can catholic-christians still be christians if...?

Question

okay let me single out the common responses first...

-catholics are Christians-
-doctrines of salvation of both catholicism and christianity are the same-

They are if they have trusted in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of their sins. However, if they believe that the are saved by God's grace and their works, then they are not saved -- even if they believe their works are done by God's grace -- since they then deny the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice.

Even though Roman Catholic Church affirms the Trinity, the deity of Christ, and His physical resurrection, it greatly errors in its doctrine of salvation by adding works to salvation.

The official Roman Catholic doctrine of salvation is that the grace of God is infused into a baby at baptism -- making him/her justified before God.1 This justification can be lost through sin and must be regained by repeated participation in the many sacraments found in the Roman Catholic Church. These sacraments increase the measure of grace in the person by which he or she is enabled to do good works which are in turn rewarded with the joy of heaven:

    "We can therefore hope in the glory of heaven promised by God to those who love him and do his will. In every circumstance, each one of us should hope, with the grace of God, to persevere 'to the end' and to obtain the joy of heaven, as God's eternal reward for the good works accomplished with the grace of Christ," (CCC, par. 1821).
    "Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification," (CCC, par. 2010).


-catholicism and christianity are the same-

First of all, by its practice of promoting Mary (and the Saints) to the level of God-like capabilities, they break the commandment to have no other gods before the true and living God.  In Roman Catholicism, they say that Mary is the mediatrix (Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 969); Mary made atonement for the sins of man (Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, page 213); Mary is the subject of preaching and worship (Vatican Council II, p. 420); etc.

Also, Catholicism violates the biblical doctrine of salvation by grace through faith alone.  Paul the apostle, for example, tells us in Romans 4:5, "But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness."  But Roman Catholicism denies that and says, "...so that all men may attain salvation through faith, Baptism and the observance of the Commandments," (CCC, par 2068).  Also, consider this:

"If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema" (Council of Trent, Canons on Justification, Canon 9).
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okay now that's done...
ONTO THE QUESTION...

can catholic-christians still be christians even if:

they believe in doctrines such as Immaculate Conception... (i'm not talking about the virgin birth) i'm talking about as it is said of the divinity of mary and her being the "queen" of heaven...

or doctrines of purgatory...

if they have put their faith in Christ alone as for their salvation, (not in the RCC doctrine) yet believe in these other doctrines are they still Christian?

? · Accepted Answer

let me save you some time . . .dogma is dogma any way you look at it. I can think a time being better spent than filling your mind with such rubbish.

James O · Answer

Yes,all Christianity comes from Catholic and Orthodox Christianity
 I am glad that you are quoting from the Catechism but not in context

Catholicism teaches not salvation by grace with my own works added but by grace alone by faith that works through love

All the Catholic doctrines come from the Bible but the interpretation of the verses are different from the way you intrepret the same verses in the light of your church traditions
Mary is not divine and adoring Mary is a grave sin in Catholic teaching

Misty · Answer

Yes, Catholics are still Christians, even with your list of assumed errors.

The thing is you've given your interpretation of why you think Catholics don't follow your interpretation of scripture. But that is just your opinion, not infallible truth.

<<However, if they believe that the are saved by God's grace and their works, then they are not saved -- even if they believe their works are done by God's grace -- since they then deny the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice.>>

This is your opinion of what "works" are and what God's grace is. You're entitled to it...but that doesn't mean you're right. The same goes for the rest of your reasoning.

Catholics do not teach nor believe that we can earn our salvation...we say it over and over, the Catechism says it...

<<Also, Catholicism violates the biblical doctrine of salvation by grace through faith alone>>

The Bible does not say that we can have salvation through "grace alone" anywhere. That is a false doctrine.

I have read the Bible as a Protestant and as a Catholic. No where in the Bible will you find a statement that says we are "saved by faith alone." Find it and post it!

Schmoolie · Answer

The catholic church was founded by Jesus. He said the gates of hell would not prevail against it.  He gave Peter the keys to the kingdom and the power to bind and loose. This means that the Church is backed by God and decisions  made by the church on earth are honored in  heaven.  If the Church is wrong on a matter of faith  God will forgive them based on his promises which he always  keeps.  The Protestant churches  have no such promise.  They formed their own religion based on their personal interpretation of the Bible. If they are wrong they will answer to  God as their Judge, not as their savior.  Their arrogance is astounding.

? · Answer

You don't attack the Catholic Faith at all, you only attack crude misrepresentations given to you by people you refuse to question.

If you really want to learn about Catholicism, ask a real Catholic a question, read the Catechism, go to a Mass.

Anonymous · Answer

Blablablabla...

I'm a Catholic, non-practicing.
I have my doubts about God and religion in general. I certainly don't think The Pope nor the Church as an organisation is living up to it's ideal.
Tell me I'm not a Christian.
I'm probably more of one than they are. At least I actually follow the TEACHINGS of the Bible, which can be summed up as "Don,t hurt anyone and be a good person". You know, in contracts to "Don't eat unclean meat like pork, condem homos to Gomorrah and slay the infidels"....

