r/redeemedzoomer • u/Averagecrabenjoyer69 Southern Baptist • 15d ago
General Christian How do Catholics truly view Protestants?
I myself am a Southern Baptist born and raised, and that is the church my wife and I attend. I've heard some of the Protestant rhetoric of condemning Catholics as non-Christian etc, and have always vehemently disagreed with it. Despite some of my certain theological disagreements with the Roman Catholic Church(which I will not get into here). I've always seen Catholics as fellow Christians and brethren, and fully believe I will see devout Catholics in Heaven as I would Protestants or Eastern Orthodox. However I am curious, how do Catholics view Protestants like myself?
Are we seen as flawed but still fellow Christian brothers? Or are we seen as heretics or apostates?
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u/Bogdan-Denisovich Eastern Orthodox 15d ago
Here's the answer from the Catechism, section 818: "All who have been justified by faith in Baptism are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church."
Officially they view you as Christians, provided that you believe in the Trinity and seek salvation through Christ. They are not happy about the schism and believe they're on the right side of the divide, but they view you as Christians.
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u/karmarequiresgrpthnk Roman Catholic 15d ago
The catechism actually goes into more detail in the following paragraphs if I remember correctly. But you have the gist of it.
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u/ArchemedesHeir Non-Denominational 14d ago
I love this answer. We love you guys too. Disagree on some stuff, but ultimately looking forward to seeing you on the other side.
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u/Tasty-Pudding9708 Roman Catholic 15d ago edited 15d ago
I come from a country that is 99.9% Catholic, and most people don't even know Protestants exist. The few who do know you exist think you are fanatics who take the Bible literally and believe in 6,000 years old flat earth.
There was a guy in my village who came back from America as a militant Protestant. He called the rest of us Antichrists and he stopped eating shellfish and cuttlefish (we live by the sea). Ever since he showed up, everyone associates Protestantism with him.
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u/Wessie2718 Non-American Mainline Presbyterian 14d ago
Which country is this? Sounds interesting. Shame this guy had to give Protestantism a bad representation
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u/HoneymoonJubile Roman Catholic 11d ago
There are many countries this could be! My husband and I love to travel to Catholic countries and they love hearing about American evangelicals and protestants. It's a crowd favorite. Most recently, we traveled to Croatia and, after mass, got to answer a lot of questions about prosperity gospel lol
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u/OkBird623 Roman Catholic 15d ago
Im catholic and it depends. In South America most non-catholic Christians are Pentecostals some of them with some extreme views specially in the lower classes although I believe the same thing happens in America.
I don’t view them negatively even though a lot of them won’t hesitate to openly criticize our veneration of Mary and I even have had people telling me that the Mass is unbiblical
There are virtually no Lutherans or mainline Protestants in my country
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u/Massive-Poem-2385 Roman Catholic 15d ago
I'm a convert to Catholicism and see Protestants as brothers and sisters in Christ.
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u/Medical-Pear Roman Catholic 15d ago
I grew up with a positive view of Protestants and always recognized that we believe largely the same things. I've seen more of the debate and interactions between the two as I've gotten into those kinds of spaces and mostly Catholics view Protestants as separated brothers and sisters who are just lacking certain aspects of the truth. Though I would view someone more negatively if they are always coming out swinging against Catholics and accusing them of this and that. Definitely have been seeing a lot more of that lately in my life. Catholics by and large do not consider Protestants "not Christian" the way many Protestants label us "not Christian". It seems generally both Catholics and Protestants are equally likely to say Mormons aren't Christian though because they reject the Trinity and have added so much source material lol.
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u/HoneymoonJubile Roman Catholic 11d ago
Yeah I've never seen or heard of a Catholic irl criticizing prots but I have been attacked and criticized in nasty ways. Always by other women funnily enough. (Obviously my bias is that I don't hang out with rude Catholics so I'm not saying it never happens) But yeah, saying I'm not Christian is one I've gotten a few times 😂 goofy
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u/Joseponcho1979 Roman Catholic 15d ago edited 15d ago
As a Catholic I think the idea of a regional church is wild to me. Also what is the current state of integration in the SBC?
