Highly Religious

[NorrinRadd]

I would rather not be considered "highly religious", as the world defines it.

The Pharisees that Jesus dealt with were that. I would rather be like the tax gatherer who recognized his own sin and repented humbly before God.

Yeah. I love words, but few are free of baggage.

I loathe most common understandings of "spiritual" just as much as "religious."

[NorrinRadd]

I'm more puzzled that they differentiated between "Catholic" and "Christian."

Did they really? I missed that.

[Meh Gerbil]

That's been the dominant message within Evangelical Protestant circles for decades.

Nope.

[NorrinRadd]

If you'd gone to high school where I did, you wouldn't be. "Are you Catholic or Christian?" was a common question.

When I was a kid, a plurality if not actual majority of the people in town were RC. It felt slightly awkward being one of the relatively few walking around school without a smudge on my forehead on Ash Wednesday. I vaguely recall a few conversations about whether or not I were a Christian, since I was not RC.

I got saved during my sophomore year at college, and started attending C&MA fellowships and churches. They were pretty Fundy, and so there the thinking was kind of reversed. The ol' Pope is the Antichrist, RC church is the Whore of Babylon sort of thing.

[Adrift]

Nope.

Um. Yes, it has.

[Meh Gerbil]

Um. Yes, it has.

Yes, they decry legalism but only as a means to criticize Roman Catholicism as it touches soteriology.
Once they pry some poor slob out of Romanism they load the mark up with more legalism then he had before.
It is a term applied to 'the other guys'.

Ask any Protestant you know about the term legalism and they'll talk about how it relates to soteriology.
They don't have a clue as to the damage they're doing to people's daily walk.
I've witnessed this up close and personal for decades.

[Trout]

*adds adrift to people I need to protect from the Gerbil.

[Adrift]

Yes, they decry legalism but only as a means to criticize Roman Catholicism as it touches soteriology.
Once they pry some poor slob out of Romanism they load the mark up with more legalism then he had before.
It is a term applied to 'the other guys'.

Ask any Protestant you know about the term legalism and they'll talk about how it relates to soteriology.
They don't have a clue as to the damage they're doing to people's daily walk.
I've witnessed this up close and personal for decades.

It sounds like you're letting some very unusual personal interactions color your impression on this subject. I imagine most Protestants don't know what words like "soteriology" mean, so asking one about the term "legalism" is hardly likely to have them go into a rant about soteriology. Rather, the discussion of legalism in Evangelical Protestant circles is a byproduct of the counter-cultural Jesus Freak movement of the 60s and 70s, likely shaped by Western perceptions of Eastern religious movements popular at the time. And it has nothing specifically to do with criticizing the Roman church as much as it does most mainline churches in general. My father left the Lutheran church because he found it overbearingly legalistic (then he ironically joined a cult, but still).

At any rate, my statement in post #30 was not factually wrong regardless of your impressions of Evangelical Protestants. It really is something that's been discussed in those circles for decades, and I'm assuming you agree with that considering how fast you went from a "Nope" to a "Yes, but.."

[Adrift]

*adds adrift to people I need to protect from the Gerbil.

It's ok. Ernie hardly strikes fear in my heart.

[rogue06]

It's ok. Ernie hardly strikes fear in my heart.

Been wondering which you figured was which.

[Trout]

It's ok. Ernie hardly strikes fear in my heart.

Ernie is the gay one; right?

[Adrift]

Ernie is the gay one; right?

No, he's the puppet.

[Meh Gerbil]

At any rate, my statement in post #30 was not factually wrong regardless of your impressions of Evangelical Protestants. It really is something that's been discussed in those circles for decades

Discussed as a means of criticizing other sects, yes.
Discussed as a means of meaningful self-evaluation, no.

I used the Doctrine of Salvation to illustrate that point.

...and I'm assuming you agree with that considering how fast you went from a "Nope" to a "Yes, but.."

I don't consider bagging on other denominations as a means of self-referential confirmation to be discussion in any meaningful sense of the word.
I only downshifted to 'Yes but..." because it became apparent I was communicating with someone unfamiliar with the topic.

[One Bad Pig]

When I was a kid, a plurality if not actual majority of the people in town were RC. It felt slightly awkward being one of the relatively few walking around school without a smudge on my forehead on Ash Wednesday. I vaguely recall a few conversations about whether or not I were a Christian, since I was not RC.

I got saved during my sophomore year at college, and started attending C&MA fellowships and churches. They were pretty Fundy, and so there the thinking was kind of reversed. The ol' Pope is the Antichrist, RC church is the Whore of Babylon sort of thing.

Interesting. I never got that vibe from the C&MA fellowship I attended at college (Penn State main campus). I was even elected "elder", and would have attended a C&MA church after graduation if I could find one in my area.

[NorrinRadd]

Interesting. I never got that vibe from the C&MA fellowship I attended at college (Penn State main campus). I was even elected "elder", and would have attended a C&MA church after graduation if I could find one in my area.

That's true. ACF at Main campus was not like that. It was also charismatic. I was thinking more of the one my then-girlfriend attended. Even then it was not so much from the regular pastor as from the book table (plenty of "Chick" materials), some of the deacons and elders, and some of the visiting preachers during "prophecy conferences."