What's the difference between Catholic and Christian?

Answer 1

Catholic is based on what the Apostles taught, and the teachings of the Catholic Church that they established. Christian is also based on what the Apostles taught but during the past 2 thousand years people broke away from the Catholic Church taking many of the teachings and beliefs and then refusing some of the teachings and beliefs - therefore creating their own way of honoring God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit

Answer 2

Until the Reformation, all Christians were Catholic. The Orthodox a not a separate denomination but rather part of the same denomination but in schism.

The word Catholic has two meanings. The first is all embracing. What that means is that you may not get to start your own Church just because you disagree with others on the meaning of a passage in the Bible or other things. If you are going to fight, then you must fight within the family of God. The reason there are 46,000 Protestant denominations is that 46,000 founders have created churches in their own images according to how they see God's word as having meaning. There is still but one Catholic Church.

The other meaning of Catholic is "according to the whole." A Catholic belief is a belief held by the Church across all time and place. So it is a belief held in the year 33, 500, 947, 1492 and today. It is a belief held in Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Constantinople, Kerala, Bagdad, York, Madrid, New York, Rio Di Janeiro, and in Kansas. It means that you don't get to get together and vote in conference what you believe. So you can't have gay marriage this year, but not last year. You cannot require the world to believe as you do, but you can be asked to look at how it believes things to be.

A Catholic is a Christian who believes there is but One Church because Christ has but One Body and that all division is from Satan and is sin and evil. A Catholic is one who believes the Church was founded by God and is preserved despite the sin that continues in its life by the Holy Spirit. God preserves what evil tries diligently to destroy. A Catholic believes that one must sit and break bread with your brother and sister even if you do not share a world view. A Catholic Physician in New York and a Catholic tribesman in Africa cannot possibly share a view of the world, yet that is not an excuse to not love one another and take bread together. A Catholic is one who subordinates his own reason to that of the apostles and their authority and the authority of their successors. (See Acts 1:46 for the first bishop to succeed an apostles).

A Christian is one who is baptized into Christ Jesus in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Answer 3

The Catholic Church is a Christian faith, and by Christian I am assuming that you mean Protestant and Catholic. I am Lutheran (a Protestant religion) and one of the main creeds is the Athanasian Creed which actually states that we are of the Catholic faith. However, this is referring to the Christian faith. So basically, Catholic and Protestant are both Christian religions, and the differences are in the doctrine.

Lutheran (and I believe all the Protestant religions) branched off of the Catholic Church during the Reformation. Martin Luther was a Catholic monk, then he finally read the bible (which was not available to many people in those days) and realized that there were inconstencies between the bible and current church doctrine. So he nailed the bible to the door of a church and started the Reformation, among other things.

I'm no expert on the Catholic Church but I believe that they pray to Mary and the saints whereas we do have saints, but we only pray directly to God. At some point and possibly now Catholics believe(d) in purgatory, a kind of in between place where people who are good, but not good enough to get into heaven go to work off their sins. Lutherans (and I believe other Protestant religions follow similar doctrine) "He who believes ((that Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins and rose again on the third day)) and is baptized shall be saved." Protestants believe that belief in Jesus gets us there all the way.

Basically, all Catholics are Christian but not all Christians are Catholic (part of the modern day Catholic Church), but other Christian religions subscribe to the Catholic faith without actually being Catholic.

Answer 4

Many groups are Christians, but not all Christian groups are Catholics. The difference is that Catholics feel that Mary is the Mediator between God and man. They feel that they have to pray to Mary to get prayers answered when others under the Christian faith pray to God directly. God no where in the Bible gave Mary saving power. The Catholics worship Mary while others worship Jesus Christ, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit. The Catholic bible and the Catholic doctrine is different from those of the other denominations in the Christian faith..

Answer 5

Almost all important doctrine is completely agreed upon between Catholic Christians and other Christians.

Here is the joint declaration of justification by Catholics (1999), Lutherans (1999), and Methodists (2006):

By grace alone, in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping us and calling us to good works.

There are some minor doctrine issues and some major cultural traditional differences which, I believe, do not matter that much.

A Catholic worships and follows Christ in the tradition of Catholicism which, among other things, recognizes that Christ made Peter the leader of His new Church and Pope Benedict XVI is Peter's direct successor.

With love in Christ.

Answer 6

Maybe the answer will be easily understood if I use *set theory*

Christian is the *Universal* set. All christians are the followers of Christ.

There are however various sub sects. While all sects believe in Christ, each sect has a different interpretation of Christ and His teachings.

Catholic is a *subset* of Christian.

So, all Catholics are Christians, but, all Christians are not Catholics.

Answer 7

All Catholics are Christian but not all Christians are Roman Catholic.

Answer 8

Catholics are Christians but not all Christians are Catholic.Although I am sure someone is going to say we Catholics are not Christians they always do.

Answer 9

The two major divisions of Trinitarian Christianity, or Paulism, are Catholics and Protestant Catholics.

Catholics consider the pope to be God.

Protestant Catholics consider King James to be God.

There are doctrinal disagreements over what their Gods really meant, but they all follow Pauline doctrine.

Answer 10

I think you mean Catholics and Protestants....

Both are considered Christians,

and yeah, Catholics have a Pope and a bunch of bishops and priests and nuns, statues, (sometimes bleeding ones!?) and well, I will be nice....