what is the difference between a catholic and a baptist?

Question

my girl friend is baptist and im catholic how do i show her that being catholic is not bad.

Answer 1

I think I have a unique prespective - my mother grew up Baptist and converted to Catholism.

I think the primary differences are that Baptists don't have saints, they only have 66 books of the bible, they don't necessarilly believe Mary remained a virgin after the birth of Jesus, They don't think that Mary was immaculate, They don't have confession, Catholics tend to be more liberal than protestants....

But the basic gist of both is that Jesus was born to a virgin, died on the cross for our sins, and rose again on the 3rd day...

And really, what difference do all the little details make anyway? NO one can know for sure!

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Preacher's wife you are Ignorant! The pope is no different than the SBC president! It's just that there are WAY more Catholics than any other specific denomination, so more people turn out to see the pope... geeez... no one thinks that Protestants worship Billy Graham - good grief... maybe you should read Matthew 7:3

Answer 2

Don't listen to these Catholic haters. I'm guessing you don't know much about the faith you profess. I was the same way when I married a Baptist. She had the same misconceptions about Catholicism that the people on this forum do - and she almost convinced me that they were true. But, I wanted to be sure. So, I started reading the Bible, studying Church doctrine, Church history and reading the early Christian Fathers. What I found was that the Catholic Church is the Church that Jesus Christ founded and that the doctrines are the same that Jesus taught, and the apostles handed on to the first generation of bishops.

Of couse, there are a few more doctrines now than there were 2000 years ago, just as the study of truth always reveals more truth. It's kind of like science. Scientific study has revealed more truths than were known 2000 years ago; the same goes for theology.

I have a website with excerpts from early Christian writings that support all Catholic doctrines. Maybe you should check it out.
http://www.geocities.com/orthodox_doctrine

Back to your question; be very careful. My Baptist wife made life hell for me by trying to force me to leave the Church. Of couse, the more I learned about the truths of the faith, I fell in love with it and refused to leave it. To make a long story short, she finally ended up divorcing me. Which brings up another problem with Baptists - they don't believe in sacraments. The sacrament of Matrimony joins the man and woman forever. It is instituted by God and cannot be undone by man, no matter how much authority they think they have. But, since Baptists don't believe this they think they can get a divorce and it actually ends the marriage. So, no matter how much you trust your Baptist girlfriend, if things get really bad there is nothing stopping her from divorcing you.

Good luck; I hope you make the right decision.

Answer 3

Baptists have their own share of false beliefs (or at least they had a lot of them), but the Catholic church believes in a lot of things that are completely man-made. First off, the idea of the Pope is completely off-base. I suppose it's nice to have a religious leader, but nowhere in the Bible is there solid evidence for having a Pope. They support it by saying that Peter is the rock upon which God will build His church, but the thing is, there were many other churches who had no connection to the Catholic church well before the Catholic church was established. The Catholic church cannot possibly be the true church, because God doesn't care what denomination his followers are.

Also, the idea that we can enter the kingdom of heaven based on our works directly contradicts the Bible. That does not give us license to sin, but the Bible makes it very clear that we cannot earn our way into Heaven. If a person is truly a Christian, they should be "walking in the spirit", that is, allowing the Holy Spirit to direct them, which should improve their character dramatically.

Baptists hold a lot of the beliefs that I have mentioned, so I frequently attend Baptist churches, even though I don't require my church to be Baptist. Being a Catholic is not directly bad, but it does make it much more probable that you are accepting unbiblical principles as a true part of your religion.

Answer 4

Instead of focusing on the differences, how about celebrating what you have in common? Both sermons and homilies uplift and encourage. The songs sung in both services are also uplifting and give glory to the Lord. There is nothing to disagree with in the prayers. The creeds are spoken & affirmed by one, believed anyway by the other. You follow a common liturgy that a Baptist would read, same scripture, what's read and spoken is what you both believe anyway. The holy water you bless yourself with both coming and going, remembers your baptism. The gold on the altar and the robes on the priest reflect the gold that's in your heart and the glory of God shining in your life. No, Catholic is NOT bad, scripture and tradition vs. scripture alone, yes there's a difference, but nothing for either side to be afraid of. Both of you can learn from each other, no one has to change or expect the other to change.

Answer 5

Since I used to be a baptist & my spouse is a lapsed catholic, heres my take on the differences.

Baptists do NOT beleive in baptizing babies. Baptism is a decision made by an adult (or teenager at least) who understands why they are doing it.

Baptists do NOT pray to statues of the virgin mary or to any other saints.

Baptists do NOT confess their sins to any priest or pastor - they confess directly to god.

Baptists do NOT cross themselves, nor do they say a few "hail Mary's" as punishment.

Baptists do not accept purgatory, when you die you go to heaven or hell.

Those are the major doctrinal differences that I can think of.

One last thing - Baptists tend to be anti-catholic, so if the girlfriend accepts you, her family may not.

Extra things about Baptists.

No incense or other flashy stuff in a baptist church.
Most churches are quite simple. No huge cross on the wall.
No saints statues either.
No dipping fingers into (supposedly) holy water and genuflecting.
The Preacher wears a suit - none of those over the top gold vestments that catholic priests wear.
Preachers are allowed to be married, and they do have kids.
Women are allowed to preach in a baptist church, some are even pastors.

Now I no longer follow any of that delusional thinking at all.

Answer 6

The Baptist 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.

Answer 7

Catholics believe in the necessity of seven valid sacraments, in the Mass as the God prescribed form of practical worship, and in the power of the church, as it was truly established and authorized by Jesus Christ himself.

Catholics also believe in the primacy of the Pope, and the need for bishops and priests. They believe that grace is more essential than faith, that faith and works are both necessary for salvation, that both tradition and scripture are necessary for true Bible understanding, and that Jesus Christ is truly present in the sacrament of the Eucharist.

Baptists believe faith alone is essential for salvation. They believe the Bible is the only faith authority. They accept only two or three non-essential sacraments, they don't believe in Popes, priests, or the authentic Eucharist, and they do not accept the authority of the church.

There's more, but these are the "high points".

Explain to her that the practice of infant baptism in the Catholic Church is the strongest statement of salvation without works that there could possibly be.

The infant is not required to do or say anything at all, and the church freely supplies everything necessary, including the faith, simply because God desires that all men be saved.

Infant baptism is also 100% effective, so the infant most certainly becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit, an adopted child of God, a member of the church, and co-heir with Jesus Christ, all through no personal works whatsoever.

Can't beat that!

Furthermore, explain to her that salvation will always remain a free gift from God, simply because nobody can force God to do anything, let alone save them ... and baptism is always an act of faith.

If all of the above doesn't help, you can always look handsome, and act suave and debonaire.

Answer 8

Why don't you try her church? Whats wrong with being Baptist? A Baptist and Catholic will never agree on anything doctrine wise. If she is a stead fast Baptist, and you're a stead fast Catholic, you're gonna have problems if you marry.

Answer 9

Everyone has a right to be what they choose to be. You don't need to show anyone anything. Being catholic is not bad. I am not catholic, but there is no suce thing as the "real" and "true"
religion. I like your question. I often find myself in the same situation as a Jewess.

Answer 10

For one thing, a baptist believer has excess to the Father through
Jesus, our advocate. The catholic goes through another man, the priest.-- Baptist can be assured of salvation through Christ's work and God's promise -- Catholics Salvation is secured by faith plus good works-as channeled through the Roman Catholic Church. They can never know if they have accomplished enough to satisfy God and actually attain heaven. Catholics feel fortunate to have the assurance of purgatory where they can receive temporal punishment that purifies them for heaven...