A summary of Catholic beliefs is contained in the Nicene Creed (from the year 325):
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in being with the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us and our salvation He came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit, He was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered, died, and was buried. On the third day He rose again in fulfillment of the scriptures: He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son, He is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
For a complete description of what Catholics believe, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/index.htm
With love in Christ.
2007-01-09 16:02:25
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answer #1
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answered by imacatholic2 7
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One detail is that the Orthodox Church stems back to a schism of the Roman Catholic (Latin) Church. Orthodox was centered in Constantinople, which is now called Istanbul, Turkey. The Orthodox believers can likely tell you exactly why there was a split, perhaps suggesting it had something to do with the Apostle Paul, since he preached all over the area of Greece. Some obvious differences are the rites of the Mass, the Holy Spirit coming from God the Father to His Son and vice versa is Latin, the time of Christmas and Easter celebrations may differ from the Orthodox versus Latin, and one other thing easily remembered is that an Orthodox Priest may marry if they wish to. There are other obvious things such as the icons of the Orthodox versus the Latin rite artwork. There ARE Eastern rite Churches which may have similarities to the Orthodox, but, they remained in Communion with the Latin Church in Rome, even though there rites may differ. An example would be the Marianists.
Perhaps you could go to Catholic Answers for specifics: http://www.catholic.com/
2007-01-11 14:40:10
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answer #2
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answered by Anonymous
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Roman Catholic and Orthodox believe the same on just about everything concerning doctrine and dogma. They differ from mainstream Protestant Christianity (Baptist, Methodist, Episcopal, Church of Christ) in that you may reject your salvation at any time. You ever heard "once save always saved"? If you are Catholic, and you refuse to love God by committing a grave, grave sin (like murder), God leaves you free to walk away from him. This is called a mortal sin. Catholics also believe that the sacrifice on the cross was for all people, and it covered all sins, if people will accept it.
Catholics and Orthodox believe in the Trinity, where God is both Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Son, and he was born from a virgin who never sinned, named Mary.
Another big difference is catholics and Orthodox believe that a person can become better and better in this life until they are totally holy- a saint. Like Mother Teresa.
And, even though this is a big question, we believe holiness can reside on earth through the power God gave his apostles which they handed down to their bishops and priests, and they have power to forgive sins in the stead of Christ. We also believe God is truly present in the Communion bread and wine.
Orthodox do not believe that the bishop of Rome (the pope) has authority over other bishops, while Catholics believe this.
2007-01-12 10:15:18
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answer #3
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answered by therese magdalene 2
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Basically I think the Orthodox Churchs, such as the Greek Orthodox Church, dont believe in the Pope as the vicar of Peter. The Catholic Church believes Jesus gave Peter the keys to his Church and even today Jesus gives the key to the Pope to lead his flock.
2007-01-09 08:29:35
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answer #4
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answered by Anonymous
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If you want to know what the two churches believe, look up the Nicean Creed. It lists the beliefs of the Catholic Church.
2007-01-09 08:47:43
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answer #5
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answered by jat_terbox1 2
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These are the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church
We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.
And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And we believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
2007-01-09 08:27:32
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answer #6
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answered by jinenglish68 5
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The roman catholic bible was taken from the orthodox bible, but it has been changed so much they would never recognize each other.
2007-01-09 08:29:19
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answer #7
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answered by bocasbeachbum 6
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You want.."Just the facts Ma'am"?
