Originally posted by YellowBirdy
Why do some of you say Catholics aren't Christians? My understanding is that Christianity is divided into Catholicism and Protestanism. And yes, the Orthodox churches of Armenia, Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and Russia and other countries utilizing the Cycillic alphabet. But they are all sects w/in the same general religion. Thats what I learned in history. They are components of 1 of the 5 major religions. So if Catholics aren't Christian, does that mean all the people who were living in Europe before 1530 (When Martin Luther did his thing) weren't Christian? And why if when you ask somebody their religion do they say "Catholic" whereas others say "Christian". And are Eastern Orthodox people Christians?
Yellowbirdy, welcome to the board! I am an evangelical protestant Christian, and so I'll try to answer as best I can.
There are three main branches of Christianity: Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Protestantism. Eastern Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, etc,. all fall into the Orthodox branch. They spilt with the Catholic Church in the Great Schism (which was in 1095, if I remember correctly) over issues like icons and the seat of the church headquarters. They are just as Christian as anyone else.
The Protestant denominations split from Catholicism during the Reformation. Protestants deny the position of the Pope as Christ's #2 man on earth. There are many protestant denominations, but almost all rely upon the Bible as their primary source of religious instruction, while Catholics rely upon the traditions of the Catholic church about eequally with Scripture (BTW - I'm not a Catholic, I've only read about it, so any Catholics please feel free to correct me).
There are not many Christians who would say that Catholics aren't Christians. While doctrines between the branches differ significantly, the individuals practicing Catholicism are no more or less Christian than anyone else.
Why do some Christians get so crazy about gay marriage? They say it's an "abomination". I went and read some of the bible (and yes, I was pointed to chapters from a left-leaning website, but it had some good points.) People say that Jesus by dying and coming back to life represents some new covenant so that stuff in the old testament can be disregarded. For instance, This is why Christians can eat bacon while Jews can't. But the gay thing is in the Old Testiment. Not the new. So why is the pork disregarded and not the gay thing? Or a Persian Jewish friend of mine said that the Torah (old testament) says you can't touch a women on her period.
Homosexuality is condemned in both the Old and New Testaments. And you are right, there is a new covenant (contract, if you will) now that Jesus Christ is here. In the old covenant (Old Testament) God had established many laws relating to diet, clothing, slavery, property, along with religion and morals. With the new covenant, the moral law remains, but the dietary, clothing laws, etc. were no longer necessary.
Exodus 13:!5 - says I can't work on the Sabbath because it's holy. And if I do work on that day, I "shall be killed." That seems harsh. Back when I worked in a restaurant and in the mall my white co-worker would have these old white people always asking him on Sunday why he was working. I guess that was because they were religious. He would say its because he needs to buy books for school. If they believe that he shouldn't work because the day is holy, why do they patronize a business on the holy day? Going to a business on the holy day means that someone will be there working, and that person should die.
Again, the punishments in the OT were done away with, now that we have the new covenant. But God still wants us to take the Sabbath. It is designed to be a day where we rest and focus our attention on God. Your point about going out to eat is interesting though... something I'd never thought about.
1 Corinthians 14:34 says that women are subordinate to men. Then how can you justify having women in power? I'm thinking of O'Connor, Rice, Whitman etc.
I guess I am confused because there seems to be so many rules in Christianity but how do you know which ones to follow? [/B]
What it actually talks about is women's role in church. However, there are other scriptures where it makes it clear that this particular issue was one of his rules, not one of God's commands. And in other NT scriptures, it makes it clear that men and women are supposed to treat each others as equals. Nowhere in the NT are women treated as sub-human or incapable of assuming positions of power.
If you would like to talk more about Christianity please let me know.
Jeff