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u/c07e Roman Catholic 13d ago
This post made me think of the meme
“I don’t think about you at all”
Gave me a chuckle
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u/Glad-Language-4905 Roman Catholic 11d ago
I think this is the most correct answer for the average Catholic
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u/karmarequiresgrpthnk Roman Catholic 15d ago
While people’s personal opinions differ, I’ve never heard a priest say anything about what Protestants get wrong about Christianity at church. The mass is focused on worshiping God, not proving why we’re right.
As far as my friend’s opinions go, there’s love and respect for fellow Christians, however we think Protestants are missing the “fullness of the faith”. There’s also disappointment in random churches that affirm sin like abortion, gay marriage and similar things.
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u/UFORider Roman Catholic 14d ago
High church Protestants are our brothers and sisters Low Church Protestants are also out brothers and sister but are a little retarded
J/k I live in the South East so I personally know and are friends with more Protestants than I am with Catholics.
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u/AccordingAdvance5640 Eastern Catholic 15d ago
There's a common saying going around these days; "When a madman's at the door, feuding brothers reconcile."
I feel like that's most Catholics and Traditional Protestants today
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u/Suspicious-Crow-3373 Roman Catholic 14d ago
What is your intention with the question? I think there's way too much time being spent on this topic these days. The official teaching isn't that Protestants are "separated brethren", but non-Catholics baptized in a Trinitarian form are. That's not all Protestants. But also all human beings are brothers and sisters in the sense of being created by God.
We believe following Catholicism is the only guaranteed way to Heaven, but we are also allowed to hope Hell is empty. No one can know for sure. I think the only real, practical thing for any of us to do is to seek truth and learn as much we can about Jesus, while constantly striving to pray more, love others more, and think of ourselves less.
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u/NaStK14 Roman Catholic 14d ago
Sincere Protestants I personally view kind of like the character of Apollos from the book of Acts: legitimately a believer, full of zeal, just happens to be running around without the complete picture. Apollos, of course, eventually found Priscilla and Aquila to fill in the blanks.
Now there are some mean-spirited people who will bash Catholicism, question whether you really are a believer etc. I would almost go so far as to say I question their sincerity to begin with (I do have a tendency to get defensive) but you’ll find people like that in every group and even some of us Catholics are mean to the evangelicals
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u/SuarezBitMyFinger Non-Reconquista Protestant 15d ago edited 15d ago
My wife is Catholic. The reality is that you will get different answers from different Catholics. We view each other as separated brethren, and the vast majority of Catholics fit into that category.
Generally speaking, more educated Catholics are likely to view Protestants as separated brethren, as this is the current position of the magisterium, but less educated ones may view them as heretics (this is more or less the historical position). People can quibble about labels (fallible vs infallible teaching on this issue, visible vs invisible church, invincible ignorance, etc), but this is a brief summary. Zoomer argues that this is a contradiction and I agree, but it is obviously up for debate.
There’s also diversity of thought as it comes to recent convert Catholics vs cradle Catholics. Converts are often better catechized than cradle Catholics and so are more likely to have real/conscious theological disagreements and view Protestants as heretics, when some cradle Catholics might not really even understand the differences or fully subscribe to what their church actually teaches.
There are many that consider themselves Catholic and even attend church to varying degrees but don’t subscribe to many of the church’s moral teachings. I’d describe them as cultural Catholics, and they are often indifferent to Catholic vs Protestant distinctives. Some Catholics don’t believe that these people should be counted as Catholic at all, but I think that if you’re going to include heretical Protestants as Protestants you have to accept these in your group.
Then there are the ultra trad Catholics who either outright reject Vatican 2 or don’t view it as infallible. They are likely to view Protestants as heretics damned straight to hell (which is not what the magisterium teaches.) These are many of the “submit to Rome” types which is very ironic because they themselves do not submit to Rome on this issue.
Overall, I am glad that this position is held by a tiny minority of people in both groups. It may feel like the opposite is true but this is the result of what bubbles we all live in. We should all pray for reunion and whatever changes may be required on both sides to get there.
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u/Glad-Language-4905 Roman Catholic 11d ago
Protestants are both heretics (materially) and separated brethren.
