What is the difference between protestantism and catholicism?

Question

My Boyfriend broke up with me because i am catholic and he is protestan!

Answer 1

Christian Protestant and Catholicism Theologies:
http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/charts/catholic_protestant.htm
http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/denominations/catholicism.htm

Answer 2

Protestant forms of Christianity, following the motto of sola scriptura, insist that all legitimate Christian beliefs (and practices) must be found in, or at least based on, the Bible. That's a very clear and admirable principle. The problem is that Protestant Christianity was not born in a historical vacuum, and does not go back directly to the time that the Bible was written. . . .

For the doctrines that Protestantism inherited to be considered true, they had to be found in the Bible. And precisely because they were considered true already, there was and is tremendous pressure to read those truths back into the Bible, whether or not they are actually there. . . .

Catholicism, while generally committed to the idea that what the Church believes can be proven by and is grounded in the Bible, maintains the view that Christian doctrine was developed, or brought to more precise clarity on key points, by the work of theologians over time. It is not necessary, from the Catholic point of view, to find every doctrine or practice explicitly spelled out in the Bible. . . .

The Jehovah's Witnesses, on the other hand, are more similar to the Protestant in their view that the Bible alone must be the source of truth in its every detail. So you might expect translators from this sect to labor under the Protestant Burden. But they do not for the simple reason that the Jehovah's Witness movement was and is a more radical break with the dominant Christian tradition of the previous millennium than most kinds of Protestantism. This movement has, unlike the Protestant Reformation, really sought to re-invent Christianity from scratch. Whether you regard that as a good or a bad thing, you can probably understand that it resulted in the Jehovah's Witnesses approaching the Bible with a kind of innocence, and building their system of belief and practice from the raw material of the Bible without predetermining what was to be found there.

Answer 3

To Bible believing Christians, the Bible is our only authoritative teaching book. Of course the Bible makes that claim about itself but that was rejected by the Popes long ago when they made the false claim that, "the Pope is God's representative here on earth."

2 Tim 2:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness

The Roman Catholic Church, follows the teaching of men, called Popes and the "Magisterium" instead of the Bible.

Jesus taught against that in the Bible. See Mark chapter 7. Read the whole chapter but verses 5 and 9 are the keys.

The Jewish religious leaders of Jesus' day, taught that people should follow the Rabbi's instead of the Scripture.

And that's exactly what Rome teaches today.

That is the main difference.

Obviously there are other more specific differences, but they all stem from this one major difference.

Anytime you find a religion which has another "holy book" which is something other than the 66 books of the Bible, that religion is obviouly NOT Christian.

Or anytime you find a religion with an "annointed" leader who must be followed no matter what, you also have a false religion.

Examples of false religions and their human leaders are:

Christian Science and Mary Baker Eddy

LDS or Mormons and Joseph Smith

Islam and Mohmmed

Scientology and Ron Hubbard

For example the 66 books of the Bible were written by about 40 Jewish men over a time period of about 1600 years.

The only exception is a Greek New Testament Christian, named, Dr. Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts.

Yet Roman Catholics Church make the false claim that they were all Roman Catholics.

Please tell me how they conclude that Moses or the Prophets of the Old Testament were Roman Catholic?

I have a five page long Word Document, which decribes more detailed differences. I can send to you via E-mail to anyone who requests it, but you must request it via E-mail:

p a s t o r a r t h u r at e a r t h l i n k . n e t

You'll have to remove the imedded spaces in the above and replace the word "at" with the at symbol.

According to George Barna, only about 22% of Roman Catholics in the USA are really Christians.

Perhaps your boyfriend figured out you were not a real Chrisitan. Remember that no organization on earth, no denomination, even mine, can make you a true follower of Jesus.

The Bible also tells us that real Christians should only marry other true Christians.

Perhaps you should ask your former boy friend how to become a Bible believing follower of Jesus?

For your benefit, I've also included a link below which contains a whole bunch of links which should help you with that even if you former boyfriend will not.

Pastor Art

Answer 4

First of all, that's no reason to break up... and if that was his only reason then he's a jerk.

