what is the difference berween catholicism and christianity?

Question

i am a christian...but is that the same as being cathloic or whats the difference

Answer 1

Catholism is usually considered to be a type of christianity. So the difference between the two is the difference between a subset and the whole. Many people will tell you that chocolate ice cream is substantially different from vanilla. But they're both still ice cream, right?

Answer 2

Wow... songoftheforest has a lot of misinformation on Catholics and Catholicism. I think a refresher course in the documents of the Second Vatican Council is in order.

Christianity is a set of organized religions that believes Jesus Christ is the one true Son of God who lived on this earth, died, and was resurrected. There are many denominations in Christianity, including Catholicism.

Each demonination is different from the others by certain characteristics in theology. The Catholic Church is structurally lead by the Pope, who is not recognized by other Christians as the primary leader. The differences in opinion about matters such as the bible are not always a vast as people believe.

Of course, people don't always have the current, relevant information on theology for each denomination. For example, I wouldn't be able to tell you much about Baptist theology, so I would find an expert and listen. At the same time, I am happy to explain that Catholics respect and revere Mary as first among saints and the mother of Jesus, but they only WORSHIP God in the Trinity. Big difference.

Answer 3

The term "Catholic" actually means" universal." If you use it that way, all Christians are Catholic. However, if you're refering to the Roman Catholic Church, it is a specific belief system. Many people believe Roman Catholicism falls under the general catagory of "Christian." The thing that sets Catholicism apart from the Bible is that it teaches a works-based salvation instead of a faith-based salvation. That is the main differance, besides many other little things the Roman Catholic leaders made up, such as that the Pope's word is greater than the Bible, that there's a purgutory, and that we should pray to Mary. These are all false truths, found no where in the Word of God. I hope this helps. Peace.

Answer 4

I dont know about that, but

Catholics are Christians. Matter of fact all Protestant/ Fundamentalist christianities came from Catholicism.

Catholics believe in Christ, that he died for our sins.

To clear up some misconceptions:

We do not worship Mary or Saints.

The Pope is our spiritual leader and authority on earth, but he doe not in anyway surpass Christ!

If anyone has a beef or a misconception, i reccomend reading the Catechism and see where all Catholic beliefs correspond with the Bible.

Oh, and the Catholics didnt change the Bible, they were actually the ones who assembled it, but it has been changed and altered by other heratics outside of the Church since then. Catholics still follow that original Bible.

Answer 5

While some may disagree, Catholics are just a different sect of Christianity, the same way Baptists are a sect of Christianity.

Many uneducated Christians come up with horrible tales about Roman Catholics...that they worhsip idols, that they believe the Bible is a book (contrary to this, they see the Bible as sacred scripture inspired by the Holy Spirit), and that the Pope supercedes Christ. None of these things are true, but many Christians are taught to despise and reject Catholics. It is quite sad, considering Jesus wanted his followers to be unified.

God bless!

Answer 6

Catholics call themselves Christians, but this offends other Christians because the very definition of Christian is one who follows Christ. Catholics do not follow Christ, they follow the pope. The Catholic church has stated that the pope supercedes Jesus Christ. To Christians, this is wrong.

The Catholic church also changed the Bible (for example the Ten Commandments). Then they stated that the Bible is a dead book. Christians feel like this is wrong.

The Catholic church defines a heretic as anyone who does not believe as they do. Then they state that all heretics should be killed. (This is just recently too, so don't give me the "that was in the past" excuse ya'll). Christian "heretics" take offense at this.

There are many reasons for this. I can provide anyone who is interested with documents from the Catholic church stating these things and many more amazing things. Just contact me.

Answer 7

I'm not Catholic.. so I could be very wrong on this... but.. my guess is that Catholics think of their religion as Christian... and they think of their church as the one that Jesus set up while he walked the earth...

Most other Christian religions are offshoots from the Catholic church... people that disagreed with something in the Catholic religion... like Lutheran... Luther was the guy that posted a list of things on the chapel doors... that he did not think were correct... or something like that.. he got Ex-communicated by the Catholic church... and after many years of telling his followers that he would not start a new church... he finally gave in and setup the Lutheran church....

Protestants... are another group that split away... I think from the Catholic church... but I'm not sure

Methodists, Baptists... all split away from some other Christian church for one reason or another...

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is a bit different from the other Christian religions... we believe that Joseph Smith was called as a Prophet by God and he restored the lost Priesthood upon the earth (all of the Deciples and priests of Jesus' time were hunted down and killed ... and did not pass on the priesthood so it was lost... even though well meaning people tried to carry on the church as Jesus set it up, they did not have the priesthood any longer.

Answer 8

No, they are related but NOT the same. There are some major differences. I'll try to explain some of them for you here. Catholics pray to saints. The bible clearly states that the only one we should direct our prayers to is God. The Holy Spirit carries our prayers and Jesus takes them to God for us. "Saint" as used in the bible simply denotes a "born again" believer, a christian. Mary, John, or the pope can no more answer your prayer than I could. Mary was an honorable woman no doubt, but she can't answer, let alone, hear your prayers.
The catholics believe in Purgatory. There is no biblical evidence of such a place. There are plenty of Scripture verses that make it clear that after death we (born again believers) are in the presence of God. See Hebrews 9:27 and 2 Corinthians 5:6-8. A soul can only be saved while the person is alive. You can't pray them out of a place that does not exist. Catholics believe in indulgences (payments for sins). There is no biblical basis for this and if this were true then Jesus' death on the cross was in vain. Ephesians 2:8-9 says that we saved by grace, not money, not works. You can't buy or earn your way into heaven, but you can believe yourself right in. Read the gospel of John, you will see that the theme is believe and receive. Catholics also believe that salvation can come through "baptism" which they practice through sprinkling. The word baptism, comes from the greek baptisio, which means to "take under". It is an ordinance of the Christian belief, meaning we do it because God through Christ showed us that it is what we do as a public profession of our faith, but not as a condition to salvation itself. Baptism is symbolic of Christ's death, burial and resurrection. It is symbolic of our dying to the old nature an being resurrected as new believers in Christ. In communion, catholics believe that the wafer and wine miraculously transform into the actual "body of Christ". There is no biblical basis for this belief. Communion is the second ordinance of the Christian belief. It is a direct command from Christ that we do this in remembrance of Him until His return. Catholicism is a religion, invented by man. Christianity is a bridge to a personal relationship with God through the outstretched arms of Jesus Christ. It is the vehicle God put in place so that we could relate to Him.

Answer 9

I am catholic. I am also CHRISTIAN. I believe in Jesus Christ, the only son of God. I believe he is our savior. I DO NOT worship Mary, the saints, or any other nonsense mentioned by the other answerers. Some catholics pray to them, ask them for help, just as you might ask your grandparents for help. That doesn't mean we worship them or think of them on the same level as God the father. We are just another branch off of christianity as a whole. Did that make any sense? I'm not sure, but it felt good to get that out. I can't STAND IT when people tell me I'm not a christian. They don't know what they're talking about...

Answer 10

Catholicism IS Christianity. Catholics ARE Christians.

Perhaps you wanted to know the differences between *Protestants* and Catholics?




Added Note: I myself find it offensive when people tell me I'm not a Christian, or that I can't possibly love Christ as much as they do, just because I'm a Catholic!