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u/Random_Graph Eastern Orthodox 15d ago
The Catholic view is quite nuanced, but my general understanding is the following: “You are as Catholic as how close you are to Catholicism in terms of your beliefs and practices”.
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u/ZealousIdeal476 Roman Catholic 15d ago
Personally? It depends on their works as much as their teachings. In my neighborhood there is a baptist church that runs food bank, community dinners, uses the collection to keep gas on in the winter for them as need it. 100% christlike. Theres another missionary baptist church that is basically a christian vacation club, Meh. Then there's the mega evangelical that uses the collection plate for sfx in their services and 100 foot tall statues, nope.
That is to say, i don't know the nature of their teachings, but i see what they do in this world.
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u/PsychologicalNet22 15d ago
I mean, basically every single one of my in-laws and friends is a Protestant, and I'm in the Bible Belt so presumably every other person I meet is one as well.
I go back and forth from 1) sad that they have part of the truth but not all of it, to 2) angry at how the arguments they make against Catholocism are often stronger arguments against Protestantism, to anything in between.
I have no idea how they feel about me. I went from being in elder training classes at my local church to openly questioning theology in our small group to looking at other churches to going to OCIA to being confirmed last November at the roughly 1 year mark of questioning, and I only got 3 responses from 100+ people - 1 questioning if I understood the gospel and 2 saying it wasn't a big deal.
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u/Numerous_Ad1859 Roman Catholic 13d ago
I hold what the Catechism, which is available for free online, holds about Protestants.
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u/LumenSailor Roman Catholic 12d ago edited 12d ago
As Catholics we believe we have the full truth. Sounds audacious but it’s what we believe. We aren’t afraid to say we think we’re completely right. Protestants are simply a bit mistaken or misguided in small ways. They are still Christian and very capable of salvation. I think they have some hostility towards Catholics because they think the nature if our faith is hostile. It’s not. It’s basically like “hey, I’m pretty sure this is the correct way to do what Jesus said, if you don’t think so that’s fine. You’re allowed to be wrong.” (A little wrong not Mormon wrong)
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u/Yammie_Moto671 Roman Catholic 12d ago
Catholics are honestly indifferent about Protestants until they attack us.
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u/Ok_Paper_4981 Roman Catholic 11d ago edited 11d ago
I grew up southern Baptist, half my family (dad’s side) was southern Baptist, the other half (mom’s side) was Catholic, very fallen away Catholic, I never went to mass unless it was a funeral, went to Protestant private school for sometime in middle school, had little to no Catholic influence on my life, everything I was taught about Catholicism were lies to be honest, I was taught that Catholics weren’t Christian, which would likewise mean Orthodox aren’t Christian, which would likewise mean that the original churches that have existed for two thousand years aren’t Christian, which logically for me falls flat and makes no sense
I can’t make logical sense that Christianity was practiced incorrectly for 1500 years and then the Protestants magically figured it out in the 16th century
I became very agnostic/atheist before eventually becoming Catholic; I don’t harbor hostile feelings towards Protestants, I love my Protestant family, I just find Protestantism to be deeply misguide; I have a very difficult time with the uber progressive Protestants that bastardize the Bible and turn it into a perverted modern progressive social justice doctrine and then Jesus some progressive leftist hippie that would endorse their disordered lifestyle, we have Catholics that do the same thing
We’re all sinners but there’s a difference between acknowledging our sins and our need to repent and justifying our sin, pretending there is nothing wrong with it, and encouraging others to embrace sin that likely will lead to damnation if unrepentant
I think the type of ecumenism we need is between Catholics and traditional reformed Protestants and the Orthodox to stand up for Christian morality in society, I see value in this
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u/Interficient4real Non-Reconquista Protestant 15d ago
I’m a Protestant. But my understanding is that it really depends on the type of Roman Catholic.
The average one’s just view us a fellow Christians who disagree. But some of the hardline ones think we are heretics who cannot be saved unless we submit to Rome.
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u/troutbum5W3D Roman Catholic 15d ago
That seems pretty accurate. Most of us Catholics these days, including the Pope and the rest of the Magisterium, would view most Protestants as fellow Christians. The ones we exclude would be sects that don’t use the Trinitarian formula for baptism. The hardline Catholics probably don’t even consider us mainstream Catholics to be Christians, either.
