Apiradee (Apple)
Puranitee wrote: |
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Hi, guys —
- Among Catholics and Protestants, which
sect is the most popular faith in the world?
- Which one do most people believe in?
- Also, what sect does our President, George
W. Bush, believe in?
Thank you and best regards,
Apple
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| { Among Catholics and Protestants, which
sect is more popular and what is President George
W. Bush's
faith? } |
Mike
replied:
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Hi Apple,
Thanks for the question.
First, the Catholic Church is not
a sect. It is The Church.
The
Catholic Church is the
one and only Christian Church
who can trace its history back
to Jesus' Revelation, when
He became man in the womb of the
Virgin Mary, and later preached
His saving Gospel to mankind, that has also remained
faithful to His teachings on issues
of faith and morals since His
Ascension in 33 A.D.
It is also the only Church whose
practicing members have remained
loyal to Our Lord's delegated "prime
minister", St. Peter, and his
successors. It is the most popular
Christian faith on the face of the
earth, with over 1.378 (2021) billion,
yes, billion
members because Jesus:
- founded it on St. Peter and
his successors
- said the gates of Hell would not
prevail against His Church, and
- promised to send the Holy Spirit
to guide His Church on issues
of faith and morals.
There is not one Protestant church,
but thousands of Protestant churches,
about 35,000, I think. Of those 35,000
denominations, not one of them existed
in 850 A.D., at the end of the
Patristic age. Many believe in
important doctrines that Catholic
Christians also believe in, like:
- Salvation by grace alone
- The existence of the Trinity
- The inerrancy of the Holy Scriptures
- The final determination of the
27 books that make up the New
Testament.
- The insistence that all salvation
comes from Christ alone.
They differ with Catholic Christians
on issues like:
- The primacy of St. Peter and
His successors, like John Paul
II and Benedict XVI
(Read Matthew 16:13-19)
- The meaning of John 6:51-70.
- The understanding of the terms salvation and justification.
- The understanding of what the
Church (and the Communion of Saints)
is.
- The proper honor due to Jesus'
Mother, Mary.
- The inclusion of the inspired
Deuterocanonical books of the
Old Testament.
- Tradition, with a capital "T",
as related to those Teachings
referred to by Scriptures in
2 Thessalonians 2:15.
- Purgatory (Matthew 5:25-26. Matthew 5:48, 1 Corinthians 3:15 and 2 Maccabees 12:39-45)
- along with some others.
Our current President, George W.
Bush, is a Methodist, though he has
a high respect for Catholic values,
as Americas saw in the Holy Father's
April 2008 visit to the United States.
As a Catholic, I've been very impressed
with his words and actions in defending
Christian values in America. I believe this has had a lot to do
with why he got re-elected, and why
John Kerry, a dissenting Christian,
or C.I.N.O. (Catholic In Name Only) did
not get elected.
I was also very impressed with the
respectful words President Bush had,
not only at the passing of our previous
Pope, Pope St. John Paul II,
but with the warm remarks he gave
to our current pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI, when he visited America. It
was made very clear that both
men stand against moral
relativism and its secular principles.
Date line: Monday, June 16, 2008
11:05 AM on NewsMax.com
President Bush may follow in the
footsteps of his brother Jeb and
convert to Catholicism, several
European papers are reporting.
In the wake of the president's
visit to see Pope Benedict XVI
at the Vatican, Italian newspapers,
citing Vatican sources, said Bush
was open to the idea of converting
to Catholicism.
The Italian newspaper "Il Foglio"
referred to such talk about Bush's
possible conversion and stated
that "anything is possible, especially
for someone reborn like Bush."
Noting that Tony Blair converted
to Catholicism after leaving office
as Britain's prime minister last
year, the paper also stated that
"if anything happens, it will
happen after he finishes his period
as president, not before. It is
similar to Blair's case, but with
different circumstances."
President Bush welcomed Pope Benedict
XVI warmly when he visited the
U.S. in April. And Vatican watchers
noted that Bush met privately
with the pontiff in the private
gardens of the Vatican last Friday — an
unprecedented place for the Pope
to meet a head of state. Typically,
the Vatican gardens are used by
the Pope for private reflection.
A Vatican spokesman said the Pope
used the unusual locale to reciprocate
for the "warmth" Bush showed when
the two met in Washington.
Though the Catholic Church has
criticized the U.S. war in Iraq,
Bush has been an ardent supporter
of pro-life issues; he has staunchly
opposed stem-cell research; and
he opposes gay marriage — all
issues important for Rome.
Currently Bush belongs to a Methodist
church in Texas and attends an
Episcopal church in Washington,
D.C.
A friend of Bush, Father George
William Rutler — who converted
to Catholicism in 1979 — told
the Catholic News Agency that
Bush "is not unaware of how evangelicalism,
by comparison with Catholicism,
may seem more limited both theologically
and historically." |
I hope this answers your questions.
If not write again.
Mike
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John
replied:
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Hi, Apple —
Catholicism is not a sect, it is
the Church Christ founded. Christ
founded one Church, not many. Since
then, some groups have split off.
- The first significant splits happened
in the fourth and fifth centuries
when certain Eastern churches in
Armenia, Assyria, Egypt, and India,
left, or were excommunicated.
- In 1054, another split happened between
East and West because certain Eastern
Churches disputed the authority of
the Pope. This was a much bigger
split; so after that, we had the Roman
Catholics and various Orthodox Churches.
- In the 1500's, certain Western "theologians",
among them Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli
began to preach heresy. They broke
off and started Protestantism.
- Henry
the VIII joined the mix by starting
the Church of England (also Protestant)
but it never was one religion. It
quickly decayed into schism after
schism, heresy after heresy, sect
after sect.
- Today, Protestantism
is divided into 40,000 various sects
and sub sects. Catholicism makes
up the largest bloc of Christian
believers in the world.
President Bush is a Methodist, which
is a type of Protestantism. However,
his theology seems to be closer to
Evangelical Christianity than to
modern day "mainstream" Methodist
theology. In many ways, President
Bush is closer to being a Catholic
than the average modern Methodist.
This is the case with many Evangelicals.
I hope this helps,
John DiMascio
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Apiradee replied:
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Hello, Mike and John —
I just read both your replies. I
really appreciate you guys a lot.
Actually, I'm a Buddhist but I want
to know a little bit about the Christian
faith. The answers to my questions
clarified the issues.
Thank you and best regards,
Apple
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