2007-01-09 08:27:35
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answer #8
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answered by Royal Racer Hell=Grave © 7
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modern catholics have become protestants
2007-01-09 08:32:45
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answer #9
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answered by Anonymous
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Dr. Boettner then gives us "Some Roman Catholic Heresies And Inventions" and the dates that these alleged "Apostolic" traditions were added to Roman Catholic theology &endash;
* Prayers for the dead, began about A.D. 300
* Making the sign of the cross 300
* Veneration of angels and dead saints, and use of images 375
* The Mass, as a daily celebration 394
* Beginning of the exaltation of Mary, the term "Mother of God" first applied to her by the Council of Ephesus 431
* Priests began to dress differently from laymen 500
* Extreme Unction 526
* The doctrine of Purgatory, established by Gregory I 593
* Latin used in prayer and worship, imposed by Gregory I 600
* Prayer directed to Mary, dead saints and angels, about 600
* Title of pope, or universal bishop, given to Boniface III 607
* Kissing the pope's foot, began with pope Constantine 709
* Worship of the cross, images and relics, authorized in 786
* Holy water, mixed with a pinch of salt and blessed by a priest 850
* Canonization of dead saints, first by pope John XV 995
* The Mass, developed gradually as a sacrifice, attendance made obligatory in the 11th century
* Celibacy of the priesthood, decreed by pope Gregory VII (Hildebrand) 1079
* The Rosary, mechanical praying with beads, invented by Peter the Hermit 1090
* Sale of Indulgences 1190
* Transubstantiation, proclaimed by pope Innocent III 1215
* Auricular Confession of sins to a priest instead of to
God, instituted by pope Innocent III, in Lateran Council 1215
* Bible forbidden to laymen, placed on the Index of Forbidden Books by the Council of Valencia 1229
* Purgatory proclaimed a dogma by Council of Florence 1439
* The doctrine of Seven Sacraments affirmed 1439
* Tradition declared of equal authority with the Bible by the Council of Trent 1545
* Apocryphal books added to the Bible by the Council of Trent 1546
* Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, proclaimed by pope Pius IX 1854
* Syllabus of Errors, proclaimed by pope Pitts IX, and ratified by the Vatican Council; condemned freedom of religion,conscience, speech, press, and scientific discoveries which are disapproved by the Roman Church; asserted the pope's temporal authority over all civil rulers 1864
* Infallibility of the pope in matters of faith and morals, proclaimed by the Vatican Council 1870
* Public Schools condemned by pope Pius XI 1930
* Assumption of the Virgin Mary (bodily ascension into heaven shortly after her death), proclaimed by pope Pius XII 1950
* Mary proclaimed Mother of the Church, by pope Paul VI 1965
And then Dr. Boettner concludes:
Add to these many others: monks - nuns -monasteries - convents - forty days Lent - holy week - Palm Sunday - Ash Wednesday - All Saints day - Candlemas day - fish day - meat days - incense - holy oil - holy palms - Christopher medals - charms - novenas - and still others.
There you have it - the melancholy evidence of Rome's steadily increasing departure from the simplicity of the Gospel, a departure so radical and far-reaching at the present time (1965) that it has produced a drastically anti-evangelical church. It is clear beyond possibility of doubt that the Roman Catholic religion as now practiced is the outgrowth of centuries of error. Human inventions have been substituted for Bible truth and practice. Intolerance and arrogance have replaced the love and kindness and tolerance that were the distinguishing qualities of the first century Christians, so that now in Roman Catholic countries Protestants and others who are sincere believers in Christ but who do not acknowledge the authority of the pope are subject to all kinds of restrictions and in some cases even forbidden to practice their religion. The distinctive attitude of the present day Roman Church was fixed largely by the Council of Trent (1545-1563), with its more than 100 anathemas or curses pronounced against all who then or in the future would dare to differ with its decisions.
"The Apocrypha refers to 14 or 15 books of doubtful authenticity and authority that the Roman Catholics decided belonged in the Bible sometime following the Protestant Reformation. The Catholic Council of Trent (1545-1563) canonized these books. This canonization took place largely as a result of the Protestant Reformation. Indeed, Luther had criticized the Catholics for not having scriptural support fur such doctrines as praying for the dead. By canonizing the Apocrypha (which offers support for praying for the dead in 2 Maccabees 23:45-46), the Catholics suddenly had "scriptural" support for this and other distinctively Catholic doctrines.
Roman Catholics argue that the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament) contained the Apocrypha. As well, church fathers like Iraneaus, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria used the Apocryphal books in public worship and accepted them as Scripture. Further, it is argued, St. Augustine viewed these books as inspired.
Protestants respond by pointing out that even though some of the Apocryphal books may have been alluded to in the New Testament, no New Testament writer EVER quoted from ANY of these books as holy Scripture or gave them the slightest authority as inspired books. Jesus and the disciples virtually ignored these books, something that wouldn't have been the case if they had considered them to be inspired.
Moreover, even though certain church fathers spoke approvingly of the Apocrypha, there were other early church fathers - notable OrigIn and Jerome - who denied their inspiration. Further, even though the early Augustine acknowledged the Aprocrypha, in his later years he rejected these books as being outside the canon and considered them inferior to the Hebrew Scriptures.
The Jewish Council of Jamnia, which met in A.D. 90, rejected the Aprocrypha as Scripture. Combine all this with the fact that there are clear historical errors in the Aprocrypha (especially those relating to Tobit) and the fact that it contains unbiblical doctrines (like praying for the dead), and it is clear that these books do not belong in the Bible. In addition, unlike many of the biblical books, THERE IS NO CLAIM IN ANY APOCRYPHAL BOOK IN REGARD TO DIVINE INSPIRATION.
2007-01-09 09:10:24
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answer #10
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answered by Freedom 7
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