and especially to the doctrine of justification by faith alone.
2. Of or relating to the branch of the Protestant Church adhering to the views of Luther.

n.
A member of the Lutheran Church.

Bap•tist P Pronunciation Key (b p t st)
n.
1. A member of an evangelical Protestant church of congregational polity, following the reformed tradition in worship, and believing in individual freedom, in the separation of church and state, and in baptism of voluntary, conscious believers.
2. baptist One that baptizes.

de·nom·i·na·tion ( P ) Pronunciation Key (d-nm-nshn)
n.
A large group of religious congregations united under a common faith and name and organized under a single administrative and legal hierarchy.
One of a series of kinds, values, or sizes, as in a system of currency or weights: Cash registers have compartments for bills of different denominations. The stamps come in 25¢ and 45¢ denominations.
A name or designation, especially for a class or group.



They're all denominations of Christianity. Your personal definition of religion and Christianity compensate for nothing.

[TomStrife]

Not one of those religions were defined as a division of Christianity.
Potestant is "Not Catholic", not "Christianity".
Sorry, but as to how Christianity ties into those seeprate religions has not been explained as of yet. You need to do a tad more research to prove me otherwise, even though it isn't humanly possible.

Your personal knowledge of Christianity compensate for nothing.

[Dead & Grateful]

Maybe you didn't notice, but that's how the dictionary defines them. Those aren't personal definitions, unlike yours, which hold no ground because you have no control over what constitutes as Christianity. Don't be so blind.

First, read the plural definition of "Christianity" that was posted.
Then, read section 3b of "Catholic",
On top of that, a "Lutheran" and "Baptist" are both defined as members of Protestant churches, which, if you have ever taken a basic history course, are a branch of Christianity seperated from the Catholic church.
And if the first listed definition of "denomination" isn't enough for you, how about another source? :

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

A Christian is a follower of Jesus, whom they regard as the Christ.

Hmmm, seems simple enough...

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Christians maintain that Jesus offers salvation; there are somewhat different interpretations of the exact meaning of the salvation offered, although virtually all Christians agree that it is the perfect form of reconciliation to God, and that this is only possible because of Christ. Christians, by definition, are a part of Christianity. Most Christians identify themselves as monotheistic, believing that there is one God, although a small number are henotheist, believing in the existence of other deities but not worshipping them, and Mormons are semi-tritheistic, believing that there are three semi-independent Gods.

No way!

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Today, it is estimated that there are around 2.1 billion Christians in the world making up 33% of the world population, with the largest Christian sect being Roman Catholicism.

But I thought Catholics weren't Christians!?!?

You can call it what you want, as long as you're willing to admit your view is only an opinion, albeit one that contradicts the truth by modern definition.

[Sir Kenneth]

It's quite funny how most Christians who belong to other branches of Christianity than Catholicism. I remember having a discussion with a baptist on another forum, who claimed throughout the entire discussion that the only Christians are the baptists.

If you boil Christianity down to the very ground principles, such as accepting Jesus Christ as God's son and your saviour, and believing in one true God, I'd say that the Catholics fall into that category.

[Jof]

Ive been through 10 years of Catholic teachings. Look up its history. There were incidents such as the great schism when Christians divided. They retain the same core beliefs, such as the ressurection. Catholocism (this is a fact from my 5 years of GCSE RE) is a denomination of Christianity. Just as C/E and Baptists. They are all created because in some way or another they believed/followed different sections of the Bible. Your clutching at straws.

[Pete]

The way I see it, and the way I stated it, was that if you believe in Jesus Christ as your lord and saviour, that makes you a Christian.

Think of it this way. If you were born in America, you're an American. Now, you can believe in different things, like political parties. You can be a democrat or a republican, or even a libertarian or anarchist, but you'd still be an American.

Now, if TomStrife, Sasquatch and I all believe in Jesus Christ as lord and saviour, but I believe in some slight variations. We all use the same bible, but I believe in the sacraments. Now, we all believe in Christ, but I guess we slightly vary practices, are we not all Christians?

Or put it this way. We all go to Burger King. Tom get the Whopper with the works. Sasquatch gets the Whopper minus pickles, and I get the Whopper minus onions. Are we all not eating a Whopper?

[OceanEyes28]

Originally Posted by TomStrife

I am ignorant.

Now that's the result of taking things out of context (I kid, I kid).

I pretty much share the belief that Catholicism is a form of Christianity. The only real experience I have in the Catholic religion is the time I spent going to a Catholic school. They really weren't that different from the Presbyterian church I attended on Sundays. At least, from what I got out of their services. They certainly have more ritual, but the basic Christian stuff is still there. Aside from their differing opinions on transubstantiation and predestination. And baptism. And pergatory.

Oh hell, they're pretty different. But there's still the whole, "So Jesus is the son of God, okay?" thing going on. I usually think of Christianity being separated from other religions with the belief in Jesus being the son of God. Though, some sects do get pretty radical. Those crazy Anabaptists.

Anyway. Lots of good points in this thread.

And Pete made me hungry.

[TomStrife]

Originally Posted by Pete

Or put it this way. We all go to Burger King. Tom get the Whopper with the works. Sasquatch gets the Whopper minus pickles, and I get the Whopper minus onions. Are we all not eating a Whopper?

It depends entirely upon what the disagreeing matter is.

Let's say I believe there will be a rapture of the Church before the Tribulation and you believe that we will live through the Tribulation and THEN go to Heaven. No problums there.

Let's pretend you give Mary more respect than me. No problums there.

Let's say you think you need to do good works to go to Heaven and I believe you need to just believe in Jesus Christ.

Let's say you believe Jesus died but didn't rise again.

The last two are things that would seperate the religion entirely it just hugely depends on what the difference is.

The first two would result in us reading the Bible differently and having different opinions.

[Kyle]

TomStrife that makes a lot of sense. Nobody knows for certain what's going to happen, but the last two things you said would change everything. There are different views, and their are different denominations. If you believe that the Bible is false in any way, then you are a denomination of the church, and are not fully with the Bible's views. I'm not saying being Catholic means you won't go to heaven. Nobody knows. Whether it's an "entirely different religion" is to someone's opinion. There much alike, yet there are some major differences.

[TomStrife]

Thank You, Kyle.

Next to most of what Sasquatch said, that is the most intelligent post I've seen in this thread.

The whole point is they are VERY similar and the only thing that seperates us it:

1) Tradition
2) Taking the extremely important things out of context.

There are many Catholics that are Christians. They believe extra stuff on top of what Christians believe.

It's all extra stuff they don't HAVE to do so most do go to Heaven.

[Dead & Grateful]

It's funny how you can repeat your false argument like a broken record, but then someone who agrees with you is suddenly a genius.

Your definition of a Christian destined for heaven ("I believe you need to just believe in Jesus Christ") describes me. I believe Jesus was real, but I'm agnostic. Funny how things work out sometimes.

That just goes to show how vague your definition is. And on top of that, I'll also point out that your definition is based on opinion and not the already-presented fact that Catholicism is a denomination of Christianity just as much as the Protestant religions are.

Originally Posted by TomStrife

It's all extra stuff they don't HAVE to do so most do go to Heaven.

Where's the proof of this? This is the kind of crap that needs to get reported to a moderator, it's circular logic based on your religious belief, and has no ground in a debate.