What is the difference between Christian and Catholics?

Question

Really, I'm Catholic and I attend a Christian Church is that wrong? Everyone thinks so!

Answer 1

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.

Attending a Non-Catholic Christian church is better than not attending any church but you are giving up some wonderful Catholic beliefs like the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Wow. I am AMAZED at all of the WRONG information that people are posting here about Catholicism. If you want to know what Catholics believe, ASK A CATHOLIC!!

All Catholics are Christians.

The big difference is that Catholics believe that at mass, the bread and wine are made into teh Body and Blood of Christ and Jesus Christ is truly present in the Eucharist.

As a Catholic, you should be attending a Catholic Church. Why else would you call yourself a Catholic?

Please contact me so we can discuss why you are not attending a Catholic Church

Answer 3

Jesus selected St Peter to be the head of the Church. They called themselves christians because they were believers and followers of Jesus Christ. Around 300 AD some men didn't like what the pope was teaching and they decided to break from the church and start their own church with their own rules. The first church then called themselves Catholic so they would be distinctive from the other. As time went on, more men wanted to believe in different things and broke off and started their own churches. All of these churches are believers in Jesus Christ but not all follow Jesus' teachings. Today there are 3000 different denominations that have stemmed off the first church that St Peter formed. Looking into the history of the first church and comparing it to all the Christian churches that exist today, the Roman Catholic church has stated true in Jesus' teachings. The Catholic Church, the pope and cardinals, and bishops have passed down to each generation what Jesus wants us to know about His Father. There are also many different Christian bibles. I have studies bibles for a few yrs now and the Catholic Bible is the only one that is word for word the same as the first Hebrew bible. Others have added things and taken things out of the original. I don't take my religion and my faith lightly. If someone or a book says something, I don't just take it at face value. I research it and find out if it's true or false. My personal belief is that the Roman Catholic church is the true church, the one and only church standing today that follows the original one that St Peter formed in 36 AD.

Being a true Catholic and learning the Catholic faith and learning how to follow the Catholic faith, you need to attend a Catholic church. To listen to the Catholic priests, introduce yourself to them and members of the church, get involved with activites, go to bible studies and such. When a Catholic attends a non-Catholic church you aren't receiving the true Eucharist as Jesus left for us. To receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist you need to believe and accept that the host and wine are Jesus when the priest consecrates them. You can go to other churches and worship God and sing and such, that's not a sin. But if you start to believe what they are telling you, they are leading you away from the Truth.

Many people reading this will disagree with me and be pissed off by this. But if you learn the history of the church, read about the early fathers of the first church and read the Holy Bible you will come to see that the Catholic Church started with St Peter. The word 'catholic' means "universal" meaning that it is here for everyone and that God wants everyone there.

If you want to discuss this more, just contact me. I can give you the name of some Catholic and non-Catholic books and websites that you can read and start to see the differences.

Answer 4

All Catholics are Christian. Only about half of Christians are Catholic.

The Catholic Church was founded by Jesus, who asked Peter to head his church. There is a direct line of succession from Peter to Pope Benedict.

At some point, the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church split off. They remain very similar in their beliefs -- with the Orthodox refusing to recognize the Pope as their leader.

In the 1500s, Martin Luther decided that the Catholic Church was on the wrong track. He also decided to delete several books from the Bible. This is why the Catholic Bible contains several books not in the Protestant Bible -- and explains why Catholics have several beliefs not shared by Protestants (like the existence of Purgatory, different levels of sin, the belief in Original Sin, and the idea that Mary remained a virgin for her entire life and had no other children (the Protestant belief that Mary had other children is due to a mistranslation from the Greek to English)).

All Protestant religions were founded by men who decided that other Christian religions were wrong and that their interpretation was right.

Incidently -- there are many misconceptions about Catholics.

Catholics do not put Mary on the same level as Jesus. They believe that Jesus is God, and that Mary is a saint. They do not pray to Mary. They do ask Mary to Pray to Them. They also pray directly to God.

Catholics also do not ask Priests for forgiveness. They confess their sins directly to God. The priest is merely a witness and spiritual advisor.

Answer 5

Historically, at one point in time all Christians were Catholics. As technology progressed, we were blessed with the invention of the printing press. As more and more books were printed, more and more people started learning to read. These now-literate people discovered that the Catholics were making up some of their own rules and saying they were in the Bible. This angered many people and The Martin Luther Reformation occurred. This led to two factions of the church; the Catholics and the Christians. The Christians branched into many other denominations. To answer the question, I don't think you are wrong, but I just wanted to let you know the difference.

Answer 6

I personally do not think it's wrong, and I seriously doubt that God would think so either.

In fact, Many who claim to be Catholic, very rarely go to church, except for the special holy days. Now I am not saying ALL Catholics are like this, but there are many we do.

Your beilef and worship in God is a personal endeavor. No one has exactly 100% the same beliefs as another. so what's to say ANY religion is better than the next? It's all personal faith.

I happen to be Catholic, so in no way am I trying to discredit anyones beliefs.

Catholic, by definition means "Universal", but it is still a denomination of the Christian faith.

God knows what's in your heart, and if you choose to seek more knowledge, then that is good.

Answer 7

Catholics are Christian. They belong to a Christian church centered in Rome under the leadership of the Pope.

Is there anything wrong with attending a Christian service that is Non-Catholic? Let those who tell you that is, tell you why. They should use cogent arguments that you will be convinced by. They should not resort to "custom" by telling you that's how we grew up. Ask then if they would prefer that you abandon your spiritual needs all together.

Answer 8

I find that many Catholics are not well educated in their religion, and many protestants enjoy hating catholic anything without knowing why.

Read these posts and you will see some of the ridiculous anti catholic statements, that are simply inaccurate.

The catholic church is the universal christian church, the church of Peter. It is very much christian. Some protestant churches are merely business' with the goal of getting in your pocket.

Take Benny Hinn for example. If anyone was a snake oil salesman its him.

I personally attend both Catholic and Protestant churches and enjoy both.

Answer 9

Christians are just followers of christ. Since catholics are followers of christ, they are also christians. What you are really asking is, what is the difference between protestants and catholics, and the answer to that is ceremony. Catholics have a lot more ceremony and trappings; protestants think that is wrong. Also, many protestants believe that only their denomination is correct. Read up on the protestant reformation and you will understand a lot more about the bad feelings between the two. Many of the first settlers in America were fleeing persecution and hated catholicism; that attitude seeped into the beliefs and culture of American Protestantism.

Answer 10

Catholics are one denomination of the religion of Christianity. There are different Catholic groups also. The Roman Catholic church believes that Peter was the first pope (their "man of God") and leader for the Christian church. They base this on the interpretation of the scripture where Jesus Christ tells Peter "...upon this rock I will build my church." The Catholics think the rock refers to Peter but other Christians believe that the rock refers to Christ himself. In other words Christ was pointing to himself when he made this statement.
Furthermore ,the scriptural evidence makes no reference to Peter ever going to Rome. The scriptures in The Holy Bible have more evidence of Paul being The man of God and passing the mantle on to Timothy. There's even a passage in the Book of Acts of Paul reproving and correcting Peter for reverting to legalistic beliefs of the Judaic religion rather than embracing the new life and message that came on Pentecost and in the epistles thereafter.
Peter was one of the great leaders of the Christian church but his ministry was primarily geared to the members of the Judaic religion...not the Gentiles.
Anyway...that's one basic difference. Non Roman Catholic Christians do not believe in a papal arrangement or that Peter was the first Pope. These Catholic also believe in the infallability of the Pope but that's another subject entirely...