What is the difference between Protestant and Catholic beliefs?

[Kura Ookami]

I've long wondered just what the differences between the denominations of Christianity are so I'm creating this thread. What are the differences between what a protestant believes and what a catholic believes?

[ice122985]

considering this can be a touchy issue, we better let a mod set the tone, if any, for this one.

[Mave]

Feel free to PM me about it.

[Stephen]

Good call on both counts Mave, and Ice. This is an issue that could turn ugly very fast. However, I think if answered in a kind heart from both a Protestant and a Catholic it can be fine. Simply state facts, first post that comes along "OMG THEY GOT A POPE" etc, your trite post will simply be deleted. But other then that, happy posting campers.

[K. Ayato]

Good call, Steve. I've seen how ugly this can get in other forums I've visited in the past.

[Fsiphskilm]

hmmm. If now-a-day modern christian.

[K. Ayato]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Catholics believe in eternal security. Meaning, they believe they can lose their salvation.

[termyt]

Confusing subject. There are too many differences among Protestants to make it easy to tell the difference between Catholics and Protestants. (For example, not all Protestants believe in "eternal security.") If you had a specific denomination in mind, that would be helpful.

As far as I can tell, the only major difference between Catholics and all Protestants is, as Shatterheart put it, "THEY GOT A POPE."

Different Orthodox and Westren Protestant orders and denominations keep and reject different Catholic traditions based on their own interpretations of scripture and desire to break with traditions as a way of separating themselves from other denominations.

That's a vague answer to a vague question.

[CDLviking]

Everything I've seen so far is pretty much correct. The Catholic Church (which is more than just the Roman Catholic Church in case anyone was wondering) is liturgical. Our worship of God follows a ritual which allows any Catholic around the world to go to any other Catholic church and pretty much know exactly what's going on, even through a language barrier. There are also liturgical protestant denominations.

We also believe that the Church is apostolic (the bishops are the successors of the apostles, with the pope as the successor of Peter), authoritative, and infallible in matters of faith and morals (through the promise of the Holy Spirit).

We do not believe in Sola Scriptura, but that Scripture and Sacred Tradition (not man-made tradition) are part of one Deposit of Faith.

We do not believe in Sola Fide, but that faith and works together play a part in our salvation, which is a grace from God that no human can earn. As has already been said, we do not believe that you can have assurance of your salvation while alive, but persevere to the end.

We hold Mary in the highest esteem. We believe that she was conceived without sin, and that she remained sinless throughout her life, and that she remained a virgin throughout her life as well.

We also believe in Purgatory as a place where those who have need are purified before entering heaven.

I would say that the greatest difference though, is that the Catholic Church is sacramental. We believe in 7 Sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance (confession), Anointing of the Sick, Marriage, and Holy Orders (deacons, priests, and bishops). Of particular note, we believe that during the Eucharist (communion, The Lord's Supper) the bread and wine undergo and substantive change and truly become the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ.

I will not respond to any posts in this thread seeking to challenge any of these beliefs in order to keep this thread from being closed. If you wish to you may PM me, and I will be more than happy to discuss any topic you like.

[kazekami]

One thing I've been asked about by others is about the Saints and praying to them. Someonce asked me if Catholics were polytheistic because of this this. To which I told them no. As a Catholic we believe that life continues after death. The Saints can act as intermediates between us and God. We ask them to Pray for us.

Another thing is that Catholics are not worried about the end times. If we are working on our relationship with Christ and trying to live a life of faith and good works, as he did then we don't have to worry about it. We are ready for when it comes.

Also during the Eucarist when we partake of the body and blood of Christ. We belive that the Holy Spirit is present and that it does becne the body and blood of Christ. So if someone drops the wafer there is a special procedure to dispose of it. I've never seen that happen but I've been told it does.

[Lehn]

From what I’ve learned; there’s two basic groups of Christianity (Catholic and Protestant) and everything else branches off of one of them.

