Catholicism/Protestantism. What are the fundamental differences?

Answer 1

The Protestant Churches teach Scripture, with no traditions added to it.
The Bible teaches that Scripture alone is the supreme and infallible authority for the church and the individual believer. This is not to say that creeds and tradition are unimportant, but the Bible alone is our final authority. Creeds and tradition are man made.
Jesus said, "Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). He said "I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished" (Matthew 5:18). He said, "It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the law" (Luke 16:17).
Jesus used Scripture as the final court of appeal in every matter under dispute. He said to some Pharisees, "You nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down" (Mark 7:13). To the Sadducee's He said, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God". (Mat 22:29). To the devil, Jesus consistently responded, "It is written..." (Mat 4:4-10). So following Jesus' lead, the Scriptures alone are our supreme and final authority.
The Protestants broke from the Catholic church because they did not agree with the traditions that were being held as the authority, rather than God's word the Bible.

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.

Answer 2

Catholicism is the state religion of the Roman Empire. The Empire adopted this religion and placed its headquarters in Rome. This never was the true religion. It is based upon false teachings in the Bible and mostly upon traditions that have been handed down from generation to generation. In the early 1500s God shed much light upon the evils of this papal religion to Martin Luther. Luther then took his concerns to Rome and for his efforts Luther was then put upon Roman Catholicism's hit list. Fortunately Rome was unable to silence Luther and the Protestant movement began through him. In the beginnings of Protestantism there was a definite movement towards God to find the truth in Scripture about the Lord Jesus Christ and how to be saved by faith. This is something that the church of Rome didn't want its adherents to know anything about. The last 500 years has seen a gradual but steady decline in the Protestant church and now it is little more than an empty shell of what it used to be. Today there isn't that much difference between the two religions. Neither one will do you much good.

Answer 3

The main differences are.....but this answer does not include all protestants, the Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, all believe in the Real Presence in Communion, along with Methodist, and some of the Fundies, most of the Baptist and Pentecostal do not believe in Real Presence in the bread and wine, but as a symbol of.

The pope is unique to the RCC.

Faith alone vs. Faith & works, but really they are not different here when you get right down to it

The only ones who do not practice infant baptism are Baptists and Pentecostals, and usually non-denom, Methodists -some do and some do not

Orthodox, Anglican and RCC believe the saints in heaven and angels can somehow mystically hear us even though they are far away and pray for us, the rest usually do not.

RCC believes in the Immaculate Conception of Mary, Orthodox believe she was sinless too, but because she never broke Jewish Law (?) as well as John the Baptist.

A lot of denominations believe they can set out a Nativity scene, and have stained glass windows, but believe the RCC do it wrong or something because they keep statues out all year.

Just remember, when your Nativity scene or stained glass brings feelings of love for Paul, or worship to Jesus,.........your doing the same thing that RCC does with icons or statues.

Usually if you ask RCC if they are saved, they will say they do not know...........that is what i see as the worst part of RCC, have faith people have faith!

Did anyone ever watch Mother Angelica or someone on TV? There may be differences in somethings, but there is no way these people do not love God, they really know how to preach it!

Answer 4

Catholicism is original and complete Christianity, founded by Jesus Christ Himself. Protestantism is a collection of unauthorized manmade oprganizations which teach a mixture of Christian truth received from the Catholic Church and new traditions of men created by their human founders. Each Protestant sect has rejected much of original Christianity and teaches a sort of watered down simplistic semi-Christianity. Just which parts of original Christianity were rejected depends on which denomination you look at, since some of them are as different from one another as they are from Catholicism. Catholicism is the response to the stated will of God, "that they all may be ONE". Protestantism represents rejection of that same stated will of God.
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Answer 5

I think the main difference might be that a Protestant believes in the idea of "sola scriptura", which means just the Bible, whereas a Catholic believes in that plus whatever has traditionally been done during the Vatican's history. Papal decrees are said to be infallible, so they use those. Now, this is just from what I'm trying to remember, and I didn't refer back to any authoritative text this time, so I'm sure others will have a better answer for you (I hope).

Answer 6

Handling of the books of the Bible that are accepted by Catholicism, but rejected by Protestantism.

They both have in their 'Bibles' the '2 or more witnesses' principle (Matt.18:16, 2 Cor. 13:1), but neither fully applies it presently in the USA.

Answer 7

There are some distinctly unChristian answers, I hope that the people who answered thus are ashamed..
Whilst there are differences of dogma and culture, if you look at any Christian Denomination, there is always more in common in belief than that which divides. It takes two football teams to play a game and it should be done in a friendly manner. No difference with Christianity. We are all members of the same family!

Answer 8

One is the religion on my own vs. faith and works for salvation yet another is the Catholic perception interior the Pope as having authority, yet Protestants have faith the Bible is the only authority. one extra is the Catholic prepare of venerating and praying to saints- intercessory prayer, which Protestants reject, saying Jesus is the only intercessor. those are all basic modifications, with the aid of fact all of the Protestant disagreements without postpone contradict the doctrines of the Catholic Church. God bless and Merry Christmas

Answer 9

They were all Catholics at one time. Then, Henry VIII came along and wanted a divorce. That's No.1, the No.2 is the Pope.
Protestants do not like the idea that the Pope and speak 'ex cathedra' and be infallible when he does so.

Answer 10

Read the 99 points that Martin Luther nailed on the door of the church.

Answer 11

Its to to with transubstantiation- which is to do with the bread and wine at Communion. Catholics believe that these actually turn into the body and blood of Christ whereas Protestants believe they are only a symbol for that and are just bread and wine.