To all Protestants who claim to be Christians:?

Thank you for sharing your viewpoint. You bring up some good points that are worth pondering.

In response to your question.... I am saved, not by mere belief (head knowledge), but by trusting my life to the Grace of God... my salvation is a free, unmerited, un-worked-for gift from God.

Having said that, I am responsible to live in obedience to the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Is the Eucharist the literal flesh and blood of Jesus?

I would be inclined to think not...

At the time of the last supper, when Jesus lifted up the cup and said "this is my blood which is shed for you" he had not yet died on the cross. So no blood had been shed at that time. So it is a better understanding of the passage to view it as a metaphor (than a literal insisting by Jesus that the wine was his blood which had not yet been shed for the disciples and for us).

Similarly, at the last supper, when Jesus broke the bread and said "thsi is my body which is broken for you", his body had not yet been flogged/ nailed to a cross... so it wasnt yet broken. Therefore, it is a better understanding of the passage that the bread was symbolic of Jesus' body, than that the bread is literally Jesus' body that was flogged and crucified.

By the way, I love the old Latin Sung Masses :)

I listen to them often in the Latin, and find them to bring me close to God.

Cordially,

John

Girl, haven't you read your Bible? We KNOW we are saved because we believe in Jesus Christ because the BIBLE tells us so! I realize that the Catholics have stated that the Bible is a dead book. But I personally believe in the Word of God over the word of a man - even if he DOES claim (falsely) to be the mouthpiece of God.

Catholics are not the only church that celebrate the last supper or communion by the way.

Where do you think the Latin Mass came from? The Catholics! It is a man made tradition, just like the laws of the Pharisees.

I'm afraid you need to study up on the beliefs and practices of Protestant religions AND your own Catholic church before you start accusing people of not being saved. Also, reading and studying your Bible will be invaluable to you. Do you not believe in the Bible? Do you believe only in the traditions of the "traditional" Catholic church? Do you also believe that the Bible is dead and that the Pope supercedes it?

And why are you trying to seperate the old "traditional" Catholic church with the Catholic church of today? There is no difference! They are one and the same! Read your history books girl!

I suppose that since you follow the "traditional" Catholic church, that you would like to re-open the Inquisition and start torturing people and burning them at the stake for heresy? Well take heart! The current pope of the Catholic church was head of that department! And the Catholic church has said herself only recently that the church should be able to use military force on heretics!

For those who are interested in seeing how the military superpower (USA) and the religious superpower (Catholic church) fit into Biblical Prophecy of End Time Events, go to the following website and take their free Bible Prophecy studies. They are FASCINATING!

Also, if you would like to find out some AMAZING (and infuriating) statements that the Catholic church has made regarding Protestants, contact me and I will be happy to send them to you!

The word heretic comes from Latin and it means something like "the one who chooses". If you're a strict believer and claim everything in the bible is true than you will find many scientifically proved mistakes. If you don't take the bible literally than you won't take the part you mentioned literally either.

The bible was composed by the catholics. It was written as they wanted. Christ probably never heard the word Catholic, in fact from the very beginning there were many different christian groups.

Protestantism is a form of Christianity that separated from Catholicism.

Perhaps you should know that there were many other separations before. Around the year 1000 the orthodox church came to life.

I was raised in Catholicism but I no longer believe in God and I don't care if you do.

Remember: iIt's not the Way that's important. It's the goal that counts. And that goal (for you) is Jesus.

Have a nice afterlife.

Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17:20-26 that all of his followers would be as one. He forbade sectarianism in Mark 9:38 and Luke 9:49.

Paul reinforced these teachings at 1 Cor. 1:10 and 3:1.

Bottom line: none of us should EVER condemn folks in other denominations; Jesus taught it's a sin. We are ALL saved by the blood of Christ and you are not the one to ascertain who gets saved and who does not. That's the sole jurisdiction of the Holy Spirit.

Protestants most certainly do celebrate the Lord's Supper, during which we partake of Jesus' flesh and blood. It's a commandment, for goodness sake! The Catholics do not have a corner on the market there.

Study the Scriptures and you will see that you are prohibited from condemning anyone, whether (in your opinion) they are in your faith or not. You're going to be reading forever, because you will not find any scriptures that say you can bring such division into the Bride of Christ.

Interesting, my pastor's sermon today was about folks like you. You should have been there -- you would have learned something useful.

Um -- you can claim that Luther is a "sinful man," but then aren't all humans?

And if you study Luther's work, you will find that he wanted to reform the Church that you describe as "heretics"; he was also concerned with what he saw as heresies of the Church. Luther was an Augustinian monk and a member of the Catholic church; he just had some problems with it and voiced those concerns, which ended up getting him into a lot of trouble.

And "The Lord's Supper" is what Luther named communion; while most Protestants do not subscribe to the belief of transubstatiation, as is taught in Catholicism, they do partake in communion (one of two of the seven holy sacraments that Luther carried into his faith).

Are you saying that only Catholics are saved? Are you claiming that only if one follows ALL of the teachings, the rituals, and the dogma of the Church that one will be saved? This is exactly the sort of absolutist thought that Luther and many, many others voiced concerns about.

And if Catholics literally do, as their faith teaches, consume the body and flesh of Christ, why did Catholics missionaries who saw the blood sacrifices of particular native peoples claim that such rituals were evil and, subsequently, killed them if they did not convert to a religion that is based on blood sacrifice and consuming human/divine flesh and blood?

Peace be with you (but I guess that would only mean something if I was a Catholic, huh?).

Believing in God is different than having a saving faith. Even the demons believe in God. I don't think you understand what a Protestant means when they say they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus also said if your hand or your eye caused you to sin that you should cut it off. He was not being any more literal here, than he was when He said that you had to eat His flesh & drink His blood. Where did Jesus say that there were special words that had to be said in order to turn the bread & wine into his actual body & blood? Where did Jesus institute the ceremony of the Mass at all?

first off, its not just the catholics who receive the flesh and blood, its all Christians, not just the catholics. and i think that i am saved because in the bible Jesus says that anyone who believes in me shall have everlasting life. Jesus looks into your heart, if you truly believe in him with all your heart mind and soul, then you are saved. I don't get why there is Even a dispute between Catholics and Protestants, i mean, we worship the same God and both believe and serve Jesus Christ. There is almost no difference at all besides our worship stiles.

We still have communion with the body and blood of Christ. However, the bread and wine are sacraments - signs and symbols - that point to the promise of the gospel. The sacraments assure me that I am righteous by faith in Christ. Christ is always the focus, not me or my works. My works mean nothing. Christ means everything.

It is true that not everyone who believes in God is saved. Even the demons believe in God. However, the Bible says that "whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." (John 3:16-17).

Jesus offered the blood sacrifice for us. It is now a spiritual thing. Christian derives from Christ. How hard is that to understand? The Bible says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." So, since Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice for us, we can accept His gift and believe in Him, and we are saved. It's as simple as that. We believe it because that is what He said.

Wow, is it lonely up there in your Ivory tower?

Don't Catholics also talk about the sin of pride? Or that you should not judge, lest ye be judged?

Did it ever occur to you that if either of these is true, with an attitude like this, when you die and meet what comes next, your God is going to be a wee bit peeved with you?

Work on your own humility before you start trying to set lessons for other people in how to be Christian.