What is the difference between the catholic faith an othe christian faiths?

Answer 1

Catholicism is the early Christian faith all others are neither partial truth or very bad imitators. Contrary to what someone else claims, the Christian bible is a Catholic book hence Protestants use a Catholic book. Many will deny it but fact is every Protestant bible contains a Catholic New Testament canon.

Answer 2

That is a loaded gun question. Let's not start the Crusades again.

In general (very general), Catholic faith and Protestant Christian faiths have the exact same belief in relation to the deity of Christ. That in itself is highly important. Unfortunately, it's in all the other details that one can get lost. The practice of the religion, not only who to pray to but even how, and even what happens when you physically die are all different between Catholics and Protestant Christians. I am no biblical scholar of course, just an average Joe on this matter.

Answer 3

You are going to get a wide variety of answers on Y!A and you'll be lucky if any of them are true. I suggest that instead of asking that here you find a non-denominational, informational website that talks about the differences and similarities among Christian faiths. Because Catholicism is _also_ a Christian faith. All that Christian means is that you believe in Christ and Catholics believe in Christ. Then you will get a clear-cut answer without anyone trying to sway you toward one denomination or another.

Answer 4

1. They recognize the pope as the hierarchy of the Catholic Church and Christendom.

2. They believe that the Eucharist (the Christian breaking of the bread) is the act of actually ingesting the body of Christ.

3. The Catholic Priesthood remain all male and celibate.

There are probably others but this is what I remember from Catholic School.

Answer 5

At one time all Christians were Catholics! But Catholic leadership was infected with evil men at one time and princes of old Europe used this moment to break away from the Pope's yoke. This however was done with good intentions but all the sacraments and richness of faith was thrown away. The Catholic faith IS the Christian faith! Oh and the Protestants use the Bible as authority, which the Catholic Church wrote, put together, and deemed holy!!!!!!!!

Answer 6

Catholics believe in personal intercession, that it is possible to pray on behalf of the dead, that saints in heaven can be asked to intercede on our own behalf, that priests can mediate the graces of God through forgiveness of sin and blessings. Protestants specifically reject the idea due to abuses that had crept into such practices by the 16th Century. (Effectively, prelates were holding the souls of relatives hostage for money to help build their great cathedrals.) Protestants believe that all salvation business occurs between the individual and God.

Consequently, Protestants also believe that no human effort contributes to salvation, only faith in the divinity and redemption of Christ. Catholics believe good works contribute to one's salvation.

There are also differences over the sacraments. Catholics have seven. Protestants have three, two or less. The greatest sacramental difference is the significance of the Lord's Supper. Catholics believe that the bread and wine become the actual body and blood of Christ without changing appearance. Protestants believe either that Christ is merely present IN the "Eucharist" or that the meal is only a memorial of the Last Supper.

There are also hierarchical differences. Catholics have a continuous history of development of authority. Priests are appointed by Bishops, Bishops are appointed by the Pope, who has supreme administrative authority in the church and a strong doctrinal authority, amounting to infallibility on a few specific issues. Protestants have no central authority. Some decide major issues through synods, some admit no authority above the individual congregation.

Catholics also maintain that God continues to reveal new truths through the Holy Spirit by the decisions of church councils. These are referred to as Tradition, as opposed to the revelation of Scripture. Since Protestants can't point to a literal continuity with the early church, they reject "Tradition" and rely solely on "Scripture" for their knowledge of God's will. They maintain that the Catholic church has wandered from true Christianity, replacing it with "the traditions of men".

Catholics have "sacramentals", objects and images (crucifixes, icons, statues, rosaries, etc.) designed to remind them of holy people and divine qualities as they pray. Protestants characterize and condemn these as idol-worship according to the 2nd Commandment. (Catholics enumerate the Commandments differently.) Catholics maintain that they are merely visual and tactile aids.

There are other differences, some limited to particular denomination but this should give you an idea of the main ones. Some of the differences are misunderstandings, and some came about due to the relationship of one denomination to another.

Answer 7

There are a lot of differences.

The Catholic Church believes that the communion wafer & wine literally turn into Jesus' body & blood during communion. Protestants do not. They believe that the wafer & wine represent Jesus' sacrifice but do not really turn into Jesus' flesh & blood.

Catholics believe that the Virgin Mary stayed a virgin all of her life & was herself conceived miraculously. Protestants do not.

Catholics believe that members of the priesthood have special power to interpret scripture. Protestants believe that all Christians are priests before God & all Christians have equal ability to interpret scripture.

Catholics believe that the Pope is the ultimate authority on religious matters and that Simon Peter ( Jesus' disciple) was the 1st pope. Protesants don't.

The Catholic Church traditionally believed that everyone was a member of the Church from birth, unless they were specifically kicked out, much as a person is a citizen in a country from birth. Protestants believed that you were a citizen of a country by birth, but that the church was a voluntary group that one had to choose to join.

Catholics pray to saints and ask the saints to intercede with God for them . Protestants pray directly to God or Jesus.

Catholics believe that there is a 'temporary hell' called purgatory, where people go after death for a certain amount of time to be purged of their sins. They then go to Heaven. They believe that if a preist prays for the dead loved one, the loved one will get out of purgatory faster. Protestants believe that when you die , you go to Heaven or Hell & you stay there.

Catholic priests are not allowed to marry & are supposed to stay celibate. Protestant groups allow the clergy to get married.

The man who started the Protestant church was named Martin Luther. He was a Catholic priest who saw errors in the Catholic Church that he wished to correct. He tacked a list of 95 problems on the church door at Wittburg This was kind of a public bulletin board. Ultimately, the Catholic Church did not feel that it needed to change and labelled Martin Luther an enemy. Many people , on the other hand, thought that Luther was right and they began to form new churches. These people were called 'Protest-ants' because they were 'Protest-ing' the way the Catholic Church did things.

Answer 8

Catholics have prettier services. And if you're lucky enough to catch a Mass in Latin, you'll know that what the church says is nicer when you can't understand what they're saying.

And, by the way, the Catholic faith is Christian. The split is between Catholic and Protestant.

Answer 9

Catholics beliefs are founded in two sources: the Bible and tradition. We also believes in the teachings of Rome. Other Christians are based purely in what the Bible says, others add some other things.
Is there a lot of difference?... well, not really. At the end of the day, Salvation remains the same.

Answer 10

The Catholics have added a lot of things to the Bible for their own purposes. Martin Luther tried to get the Catholics to just follow the Bible as God instructed, but they refused, so Martin Luther's followers created the Lutheran Church, which does not add or take away from the Bible. Other religions like the Baptists have also added to the Bible and decided on their own not to follow other things. Some like the Mormons have gone as far to write their own Bible.