The Orange County Register, September 2nd, 2006
Q: At a dinner party, I heard a Saddleback Church member say Catholics were not Christians. What is the reasoning behind such a remark? — Ann Sloan Jones, Aliso Viejo
A: Evangelicals and Roman Catholics disagree over doctrine, and this has led to charges of apostasy – departing from “true” Christian beliefs. This notion is more often found among fundamentalist evangelicals (as opposed to plain evangelicals, who tend to be less strict) who believe the Bible is the inerrant and literal word of God and who find the Catholic intellectual tradition of debate and interpretation false or heretical.
Many evangelicals believe that a personal, transformative moment, in which a worshiper asks to “receive” Jesus Christ – what is called being “born again” – is necessary for one to be Christian. Under this definition, a Catholic might not qualify as Christian until they actively chose to be “born again.”
In response to our request for clarification on the matter, Saddleback Church gave the following statement: “Of course, a Catholic can be a Christian! At the same time, a Baptist can be a non-Christian. Being a member of any church, be it Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, or any other affiliation, is not what brings someone to a relationship with God. We believe God saves people on the basis of their faith in Jesus Christ, not on the basis of their church or denomination membership. The Bible says that because of God’s grace, forgiveness and salvation are available to everyone who believes and confesses that Jesus Christ died for their sins, that he rose from the dead three days later, and that he is the Lord of their life (John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10).”
Q: Is Saddleback a nondenominational church or Southern Baptist? – Tim Carpenter, Fullerton
A: Although new Saddleback members are informed in membership classes that the church is Southern Baptist, the fact is not advertised to visitors, and most members the Register talked to described the church as nondenominational. Last year Rick Warren aroused controversy when he seemed to imply he had moved away from the Southern Baptist denomination, something he later said was a “misstatement.”
Church staff members say they are “affiliated” with the Southern Baptist Convention but “have people from all different faiths, backgrounds and denominations.” Why not just call the church “Saddleback Baptist Church”? In the third story of the ‘Purpose-Driven Man’ series, we discuss the possible reasons. Stay tuned.
