Will Catholics be saved?

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I recently returned from a family visit. It was actually my husband's side of the family and they are very strong Christians. Now I grew up in a Catholic home, but did not really like the Catholic Church. As a result I have switched churches to a Protestant Church. Any hoot, one thing that struck me was the belief in non-Catholic Christians that Catholics will not be saved. One of these relatives stated this and I have heard others say the same thing. Now Catholics believe in Jesus as the Son of God, but yet these Christians do not consider Catholics Christians and believe they will not be saved. Why is that Catholics believe that any non-Catholic will not be saved and that other Christians believe Catholics will not be saved?

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Linkat- It is really very simple. All groups want to be at the top of the pecking order, including religious groups. Religious groups also want to gain converts. So they ascribe benefits to their beliefs, and "deny" them to others.

The entire concept of being "saved" makes absolutely no sense to me, but I suppose that some people take the idea seriously.

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It is not correct to say that Catholics believe that other Christians "will not be saved." Doctrine as it was taught when i was forced to attend catechism is that non-Catholics will have to do a stretch in Purgatory before they can go see Peter at the Pearly Gates. That sort of narrow-mindedness seems to me to be a hallmark of the fundamentalists and charismatics, and not something one encounters among "mainstream" Protestants, or the Catholic or Orthodox denominations.

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<slik>

I'm Catholic.

Point is: Protestants are just frustrated. They now realize it was a real bad thing to leave the Pope some four hundred years ago; but they are just too proud to admit it. So they keep saying 'Catholics will not be saved'. They should know better.

Of course, this is all with a big :wink:

Seriously: I do not know for sure what the reason is some hard-line Catholics think Protestants will not be saved. I think it is because Catholics believe the Pope is the representative of God, and because Protestants don't believe that, Catholics think they will not be saved for this ignorance. But I do not think it is a real issue anymore among most Catholics. What I do know is that some Protestants in the Netherlands only refer Protestants to be Christians, just like you said.

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Saved from what, exactly?

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Hell, I guess. Or Judgment Day.

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I think it's because Protestants weren't allowed to be molested by their priests when they were growing up. It really changes your outlook on being saved.

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McGentrix = Protestant?

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I should have clarified, Setanta, I meant in the sense that extremes of either group, not necessarily all. For example, the Church I got married in has very open thoughts, whereas I have also attended very closed-minded churches.

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Typical McG hatefulness . . .

Linkat, i'm sure you're right on the money when it comes to ultramontane Catholics like Mel Gibson and his father--i'm glad you clarified, i doubt that describes most Catholics or Protestants.

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modern christians who live on the high moral ground are not only terrified, but the ultimate conformists. there is no room for nuance, the stuff that makes us human, what-so-ever.

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There is no such concept as being "saved" (past tense. Completely action) in Catholicism. Catholics believe that salvation is a lifelong process whose outcome is revealed only upon judgement.

Most protestants believe that Catholics are saved. Many fundamentalists believe that they are not. The reason is two-fold.
1. The misconception that they worship false gods (Mary, the saints, the communion bread and wine).
2. But more importantly, Catholics believe that salvation is through faith and works. Protestants believe in salvation through faith alone (Luther's Sola Fide concept). Some protestants claim that a belief in faith plus works is insufficient faith and so therefore Catholics cannot be saved.

Though Catholics believe that salvation is a lifelong process they also believe that there is no salvation outside the Church. It's a slightly misleading concept since Catholics also believe that protestants by virtue of their baptism are members of the Church (though in an imperfect manner). They also believe that God's grace can transcend the physical Church thereby making salvation possible even to some non-Christians who through no fault of their own are in a state of "incurable ignorance" for which they may be inculpable. Most Catholics as well as most protestants tend to limit this "incurable ignorance" to those who have never heard the true gospel. But liberal Catholics and protestants may extend it to every non-Christian.

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Years ago, I pondered the differences between Catholic and Protestant beliefs (imagine me holding my hands about 18" apart) and thought "gee - that's quite a lot".

After living in Saudi Arabia for the past 12 years, when I popnder the beliefs of the local population, my left hand would have to stretch all the way onshore to show the difference.

All of a sudden, the differences between Catholics and Protestants are mostly cosmetic to me.

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ye110man wrote:

Most protestants believe that Catholics are saved. Many fundamentalists believe that they are not. The reason is two-fold.
1. The misconception that they worship false gods (Mary, the saints, the communion bread and wine).

I heard a lot of comments from Protestants about this when I lived in OK (never heard it anywhere else so it came as a bit of a surprise to me.) but there are a lot of them that think Catholics are into idol worship and many that think Catholics consider Mary to be God-like herself.

Having gone to a Catholic grade school I was a bit shocked to hear all of that! lol

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My church lies within me. It is my own personal belief in Jesus Christ. I truely do not believe in denominations. For exactly the reason being discussed in this thread.

A lot of your denominational churches are constantly pointing their fingers at each other. Telling the other you will burn in hell. That they are the one true church......blah blah blah.

It's no wonder some people want nothing to do with religion. Quite frankly, I wouldn't either if that is how I had to live with my belief.

They act like a bunch of unruely children playing in the same sandbox.....and they don't play well together at all.

It is no ones inherent right, just because they are a Christian to judge anyone else.

~Brooke

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As an atheist throughout my adult life, and well before i became an adult, i would like to say that if there were more opinions as penetrating, with as much dignified humility as is expressed by JBB, the world would be much easier for us all to get along in.

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I agree fishin. I always considered it a big difference between saints and God. I never connected the thought that praying to a saint was considered idol worship.

Justa_babbling - I can understand why you would feel that way. But there are many Christian Churches that support your way of thinking. Many in which they do not judge. They will give you guidance and the minister will give her/his way of thinking, but leave the decisions up to you. They do not think one church is correct in their thinking over another. It was very refreshing when I attended such a church.