What is the difference in Christians and Catholics?

Question

If they both believe in God, Jesus, the bible and stuff?!

Answer 1

Catholics are the first Christians in the Western world.
The main differences if you wish to filter it down to a simple answer are
1. authority (apostolic succession)
2. sacraments which bestow God's grace
3. fullness of God's revelation which includes holy scripture and holy tradition. (first Christianity was taught by oral tradition as the christian bible developed over several centuries.)

Corrections to earlier answers.
1. No Catholics do not worship Mary as God, the teaching of Trinity is a Catholic one borrowed by non-catholics therefore it is impossible to say Catholics make Mary God.

2. Catholicism does not teach tradition over the bible or against the bible as the bible itself is a tradition. One must study the development of scripture, who put it together, why certain books were chosen over others and by whom.

panavero talks about soul sleep yet no Christian teacher has ever thaught such a thing and contrary to panaveros biblical interpretation, authentic bible interpretation does not either. the chapter and verse provided using correct interpretation tells us of those who have already rejected God and are spiritually dead once physically dead. They will still have a final judgement but it will not be favorable and that is why they are called dead. Soul sleep is not authentic Christianity it was first purposed by the Adventists (SDA) a pseudo-protestant sect which is less than 150 years old. They like to claim to be the remnant church but one cannot be a remnant without being a remainder.

addition: My challenge to panavero is for him to provide a bible review by any early Church Father who supported this idea of soul sleep but can he?

challenge to Jason M please provide a reference to your idea of doctrine of works as there is no such doctrine in Catholicism. Catholicism teaches that salvation starts with God's grace. Without God's grace we can have no faith, and no works of love.
Contrary to your claim of "faith alone" supported by Sproul there is only one place in biblical text you find the words faith alone and it is in the letter of James where he tells Christians "it is NOT by faith alone we are saved" you need to think again my friend

challenge to Java who decides what the real/truthful gospel is?
can you provide commentary from any Christians who were taught by the apostles in the first or second century of the Christian Church? I can, St. Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr, St. Barnanbas, St. Clement of Rome, Ireaneaus........

suspendor RIGHT ON it does take faith to accept all the Jesus taught and..........believe. Protestantism many times interchanges the words faith with believe without getting it. What is it to believe? read John 6 and discover the true believers, believe as Catholics do about the real presence of Jesus in the communion. Communion is more than a symbol ;)

poor papavero he thinks himself a god and therefore can understand the Trinity. The Trinity is a Catholic doctrine borrowed by many non-Catholic communities and thank God for these at least they leave the Christological teachings alone without making them heretical. Christians accept the Trinity doctrine on faith because it is beyond our human intellect to fully understand and therefore it is in fact a mystery , poor panavero so much misguidance and bigotry

Good Lord it all makes sense now panavero is a Jehovah's Witness he thinks he is the only one who is righteous. I read one of his own questions and he claims they've given the most to the world lol. Don't see any JW hospitals, soup kitchens or orpanages out there panavero you better remove your rose-colored glasses. I pray for all Mexican-Americans deceived by this pseudo-christian sect. The JW sect was started less than 130 years ago by an Adventist named Charles T Russell. It is more a publishing house than a religious community. Based out of the the NY corporation building they pedal endtimes literature which has in the past been proven to be false. Deteuronomy advised all believers to avoid these false prophets and explains how to test them, Jehovah's Witnesses fail the test time and time again.

God bless

Answer 2

By differentiating between the two (because Catholics are Christians, I am assuming that you are specifying those Christians that are not Catholics), you are in fact asking the difference between Catholics and Protestants. The Catholic Church is the original church founded by the Apostles after Christ was resurrected. The term "Catholic" was first used in the first century (110 AD) by Ignatius, one of the early "church fathers" to differentiate between the true church and the many heretical sects that were rampant even so early on.

Protestantism appeared in the early 1500's as a massive break with the Roman Catholic church in Europe, for a number of reasons which are huge discussion.

The main differences : Catholics rely on the tradition and collective knowledge passed down through the past 2000 years to determine theology and belief (Tradition), as well as the Bible (Scripture). Protestants believe that truth can be known only from the Bible. IE, they don't believe with Catholic doctrine concerning many things, but mainly revolves around authority. While Protestants can essentially interpret the Bible themselves to backup a variety of theologies, Catholics have one single theology, and the pope is the final authority on interpretation.

Answer 3

A christian is somone who received the true gospel when they received Jesus as their savior and Lord but the gospel given by the catholic church is not the same gospel as written in the Word of God. Catholics are individuals that follow that gospel taught by the catholic church and are individuals that become members by baptism and those who follow the catholic churches teachings. The majority of them are not true christians or (born again in the spirit.) God will however, save some of them out of the lie they have fallen into and God will show them the truth of the Gospel. God says there will be few who find the true gospel. Because they chose a gospel that looked like and sounded like the orginal gospel but was slightly differant enough to be decieving enough to deceive the majority of individuals. So being a true christian is someone who has faith in the one true God and is born again in the spirit.