The Roman Catholic Church has its roots (more or less) back to the Roman Emperor Constantine in the wee days of AD, when he made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire (up until this point the Romans had been chucking Christians to the lions; after Constantine, they chucked the pagans). The Catholic Church was kinda set up like a government; the head of the Catholic Church then is the Pope (who Catholics believe is God’s voice on earth), and then underneath him is the archbishops, priests, cardinals and so on in some order of importance.

Protestants are basically everything then else. The Protestant branch was started by a Catholic monk named Martin Luther in the Middle Ages. Martin didn’t agree with some of the doctrines of the Catholics Church, so he started the first spilt from the Church. From the Protestant religion then sprouts off everything else; Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist and so on, depending on, like the Catholic offshoots, interpretation of the Bible. How the church runs depends on the offshoot; I’ve seen panels of Elders, church members and different combinations of both.

The different names we refer to our leaders depends on the offshoot; Reverend and Pastor are the two biggest names for the Protestants, while the Catholics refer to theirs as Fathers.

The variations between Catholics and Protestants are mostly over things like how one makes it to Heaven (Catholics: combination of good works to atone for sins, and faith. Protestants: faith alone; but the good works follow because they are done to serve God), baptism (if one should be baptized as a baby, or if they should wait until they’re old enough to decide for themselves), communion (depends mostly on the church; some require you to be a member, others just to be a Christian), and over the interpretation of Saints (I’ve had the reasoning behind praying to the saints and rosary explained to me before, and it confused the heck out of me, so I’m not even gonna try to explain it).

Personally, I’m non/un-denominational; meaning that I’m Protestant in a loose sense, but I don’t fit into any of the sub-categories (ex: Lutheran, Baptist and so on). I don't really care about the differences; as far as I'm concerned, Christian is Christian. The different denominations are just different shades of the same color.

Hope that helps

[CDLviking]

Merely a historical correction on the previous post. The Catholic Church traces its roots all the way back to Jesus and the apostles. It should be very easy to find a list of all the popes going back to St. Peter.

Also, Catholics use the terms reverend and pastor too. Reverend and variations such as reverend Mr., very reverend and most reverend are attached to a name the same way that you would call someone Dr. so-and-so. Pastor is a position, such as the head of a parish.

[Ashley]

Just to contrast what CDL said from a Protestant (Baptist) standpoint:

Everything I've seen so far is pretty much correct. The Catholic Church (which is more than just the Roman Catholic Church in case anyone was wondering) is liturgical. Our worship of God follows a ritual which allows any Catholic around the world to go to any other Catholic church and pretty much know exactly what's going on, even through a language barrier. There are also liturgical protestant denominations.

Most protestant denominations (though not all) believe in sermons instead of liturgies. That is, we go about the bible verse by verse, and the pastor teaching writes his own sermons as he feels lead; he does not have a set pattern of worship and teaching like a liturgy. Each protestant church (again, not all) structures their worship different-some sermon first, worship second, vice versa, etc. One thing we also do and I'm not sure if Catholics do is an open offering--basically a plate or bucket is passed around the congregation for the laity (people who aren't deacons or pastors) to give their tithes in.

We also believe that the Church is apostolic (the bishops are the successors of the apostles, with the pope as the successor of Peter), authoritative, and infallible in matters of faith and morals (through the promise of the Holy Spirit).

We believe that the Bible (not sacred tradition, just the Bible) is the only authoritative and infalliable source of faith and morals--not pastors, not reverends, just the Bible. We hold the clergy (deacons, pastors/reverends) as falliable men merely chosen by God, though we do have standards by which they are ordained.

We do not believe in Sola Scriptura, but that Scripture and Sacred Tradition (not man-made tradition) are part of one Deposit of Faith.

We believe in scripture only, tradition is taken as just that--tradition and not necessarily something sacred or needed for faith

We do not believe in Sola Fide, but that faith and works together play a part in our salvation, which is a grace from God that no human can earn. As has already been said, we do not believe that you can have assurance of your salvation while alive, but persevere to the end.