All the little differences you mention are all details. Of which I have NEVER heard and I was a choir boy. You don't realise that doctrine differs by region. Here in Quebec, we were never taught any "hardcore" principles of Catholicism, but the basics. We aren't held responsible to them either.
I don't pray to marry any more than I follow the "Immaculate Conception" whatever that is.
That is not what was taught to us.
As such, who cares? Belief is personnal, it's not like we got tv shows talking about Faith here in Quebec....

Ár Daonlathas · Answer

'Me' One Church, one Pope, one interpretation.    'You'  38,500 churches, no pope, 38,501 interpretations.  Do the maths.

Where in the bible does it say that the bible is all you need? Jesus founded a church, not a book store.

Catholic †

tebone0315 · Answer

Thats false. Catholic Christians believe that salvation is a gift from God. Salvation is a life long process, not a one time thing of saying you believe in Jesus. We must work on our salvation daily, by keeping the commandments, by going to confession, by repenting,seeking forgiveness for our sins,we must also go to Mass and partake of the Sacraments. 

Catholic Christians do not believe in "once saved always saved". That is a false teaching. The apostle John wrote us a wonderful promise from God: John 3:16-17 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Does this mean that once we accept Jesus in our heart by faith, and thus are saved, that we can do anything even immoral things, and we still will be saved? Let's see what the Scriptures says about this.

1 Tim 4:1: "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons."

This text shows that Christians can loose their salvation if they follow deceiving spirits.

2 Peter 2:20-22: "If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: 'A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.'"

The apostle Peter indicates clearly here that it is worst for someone who has accepted Jesus in his life to return to his old ways than "not to have known the way of righteousness". Why? The book of Hebrews explains this for us.

Heb 6:4-6: "It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace."

This text describes Christians who not only accepted Jesus by faith into their life, but also personally tasted God's Holy Spirit. What happens to them if they "fall away'? This text is clear. It is impossible for them to be brought back to repentance, and thus obtain eternal salvation, because they did sin against the Holy Spirit. They have lost it!

Heb 10:26-28: "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God."

Here we see clearly that once we have accepted Jesus in our life, we just can't go on living as if He did not exist, and "deliberately keep on sinning". What would be the result if you did? Would you still obtain eternal salvation? The Bible says that these will have "a fearful expectation of judgment". There again, they have lost their salvation.

The apostle Paul confirms this in 1 Cor 15:1-2: "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain."

In other words, if someone does not hold on firm to God's word, he/she has "believed in vain".

An example that one can loose his/her salvation is King Saul. He was chosen by God to be the first king of Israel. He was filled with God's Spirit at first (1 Samuel 10 6), but because of his pride and evil actions, never repenting from what he did wrong, eventually God's Spirit departed from him 1 Sam 16:14 "Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul…" NIV King Saul had been saved, but he lost his salvation due to his unrepentant heart. How sad!

These texts clearly contradict the theory of "Once saved, always saved". This theory is simply not Biblical.
"As the Bible says, I am already saved (Rom. 8:24, Eph. 2:5–8), but I’m also being saved (1 Cor. 1:8, 2 Cor. 2:15, Phil. 2:12), and I have the hope that I will be saved (Rom. 5:9–10, 1 Cor. 3:12–15). Like the apostle Paul I am working out my salvation in fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12), with hopeful confidence in the promises of Christ (Rom. 5:2, 2 Tim. 2:11–13)."


Catholic Christian †

infowars.com/wnd.com · Answer

no 1 including christians or catholics are going to Heaven - see the scriptures under my avatar

a christian is someone who follows Christ that asks why other people use His name if they do not do what He says - luke 6.46 / matthew 5.17-20 / matthew 12.8 / luke 6.5 / hebrews 4.9

Anonymous · Answer

Catholicism and Christianity are not the same. They are totally opposite. God created Christianity by way of giving up His son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins, and rose from the dead on the third day, thus opening up passage to heaven ONLY by way of accepting Jesus free gift of salvation. 

The Catholic church has their own man made doctrine that does not follow the KJV bible. They do everything against God's Word. They confess sins to a mortal man/priest.....God says no to this... 1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

They pray with a rosary and God says no to that.... Matthew 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

They worship and kneel down before statues.... Leviticus 26:1	Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.

They pray to Mary, Joseph, and others Deuteronomy 6:14	Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; which goes against God's word.... Deuteronomy 6:14	Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;

The only way to God is through Jesus, Not Mary, Joseph Peter etc. No one else.... John 14:6	Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

No Catholics are not Christians. They do not follow God's Word at all. I am a former Catholic.

Rene · Answer

To have faith in Jesus Christ means to believe that He is God (John 1:1; 10:30; 14:9) and that He saves you by His crucifixion (Eph 2:8-9; 2 Tim 1:9; Tit 3:5). If you continue to believe that you can somehow earn your salvation, you have never been truly born again. - Charles Stanley

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can catholic-christians still be christians if...?

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