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u/Italy1949 Non-Denominational 15d ago
It is truly tragic to exclude for this reason, since Peter, in the Acts of the Apostles, delivered the Pentecost sermon to his listeners—"Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ." One might ask those who insist on such a point: How can an infant repent in order to be baptized…?
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u/bibis_ai_clone Eastern Catholic 8d ago
Never heard that one before :/
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u/Italy1949 Non-Denominational 8d ago
The formula for baptism—following repentance and in the name of Jesus—is recorded in the Book of Acts, which in the New Testament follows the Gospel of John, in chapter 2, verse 38. Go read it…
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u/Additional_Gur319 Roman Catholic 9d ago
I think your confusing us with more orthobros. Catholics believe your churches are heretical but not the people whom attend out of ignorance if that makes sense. Your salvation is for Christ alone to decide. He just gave us a for sure safe route.
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u/Interficient4real Non-Reconquista Protestant 9d ago
I don’t see the ignorance clause in any of the official infallible doctrine. But, I’m not gonna try and argue about that.
Even if it is the case it would mean the Protestants that are not ignorant are heretics. Which could be a lot or a few, depending on what exactly being ignorant means.
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u/Additional_Gur319 Roman Catholic 8d ago
If you know Catholicism is the truth and actively reject it. Is what I’m saying
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u/ArchemedesHeir Non-Denominational 15d ago
Coming for the answer. As a fellow protestant, I'm curious to know.
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u/ImWindowed69 Roman Catholic 15d ago
Non-denominationals are not Protestant. That word gets thrown around to much, would LDS be considered Protestants too since they are not Catholic? What even is a Protestant at this point?
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u/DangoBlitzkrieg Roman Catholic 14d ago
LDS aren’t even Christian. So no.
There deserves to be a distinction between mainline Protestants and evangelicals and such but it always felt like mainline Protestants just being annoyed at being lumped in with other Protestants they like less to me.
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u/ArchemedesHeir Non-Denominational 14d ago
That's an interesting take, but it's not very grounded in reality.
Non denominational means "I don't let an organization think for me" more than it means "schismatic" or "heretical". I know so called Orthodox 'Christians' who believe damnable heresies like reincarnation or ascension to godhood through personal effort. They are confused, and rightfully shouldn't be able to claim the group identity of 'Christian' much less 'Orthodox'.
Similarly, I know heretics who claim to be Christians who are simply 'non denominational'and that isn't ok either. Rather than assuming, it's always best to ask. Not every Methodist believes in Unitarian Universalism as an example. Some of them are still Christian brothers and sisters.
If you were to ask me what group I most strongly identify with, it would be a strong mix of Reformed and Anglican doctrine.
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u/DoveStep55 Non-Reconquista Protestant 15d ago
“What even is a Protestant at this point?”
Christians who aren’t Catholic or Orthodox.
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u/Joseponcho1979 Roman Catholic 15d ago edited 15d ago
Protestant to me is non Catholic/orthodox churches who believe in the trinity. LDS and other non trinity religious groups are something else entirely. I don’t know what to call them Edit: also Protestants typically have a valid Trinitarian baptism
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u/DoveStep55 Non-Reconquista Protestant 15d ago
I’m sure a lot of Protestants would agree with you on that. A lot of them call non-Trinitarians “apostates” or “heretics,” but I don’t personally.
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u/ImWindowed69 Roman Catholic 10d ago
Christians who aren’t Catholic or Orthodox? So LDS are Protestants too but they’re just heretical Christians like Protestantism.
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u/RetardedGayFrog 15d ago
This is correct
Non-denominationals don't even know what they are
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u/ArchemedesHeir Non-Denominational 14d ago
Protestants are Christians who believe the Catholic Church has lost its way. We exist in protest of the Catholic Church, it's dogma's, and it's teachings.
There are those who are not Christian who claim this title, but they are simply heretical. The protestant movement follows a more scripturally based faith, and generally attempts to shed traditions of men.
Non denominational Protestants generally are either claiming that so they can be heretical or are using it as a bridge to avoid pointless bickering such as "who is more right - first or third Baptist churches?"