Most protestants follow a doctrine of "saved by grace" and while we recognize the importance of good works in a Christian life, we do not believe they are necessary for salvation or proof thereof. Assurance of salvation is something that varies from denomination to denomination.

We hold Mary in the highest esteem. We believe that she was conceived without sin, and that she remained sinless throughout her life, and that she remained a virgin throughout her life as well.

Major difference here. We recognize Mary as a servant of God, but we do NOT believe she was concieved without sin (just that Jesus was), nor do we believe her to be sinless throughout her life or to have continued to be a virgin (i.e. Jesus had half-brothers and sisters). We also don't have prayers specifically to Mary, only to Jesus or God....which is really the same anyway.

We also believe in Purgatory as a place where those who have need are purified before entering heaven.

No purgatory for us.

I would say that the greatest difference though, is that the Catholic Church is sacramental. We believe in 7 Sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance (confession), Anointing of the Sick, Marriage, and Holy Orders (deacons, priests, and bishops). Of particular note, we believe that during the Eucharist (communion, The Lord's Supper) the bread and wine undergo and substantive change and truly become the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ.

We hold some of the "sacrements" as part of our faith--baptism, for example (but most with the exceptions of methodist, angelican and lutheran, I believe, follow "adult" baptism by choice and not just infant baptism as a necessity for salvation).We don't have set confirmation rites, our communion (Eucharist) is believed to be a representation of the blood and body of Christ, not literally transubstatiated into it, confession is to be held between you and God--no priest is necessary in a protestant church for confession of sins--, marriage is not considered necessary/encouraged, and we have "holy orders" but they are not to required to remain celibate.

Another big difference I can think of is prayer. Protestants have only one written prayer, and that's the Lord's prayer. The rest is generally whatever you are prompted to say to the Lord, "unscripted", so we don't have rosary prayers or Hail Marys or anything memorized like that. We also have a different bible--the Protestant canon is different than the Catholic.

BTW, "protestant" is usually a Catholic term for us. Nowadays we're usually referred to as Evangelical Christians, "evangelicals". I don't think most people mind but I do remember my pastor making a point about the difference.

One last thought--I'm definately not the authoritative source for ALL the differences, but I tried to lay out what I could think of. I admit I am a baptist and know the most about the baptist church, so if I somehow misconstrued another evangelical denomination please feel free to correct me.

I'm not trying to say being baptist is better than anything else, merely trying to paint a complete portrait of our doctrine. If you want to PM me please feel free to.

[ShiroiHikari]

I was raised Nazarene. the Nazarenes believe you shouldn't dance, shouldn't go to the theatre, and a couple of other things, although you don't see them enforcing that much anymore. I was wondering if Catholics believe any of those things?

now I don't belong to any denomination, I'm just Christian.

re: the faith and works thing...doesn't it say somewhere that works alone won't get you into heaven, but faith without works is dead?

[K. Ayato]

Yeah. The two (faith and works) go hand in hand.

[Bobtheduck]

Actually, "Evangelical" is a term used (incorrectly in my view) to separate the two branches of protestantism, the other called conservatism, by two things: Holding a strong belief in the Bible and holding in high regard the act of evangelism. Babtists ARE evangelical, but not all protestant denominations are. Technically the word only refers to the gatehring of converts or disciples, but the "strong belief in the bible" was tacked on there to separate many churches from certain fringe denominations that believed in evangelism but believed the Bible to be in error in some way.

Among protestants, there are many many splitting factors...

Calvinism in its extreme view basically teaches that everything is predecided, nothign we do is really of consequence. Arminianism (sp?) in its extreme view teaches that the men and women who follow God are basically in control of EVERY event that happens in our lifetime through prayer and our choices. Most Christians take neither extreme viewpoint, but rest a little bit one way or the other. Babtists (except, say, "Free will" babtists") are Calvinist, whereas Methodists are Arminanists, I believe.

