No. You are making a common mistake. I NEVER include those who believe in heresy as in the Body.
So Protestants are heretics, and cannot be members of the Body of Christ. How wonderfully Christian of you!
Brother, I guess there's nothing more to say. I'll pray that you'll recognize that your Church and its doctrine have become your god. When an institution of men declares who can and who cannot be saved, that should send any reader of the Bible running.
Good night.
You wrote:
“So Protestants are heretics, and cannot be members of the Body of Christ. How wonderfully Christian of you!”
Being truthful is not inconsistent with being Christian, nor is telling the truth uncharitable just because it seems to hurt someone’s feelings.
By the way, no, Protestants can not just be called heretics. They have never been reproved by proper authority. They believe in heresies, however, and are outside the Body of Christ.
“Brother, I guess there’s nothing more to say. I’ll pray that you’ll recognize that your Church and its doctrine have become your god.”
Why pray that someone comes to believe something that he cannot believe for it is an impossibility? God is my God. I need no other. He sent the Church. Your opinions are your god.
“When an institution of men declares who can and who cannot be saved, that should send any reader of the Bible running.”
I never said anything about someone being saved or unsaved. There you go again creating strawmen. Why can’t you just be honest and actually deal with what is written to you? Is it that hard for you?
Dear PugetSound,
The Catholic Church is misunderstood precisely because it is the one Church that follows Christ’s words to the letter. He said we must eat His body and drink His blood. Many fell away because they couldn’t believe this. Only the Catholic Church believes, and has always believed, this.
He said Peter was the rock He would build his Church on and gave him the power to loose or hold things in heaven. Only the Catholic Church believes, and has always believed, this.
He promised the Holy Spirit would always be with His Church and guide it and that it would never end. Only the Catholic Church has roots all the way back to Christ and his Apostles. All others are branches from the main trunk of Catholicism.
There is so much beauty and wonder and mystery and joy in Catholicism. Please don’t be angry at those who can’t help but want to share it with you. If you used to translate the Catechism as a child, I suspect you know what I am talking about and have some experience with our Church. If the Catholic Church, through its imperfect representatives, has hurt you, I humbly ask you to forgive and not hold the Church responsible for its flawed members. I invite you to re-examine the Catholic Church. I encourage you to read Scott Hahn or Tim Staples. They examined Catholicism from a Protestant perspective and found truth and beauty there.
Finally, if you pay attention, you will see that the Catholic Church is loathe to pass judgment on anyone. They leave it to God. That is why Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy, and the like continue to call themselves Catholics; because the Church itself has not yet condemned them.
In short, Catholics believe they have the fullness, or fullest understanding, of the faith Christ wanted from us. We don’t know who is or is not saved. Christ will judge all in their varying levels of understanding. We just have to tell you that we believe we have the most complete, whole, and enduring form of Christianity: the one, holy, apostolic and catholic faith! Please give the Church a fair, adult examination and I think you will find much to appreciate.
If not, I hope you will at least forgive past hurts. Unfinished business is like mud in your wings. I say this as someone who has been deeply hurt by poor leaders in our Church. What matters is the teaching, dogma, and good news the Catholic Church is founded upon.