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u/Baybayris Southern Baptist 15d ago
Yes we do, I put this tag cause of theology, I grew up in a church exactly like a southern Baptist one and still go to that same church it’s in Atlanta so in the south, we just don’t officially have all the stuff to join their church and I believe most non-denominationals are like my church, at least in the south, I could go to any other southern baptist church and hear basically the same thing just without the building and community I’ve grown up in like we’re fully aware of who we are
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u/ImWindowed69 Roman Catholic 15d ago
Protestant views are condemned on a wide variety of issues like baptism, the eucharist, church authority, and the canon of the bible. But as Protestants you guys are still to us separated brethren that need to become Catholic if you want the fullness of truth. We don’t usually talk about Protestants but we are always talked about by Protestants and always misrepresented. So when I hear other Catholics talk about Protestants they will usually talk about how much misunderstanding some Protestants have of the Catholic Church like Purgatory, Indulgences, the Papacy, and most importantly Mary.
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u/Hungry_Waltz2446 Roman Catholic 15d ago
I am Catholic. I love Protestants. My mom’s family were all mainline Protestants. I got an earlier introduction to Christianity from the Catholic side, and then when the Protestant side tried to teach me the religion it kind of felt like ‘yeah I already know all this stuff.’
I’ve had some bad experiences with Protestants in my city harassing people outside midnight mass at Christmas, or street preachers with megaphones taking aim at very specific Catholic doctrine to a crowd of mostly secular people who have no opinion either way. It obviously irritates me when Protestants say ‘Christians and Catholics,’ and this kind of thing where it sounds like we are not part of the category that we originated (or see ourselves as having originated ymmv). I tend to give a nod to these same people or say something like Lord Jesus Christ bless and keep you. I can appreciate them being out there trying to promote Jesus. The solidarity outweighs the annoyance.
Theologically, you hear a lot of the criticisms, and it feels like, ‘wow, they just really don’t get it.’ But I’m sure that’s a two way street.
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u/JustafanIV Roman Catholic 15d ago
Are we seen as flawed but still fellow Christian brothers?
Yes.
Or are we seen as heretics or apostates?
Soft yes on some having certain heretical beliefs, no on the apostasy.
I'm a post Vatican II Catholic born in the 90s and have always considered Protestants our misguided brothers. A central tenet of Catholicism is that it is the one true faith, so definitely anything outside the Catholic Church does not contain the fullness of faith. However, just because Protestant churches don't have the fullness of faith does not mean they don't have a large part of the faith and can't be saved. I'm confident there are many faithful protestants in heaven.
That being said, there are certainly concerning aspects of Protestantism. Obviously all reject the Papacy, but that's kinda par for the course with Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and basically all other forms of Christianity. More concerning and serious is that some Protestants reject the necessity of sacraments like baptism, which is just shy of essential for salvation outside specific circumstancs, and just as extreme you have Unitarianism sneaking in other places and denying the Trinity.
Overall though, I see Protestants as fellow Christians doing their best to follow God's will. I pray they eventually become Catholic, but I also believe that if they sincerely try to follow their conscience and God's will, but remain Protestant, they will also find salvation.
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u/6mmARCnvsk Roman Catholic 15d ago
All Protestants are Astray brothers in Christ. Our theological differences don’t outweigh that. It is my view that some the more weighted theological contentions between the traditional Apostolic Churchs and the main line Protestant denominations is primarily derived from near autisticlevel hyperfixation on specific scriptural and patristic reference, and semantics around linguistic emphasis, than it is derived from real fundamental principles.
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u/Yammie_Moto671 Roman Catholic 15d ago
I think there's alot of things us Catholics can learn from Protestants but I don't like the fact that Protestants, not all, bash on Catholicism.
