Whats the difference between catholic and protestant?
I don't know the difference between catholic and protestant.
There are many but your best bet to understand is to sit down, get ready to read a lot, and go to authoritative and unbiased sources.
The big different between Catholicism and Protestantism are the five pillars, which paint a different picture of salvation, definitions of sin, freewill or predestination. These differences are many and vary from church to church.
Catholicism would have the claims to be the oldest, most faithful representation of Christianity based on comparison between the Church today and the Bible. Also comparison between the Church today and the teachings of Christians in days gone (a democracy of the dead if you will) such as those writings of The Church Fathers.
Catholics believe in seven sacrament.
Protestants believe in two.
Catholics believe that the Eucharist is changed in essence into The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ (see John 6, and The Last Supper)
Protestants believe this was only a symbol.
Catholics believe Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture are equal in value in sharing The Word of God. (The Bible says as much and there are many Christian teachings not in The Bible, such as The Trinity)
Protestants believe that only that which is "plainly" laid out in The Bible is too be believed.
Catholics believe that we are justified by "faith together with works". We must have faith, but we will also be judged according to our works.
Protestants believe in the mad made doctrine "Sola fide" or "Faith Alone" which says that we only need to believe and we are saved.
Other points of contention include;
- Clerical celibacy
- Church authority and hierarchy.
- Biblical canon
- the priesthood (automatic or consecrated)
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June 19 2009 12:28 am | Catholic
Geezah on 19 Jun 2009 at 5:35 am #
Imagine you have a big corporation. But somebody believes that it was losing its original purpose, so he quits to form his own corporation. That's Catholicism and Protestantism in a nutshell.
Scroll up and do a search on-line for Martin Luther and the Protestant reformation.
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cheir on 19 Jun 2009 at 5:57 am #
Some of the differences between the Roman Church (RC) and Protestants (PT):
RC adheres to the Pope as the vicar of Christ
PT believe that the Bible, not the Pope, is the one & only final authority [2 Tim.3:16] .
RC the Apocryphal books & tradition have equal authority with the Bible
PT rejects them as a source of error [Matthew 15:3].
RC believe Mary was a perpetual virgin.
PT Bible says that she had several children [Mark 6:3]
RC believe Mary was without sin.
PT believe only Jesus was without sin [Romans 5:12]
RC believe that priests, Mary, and dead ‘saints’ are mediators.
PT believe that there is only one mediator – Jesus Christ [1 Timothy 2:5]
RC Pope canonizes those to be called ‘saints’.
PT say all believers are saints [Philippians 1:1;4:22]
RC believe Peter was not married.
PT Bible says he was married [Mark 1:30]
RC Justification is by faith and works.
PT believe that Christians are justified by faith alone [Romans 3:28]
RC claim that Peter was the ‘rock’ on which the church was founded.
PT believe that only Christ is that Rock [Romans 9:33; 1 Corinthians 3:11; 10:4; 1 Peter 2:7,8]
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doubtingthomas on 19 Jun 2009 at 6:25 am #
No difference.
Just that the fundies christians are a bit more imaginative with their Rapture, inerrancy of Bible etc.
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llanolyn on 19 Jun 2009 at 7:14 am #
There are many but your best bet to understand is to sit down, get ready to read a lot, and go to authoritative and unbiased sources.
The big different between Catholicism and Protestantism are the five pillars, which paint a different picture of salvation, definitions of sin, freewill or predestination. These differences are many and vary from church to church.
Catholicism would have the claims to be the oldest, most faithful representation of Christianity based on comparison between the Church today and the Bible. Also comparison between the Church today and the teachings of Christians in days gone (a democracy of the dead if you will) such as those writings of The Church Fathers.
Catholics believe in seven sacrament.
Protestants believe in two.
Catholics believe that the Eucharist is changed in essence into The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ (see John 6, and The Last Supper)
Protestants believe this was only a symbol.
Catholics believe Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture are equal in value in sharing The Word of God. (The Bible says as much and there are many Christian teachings not in The Bible, such as The Trinity)
Protestants believe that only that which is "plainly" laid out in The Bible is too be believed.
Catholics believe that we are justified by "faith together with works". We must have faith, but we will also be judged according to our works.
Protestants believe in the mad made doctrine "Sola fide" or "Faith Alone" which says that we only need to believe and we are saved.
Other points of contention include;
- Clerical celibacy
- Church authority and hierarchy.