Some teach that basically nothing you do once you have "prayed that prayer" can nulify your salvation... You can do whatever you please and God will forgive you. Others teach that you need to live in constant fear of blowing your nose because you are sinning and going to hell... Once again, not many take either extreme, but those on the "once saved always saved" camp usually include buffers to their reasoning such as "A person who lives in constant sin without any repentance isn't really saved to begin with, so they aren't really losing their salvation" wheras those in the other camp usually show this "backsliding" situation as proof that we can fall out of grace.

Then there's Charasmatics and anti-charasmatics... Charasmatics believe that all of the gifts are for any Christian to use today, and in the extreme views have many beliefs on angels and demons and prophetic acts and words. Anti-charasmatics believe that those things ended in the "dispensation of the apostles", generally using I Corinthians 13 ("when the perfect comes...") as proof, and citing as evil all demonstrations of the gifts. Charasmatics are also varied in the other beliefs, as there are charasmatic calvinists as well as arminianists... There are also, shall we say, unsure denominations... Denominations that aren't sure if the gifts are for today, or if miricles happen today, and ones that believe they are, but they are only for a few people really in touch with God or just very rare and only for extreme circumstances...

I would like to keep going, but I have to leave... Later!

[ChristianKitsune]

I am Baptist as well.. and i think that Ashley pretty muched covered what our docterine is.. (not that we are better or anything...)

I will not even pretend to know about Catholism.. and what i do know, was covered already..

But yah.. I personally believe that Jesus died.. rose again.. and is the savior of the human race.. I believe that denominations don't really matter as long as this FACT is believed... be you catholic, protestant..or whatever.. One must Have Jesus as their Lord and Savior.... Now, as a baptist.. i do believe that good works are good to have.. but aren't neccassary.... but that is just merely my interperatation based off a verse in Ephesians.. and other books of the New Testament..

( I really hope that i haven't stepped on anyone's toes here.. that wasn't my intent.. this is merely an interpretation.. so i am sorry if I have.. really!! I love everyone here.. and i don't care about denominations... those of us who are saved are all bros and sises in Christ are not?)

[Hephzibah]

But yah.. I personally believe that Jesus died.. rose again.. and is the savior of the human race.. I believe that denominations don't really matter as long as this FACT is believed... be you catholic, protestant..or whatever.. One must Have Jesus as their Lord and Savior.... Now, as a baptist.. i do believe that good works are good to have.. but aren't neccassary.... but that is just merely my interperatation based off a verse in Ephesians.. and other books of the New Testament..

I agree with you there, about the point of it doesnt matter what denomination you are as long as you proclaim Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.

As for 'good works', isn't it that faith without good works is dead, as is good works without faith? You need the two of them together to make an impact on those around you.

Now, onto denominational stuff. It is my belief that every denomination has some pros, but also quite a few cons attached to them. For example, most 'protestants' today, while they worship and are 'full of the Spirit', tend to ignore the poor and needy. Similarly, some of the more traditional churches help the poor and that, but fail to move in the Spirit. Do you see where I am getting at?

Unfortunately, we won't see a 'perfect church' until Jesus returns, but until that happens we have the Helper to assist us in 'bringing in the harvest' as it were. The Holy Spirit is often ignored, overlooked, or misinterpreted, but rest assured He (not it people! He has a personality too! Just like the Father and Son ) is there, He loves us as much as the Father and Son do (they are one, afterall), and He is here to help us and He longs to have fellowship with us.
(btw, been reading 'Drawing Near' by John Bevere. Excellent book... I strongly recommend reading it. It explains the 'draw near to God and He will draw near to you' verse)

Anyway... was I extremely off topic here, or just rambling? hehehehe uni students are allowed to be scatter-brained at times

[Arnobius]

I'm glad to see the discussion is open and friendly. I'd like to make one point for everyone to consider though.

