Please, Don’t Call Protestants Christians
By: Marian T. Horvat, Ph.D.
Another error you find in the "Conciliar Church or Vatican II cult of man is this notion that heretics are actually "Christians"...
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| But what is also
to the point, let us note that the very tradition, teaching, and faith
of the Catholic Church from the beginning was preached by the Apostles
and preserved by the Fathers. On this the Church was founded; and if
anyone departs from this, he neither is, nor any longer ought to be
called, a Christian. St. Athanasius |
It is very common today to hear
Catholics call a Protestant “a Christian,” or even, “a good Christian.”
In the United States, it was already a practice before Vatican II
because of the tendency of American Catholics to accommodate
Protestantism, whose tonus dominated the social and business spheres.
Then, there was the question of adaptation as prominent Protestants
joined the Catholic faith, or Catholics entered into marriages with
Protestants. It was just easier to call everyone “Christian.” Supposedly
it underplayed differences. It was meant to create the impression that
Catholics and Protestants were cousins in one big, happy family. Pope
Leo XIII condemned this tolerance toward Protestantism under the name of
Americanism, the heresy of Americanism, to be more precise.
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| Our Lord delivers the keys of His Church to St. Peter Pietro Perugino, 15th century, Sistine Chapel |
After Vatican II, needless to say,
the practice of calling Protestants Christians has snowballed, with the
official conciliar documents assuming this same impropriety. Hence, the
Holy See, Prelates and priests have made its use as widespread as
possible. Accommodation to Protestantism in our days has reached such a
point that some Catholics, to distinguish between Catholics and their
Protestant “separated brethren,” call themselves Catholic Christians. A
redundancy if I've ever heard one. Only Catholics can be true
Christians. No one who dissents from the Roman Catholic Church can be a
Christian. The terms are synonymous.
Every time I hear the term Christian used for Protestants, I cringe. Its usage clearly nourishes a trend toward a dangerous religious indifferentism, which denies the duty of man to worship God by believing and practicing the one true Catholic Religion. It is an implicit admission that those who deny the one Faith can nonetheless be Christians, that is, be in the Church of Christ. Inherently it leads to the progressivist notion that men can be saved in any religion that accepts Christ as Savior. A “good Lutheran,” a “good Anglican,” a “good Presbyterian – what does it matter so long as they are good people and sincerely love Christ?
Regardless of who is applying this usage today, I want to stress that it is at variance with the entire tradition of the Catholic Church until the Council. To consider heretics as Christians is not the teaching of the Church.
Every time I hear the term Christian used for Protestants, I cringe. Its usage clearly nourishes a trend toward a dangerous religious indifferentism, which denies the duty of man to worship God by believing and practicing the one true Catholic Religion. It is an implicit admission that those who deny the one Faith can nonetheless be Christians, that is, be in the Church of Christ. Inherently it leads to the progressivist notion that men can be saved in any religion that accepts Christ as Savior. A “good Lutheran,” a “good Anglican,” a “good Presbyterian – what does it matter so long as they are good people and sincerely love Christ?
Regardless of who is applying this usage today, I want to stress that it is at variance with the entire tradition of the Catholic Church until the Council. To consider heretics as Christians is not the teaching of the Church.
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| Beyond a doubt, they perish eternally who do not keep the Catholic faith entire and unchanged.Pope Gregory XVI |
Before Vatican II, the Magisterium was always very clear: It is not a
matter of an individual’s character or traits. No one can be in the
Church of Christ without professing the ensemble of the truths of
Catholic Faith, being in unity with the Chair of Peter and receiving the
same Seven Sacraments. The only Christian is one who accepts Our Lord
Jesus Christ and the Church he established. Who can have God for Father
and not accept the Church for Mother? (Pope Pius IX, Singulari quidem
of March 17, 1856) Who can accept the spouse Christ, and not his
mystical bride the Church? Who can separate the Head, the only begotten
Son of God, from the body, which is His Church? (Pope Leo XIII, Satis cognitum of June 29, 1896). It is not possible.
In short, only those who profess the one Catholic Faith and are united with the Mystical Body of Christ are members of the Church of Christ. And only those members can legitimately bear the title of honor of Christian.
