Is a Catholic a Christian or not? Catholicism and Christianity

God is one, God is love - these statements are familiar to us from childhood. Why then is the Church of God divided into Catholic and Orthodox? And inside each direction there are many other religions? All questions have their own historical and religious answers. With some, we now get acquainted.

History of Catholicism

It is clear that a Catholic is a person who professes Christianity in his offshoot, called Catholicism. The name goes back to Latin and Roman roots and is translated as "corresponding to everything", "consonant to everything", "conciliar". That is universal. The meaning of the title emphasizes that the Catholic is a believer belonging to that religious stream, the founder of which was Jesus Christ himself. When it was born and spread across the Earth, his followers considered each other spiritual brothers and sisters. Then there was one contrast: a Christian is a non-Christian (pagan, orthodox, etc.).

The homeland of the confessions is the western part of the Ancient Roman Empire. It was there that the words themselves appeared: Catholicism, the Catholic. This direction was formed during the entire first millennium. In this period, both the symbols of faith, and spiritual texts, hymns and services were one for all who worship Christ and the Trinity. And only about 1054 Eastern, with a center in Constantinople, and actually Catholic - Western, the center of which was Rome. Since then, it has become considered that the Catholic is not just a Christian, but an adherent of precisely the western religious tradition.

The reasons for the split

How can we explain the causes of the discord, which has become so profound and irreconcilable? After all, what is interesting: for a long time after the split both Churches continued to call themselves catholic (the same as "Catholic"), that is, universal, universal. The Greco-Byzantine branch as a spiritual platform relies on the "Revelations" of John the Theologian, the Roman one - "On a Message to the Hebrews". For the first, asceticism, moral quest, "life of the soul" is characteristic. For the second - the formation of iron discipline, a strict hierarchy, the concentration of power in the hands of priests of higher ranks. Differences in the interpretation of many dogmas, rituals, church administration and other important spheres of church life have become a watershed that has spread Catholicism and Orthodoxy on different sides. Thus, if before the split the meaning of the word Catholic was equal to the concept of "Christian", then after it it began to point to the western direction of religion.

Catholicism and Reformation

Over time, the Catholic clergy has moved so far from the standards that the Bible claimed and preached, that this served as the basis for organizing within the Church such a direction as Protestantism. Spiritual-ideological basis of it was the teaching of Martin Luther and his supporters. The Reformation gave rise to Calvinism, Anabaptism, Anglicanism and other Protestant denominations. Thus, Lutherans are Catholics, or, in other words, evangelical Christians who were against the church actively interfering in worldly affairs, so that the papal prelates would go hand in hand with secular authorities. Trade in indulgences, the advantages of the Roman Church before the East, the abolition of monasticism - this is far from a complete list of those phenomena that were actively criticized by the followers of the Great Reformer. In their faith, the Lutherans rely on the Holy Trinity, especially worshiping Jesus, recognizing his divine-human nature. The main criterion of their faith is the Bible. A distinctive feature of Lutheranism, like other Protestant currents, is the critical approach to various theological books and authorities.

To the question of the unity of the Church

However, in the light of the materials in question, it is not entirely clear to the end: are Catholics Orthodox or not? This question is asked by many who are not too deeply versed in theology and all sorts of religious intricacies. It's easy and simple to answer it. As already mentioned above, initially - yes. While the Church was One Christian, all who entered it, and prayed in the same way, and God worshiped according to the same rules, and rituals were shared. But even after the separation, each - both the Catholic and the Orthodox - consider themselves the main successors to the heritage of Christ.

Interchurch relations

At the same time, they treat each other with sufficient respect. Thus, Decree II of the Vatican Council notes that those people who accept Christ as their God, believe in him and are baptized, are considered Catholics as brothers by faith. The Orthodox Churches also have their own documents, also confirming that Catholicism is a phenomenon whose nature is related to the nature of Orthodoxy. And the differences in dogmatic postulates are not so fundamental that both churches are at enmity among themselves. On the contrary, the relationship between them must be structured so that together serve a common cause.