If a Catholic is a Christian, why do they differentiate themselves?

Question

I've asked several of my friends are you Catholic or Christian, they will either say "we are Christian" or "we are Catholic". When I ask them what is the difference, they said " Catholic believes in Virgin Mary and Christian does not". Can you list out what's the difference and who they worship? I checked online and didn't give me such
explanation. Thank you very much.

Answer 1

We believe in the apostolic authority of the pope and the pope's infalibility in matters of faith and morals. People mess this up and say we worship the pope or believe he can't sin.

We believe that the Blessed Virgin Mary is to be honored above all other humans (except Jesus), and that she is the Mother of God incarnate. We ask her to intercede for us, just like you'd ask your best friend to pray for you. People misinterpret this and say we worship her. We worship God alone in the Blessed Trinity.

We believe that Jesus Christ instituted seven sacraments, or visible signs through which He gives us grace. All seven are biblical. (See http://biblechristiansociety.com and http://catholic.com for more information.)

Probably one of the most central doctrines of our faith (Protestants reconize this as well) is the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Catholics take the Last Supper and John 6 literally. We believe the bread and wine becomes Jesus' Body and Blood under the appearances of Bread and wine.

We believe in salvation by God's grace alone. Not by faith alone, and not by works alone. We need faith and works, or faith working through love, as St. Paul puts it.

We also do not believe in sola scriptura, or scripture alone. We believe that Jesus left a Church to guide us (Mt. 16: 18-19) and that we need Sacred Traditon as well.

These are only parts of our beautiful faith. To learn more, see the websites mentioned above, as well as

http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/

which is an online Catechism and holds everything Catholics believe.

To sum it up though,

http://www.creeds.net/ancient/nicene.htm

This is the Nicene Creed which we say at each Mass as a congregation.

God Bless, hope this helps...

A devoted Catholic Christian.

Answer 2

if you ask a baptist - are you a baptist or a Christian -- they too will reply - i'm a Baptist. saying Christian means an all encompasing non-denominational type organization of people. when you are asking generic or specific (ie Baptist, Catholic, etc) you will get the denomination for the answer.

Catholics worship GOD ALONE. However, they respent and underst ad the concept of the Trinity and the special place of Mary, the Blessed Virgin Mother.
Christians believe in the Virgin Mary so apparently the people with whom you're speaking aren't real well versed on the differences and realities of the bible.

Catholics have various sacraments based upon Scriptures. They have also been in an organized state a lot longer and studied and kept not only the scriptures but also, as told IN scripture - the traditions of the past alive.

God BLess!!!

Answer 3

Catholics have historically always referred to themselves simply as "Christians", and they still do. When Protestantism came into full swing in the 16th centuries and beyond, their views on what institutionalized religion was, was vastly different than that of Catholicism. Many early Protestants saw themselves simply as Christian, without identifying with Catholicism.

As many different denominations of Protestantism began popping up, many not even given a name, (many were differentiated in how "hot" they were - hot protestants, separatists, reformists, calvinists, etc). A main component of most Protestant beliefs, however, was being simply a Christian, which many still believe is important.

As a Catholic, I've always differentiated myself from saying Christian because I don't want someone thinking I'm a Protestant. When you hear someone say christian, you think of baptists, congregationalists, etc. However, the term Christian applies to anyone who is a follower of Christ. A Russian Orthodox Christian is just as Christian as a Evangelical Christian and a Roman Catholic. Catholic only means "universal" in Greek, and was used simply as an adjective to describe the original church, being universal for all people.

Answer 4

Catholics are Christians.However, a large part of the christian community is solely Roman Catholic (and will normally just refer to themselves as Catholic) while the non-Roman Catholic side is split into several sects Baptist, Lutherans, etc.

All of the christian faith believes Jesus was the son of god and is the key to salvation. (any others religions claiming to be Christians are not true Christians. The biggest of these would be mormons). Catholics ,however, have exulted Jesus' mother Mary to a much higher position than most other sects. Also they believe that she remained a virgin despite the fact that it mentions Jesus' brothers in the Bible.

Catholics also put less stock in the bible alone. While most sects beliefs are different because of varying interpretations of the bible, Catholics have many things such as Papal declarations which they consider just as important as the Bible.

Answer 5

okay, the first church founded on St.Peter is the universal or Catholic church and before the Protestant reformation all Christians belonged to this one Catholic church.
and yes Catholics are Christians, we believe first and foremost in the most Holy Trinity, we also give due honour to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, now notice that I said Honour and not worship, there are three main areas were Catholics and Protestants differ and these are,
1. Protestants do not reconize the infallible authority of the Pope.
2. Protestants do not believe that Mary was born without sin.
3. protestants generally do not believe in the Eucharist being the real body and blood of Christ.
other than this we fail to agree on most everything else if you believe some of the jokers on here.

Answer 6

Most Catholics and Christians, even Muslims believe in the Virginity of Mary.

Catholics do not Worship Mary, neither do Protestants.

Catholics are the original Christians, the different Protestant groups splintered off from it.

The main difference is that Catholics believe in the real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and Protestants believe in it being a representation of Jesus.

The other big difference is that many Protestants believe in Bible only, while Catholics believe in Bible and Sacred Tradition, as the Catholic Church started at the Death of Jesus and the bible came about 200 years later.

Hope this helps.

Peace and God Bless!

Answer 7

The main thing that differentiates Catholicism from other Christian expressions is the sacramental life. Catholicism finds its heart of life in the 7 sacraments. Catholics live out their lives according to these sacraments. They worship the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit but also revere the many holy people who throughout time, have impacted Christianity, namely Mary and the Saints. There are many Catholic websites but the best way to learn about Catholicism is to purchase a Catechism book which will teach you Catholic Church doctrine and law and then perhaps sit in at an RCIA class at your local Catholic Church. Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is an open forum class where people who are considering conversion go, but there is no pressure and you can ask all your questions there. It is worth going just to learn about the richness of the Catholic Church. Good luck.

Answer 8

Catholics are Christians. Christians aren't necessarily Catholic. Catholic tends to mean Roman Catholic, although there are Eastern rites Catholics such as Maronites.
Smaller denominations tend to call themselves Christians, to stop people asking - "What on Earth is the East Kansas Reformation Baptist (New Chapter) all about, any way?".

Answer 9

Catholic just means Universal. It is the Universal Faith. It was the only Christian Faith until about 1200 then everyone decided they knew more than God so they started branching off right and left and now you have everyone else that has "differentiated"themselves from us. and for the thousandth time Catholics do not worship Mary, we love her , she is our Mother. We are of the Body of Christ.

Answer 10

Depending on the definition used for Christian, most would consider Catholicism to be a sub-category under "Christian religions." The main difference between Protestants and Catholics is that Catholics hold church tradition and the Pope's edicts on a par with the Bible. Protestants look to the Bible only. The remaining differences between Catholic and Protestant stem from that one difference (such as "transubstantiation" and the "immaculate conception" referred to in the post above mine).

Answer 11

A Christian is someone who believes in and follows Jesus. Catholics believe and follow Jesus, therefore they are Christians. We worship noone but God in the Blessed Trinity. We honor Mary and the saints. We have the 7 sacraments instituted by Jesus. We believe in Purgatory, we follow Sacred Tradition as well as Holy Scripture, and we have the Pope as the earthly head of the Church. I think those are the main differences.

God bless,
Stanbo