The Protestant sect started as a revolt, protesting the Church of Christ and, pretending to accept Christ without Peter, the authority He established on earth. With this split, they left the Church and became heretics. This used to be clearly said and understood, without sentimental fear of offending one’s neighbors or relatives: A Protestant is a heretic because he severed himself from the Body of the Church. He is not a Christian, and certainly not a “good Christian.”
Scriptures confirm this truth
My friend Jan thought I was being too severe on this topic. “You’re making a mountain out of a molehill,” she said. “Don’t Scriptures teach us to love our neighbor and not be judgmental?”
It is the same old post Vatican II story, claiming that it is “judgmental” to correct bad practices and false teachings and arguing with disputable interpretations of Scriptures.
In short, only those who profess the one Catholic Faith and are united with the Mystical Body of Christ are members of the Church of Christ. And only those members can legitimately bear the title of honor of Christian.
The Protestant sect started as a revolt, protesting the Church of Christ and, pretending to accept Christ without Peter, the authority He established on earth. With this split, they left the Church and became heretics. This used to be clearly said and understood, without sentimental fear of offending one’s neighbors or relatives: A Protestant is a heretic because he severed himself from the Body of the Church. He is not a Christian, and certainly not a “good Christian.”
Scriptures confirm this truth
My friend Jan thought I was being too severe on this topic. “You’re making a mountain out of a molehill,” she said. “Don’t Scriptures teach us to love our neighbor and not be judgmental?”
It is the same old post Vatican II story, claiming that it is “judgmental” to correct bad practices and false teachings and arguing with disputable interpretations of Scriptures.
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| Luther and Melanchthon broke with the Church of Christ Lucas Cranach the Younger |
Well, despite these subjective
interpretations, the inspired words of Scriptures provide an unambiguous
defense that the custody of the vineyard has been committed by Christ
to the Catholic Church alone. Let me quote just a few verses:
- “He who hears you (Peter) hears me, and he who rejects you, rejects me, and he who rejects me, rejects him who sent me (Lk 10:16).” It could not be clearer: the Protestant who rejects the head, rejects Christ himself, and should not be granted the name Christian.
- Christ establishes one Church with a single head: "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt 16:19).
- St. Paul is severe in his condemnation of false teachers, e.g. Protestants: “If any man preaches any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed” (Gal 1: 9).
- In another passage he instructs Catholics to remove themselves from the bad society of non-Catholics: “And we charge you, brethren, in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ that you withdraw yourselves from every brother walking disorderly and not according to the Tradition which they have received of us” (2 Thess 3:6).
- The Apostle St. John forbade any intercourse with heretics: “If any man come to you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into the house or welcome him” (2 Jo 1:10)”
Popes reiterate this teaching
The traditional Papal Magisterium was also clear on this topic. Let me offer a few texts by way of exemplification.
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| Pius IX: "He who abandons the Chair of Peter is falsely persuaded that he is in the Church of Christ" |
Pius XII stated unequivocally: “To
be Christian one must be Roman. One must recognize the oneness of
Christ’s Church that is governed by one successor of the Prince of the
Apostles who is the Bishop of Rome, Christ’s Vicar on earth” (Allocution to the Irish pilgrims of October 8, 1957). How is it possible to be clearer than this about those who can be called Christian?
Leo XIII makes it plain that separated members cannot belong to the same body: “So long as the member was on the body, it lived; separated, it lost its life. Thus the man, so long as he lives on the body of the [Catholic] Church, he is a Christian; separated from her, he becomes a heretic” (Encyclical Satis cognitum of June 29, 1896).
Emphasizing the fate of those who break away from the one Faith, he says: “Whoever leaves her [the Catholic Church] departs from the will and command of Our Lord Jesus Christ; leaving the path of salvation, he enters that of perdition. Whoever is separated from the Church is united to an adulteress” (ibid.). Certainly, they do not share with us the same title of Christian.
Leo XIII makes it plain that separated members cannot belong to the same body: “So long as the member was on the body, it lived; separated, it lost its life. Thus the man, so long as he lives on the body of the [Catholic] Church, he is a Christian; separated from her, he becomes a heretic” (Encyclical Satis cognitum of June 29, 1896).
