A Reaction Paper

The concept that Catholics are not Christian is a strong feature of American
fundamentalist Christianity which has spread throughout the world, but it pre-dated the
foundation of America. The Protestant Reformation was an attempt to seek the pure word
of God to recreate the Church in the image of the first century Christians. The literalist
bible-only approach resulted in the purging of anything that was not perceived to be in
the Bible. The papacy, devotion to Mary, most of the sacraments, the Mass, purgatory
etc. were all thought to be a man-made accretion to genuine Christianity.
On the issue of salvation. Catholics view salvation almost entirely as a process.
Catholics see themselves as being saved. The Catholic viewpoint is that salvation is
received by faith but then must be maintained by good works and participation in the
Sacraments. On the perspective that Catholic Church is den of idolatry, it is not right.
Pictures and statues found within a Catholic Church are not viewed as deities. While
people may be seen praying near the image or statue, they are not praying to the image
and statue. They are thanking the person represented in the image or statue for graces
granted or they are asking the person for their prayers to God to grant some grace. As far
as Mary worship, it does depend on the concept of Catholicism a person is talking about.
There are some strains of Catholicism, particularly in Latin America who do worship and
pray to Mary as though she was the person with God and Jesus. They even believe that
Mary never had any children after Christ was born, which is not the Gospels state Jesus
did have siblings – one of which became an apostle. But that is certainly not true of all
Catholics. Moreover, the special place that Mary, the mother of Jesus has in the Catholic
Church is a frequent source of confusion for non-Catholics. But although many condemn
Catholics’ treatment of Mary as straying from biblical truths, the truth is Marian devotion
is firmly rooted in biblical teachings. When Catholics see an image of Mary, they are
reminded of Mary’s unwavering obedience to and trust in God and is inspired to try to
emulate her example. Catholics veneration of Mary stems directly from the teachings and
precedents of the Bible. Lastly, on finding the origin in the first pope name Peter,
Catholics make the

historically claim that the succession of Papacy can be traced right back to the Apostle
Peter.
Catholics are not Christians is a strange myth indeed, but sadly prevalent
because many people wrongly believe the word Christian is synonymous with Protestant.
To debunk this myth, it helps to remind people that Catholics were in fact, the very first
followers of Christ. They are doing their best to hold to the same beliefs and traditions
that the church held to in the first century.