Sorry for being ignorant but...?

Question

...what is the difference between Catholicism and Christianity?

Answer 1

Catholics are a branch of Christianity although some wish otherwise or believe otherwise. History shows that most if not all the Protestant Christians can trace their roots back to the Catholic Church for various reasons they broke away.

Answer 2

Ok, Christianity is the Worship of Christ, as the son of God. Oh and God, and the Holy Spirit...A.K.A; the Holy Trinity.
Catholism is the Roman Catholic church.
Head of the church is the Pope.
One of the strongest churches in the world today. But only one of many churches within Christianity.
Church of England is Christian, started when Henry 8th wanted a divorce, which the Roman Catholic church does NOT agree with. A quick internet search should show more Christian groups and churches as well, such as Quakers, Jesuits, etc...All non-Catholic, but still Christian churches.
It's basically the difference between a Ford, and a Model T Ford.
One is the body, the other simply a product of that body.
In your question, the Body is Christianity, with Catholism being a part of that, but not the whole, despite what the Vatican might claim.

Answer 3

Catholicism is a part of Christianity. All Catholics are Christians but not all Christians are Catholic. Catholicism traces itself back to the first Christians before all the Protestant religions separated from them. Of course, that also means that the darker part of Christianity's past can be linked to the Catholic Church (Inquisition).

Answer 4

Christianity means you believe in Christ. IE, You believe Jesus was born and he walked the Earth. Jews don't believe this, they believe he's still yet to come. Within the Christian faith there are lots of faiths but they are all Christians. For eg. Catholics, Church of England, Mormons..to name a few. Like I say, they are all Christians, but it's just that some are more strict and have a different take on the things said in the Bible.

Hope that makes sense x

Answer 5

The easiest way to answer this is to look at the reason for the Reformation over four centuries ago. In Western Europe the Church was essentially the Roman Catholic Church, but it had fallen into grave error and some evil practices had crept in -- such as selling "indulgences" to people so that they could spend less time in Purgatory when they died (there is no Biblical justification for the doctrine of Purgatory). Only a few days ago the Roman Catholic Church changed its mind about a doctrine taught over many centuries: that of limbo (the place where it claimed unbaptised babies went instead of Heaven). The Roman Church still teaches that one can pray to God through Mary the Mother of Jesus and through saints (although the Bible teaches that Jesus is only one Mediator between God and Man) and that to be fully forgiven (in a state of grace) one has to confess before a priest, who has the power to declare forgiveness or absolution. It has seven sacraments: baptism, confirmation, reconciliation/confession, the Eucharist (Holy Communion), marriage, extreme unction and holy orders, whereas some Protestant churches will only recognise baptism and Holy Communion as sacraments. Indeed, some go as far as to deny the need for ordained priests or ministers at all and base their church structure on the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:9). The Roman Catholic Church, however, believes very firmly in the priesthood and the ecclesiastical hierarchy and ultimately, the supremacy of the Pope, otherwise known as the Bishop of Rome, to the extent of holding that anything the Pope pronounces "ex cathedra" (in his capacity as Pope) has to be received as Catholic doctrine. Christians in other churches believe in the authority of the Bible as the Word of God and not in the pronouncements of human beings, however impressive, when it comes to doctrine.

Answer 6

Technically, none.

What people call Christianity today is Protestantism; it and Catholicism make up the two branches of Christianity. (There are a couple offshoots besides those, especially in the Orthodox churches.)

Protestantism came about when a Catholic monk named Martin Luther studied the Bible and decided the Catholic dogma was wrong (early 1500's). This conicided neatly with the invention of movable type and the subsequent rise in literacy, so Bibles and pamphlets could be printed up--and it spread like wildfire.

Answer 7

Christianity is the term used to cover all 'christian' faiths. Catholicism is one of those many faiths; as is Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, etc.
While I disagree with some of the areas of belief (I went thru most of what Catholics call RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (biblical term 'the elect' KJV), Catholicism has a few points that other 'sects' do need to adopt to be closer to Christ.

Answer 8

Let me start by saying God has His people in every church. There are many devote and loving people in the
Catholic church. However, having said that, the Catholic church is no more Christian than any of the other pagan religions. In fact, it is worse because it proclaims to be Christian and thereby deceives millions.

The Catholic Church is what Martin Luther, Sir Isaac Newton, Galileo, Huss, Jerome, Wycliffe, Tyndale and countless other reformers declared her to be. AntiChrist!!

Not in the since that the Papacy is against Christ, but that it wants to replace Christ, to be Christ on earth. That was Satan's goal from the start and he is continuing through this blasphemous earthly power.

To say that there is no or little difference between Protestants and Catholics is to show great disrespect for the reformation and the matyrs of the dark ages who gave their lives for the cause of truth in rebellion against the abuses of the Catholic church. This only serves to validate Bible prophecy in Revelation 13:3 where John saw a blasphemous antiChrist power receive a deadly wound, but that deadly wound was healed, and the world wondered after the beast.

The reformation was the beginning of the deadly wound to the beast power, the papacy. The end of which was Napoleon's general taking the pope captive in 1798, and declaring that the cruel reign of the papacy was at an end. The pope died in captivity. Truly a deadly wound. However, the Catholic church regained the Vatican from Mussolini in 1929, thereby starting the healing of the deadly wound. Witness the world wondering after the beast power during the funeral of Pope John Paul ll. It is the stated goal of the Vatican to unite all churches under her banner. This is the message of ecumenism. A combination of church and state always leads to persecution.

Beware, Protestant churches. God is calling you out of Babylon, for she is fallen. There can be no union between Christ and antiChrist.

Answer 9

Catholicism and Christianity are both Christian denominations. The latter often confuses people because it has the same name as Christianity.

Answer 10

Catholics are a branch of christianity that is unbiblical at best. Their dogmatic and legalistic approach to christianity teaches people to try to earn their way to heaven which is impossible without the free gift of salvation. Their leadership and organization is blasphemous (ie the pope) and they do not teach the clear and simple plan of salvation which is the cornerstone for christianity. There are several other differences but to sum it up they follow core practices that are unbiblical and completely agaist the teachings of Christ. They are in essence the same legalism that christ faced in the jews that crucified him. They are a false doctrine.