Answer 4

As looking from outside, I see that Christians are people who believe in the modified Bible with new interpretations every day, with some mentioning about and searching for the return of Christ, like the Seventh Day Adventists and the Templars. Catholics believe in the Bible compiled before Luther, with the interpretations from the Papacy and without mentioning about the return of Christ.
At His return, Christ has been imprisioned and exiled until His escension, while no Christians, no Catholics came out for His rescue!
Because of my belief in Christ for both His first and second advents under the command of the One True God, I propose those who bear His Name to reread the Bible and worship God truthfully according to the teachings to Christ.

Answer 5

Catholics believe in the actual presence of Jesus at Mass in the holy Eucharist, other Christians do not believe this...it's the main difference. Another one is most Christian denominations require a formal announcement by the individual that Christ is their personal savior in order to receive salvation. For Catholics, it's the life just lived. If you follow Christ's teachings, salvation is yours.....and many more differences of Biblical interpretations that would take up too much space. Good luck.

Answer 6

Catholics do not adhere to the Bible.

For centuries the average Catholic accepted church dogma without questioning because laymen had no yardstick by which to measure the truthfulness of church doctrines. Most Catholics learned their faith by rote at catechism classes. If they asked the catechist or their priest to explain such hard-to-understand doctrines as the Trinity or the Immaculate Conception of Mary, they would more than likely hear by way of an answer: “It is a holy mystery.”

But the Second Vatican Council changed things. The Roman Catholic Church underwent an aggiornamento, or updating, that opened the way for unprecedented heart-searchings among Catholics. Vatican II gave the green light for the publishing of additional “suitable and correct translations” of the Bible, and it instructed Catholic bishops “to give the faithful entrusted to them suitable instruction in the right use of the divine books.” Thus, rank-and-file Catholics can at present obtain Bibles, read them, and compare what they read with what they have been taught.

However, this radical change has not taken place without creating problems. Many Catholics are discovering for the first time in their lives that much church dogma is nowhere to be found in the Bible. Among such teachings are devotion to Mary, prayers to the “saints,” veneration of relics, indulgences, purgatory, and limbo.

Concerning the latter, A Catholic Dictionary admits: “There was a natural repugnance to the belief that those who had committed no sin should be tortured in hell, and this difficulty led theologians to adopt various theories as by way of escape.” Limbo is one such theory.

However, the Bible states that the dead are asleep in the grave, awaiting the resurrection. (Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10; John 5:28, 29) Since there is no immortal soul, there can be no hell torture. So there was no need to invent the theory of limbo to get out of a theological predicament! This is just one example of the dilemma in which many Bible-reading Catholics now find themselves. Which are they to believe, man-invented traditions or the Bible?

Answer 7

Catholics are Christians. Protestants and Catholics are different. Catholic Religion is about 1,500 years old and Protestant Religion is about 500 years old. Protestant bible has omitted 7 books from the old testament, Catholic bibles have retained them, New Testament is exactly the same. But the goal in both Religions remains the same: Except Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and believing in the Holy Trinity.( Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)

Answer 8

Well Catholics are Christians. The major separation though is Protestant and Catholic. Catholics are episcopal, meaning they have a hierarchy of priests, bishops, etc. Protestants typically have just the minister and his congregation; these types of churches are sometimes called Congregational. So the real difference is simply the authority of the minister, whether it comes from a higher official like a bishop or Pope, if it is decided by a committee, or just a town gathering.

Answer 9

Basically, Catholics were the first Christians. Over the centuries differences in ideology and Biblical interpretations, not to mention politics, caused Catholics to break away and form their own church. One example - Martin Luther - founder of the Lutheran Church - based on ideological differences. Another example is The Church of England, AKA Episcopal Church - King Henry VIII was not granted a divorce ( I think his 3rd or 4th) - so he created his own church - the head of the Episcopal church is the Archbishop of Canterbury. In recent years though the Catholic Church and the Episcopal church leaders have made significant strides towards reuniting the two churches.
Two major areas of ideological difference are - Mary- Mother of Jesus (virginity issue and whether or not she gave birth to other children after Jesus) and the authority of the Pope.
Bottom line, you are right, we are all Christians and have Jesus as our Lord...that unites us all and transcends man made schisms.
Hope this helps.

Answer 10

You can see from many of the previous answers that the term "Christian" has taken on a particular meaning, especially in U.S. culture. Many folks now use "Christian" to refer to a type of Christianity--specifically, a non-Catholic type. Some would call it fundamentalist, others may call it conservative Christianity, some have taken to calling it orthodox Christianity. In short, Catholics certainly consider themselves Christians, but many Protestants feel that their version is the only one truly worthy of being called Christian.

Answer 11

Some non-Catholic Christians, almost exclusively in the USA, claim that Catholics are not Christians. It's up to them, for all that you say is true. Why do they do it? I don't know. Perhaps because it means that the "Christians" who conquered the Americas and who carried out the Crusades and the Inquisition are in some way different from them. They may say what the like. We may draw what conclusions we might also.