what is the difference of the Catholic and the Christiann religion?

Answer 1

Catholics follow the teachings of popes and concels and Christians follow the teachings of the Bible.

Answer 2

Catholics are Christians. In fact, they were the first organized Christian religion. There are many differences between Catholics and other Christians. But there are more similarities. If you are truly interested in learning the Catholic position on some very key issues that other Christians site as being variant from their own, visit this site. There are many other useful sites, but I tried to find one that was simple... with a straightforward format.

http://www.catholicapologetics.org/

I am Catholic and I grew up in a town where less than 2% of the population was. It was all Southern Baptist, and I got all sorts of questions. So I learned from an early age that I needed to have all sorts of answers. I even had friends in middle school tell me that they couldn't hang out with me because I was Catholic. Their parents said so. It's very sad when people make no effort to understand one another... So I applaud you for doing so.

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HDB, Dolly, evestudy, and Ray_W (below me) are just a few examples of people with misguided information. Every statement that they made about Catholics is false in one way or another. I should know, since I am one. If you look at that site I gave you, you will find further detail and explanation about every single misinterpretation that was listed below. The ones they stated are very, very common.

I dealt with it all the time as a child because other kids' parents "taught them" about Catholicism. Problem was... their parents knew nothing about Catholicism.

Answer 3

Catholicism was the original form of Christianity in the Roman Empire. There were many, many sects of Christianity, but after the Roman Empire became officially Christian, Constantine forced everyone to believe essentially the same doctrine. This was just considered Christianity at the time. Catholic just means "according to the whole", that is, it is what everyone believes and if you disagree, then you are a heretic. The Church split when the Eastern Roman Empire split from the West and the Bishop of Rome took the position of leader of the church- the Pope. In the east, the church continued to be guided by Archbishops. The eastern Church is known as the Orthodox church. The Catholics and the Orthodox believe essentially the same things, except the Orthodox put more emphasis on the role of icons and its own saints.

Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation in the early 16th century. He thought that, instead of needing to gain access to God through priests, and following the doctrines that the early church fathers had laid out, you should develop a personal relationship with God. What you have called the Christian religion in your question came from this origin. There are many different protestant sects in America. Many of them such as Presbyterians and Episcopalians, maintain beliefs closer to Catholic beliefs than other Protestant sects. The "fundamentalist" branches of Christianity are the farthest from Catholic doctrine because they almost entirely ignore all of Christian thought and scholarship, creating their own beliefs just from reading the Bible. This is odd, because the writers they ignore are the ones who chose what would be included in the Bible and what would be left out from all the thousands of texts circulating around the Christian world in the early centuries of the faith.

Answer 4

This question comes up a lot, and it's really hard to believe there still don't know what they're talking about. Catholicism is a sect of Christianity. Because most non-Catholic Christians are Protestant, I'll compare Catholicism with Protestantism in general - bear in mind of course that not all forms of Protestantism are exactly the same.

1. Church structure. Catholics have a hierarchical Church structure to lead and guide us, whereas most Protestant churches are only loosely associated with each other and mostly run by the community. Yes, the Pope is the head of the Catholic Church. That does not mean he is God or even like God. He's just a religious leader, that's all.

2. Different Bibles. Catholics have the "original" Bible, so far as there is any original. When Protestants split from Catholicism, they removed several books from the Bible, saying they were not divinely inspired. Those books are now called the Apocrypha.

3. Purgatory. Catholics, like Protestants, believe in Heaven and Hell. Catholics also, however, tend to believe in Purgatory. This is kind of for those in-between cases. Instead of going directly to Hell or Heaven, you can be sent to Purgatory where you must be purified before you can ascend to Heaven. Biblical justification for Purgatory comes from the book of Tobit, which the Protestants eliminated. In it, the archangel Rafael leads some people in prayer for a person who has passed on. Why pray for him, if he has already been sent irreversably to Heaven or Hell?

4. Eucharist. Catholics believe that Christ is present in the Eucharist. Thus we worship Christ in and through the Eucharist. Protestants, on the other hand, generally believe that the Eucharist is symbolic of Christ, but not actually Christ.

5. Immaculate conception. Catholics believe that Mary was conceived without sin; Protestants don't.

6. Saints. Most Protestants don't pray to the saints, most Catholics do. This does not mean that Catholics worship the saints and it does not mean that they don't pray to God. Catholics generally pray to the saints for intercession in the same way you would ask a friend to pray for you. Sometimes, however, Catholics will also ask saints for specific favors. This is kind of like when people asked the Apostles for miracles. It wasn't because of their own power that the Apostles could perform miracles, but God's. Any power that the saints have is because God approves their (your) request and grants it to them.

6. Redemption. Most Protestants believe that if they accept Christ as their savior, they will be saved. No matter how good a person is on their own, they can never be perfect, and so they can't make it to heaven on their own. Catholics believe this is true, but that one must also "walk the walk, not just talk the talk." Faith is meaningless unless you believe in it enough to act on it. Catholics therefore say that you need faith combined with good works in order to get to heaven.

I think those are the major differences. There are some others, like confession of sins, but I don't think they're as important. If something else jumps out at me, I'll add it later.

