What is the difference between Christianity and Catholics?

Question

What do both of them mean?

Answer 1

Catholic Christianity was the first kind. Do you mean what is the difference between Protestant and Catholics? Catholic means "universal". So the Catholic Church is the universal Church.

Ignatius of Antioch (Early Christian Bishop, Martyr, and Catholic Saint)

"Let no one do anything of concern to the Church without the bishop. Let that be considered a valid Eucharist which is celebrated by the bishop or by one whom he ordains [i.e., a presbyter]. Wherever the bishop appears, let the people be there; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church" (Letter to the Smyrneans 8:2 [A.D. 110]).


The Martyrdom of Polycarp

"And of the elect, he was one indeed, the wonderful martyr Polycarp, who in our days was an apostolic and prophetic teacher, bishop of the Catholic Church in Smyrna. For every word which came forth from his mouth was fulfilled and will be fulfilled" (Martyrdom of Polycarp 16:2 [A.D. 155]).

Tertullian

"Where was [the heretic] Marcion, that shipmaster of Pontus, the zealous student of Stoicism? Where was Valentinus, the disciple of Platonism? For it is evident that those men lived not so long ago—in the reign of Antonius for the most part—and that they at first were believers in the doctrine of the Catholic Church, in the church of Rome under the episcopate of the blessed Eleutherius, until on account of their ever restless curiosity, with which they even infected the brethren, they were more than once expelled" (Demurrer Against the Heretics 30 [A.D. 200]).

List of Early Popes of the Holy Catholic Church

1. St. Peter (32-67)
2. St. Linus (67-76)
3. St. Anacletus (Cletus) (76-88)
4. St. Clement I (88-97)
5. St. Evaristus (97-105)
6. St. Alexander I (105-115)
7. St. Sixtus I (115-125) -- also called Xystus I
8. St. Telesphorus (125-136)
9. St. Hyginus (136-140)
10. St. Pius I (140-155)
11. St. Anicetus (155-166)
12. St. Soter (166-175)
13. St. Eleutherius (175-189)

Find the complete list of Popes at:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12272b.htm

By the way, Protestants got their bible originally from the Catholics, took out 7 books from the Old Testament, and re-interpreted it to suit their new idea of what Christianity should be.

This is a condensed statement of what we Catholics believe. We believe nothing more and nothing less than what is stated in this creed. Everything we believe falls into it somewhere:

Nicene Creed (Profession of Faith)

We believe in one God, the Father, the almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, light from light,
true God from true God,
begotten not made, one in being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he was born of the virgin Mary, and became man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered, died, and was buried.
On the third day, he rose again
in fulfillment of the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
with the Father and the son he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the prophets.
We believe in one holy, catholic, apostolic church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Answer 2

The majority of Christians who are not Catholic are some denomination of Protestant, whether Baptists, Presbyterians, Evangelicals, etc.

Protestants follow the basic guideline that all matters of faith can ultimately be decided by the Bible. Catholic dogma states that all matters of faith are ultimately decided by the Pope. As such, the Catholic church has many traditions that either cannot be found in the Bible at all, are maybe hinted at but never confirmed clearly by the Bible or that are totally opposed to what the Bible teaches. Catholic scholars would argue against this, claiming that all the church's teachings are rooted in Scripture and then they would provide you a few Scriptures that do not actually support their traditions without twisting their obvious intentions into something pretty abstract.

There are centuries of apologetics -- Biblical, faith based arguments between Protestants, Catholics and the Orthodox churches and those arguments have produced entire libraries of "evidences," opinions and whatnot. In the end though, there is a single difference that cannot be skirted around: The Catholic faith is based upon the Catholic Church deciding what you should believe; the Orthodox Church is based upon believing what the Orthodox believe; all other Christianity, including the first century Christianity followed and/or taught by the Apostles and Jesus themselves are based upon believing the Scriptures to be the inerrant word of God and following them to the best of your ability while calling out on Jesus to forgive you and save you for all the times you fail.

Hope this helps!

