Are Catholics Christians?
Are Catholics Christians?
As a young Christian I was told many times that Catholics weren't Christians because they prayed to Mary instead of Christ.
As I matured I came to learn for myself that Catholics were actually Christians, (they claimed
Christ as their Lord and Saviour)
I've studied the bible for 70 years now, and have never found anywhere which states 'Ask Mary to ask her son to ask God on your behalf'.
On the contrary I found only the teachings of Jesus (our intercessor) telling us to ask God (directly) in His name. MATTHEW 21:22 JOHN 14:13 - 15:16 16: 23/24
There was never any mention of asking Mary.
I also found the instruction 'and do not call anyone on earth 'father' for you have one Father and he is in heaven. (Matthew 23:9)
The priest is not your father.
God looks at the heart, not at the religion
I pray always in Jesus name and call only God Father, my faith has remained strong. This however is not because I'm strong......only God knows that without the help and guidance of THE HOLY SPIRIT I would have buckled long ago.
God looks at the heart, not at the religion.
God smiles on faith, not on religion.
We can each of us have a personal relationship with God, in fact it's what He most desires. Only He knows the sincerity of our heart.
Good and bad are in all religions, in all denominations.
The ones who lean on him completely are His.Prayer is very personal, however we conduct our prayer, it's about trusting the one we turn to the most.
I respect all religious beliefs and am sure that sincerity is with many amongst all faiths. My best friend is Jesus, I know him the best, therefore I will continue to pray in his name with the continued hope that one day 'I WILL SEE HIM FACE TO FACE'
Note from author, Katherine T Owen, Dear fellow lover of God,
I appreciate the tone of your post which disagrees without being disagreeable and describes a journey from learned prejudices to one of allowing God and your spiritual journey to guide you to the belief that “God looks at the heart, not at the religion.” I join you in the heartfelt prayer with which you end.
How sad the prejudice and false teaching was so extreme. Being told that Catholics pray to Mary is an understandable prejudice and one that is close enough to the truth to be understandable.
But to be told that Catholics ONLY pray to Mary would require someone who had never talked to a Catholic, been in a Catholic church or attended Mass. In the case of an Anglican it would require a lack of knowledge that their own service is rooted in (and still today remains very similar to) the Mass.
How strange we can be so sure of beliefs about a group of people of whom we know nothing.
Just as Paul in the Bible (a Jew) suggests it would be inappropriate to despise the Jews since we (the early Christians) are like a plant grafted onto their plant, so it seems inappropriate for a denomination to despise the church from which they broke away.
For 1500 (pre reformation) years Christianity and Catholicism were almost synonymous terms. Many failings and much corruption came with the mixture of Church and state.
Nonetheless
this church contains the shared history for those belonging to most Christian denominations – both catholic and protestant. Both groups have hopefully learned lessons from the mistakes made.
This is also the church which preserved the Bible which became available for all to read at the time the printing press was developed and reading became more common. We can all be grateful for the preservation of this Holy Book regardless of the labels that we use to surround our love of Christ.
Sad too that you were told this lie “many times”. I marvel that churches and communities spend their time pointing the finger at other groups. Our power surely lies in allowing God to speak to our hearts and minds so that more and more we are a channel for His peace and love.
For other readers, and in case you want to explore your own views on these ideas, this post may be a response to my article on the
Hail Mary Prayer along with the awareness of the contributor that I am (an interfaith) Christian who finds a powerful experience of God in the liturgy and sacraments of the Catholic church (hence the comment about priests).
Do not call anyone on earth 'father' bible verse. Discussion
I have prayed about this bible verse in the past.
I take this quote “do not call anyone on earth 'father'” as one that invites us to address our tendency (an accepted tendency) to make idols of our relationships.
We are invited to put our relationship with God first above all our relationships.
We are not called to follow this command to the letter, i.e. by avoiding calling our fathers, father or Dad (or priests), but rather, to follow the Spirit of the law, by allowing our spiritual journey to take us into increasing dependency on God, who is Our Father.
With the love of our shared best friend, Jesus,
Katherine