During certain periods from the Reformation to the present, there was a lot of Catholic/Protestant acrimony, and a lot of this crystalized into false understandings of what the others believed.

So if you have heard something that sounds very bad about a Catholic or Protestant belief, please consider the possibility that what you have heard is a distortion of what is really taught by that faith.

[Mave]

All these differences confuse me, if it doesn't perplex me. However, I deeply appreciate how everyone is sharing their knowledge and point of views in a very civil and respectful way. Shows how much the community has matured so far. I am learning a lot from reading everyone's posts.

As for me, I grew up in a Roman Catholic family and have spent my college years in a charismatic group. At the moment, I'm non-denominational simply because I still have many things I will make decisions on. Seems like you guys have the differences covered (well, at least those that I know of!) so I won't contribute any further to this topic, apart from my cheers for unity among all Christians and one of my fav. Christian songs ever.

We are One in The Spirit by Peter Scholte (1966)
We are One in The Spirit,
We are One in The Lord.
We are One in The Spirit,
We are One in The Lord.
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored.

And they'll know we are Christians by our love,
By our Love,
Yes they'll know we are Christians by our love.

We will work with each other,
We will work side by side.
We will work with each other,
We will work side by side.
And we'll guard each man's dignity
And save each man's pride.

[Kawaiikneko]

I'm so glad this thread is so nice! Its interesting to see more of what Catholics believe, being a protestant myself.

I'm grace brethren... I probably couldn't run through our whole doctrine, because I don't know it that well. My grandparents are Mennonite though, and I LOVE going to their church and singing hyms. Its so beautiful. Praise and worship at our church sometimes feels a little... lacking, so its always nice to go their becuase they care so much about it. You can't really count protestants as all alike though because from denomination to another there are usually somewhat big differences. All that matters though is our belief in Jesus Christ as our Savior and way to heaven.

Won't it be wonderful when Jesus comes back and we can all be one church again! And then everything will be all pros and no cons!

[Mr. SmartyPants]

question

ive heard many people ask "well yes you can pray through preists and Mary. And you can ask them to pray for you... but couldnt you just pray TO Jesus instead?"

what would be an answer for that? Because I can't think of one

[agasfas]

I was raised Nazarene. the Nazarenes believe you shouldn't dance, shouldn't go to the theatre, and a couple of other things, although you don't see them enforcing that much anymore.

I'm Baptist, and ever so oftenI get random pepole to say, "So are you against dancing and drinking?"

I always reply, "Well, Jesus danced and had fun at the wedding and he also drank wine."

Not everyone (protestant or catholics) will agree on doctrine, and that's fine. What it really comes down to is our belief in Jesus Christ. That's by far the most important issue in my eyes. Whether Protestant or Catholic, we are all Children of the Lord who seek to have a personal relationship with Christ.

[Arnobius]

question

ive heard many people ask "well yes you can pray through preists and Mary. And you can ask them to pray for you... but couldnt you just pray TO Jesus instead?"

what would be an answer for that? Because I can't think of one

We don't pray through priests, though we do pray with them in the liturgy. I haven't heard someone say we pray through priests before. Perhaps you have an example of what you mean?

As for the intercession of the Saints and Mary, well remember the Prayer Threads on CAA, where people ask to pray for them to Jesus. Why should they do that if they can just pray themselves? When we say we're going to pray for someone, we're interceding on that person's behalf before God. When we ask the intercession of the saints in Prayer, we're asking them to do the same thing that we ask our fellow CAA members to do when we ask them to pray for us.

Hope that helps or at least didn't waste your time.

[Yojimbo]

CDL CAA's resident seminary guy covered most of our core Catholic beliefs. We believe that the pope is infallible when preaching from the 'Chair of St. Peter.'

