What is the difference between Presbyterians and Catholics?

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.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

This isn't an easy question to answer as it could be quite lengthy. First of all, I suggest that anyone who wants more in depth info can look at www.religioustolerence.org and find out anything about any religion...even some you don't know exist. But for an answer to this question, here goes..

The Presbyterian church was founded by John Calvin in the 16th century. It is a branch of the Protestant religion...founded to "protest" the Catholic church. It's intent was to go back to the "real" Christian religion and that direction comes from God not the pope. The Catholic church founded 2000 years ago. The Catholics, like many Protestant religions, have a bishop that makes the decisions and sets the rules for the entire church. Presbyterians have a distinct form of government within each church region...called the presbytery...and each church had representatives...called elders...to maintain the direction that each church believes that they should go. So, there is no central authority figure in the Presbyterian church.

The Catholics believe that when you take communion that you are receiving the actual blood and body of Jesus but the Presbyterians see it as symbolic.

Presbyterians believe that you should strive to do good throughout your life and salvation comes from God. The Catholics do the same but tend to get direction from the bishops on the criteria for what is right and good.

The Catholics baptise to bestow grace and be cleansed from the original sin. Presbyterians believe that baptism is an affirmation of faith.

The Catholics believe that the Bible teaches without error and is divinely inspired. The Presbyterians view the bible as inspiration for the way to salvation.

The Presbyterians go directly to God for salvation. They worship none other. The Catholics look toward for God through the Pope. They also venerate Mary and pray through her.

There is so much...I hope that I answered basic thoughts but keep this in mind, too...they were different robes...

Answer 3

Presbyterians are Protestant which was originally an offshoot of the Catholic Church...actually the Lutheran faith was the first to split from the Catholic Church then all the other denominations of the Protestant faith come from them. They both practice communion but pastors in the Presbyterian Church can wed and have families whereas priests and nuns remain celibate. There is no intercessor such as a priest in the Protestant faith...and one of the cornerstones of the belief..you have a direct link to God and do not need to confess or have someone intervene on your behalf. Iconology is much more important in the Catholic religion than it is in the Protestant too.

Answer 4

you'd have to go way back to the protestant revolution. martian luther was sick of the catholic chuch mainly because at the time, all mass was done in latin, so the common man couldn't understand mass. martian luther believed that the common man should have more access to god. so... he split apart and founded the proestants. the protestants are very similar to the catholics, however, the religious service is less formalized and there isn't a pope. presbyterians, being a branch that broke off after the formint of the protestants, are even less formalized. essentially, save for a few branches of christianity, each branch became less and less formalized as time went by (as in A church founded in 1876 is more formal than B church founded in 1952). there are exceptions to that though.

catholics believe in the holy trinity. all christians do. catholics believe in saints. most other christians don't. catholics have very structured masses that have been essentially the same for over a thousand years....(now they talk in whatever language of the country though).... protestant (any form of protestant) services tend to be less structured and less controled by traditions.

Answer 5

Presbyterians is a branch under Protestants. The Protestants are also Christians, but split from the Catholics.

Answer 6

Many people are of the belief that all Christian churches that are not Catholic are, thereby, Protestant, but that is inaccurate. The Presbyterians have nothing to do with Protestantism. There was another split in the Catholic church that few people talk about these days, but it is from this other split that the Presbyterians arose.

King Henry VIII of England - you know, the one that chopped off his wives heads rather than divorce....well, he was a very powerful man and he took issue with the Catholic Church. The King was Catholic, as were the majority of Europeans at the time. (Catholic by birth, but not necessarily Catholic in practice.) The King wanted a divorce, but the Catholic Church would not allow this. So, the King attempted to have an annulment granted. The Pope would not allow this because he believed the marriage of the King to be valid. (An annulment can be granted under certain conditions that are too lengthy to go into here.) After much struggle, the King still did not get his way. So, he declared the he, himself - not the Pope - would be the official leader of the Christian Church here on earth. (Jesus remains the head of the church, but in heaven.)

The King declared that the entire country of England would no longer be a part of the Catholic church. From henceforth, there would be The Church of England, with the King at its lead. In America, The Church of England became the Episcopal Church. From Episcopal, there was a split, causing many to leave, forming the Presbyterian church. From the Presbyterian church, there was a split, forming the Disciples of Christ church. From the Disciples of Christ church, there was another split (over whether or not musical instruments should be allowed within a church building) and there we have the Church of Christ church. And the division continues. In America there are currently some 20,000 various "Christian" churches.

Now, on the other side, yes, Martin Luther - a Catholic priest - found numerous faults within the Catholic Church that he disagreed and disapproved of. And, at the time, there was wrongdoing with some of the clergy of the church. But Martin Luther never actually disagreed with the official teachings of the Catholic Church, and he never intended to start a different church religion. There were many individuals that began to look to Martin Luther as a leader, and it was these individuals that split away from Catholicism. Martin Luther continued to believe in Catholic teaching all the way up to his death. Personally, I believe he was grieved over the breach that he caused within the church. I believe he saw a problem, and desired it to be corrected within the church. But I think his manner of handling the situation - writing a long letter and nailing it to the church door was a bit cowardly, and perhaps there was a better way.

This was an incredible time in history actually. The King of England was declaring himself head of the church near about the same time that Martin Luther was coming up against the Catholic Church herself. Also at this same time, the common man was just learning to read. Remember that, prior to this, there was no printing press, and books were not present for the people. About the only ones that had access to books (i.e. the bible) were the clergy, along with royalty and some of the rich. All books were diligently hand printed over and over again for copies. But, here, at the same time of the English King's anger with the Church, and Martin Luther's dissatisfaction with the Church, we also have the invention of the printing press, and the common man learning to read. Therefore, the common man began to self-interpret the biblical scriptures.

It was King Henry's descendent, King James, that bears the name of one of the most commonly used Christian bibles to this day. King James had his men translate the bible into English, and then required that all Englishmen read only this version of the bible. In fact, pick up the King James version of the bible today, and read the small print at the very beginning, and you will read the edict that came out from King James requiring this particular version - and also for readers to swear allegiance to the English crown.

The Presbyterians settled strongly in Scotland, and many Dutch communities in particular because....it was completely forbidden to be Presbyterian in England. It was reason for the death penalty. Only The Church of England was allowed. THIS is why, at this same incredible time in history, so many people began boarding ship and heading for the Americas. The Catholic Church was no longer accepted by many. They didn't like the Church of England any better. They didn't like Martin Luther either. So, off they went, seeking "religious freedom" in America.

I hope this helps clarify where the Presbyterians originated. In practice, they are more similar to Catholicism than, say, the Baptist; however, there are numerous differences. The Presbyterians are definately much more liberal, less orthodox, than the Catholic.

Answer 7

The Presbyterians trace much of their religious doctrine to the Swiss reformer John Calvin.

One of Calvin's beliefs was in predestination: that God had chosen those who were destined to salvation and that it didn't matter how one lived--if you were one of the elect, you would go to Heaven no matter what heinous things you did on earth. Another was the idea of irresistible grace: that the elect had no choice in the matter of being saved or lost. This was a reaction to doctrines that appeared to support the idea that humans can somehow "earn" salvation by their works.

Calvin's religious views greatly influenced the Puritans of the 17th century.

Answer 8

presbyterians do not believe in certain parts of catholism such as the pope and the clergy

Answer 9

It's ok for Presbyterian ministers to be pedophiles, but it's not ok for Catholic Priests to be.