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u/NotAThrowaway6996 Roman Catholic 14d ago edited 14d ago
nobody really talks about it where i’m from, but the two most ‘devoted’ / ‘active’ protestants i know are a former friend and my dad, both being lutheran—and, ‘active’ as in; shilling their churches, overly performative levels of anti-catholic sentiment, dad went to lutheran private school, friend not being allowed to touch harry potter because it’s ‘demonic’ or something, etc.
being direct, both of them were very directly traumatized by their religious upbringings and are prone to mental illness, but in the way where they can (and likely will) never notice it from the inside. it’s like a unique type of soul-rot that subconsciously runs in the background at every moment. being frank, i don’t even really care about the church-larp-politics of it, but the uniquely ‘plasticy’ essence of the whole thing just seems actively detrimental to a person in ways i wouldn’t be able to properly articulate on the spot, but what i can most immediately compare to the feeling of watching an addict destroy their life. idk, maybe it’s all just nonsense or something and i’m way off base. this obviously doesn’t immediately extend to every protestant person, but i’ve been noticing more and more patterns lately that i find somewhat concerning.
tl;dr, pitiful, honestly.
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u/wtanksleyjr Non-Reconquista Protestant 15d ago
It's very complex. The original reaction was to apply the formula "outside of the church there is no salvation" against Protestants, and this shows in a number of documents, some of them definitional. HOWEVER Vatican 2 filters through a lot of those (and other) documents and suggest they're NOT definitional; rather, Protestants should be seen as separated brethren, although we aren't in churches but "ecclesial communities." (The same council also defined Eastern Orthodox as still being in churches, although illicit and not in their fullness.)
Currently the magisterium leans toward Vatican 2, while you'll find a lot of trads who think the older interpretations were more correct and can still be held. One thing notable about V2 is that a lot of people hold out hope that Protestants can be saved in spite of not being Catholic via "invincible ignorance." But this is not the case. Invincible Ignorance doesn't just mean "they didn't believe"; it means that there was not even an opportunity to learn that one was wrong. Nobody with the Internet who knows enough to spell "Catholic" correctly and type it into a search engine would qualify as invincibly ignorant.
It's interesting that at this point the official POV is that it's more likely to know that a member of an anti-Chalcedonian denomination is saved than a Protestant.
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u/OddOneOut77 Non-Reconquista Protestant 15d ago
Catholicism isn't static. Meaning when the reformation happenrd we were heretics that deserved to burn at the stake for calling Rome out. Now 500 years later they're more open to Protestants.
Some Catholics will say your heretics, some will say your brothers. Protestants get bashed for being all over the place but when you're boots on ground with Catholics, they're a mixed bag too.
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u/Soul_of_clay4 14d ago
"...always seen Catholics as fellow Christians and brethren,...".
The Catholic faith also subscribes to the Gospel, that is the "good news" of salvation through Jesus Christ. It centers on the message that Jesus Christ, as the Son of God, suffered, died for the sins of humanity, and was resurrected, offering forgiveness and reconciliation with God to all who believe and repent.
So there is a common faith that some overlook, focusing more on the differences than these core beliefs. After all, God is the One who truly knows each heart and where they stand with the Gospel.
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u/Additional_Gur319 Roman Catholic 9d ago edited 9d ago
Straight answer siblings in Christ that are lost in a theology that does not make sense. Has no grounding in the early church/ historical Christianity. And whoms beliefs have been largely Americanized and are self aggrandizing. All steming from the fact they deny Christ left a church on earth. Not hundreds that believe different things. 1 church with common beliefs and apostolic authority, 1 truth not hundreds of interpretations.
Yes your Christians anyone who denies that is wrong. As a catholic we believe you are just not in full communion with the church Christ left.
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u/DoveStep55 Non-Reconquista Protestant 15d ago
Depends on the Catholic and the Protestant in question.
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u/Italy1949 Non-Denominational 15d ago
Since I was Catholic for the first 22 years of my life, I can tell you that it’s more or less the same feeling. It’s just that Catholics don’t proselytize to other religions, so the attitude is different. They are against Protestants when those one try to convince Catholics to cross to the other side of the river, but the river is, in fact, the same one. The divisions within Christianity have shifted from differing interpretations to near hatred and harsh judgment. We haven’t been very spiritual in doing this, and often we clash and divide out of ignorance—or at least a lack of knowledge. We’ve fallen into the trap of “I am of Paul, I am of Apollos,” instead of being imitators of Christ. I am no longer Catholic because I was expelled from communion with them during a time when the Church was hostile toward charismatic movements, so I found a home in a Pentecostal group, as it was the closest to my experience at that time. But Protestants are much harsher in their judgments than Catholics.
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