Answer 5

I presume you mean the difference between Catholics and Protestants-the main difference is probably that the Catholics place the Church above the Bible, which means they can institute practices that are not mentioned or even prohibited by the Bible. For instance, they worship Mary and different images of saints which the second commandment prohibits(incidently, the Catholic Bible omits the second commandment and splits the ninth to still have ten). Also, (and you can check this in history) they claim to have changed the solemnity of the Sabbath from Saturday, the 7th day of the week, to Sunday, the 1st day of the week. They did start the tradition of keeping Sunday, but only God could change the solemnity, which scripture does not record Him doing. The Catholic church also requires confessions made to a priest which the Bible does not-It says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. " 1 John 1:9
All of these changes can only be justified if you believe that the Catholic church has divine power and is above the Bible.

There are many more differences, to many to list...

Answer 6

I go every Friday to a Catholic Church. Today I'm going later.

Every Sunday I go to a Christian Church. I love both of them.

It's the relationship that you share with G-- through Jesus.

The thing I've noticed though, in a Catholic Church is that some people rely more on Saints. This is because Saints serve a specific and selfish miracle. Jesus doesn't. I pray to Jesus and G-- only but admire and try to walk the path that Saints walk.
I personally like the respect that Catholics have for praying rather than the Christian way.

I feel that G-- will judge us according to our works, not our religion

Answer 7

Catholicism is the first-organized tradition of Christianity. Some Christians follow no tradition. Catholics follow one of the branches of the original Catholic Church (ie, Roman, Coptic, Syriac, etc.)

Catholics consider Catholicism the Ancient and Original Church of Christ on Earth, a Church that has existed for 2,000 years and will continue to exist until the City of God is established after the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Any who say "there was a golden thread of original christians and everyone else fell away" has no evidence. This idea didn't even surface until the vehement and often violent anti-Catholic movements in the U.S. during the 19th century. These were led by members of many congregations who rejected any organized form of Christianty. You'll know these bigots because they reference books such as "The Woman Rides the Beast" and "Papistry as the Religion of Nimrod".

Most other branches of Christianity - other traditions - broke off from the Catholic Church at some point in history:
Orthodoxy: in the Great Schism of the 11th Century
Protestantism: in the Reformation of the 16th Century
Dispensationalism: in the American Revival of the 19th Century
Non-denominationalism: in the mid-20th Century

I should note that most non-denominational Christians come from a mainstream Protestant or Dispensationalist background.

Because one can only declare differences between organized traditions (or otherwise go on a church-by-church, pastor-by-pastor basis), the most basic general theology of all Christians (Catholic, Protestant, otherwise) is as follows:

1. God created all things.
2. Human beings sinned against God and brought death into the world.
3. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, fully human and fully divine, is eternal, was born of Mary, ministered, betrayed, crucified, died, buried and was resurrected, all in order to eliminate the death that sin brings and reconcile humanity to God.
4. Salvation is for those who believe in Christ alone.
5. The reward for those who believe in Christ is everlasting life in Heaven.
6. The punishment for those who reject Christ is eternal suffering in Hell.
7. Christ will return for the living and the dead on the Day of Judgement.
8. The devil will lose in the end.

I'm going to email you some more specific examples.

Answer 8

Catholicism is a Christian religion. Being a Christian is not the religion, it's the belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God sent to die for our sins and rose again. Lots of religions believe the same thing but choose to practice their religion differently. The way one practices decides whether they are Catholic or Lutheran etc...

Answer 9

Catholics are Christians. They were the first Christian Church. It’s a denomination of Christianity just like Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, etc.

hdb8241981: Catholics do not believe the Pope is like God in the flesh. I have no idea where you heard that but that is absolutely not true. The Pope is simply a very holy man chosen to lead the Church. How could we believe the Pope is God in the flesh when Pope Benedict and Pope John Paul were alive at the same time? Did God just hop bodies? Listen to how ridiculous your assumptions are. Catholics do have a different bible because Protestants removed 7 chapters when they left the Catholic Church. The only difference is the Catholic bible is complete. Catholics believe in Purgatory (Not pergatory) AND Hell. Purgatory is a place of purification for those who will eventually go to Heaven. Hell is for those who are eternally damned. Catholics pray to Mary for her intersession (it’s like asking a friend to pray for you) AND God. I pray to God every day so I don’t know who told you Catholics don’t pray to God.

Geoff C: First, Catholics are Christians and they were the first Christians. Second, Catholics accept Jesus Christ as their savoir. Why do you think that we thank God for sending his son to save us during every Mass? You have no idea what you’re talking about. Catholics follow the inspired word of God. I hear the Gospel at every Mass I attend! Please see http://www.catholic.org and understand what you’re talking about before you judge the Catholic faith.

Answer 10

Nothing. Catholicism is a Christian religion, and it is also the origin of the Christian religion. Protestant faiths started forming after Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation. Before that, your only choice was the Catholic Church.

Answer 11

A lot, but few of the most important things that are different:

1. They believe the Pope is like God in the flesh...Christians believe Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.

2. They have a different Bible.

3. They believe in Pergatory...Christians believe in Hell.

4. They pray to Mary, Christians pray to God.

Like I said there are lots. I am a Christian.

God Loves YOU
Heather :)