- Biblical canon
- the priesthood (automatic or consecrated)
References :
http://www.drbo.org – The Douay-Rheims Bible Online
http://www.catholic.com
http://www.catholicbridge.com – The Catholic Bridge. A really great little site to those who are new to learning about Catholicism.
Sssss S on 19 Jun 2009 at 7:58 am #
Catholicism = salvation requires sacraments
Protestant = no sacraments required, ie heresy
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Chris on 19 Jun 2009 at 8:37 am #
Catholicism is not Christian. Catholicism teaches a false gospel of works that leads to eternal torment in hell (Galatians 1:6-9).
It's clear from the Book of Acts in the Bible that catholics didn't even exist during the days of Acts. Those in the Book of Acts are the first Christians, and they believed what would be called fundamentalist doctrine today. ANYONE can read the Book of Acts for themselves and see. Had catholicism existed during the time of Acts, the first Christians would have rejected catholicism completely.
Also here's Christians that called the "pope" the antichrist, and who also completely rejected catholicism, long before Martin Luther was even born:
c. 1310
Dante Alighieri
c. 1331
Michael of Cesena
c. 1345
Johannes de Rupescissa
c. 1350
Francesco Petrarch
c. 1367
John Milicz
c. 1379
John Wycliffe
c. 1388
Matthias of Janow
c. 1389
R. Wimbledon
c. 1390
John Purvey
c. 1393
Walter Brute
c. 1412
John Huss
c. 1497
Girolamo Savonarola
So not only is it false to say that "catholics were the first Christians", but this list blows away the catholic claim that "no churches existed other than the catholic church, until Martin Luther".
There were ALWAYS saved believers outside the catholic cult, who knew catholicism cannot save anyone.
Catholicism cannot save. Only believing in Jesus alone for salvation, is what saves.
The truth about Jesus is that the only way to be saved and to get into heaven and avoid being sent to eternal hell, is by believing in faith alone that Jesus, who is God, died for our sins on the cross as FULL PAYMENT for all our sins, and then Jesus rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Believe this and you will be in heaven, no matter what! Salvation is a FREE GIFT that happens in a split second when you believe in Jesus alone to save you! It is impossible to lose or "leave" salvation (John 6:39-40, 1 John 5:13).
Please pray now: "Jesus, please forgive me of my sins. I believe that You died on the cross for my sins and You rose from the dead. Thank You for eternal life!" You will be in heaven with Him forever when you die.
References :
I'm not a "protestant". I'm a saved believer in Jesus
Dear Dogma on 19 Jun 2009 at 9:17 am #
What are the differences between Catholics and other Christian denominations?
Catholics are required to accept the tenants expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Other Christian denominations will not accept one or more of those tenants.
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Dave RC on 19 Jun 2009 at 9:40 am #
Catholics believe that our Eucharist is the living, risen Jesus. We also believe in devotion to the Virgin Mary, the great mother of Jesus Christ.
God bless!
Dave
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brillstreet on 19 Jun 2009 at 9:45 am #
The Catholic Church is the original Christian Church. The Protestants were Catholics who split from the Church in the 16th century and have been splitting into smaller and smaller groups ever since.
The Protestant Bible is different because Martin Luther edited out the parts he didn't like. He was a disgruntled Catholic monk who would be called a cafeteria Catholic today, picking and choosing what to believe in instead of buying all of Scripture as it was originally codified by the Catholic Church in 325AD under the Bishops and Emperor Constantine who legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire.
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skepsis on 19 Jun 2009 at 10:07 am #
Catholics believe that the Bible needs interpretation by competent authorities and that God continues to inform and inspire the Church through its leaders and council decisions. Catholics also believe that Christians can help each other get to heaven.
Protestants believe that only Jesus can get you into heaven, that divine inspiration stopped with the completion of the Bible, and that there is no competent human authority to determine what the Bible says. Everyone must decide for him/herself.
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Pilgrim on 19 Jun 2009 at 10:22 am #
Essentially, when Henry 8 wanted to divorce, the Roman Catholic church told him he couldn't. Soooooooooo . . .
He booted the Roman Catholic church out of England and started the church of England (aka the Anglican, or Episcopal, church).