Emphasizing the fate of those who break away from the one Faith, he says: “Whoever leaves her [the Catholic Church] departs from the will and command of Our Lord Jesus Christ; leaving the path of salvation, he enters that of perdition. Whoever is separated from the Church is united to an adulteress” (ibid.). Certainly, they do not share with us the same title of Christian.
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| There is only one Christian faith, that is: Catholic. St. Bridget of Sweden |
Pope Pius IX stated: “He who abandons the Chair of Peter on which the Church is founded, is falsely persuaded that he is in the Church of Christ” (Quartus supra of January 6 1873, n. 8).
In the Syllabus of Modern Errors, the proposition that Protestantism is nothing more than another form of the same true Christian religion was specifically condemned (Pius IX, n. 18)(1).
Therefore, there is only one Christian Church, the Catholic Church, and only those who belong to it should rightfully be called Christians.
In the Syllabus of Modern Errors, the proposition that Protestantism is nothing more than another form of the same true Christian religion was specifically condemned (Pius IX, n. 18)(1).
Therefore, there is only one Christian Church, the Catholic Church, and only those who belong to it should rightfully be called Christians.
How to fight Americanism?
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| Only inside the Catholic Church can true union be achieved Ottenbeueren Collectarius, 12th century |
Many persons ask me: What can I do to fight Progressivism? Others have
requested: Give me some specific examples of how I can combat
Americanism.
Let me offer one concrete way to fight in yourself the tendency toward accommodation with Protestantism.
When you catch yourself calling a Protestant a “Christian,” stop and correct yourself. Call him a Protestant. It is a way to affirm that you do not accept the Protestant errors and that you acknowledge it for the terrible thing it is: Protestants denied many Catholic dogmas and for this reason caused that first major crack in the unity of the Catholic Church that caused untold damage to Christendom and the perdition of those souls adhering to it.
It is a small thing, but by such small customs we as a people have been walking steadily toward religious indifferentism. It is time to set some roadblocks on that path. We should not veil in ambiguous terms our love for the ensemble of the Catholic Faith. The only true union possible for Catholics with Protestants is by their return to the one true Church of Christ, the Catholic Church. Only with such a return can they rightfully call themselves Christians.
Let me offer one concrete way to fight in yourself the tendency toward accommodation with Protestantism.
When you catch yourself calling a Protestant a “Christian,” stop and correct yourself. Call him a Protestant. It is a way to affirm that you do not accept the Protestant errors and that you acknowledge it for the terrible thing it is: Protestants denied many Catholic dogmas and for this reason caused that first major crack in the unity of the Catholic Church that caused untold damage to Christendom and the perdition of those souls adhering to it.
It is a small thing, but by such small customs we as a people have been walking steadily toward religious indifferentism. It is time to set some roadblocks on that path. We should not veil in ambiguous terms our love for the ensemble of the Catholic Faith. The only true union possible for Catholics with Protestants is by their return to the one true Church of Christ, the Catholic Church. Only with such a return can they rightfully call themselves Christians.
Please, Don’t Call Protestants Christians
I see where I have been duped by the NO. Wonder how long it will take to come full circle; where I will be in one with the true Holy Roman Catholic Church.
ReplyDeleteThe blood from the Catholic Jesus does not erase all the sins of a Catholic - that's why Catholics have to go to Purgatory to finish atonement.
ReplyDeleteThe blood from the Protestant Jesus does erase all the sins of a believer. The believer's record is totally clean.
Catholics are worshiping a false Jesus. His blood is weak concerning atonement.
Revelation 1 : 5-6 "..and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has FREED US FROM OUR SINS BY HIS BLOOD, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
Faith in Jesus >>> results in salvation and good works. The good works are evidence/fruit of your faith in Jesus.
You don't add good works to your faith in Jesus to be saved.
Trying to add anything to faith in Jesus >>> results in Damnation.
In the first century some Judiazers were saying believers had to have faith in Jesus and they must add obedience to the Mosaic Law to be saved from hell and go to heaven. The apostle Paul slammed those Judiazers in his letter to the Galatians. He said they were promoting a false gospel. Today the Catholic Church says believers must have faith in Jesus and they must add obedience to the Catholic Church to be saved from hell and go to heaven. The Catholic Church commands believers to participate in the sacraments based on the false belief that the sacraments are necessary for salvation. Catholicism is promoting a false gospel!