[paladinan]

*Catholic* and *Christian* are not synonymous terms nor interchangeable terms.

They used to be. But since the tragic fragmentation of Christianity, I'm afraid you're right. But my point was that anyone who claimed that Catholics were "not Christians, by definition", were off-base.

One can be a Catholic and not a Christian and one can be a Christian and not a Catholic. One does not by default mean the other.

I never said that one meant the other, "by default". But... one can be a Catholic and a Christian. Right?

[metmom]

CAN be. But it’s not a given simply by virtue of the fact that one was born and raised Catholic.

[MeganC]

Paladinan,

Thank you for your thoughtful replies.

On this forum I once had a militant Catholic explain to me that Catholics are not Christians (and I snarkily agreed with him!) but he made the case that the Catholic Church, the sacraments of the church, and the guidance of the pope are required for salvation.

I defer to Billy Graham who once said that if you were to find yourself on a desert island and then accept Jesus as your savior then you’d be saved. He also went on to say that if someone believes that a person who is on a desert island and who comes to Jesus will then be condemned to Hell because she didn’t perform some ritual or go to a particular church...well, then that person is worshipping the wrong god!

“The vilest offender who truly believes that moment from Jesus a pardon receives!”

That wonderful line refers to the man on the cross next to Jesus whom Jesus personally redeemed. That man never went to a Catholic Church and he never needed to.

His salvation was literally by faith alone.