And yes the Church's popes are traced back to The Rock Peter. There are plenty of popes, such as Callistus I in 200 something, between the time around where we believe Peter died and the Roman acceptance of Christianity during Constantine's reign. The Church wasn't exactly a government as you put it Lehn popes and bishops did have land and power throughout history but they were more a unifying force in Europe. Pope's were never emperors. Constantine was not a Pope at all he was the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church which split from Catholicism in the 800's.

[Mithrandir]

A few corrections, then I'll shut up and let everyone else have their say. ( I'm famous around here for getting into these discussions and becoming emotional... ) Fair warning, if you feel yourself to be "Ultra Conservative" you may wish to skip this. It could lead to dwelling on some rather uncomfortable questions about "truth." My Theology training has to go toward some end, I guess...

Ash, you really can't make absolute statements like that! For example, if you don't learn a little more about the Wesleyan Quatrilateral, I'm going to have to take you to task!

There are many schools of thought on this. Some examples include:
* Scripture is the only source of any truth. (dangerous ground, if you ask me)
* Scripture is not the ONLY source for truth, but everything in it is true (valid, if not taken to certain extremes)
* Scripture is true on all points needed for salvation ( Subtley different from above, but no less valid. )
* Scripture points to truth, and is truth, but humans cannot fully grasp the truth of God. (As of right now, I'm in this camp).

Some specific church may hold scripture as the only door to truth, but that's not the majority, as far as I can tell. Most denominations fit into one of the above categories ( Nazarenes fit into more than one - not that anyone should be surprised by that... )

As for "Tradition being just that." I'm going to bust out the Theology on you, here. Enter The Wesleyan Quadrilatera.. The wesleyan Quadrilateral is just a way of looking at christian faith systems in general. Imagine a quadrilateral - for those of you who don't know what that is, it's a square with sides of differing lengths. ( *thumbs nose at math nerds* ) The sides could be labeled:
1. Tradition
2. Scripture
3. Experiance
4. Reason

Different denominations will place higher value on different sides. In other words, your denomination may hold that side 2 is the longest ( or even only?!? ) side, whereas in the Catholic church side 1 is the longest.

You may find it useful to try and figure out where your denomination fits into this picture, but it's not a "key thing" for salvation.

There's a LOT to say on this topic, and I'm certainly not going to say it. If anyone really is interested in this kind of stuff, email / PM me. I didn't choose my username by random chance, you know.

[Mizumi-Kun]

Quick question: I've heard some people at our school saying that "good" deeds can cover and wash away sin. I, for one, do not believe this, but am not completely sure. Can anyone shed some light on this?

[Mithrandir]

I would personally ask them to back that statement up with scripture. And something other than a tract.

[Fsiphskilm]

My beleifs

[Arbre]

Notice commandment #11: Thou shall have Beliefs that are perfectly correct in accordance with everyone else is missing. Probably for a good reason.

Mine are flawed to you, yours are flawed to me.

We're all a bunch of fools, we're all trying to understand something that is not fully comprehensable to us. In the end we've all got some pretty flawed beleifs. Thank God that's not what determains our salvation.

I'm honestly not trying to start anything with this... I'm just really confused on this whole point right now. I feel like I have no idea how to even start to figure it all out.

There has to be a point where the God that someone worships is false, though, or else the whole topic of false gods wouldn't have been mentioned in the Bible so much.

I'm in no way trying to create unnecessary conflict. At all. Finding more in common and less in difference would make for a larger, happier family in definition at least. But at what point can someone say to someone else "You're not a Christian"? I hear that a lot, and there's a specific group that I'm thinking of that is almost always labeled as "unchristian" (not protestant, not catholic) despite their belief in Jesus Christ.

I don't want to turn the thread away from the positive tone it has. But I have so many questions, and I just don't know how to try to find the answers.

I don't want this thread locked because of this reply. If you have anything to say in response, I'd really, really appreciate it sent in a PM. If no one wants to respond, I'll be no more clueless then than I am right now anyway.


Reading the replies so far has helped me understand more about what a lot of others believe, and why. Thank you for that.