Rebecca
http://www.ipowergrfx.com
http://www.publicadjuster.com

Answer 3

Christianity is a generic name for the religious beliefs of those such as Catholics, Protestants, CofE, Roman Catholis, etc.. Catholic is one version of Christianity. There is not a lot of difference between most of the Christian religions. All that means is you follow a religion which believes in Christ. Some people of a Christian faith will tell you that you can not be a true Christian unless you practice their faith. Some of the differences between different versions of Christianity are that some believe in the Trinity as in Father, Son, Holy Spirit, being all the same. Others believe God and Jesus are seperate beings. Some versions don't like you marrying outside the religion or getting divorced, etc. whereas others are ok with it. And each one has a slightly different Bible.

Answer 4

Do you mean what is the difference between Protestant and Catholics? Both believe in God and Jesus as their Saviour. Both the Protestant and Catholic churches practice Christianity, which is the acceptance of Jesus as their saviour. After the crucification of Jesus, his apostles scattered to the four corners of the world preaching the good word, salvation through Jesus. The apostles started many churches and, as time past, the churches united to form the Roman Catholic church. A analogy would be the United States, 50 states joined to form a nation. The world Catholic means "universal." For many years, the Roman Catholic church prospered. But, many patrons felt the church had become too decadent. In the earlier 1500's, the church began to raise money to build the Saint Peter's church in Rome. The church started selling "indulgences," forgiveness for sins. An idulgence was a piece of paper which allowed a individual to be forgiven of sin. The more indulgences one had, the more sin they could commit and be forgiven. A young clergyman, by the name of Martin Luther, felt very strongly that God was the only one capable of forgiving sin and, as a result of his resolve, he challenged the church and the Pope. He was excommunicated but he still continued to protest against the church. Many patrons agreed with Martin Luther and left the Roman Catholic church. These early patrons were called "Protestants," because they protested against the Catholic church. There are many differences between Protestants and Catholic churches. In the Catholic churches, clergyman were not allowed to be married. Second, the Pope is consider the head of the church. Catholics rever Mary, the mother of Jesus. To some extent, the Roman church rever Mary almost as much as Jesus himself. In contrast, Protest churches do allow clergyman to marry and have families. The Protest churches do not have a Pope, or anyone who is the head of all churches. Though revered, Protestants do not elevate Mary to the same level as Jesus. There are many more differences but I hope you can find this helpful.

Answer 5

There's no difference! Catholics are Christians!

Answer 6

Christianity is the main religion however that religion is split into many small churches-the catholic church is one of these 'small Churches'. The main difference between Catholics and Christianity is they have different beliefs about the authority of the Pope. However they are united by the belief that Jesus is Gods' son.

Answer 7

Just to clarify some of the above answers:

Yes Catholics are Christians.

Christians DO believe that Christ is our savior. Hence CHRISTians.

No Catholics did not add 7 books to the bible. They helped put together the Bible. Protestants took the books out of the bible.

I am not Catholic or Protestant BTW so this is an unibiased Fact.

Answer 8

Christianity is the overall term for the religion. It encompasses the most common beliefs and all Christians will lead similar lifestyles. Catholicism is a denomination, just like Anglican and Orthodox. Denominations are splits within a religion which all have slightly different teachings and ways of understanding the bible.

Think of Christianity as a dog, with Catholicism as one of the breeds like a poodle, and Anglican could be a labrador

Answer 9

Catholics believe there is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. 'Catholic' just means Universal - which it is, you must agree. Catholics ARE Christians, since they are followers of Christ. In fact they are the original Christian Church against which the other Christian Sects rebelled. I can understand followers of Luther because he was trying to stop corruption within the Church. Followers of The Church of England are a bit harder to understand. That Church came about because Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife and marry again, within the Church. The Pope of the day wasn't having any and sent him packing. So Henry broke away from the Church and started his own. He became head of it and that title has passed down to the currently ruling monarch of Britain. Hope this makes things a little clearer for you.

Answer 10

Christianity is when people follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. Catholics are Christians with different rituals used during their services. There are many different practices of Christianity within individual churches.