is there a difference between catholicism and christianity?

Question

Is there a difference between catholicism and christianity ...? I don't know, it seems that some protestants would like to make a difference between the two..For example, "I am christian, he is catholic !" ...I think that both religions used the tenets of the bible, teach to believe in God and and in Jesus , eventhough there are some theological differences between catholics and protestant but the catholic church is a christian church , and the first christian church in the world at all ...isn't that a silly thing from protestant ...? eventhough from catholics who don't think they already are christian ..!!
can someone help ?

Answer 1

All Catholics are Christian (Christian in the "generic" sense in that they believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior and the Son of God) but not all Christians are Catholic.

Answer 2

I am a Christian who attended Catholic school. It struck me how different the teachings were from school (Catholic) to Church (Protestant). Being a Christian means that you believe in Christ and that He died on the cross so that our sin would be forgiven. So, yes, Catholics are Christians.

I have to say that, yes, there is a difference between Catholics and most other Christian sects as far as how and who they worship. Catholics pray to Mary. When the veil of the temple was rent, that meant that we didn't have to have an intermediate stop to God. But Catholics still believe that you have to go through a priest to repent your sins. (I truly don't know of any of other religion that does this.) I am not putting Catholics down by a long shot. These are just differences that I noticed while worshipping with them. I believe that all denomoniations have their own way of doing certain things. I believe that many times Catholics are singled out because they are such a huge sect.

Answer 3

You are exactly right. There are some basic theological differences between Protestants and Catholics, like the Pope, but generally we are the same. Catholics are certainly Christians since to be a Christian you have to believe in Jesus as the Christ, which Catholics do. Some Protestants, especially Fundamentalists, insist that Catholics worship statues or pray to Mary and the saints, rather than asking them to pray for us to God, the only one we pray to. They also think Catholics uphold the Pope as a kind of God, which we do not. I've explained these things over and over again to some of these people who basically insist that if you aren't them and don't do what they do, than we are condemned to hell. I find that attitude arrogant and presumptuous and I'm generally pretty annoyed at the idea of "Catholics and Christians" since we ARE Christians! You are also correct in that Catholicism was the FIRST Christian religion and has lasted for over two thousand years whereas my understanding of Evangelical Fundamentalist Christianity isn't even 20 years old. Yet they deny that Catholics are Christians.

Answer 4

Catholics are Christian! According to the dictionary, a Christian is one who professes "belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus." Catholics certainly do this, hence they are Christians.

There are some important differences between Catholicism and Protestantism, however. I've listed some of the biggest ones. Misinterpretations of these differences have often led Protestants to call Catholics non-christians.

1. The Saints. Catholics have saints and pray to them, Protestants don't. It's thought that by praying to saints, Catholics are worshiping them (hence unchristian). This isn't true. Catholics ask for a saint's intercession like you might ask a friend to pray for you. Even if one does ask something directly of a saint, however, it could only be granted if God gave them the power to do so, like when he gave the Apostles the power to perform miracles.
2. Church structure. Catholics have a very hierarchical Church structure with the pope at top, followed by cardinals, bishops, priests, deacons, religious orders, and the laity. Protestants are much more decentralized. There is some overarching structure, but each individual parish is largely able to decide things on its own. Some Protestants believe that Catholics place the pope on equal or higher ground than God or Jesus. This is false. Catholics believe that the pope is only human, subject to sin, and a servant of Christ - not an equal. They do, however, believe that because God is with the Church, he has given the pope infallibility when speaking from his office on religious matters.
3. The Bible. Because Protestants don't have a Church structure the way Catholics do, Protestants often end up paying a lot more attention to the Bible, memorizing passages etc. It seems to them that Catholics ignore the Scriptures and so the word of Christ. Some people even say that Catholics are forbidden from reading the Bible. That's all untrue. One big difference that is true, however, is that Protestants believe that God's will is solely expressed for us in the Bible. Catholics believe it is in the Bible and in the Church.
4. The Eucharist. Catholics say that the Eucharist is the essence of Christ, present with us. They worship Christ in and through the Eucharist. Protestant, on the other hand, (generally) think the Eucharist is bread, symbolic of Christ, but not actually Christ. This is not true for all denominations, however.
5. Salvation. Generally, Protestants believe that salvation can only come from accepting Christ as your savior. Essentially, no matter how good a person is on their own, because they're not perfect, they wouldn't be able to make it to heaven if it weren't for Chirst's sacrifice. Catholics believe this is true, but that you also have to 'walk the walk, not just talk the talk.' Salvation is based on the acceptance of Christ as savior combined with good works. Sometimes Protestants misinterpret this as Catholics believing they can 'earn' heaven on their own. Although this is untrue, it would mean that Catholics think they don't need Christ's sacrifice, and so it would make them seem unchristian.

Answer 5

Catholicism is a type of Christianity.

Christianity is the big tent of faiths that believe that Jesus was God born in human form, who died for our sins, and rose again.

Any thing beyond that is what separates different denominations, not just protestants and catholics.

The person's life to study in order to understand the division started is Martin Luther. He's the one that broke off from the Catholic church in the 1500s.

Answer 6

I believe catholicism is a denomination of Christianity, just like baptist, presbyterians, etc.

Traditional catholic theology is actually that catholics are the ONLY Christians, and that all the protestants aren't really Christian. But most modern catholics don't agree with that anymore.

There are a couple of messed up protestant groups who do think catholics aren't Christians and try to convert them, etc. I worked for a catholic family in a very southern baptist town (they had a southern baptist college there and everything), and you'd be amazed how many people wouldn't associate with them or would try to convert them.

When different denominations of Christianity spend their time picking at each other, it doesn't make it look very appealing to outsiders.

Answer 7

There isn't a difference. Catholics are christian and Protestants are Christians, too. Catholics and Protestants are just different branches of Christianity. For example, think of Christianity as a school and Catholics, Protestants, Methodists, Orthodox, etc. as different classes of the school. Think of Christianity like that. All of the classes are under one roof with different kinds of classes inside. Hope that made sense. So basically, Catholics and Protestants are both Christians. Just different forms of it.

Answer 8

I know the answer, the catholics are kinda cool, they are not as serious, they worship on sundays and live good lives. The christians are crazy. They are the ones that take the bible literally, and are republicans because the bible says this and that. The christians are the ones that say everything is evil and god hates the gays. If you listen to hip hop or rock you will go to hell because its not about god. Christians are the ones that are all about money making their christian CD's and advertise allot on billboards to increase attendance and $$$. The christians are always saying "well Im a christian" which no one cares about, but they feel a need to tell everyone. They go to church 3 times a week. for 3hrs each.

So pretty much catholics are more kickback and the christians are crazy.

Answer 9

Yes there is.
I was a Catholic.
I am now a Christian.
The Major differences is--
A Christian believes the Bible and only the Bible.
A Catholic Believes the Catholic teachings, some of which is in the Bible.
The Catholic also believes in Holy Mother the Church.
A Christian believes he is the church.
A Catholic prays to Mary.
A Christian does not.
A Catholic prays to saints.
A Christian does not.
A Catholic believes the the host is the actual body of Christ.
A Christian does not.
A Catholic believes that the Pope speaks for God.
A Christian does not.
WE could go on and on.

Answer 10

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

Catholicism is the original Christianity. The other groups were formed by those who could not handle the truth of the Catholic faith, so they watered it down by taking out the rules they didn't like....the religious version of " I'm going to take my ball and play over here."