Parallel to this the Romish church was getting too big for their britches, and alot of sincere Christians were beginning to realize the church pretty much acted in their own interest, and didn't resemble Christianity. Not even a little. Martin Luther posted 99 reasons why the Catholic church was wrong on the door of the Cathedral at Wittenburg, and supposedly, that sparked the "protestant reformation". (they "protested" against the abuses of the Romish church – thus the name "Protestant")
Getting back to the root of the whole matter is a little event I refer to as the trial of Yashua, the only begotten son of Yahweh. At that trial, the Jewish High Priest (in order to get Rome to condemn Yahshua to death) made the pronouncement "We have no King but Caesar".
Effectively, he put the priesthood under the jurisdiction of Caesar instead of under Yahweh. You will notice Jews no longer have priests, and Rome no longer has Caesars. Rome's priests are NOT the mediators between Yahweh and man as was the office of the Jewish High Priests. They are "Vicars of Christ". The latin "Vicar" means "substitute". The Greek word for substitute is "anti".
The true mediator between Yahweh and man is Yahshua, the son of Yahweh. He alone is the "lamb" who takes away the sin of the world.
The pope, very simply, is The Antichrist. Not an antichrist, but The prophesied Antichrist predicted by scripture.
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Geoff on 19 Jun 2009 at 10:53 am #
Martin Luther and the Protestants show the true path; the Pope and the Catholics do not.
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PINOYKURAKOT on 19 Jun 2009 at 11:24 am #
CATHOLICS ARE DEMOCRATS AND PROTESTANTS ARE REPUBLICAN.
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Dave C on 19 Jun 2009 at 11:38 am #
>> Whats the difference between catholic and protestant?
Try this best answer on for size: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090605134737AAVABL1
God bless.
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answer4you on 19 Jun 2009 at 12:12 pm #
To understand the difference, you must first understand the similarities.
Protestant Churches broke off from the Catholic Church during the reformation and schisms. For the most part, Catholics and Protestants are Christians, believe in Jesus Christ as being GOD, along side the Father and the Holy Spirit (also known as the Holy Trinity).
Protestant primarily believe in what’s called Sola Scriptura, which means that all their beliefs should come only from the Bible. Here is where it gets interesting though. The original Bible, was given to the world in roughly 300AD, by the Catholic Church. Protestants did not agree with some of the books, so they removed 7 of them to reform their Bible.
Many Protestants bash the Catholic Church saying that they added books. But how can this be possible, when the original Bible, was the Catholic Bible. If anything, this only proves that the Protestants removed the books. Now, if we take a step back and think about it… When Jesus was on Earth, he tought verbally. He did not tell his disciples to grab pen and paper and write down what he said. After Jesus died in 33AD, his teachings continued through his Apostles, who also taught verbally and not through the Bible. What this should prove through reasoning is that the original Church and Church fathers taught Jesus’ message through verbal proclamations, as there was no Bible for at least another 270 years after Jesus died. So if the concept of Sola Scriptura is to be followed, wouldn’t this mean that there were no Christians until the Bible was put together in 300AD? This is something that Protestants can never explain. However, Catholics can explain this.
After Jesus died, he came back during Pentacost to commission the new ministers of HIS Church. So in HIS absence, he entrusted HIS church and teachings to be carried out by what’s called the Vicar of Christ (Pope) along with the Bishops, and Priests. As such, the faith & Christ’s teachings were taught through Sacred Traditions. Hence, this is why Catholics know that our faith and teachings have to come from both Sacred Tradition and the Bible. So when Protestants ask… “Is you church, Bible based?”…. the answer is and should be that “The Church is not Bible Based… rather, the Bible is Church Based”. In a nutshell, following Protestant beliefs, there would be at least 270 years of… “What happened to all the Christians? — Did the Church just not exist?”… This would then be followed by another 1200 years of using the Bible given to the world by the Catholic Church, to then arrive at the Pretestant reformation in the 1500s, to which the 7 books were removed…
2000+ years of teachings of Christ through the Catholic Church (via Sacred Tradition [2000 years worth] + Catholic Bible[1700 years])….. or…. 400-500 years of teachings out of the Protestant Bible… You chose. The decision for me was easy, and that is why I am proud to say that I am Catholic.
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Mustafa Nisu on 19 Jun 2009 at 12:19 pm #
Catholics believe in the Pope and the Vatican, Protestants believe in the Bible. Unfortunately none of them believe in the teachings of Lord Jesus who lived His life in the Love of God and Gods Creation. Of all the peoples of the book, only the Sufis, who do not believe in the Book, seem to have got that message. God is Love, We are Love, We are God, Behold God in Everything!
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denise t on 19 Jun 2009 at 1:09 pm #
One was founded by Jesus Christ the Others are man made.
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Catholic