Expert: Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM, L.Th. - 6/4/2007

Question
I am a catholic and have seen and hear so many catholics calling christians to the protestants (pentecostals). It is embarrassing that fellow catholics don't know that we,  catholics, were the first Christians over the face of the earth. Please clarify to catholics that they are "Christians".
It is sad how much ignorance there is amongst catholics.
I am not saying that other denominations are not Christians.
I am saying that catholics should know where they come from.

Answer
Dear Connie:

I agree with you, it is ridiculous that Catholics let some Protestant get by with thinking that Catholics are different from Christians.

What makes a Christian?

At the bare minimum, a Christian is a person who had been baptized with water in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and who believes at least the tenets found in the Apostle's Creed.

Most Protestant thus qualify and the Catholic qualify. Most Protestants are baptized in water with the Trinitarian formula and most believe the tenets of the Apostle's Creed. Since Catholics WROTE the Apostle's Creed and be also are properly baptized that makes us Christians too.

There are some groups that do not qualify as Christian because they do not baptize with water, or do not baptize with the Trinitarian formula, or do not believe in the Trinity. Groups such as the Mormons, Jehovah Witness, One Holiness Pentecostal are not Christian. The Mormons claim to believe in the Trinity, but they don't. They think that Lucifer and Jesus were brothers, for pete sake. The Jehovah Witness and One Holiness Pentecostal do not believe in the Trinity. There is one group, I don't remember which it is, that baptizes with rose pedals. Since they do not baptize with water, they are not Christian.


As for the name "Christian", the first name for the followers of Christ was "The Way." That is why the modern day cult "The Way" calls themselves that. The next term used was "Christians".  

The term "Catholic" was first used in A.D. 107 by Bishop Ignatius of Antioch in his letters to the seven Churches is Asia Minor (which still exist today). In one of those letters he affirms that the Pope (bishop of Rome) was the "President" of he whole Church and that all the Church were to remain in communion with the Bishop of Rome.

To say that the Catholic Church was not the first Church of the first century and the only Church until the beginning of the 11th century when the Orthodox split off is delusion. Catholics were the first Christians. This is historical fact.

Then from the 11th century to the 16th century there were only two legitimate Churches -- the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox -- both Christian and both in their respective territories referring to themselves as simply Christian. Again, this cannot be refuted by anyone with an IQ above 25. It is historical fact.

Historically, from the 1st to the 16th centuries the Church was normally called the Christian Church because there were no other Churches other than the Catholic Church for the first 1000 years, and then the Catholic Church in the West and the Orthodox in the East for 500 years after that. There was no need to place an adjective in front.

When the Orthodox split from the Catholic Church in the 11th Century, we then had the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, but since the two were in different parts of the world, everyone just called themselves Christian and the Church as Christian. Again there was no real need to place a adjective in front.

Then came the Luther rebellion. Now we had multiple faith groups all Christian. Now we had to start using adjectives to differentiate between Catholic Christian, Lutheran Christian, Presbyterian Christian, etc.

The term "Roman" Catholic was coined by the Anglicans (Church of England) as a term of insult. They wanted to think of themselves as Catholic but did not want to be under the authority of the Pope. So they called Catholics, those "Roman" Catholics and considered themselves Anglican Catholics, as-it-were. The term "Roman" Catholic stuck historically.

ALL Christian groups have a lineage through the Catholic Church whether they like it or not. The first century Christians were Catholic (that is, a universal church under the leadership of a Pope). We know this for a fact because we have documentary evidence to prove it.

The fundamentals of the Faith, and the Bible itself, all come from the Catholic Church. The Protestants would not know what the Trinity was without the Catholics, they would not know what books constituted the New Testament without the Catholics. They would not be Christian without the Catholics Church propagating the faith for 1500 years before the Protestants ever existed.

These are the facts. All pretense to another history is delusion and bigotry.

Catholics need to know their history, and Protestant need to know it too.



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