The biggest differences are that:
a. Protestants teach that faith alone is necessary to reach heaven, while Catholics teach that one must also practice good works.
b. Protestants generally view the eucharist as a sign, while Catholics believe that it's actually Jesus' flesh and blood.
c. Protestants base most of their beliefs off of scripture, while Catholics also include traditions.
d. Protestants do not have to follow a pope or a catechism.
e. There are many kinds of Protestants (Lutherans, Baptists, Methodists, et cetera) but only two kinds of Catholics (Roman and Eastern Orthodox)

Answer 5

Protestantism encompasses the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated with the doctrines of the Reformation. The term is derived from the Protestatio delivered by a minority of delegates against the (1529) Diet of Speyer, which passed legislation opposed by the Lutherans. Since that time, the term has been used in many different senses, but not as the official title of any church until it was assumed (1783) by the Protestant Episcopal Church (since 1967 simply the Episcopal Church) in the United States, the American branch of the Anglican Communion. Protestantism as a general term is now used in contradistinction to the other major Christian faiths, Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy[1].

The doctrines of the Reformation can be summarized as a) the rejection of papal authority, b) rejection of some fundamental Roman Catholic doctrines, c) the priesthood of all believers, d) the primacy of the Bible as the only source of revealed truth, and e) the belief in justification by faith alone.


As a Christian ecclesiastical term, Catholic - from the Greek adjective καθολικός, meaning "general" or "universal"[1] - is described in the Oxford English Dictionary as follows:

~Church, (originally) whole body of Christians; ~, belonging to or in accord with (a) this, (b) the church before separation into Greek or Eastern and Latin or Western, (c) the Latin Church after that separation, (d) the part of the Latin Church that remained under the Roman obedience after the Reformation, (e) any church (as the Anglican) claiming continuity with (b)."[1]
Leaving aside the historical meanings indicated under (b) and (c) above, the Oxford English Dictionary thus associates present-day Catholicism with:

(a) "the whole body of Christians". The actual extension of Catholicism in this sense varies with the different understandings of what it means to be a Christian.
(d) "the part of the Latin Church that remained under the Roman obedience after the Reformation", i.e. the Catholic or Roman Catholic Church. This definition of Catholicism should be expanded to cover the Eastern particular Churches that are in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, and that the Church in question sees as no less part of Catholicism than the Latin particular Church.
(e) "any church (as the Anglican) claiming continuity with the church before separation into Greek or Eastern and Latin or Western". Churches that make this claim of continuity include not only those of the Anglican Communion, but, among others, the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Assyrian Church of the East. The claim of continuity may be based on apostolic succession, especially in conjunction with adherence to the Nicene Creed. Some interpret Catholicism as adherence to the traditional beliefs that Protestant Reformers denied (see, for example, the Oxford Movement).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestantism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholicism

Answer 6

The Protestants are the Christian religions who went out of the fold of the Catholics. They Protested against many changes and improvements made by the Catholics over their original verses of the faith adopted from the early Christian Traditions. Both sides however have their accussation against each other which in the end the story was reversed somehow and now it came out as if the Protestants are the Ones trying to make the changes and while the Catholics cling to the Old tradition. You can learn more if try to look for the life of Martin Luther.(He is different from Martin Luther King).

Answer 7

1) The Catholic and Protestant approaches to mistakes are different. If a Catholic does something wrong, he goes to confession, says his Hail Marys and so forth, and then is absolved of all sin. If a Protestant screws up, he has to live with it.

2) When in doubt, a Catholic goes to the Pope. When in doubt, a Protestant goes to the Bible.

There are a few other minor differences, but those are the major ones that I know of.

Answer 8

Protestantism is a movement that protests the Catholic Church. Not all Baptists, Lutherans, Episcoplaeans are Protestants by my definition; only those whose religious practice is opposition to the Catholic Church

I know that you are probably very hurt by the bigoted attitude of your boyfriend, but you really do not want to be like him. Put that chapter of your life behind you and move on.

Love your God with all of your heart and mind andf soul, and your neighbor (Catholic, non-Catholic, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, agnostic, and atheist) as yourself.

Answer 9

"What separates us as believers in Christ is much less than what unites us." (Pope John XXIII)

Almost all important doctrine is completely agreed upon between Catholic Christians and other Christians.

Here is the joint declaration of justification by Catholics (1999), Lutherans (1999), and Methodists (2006):

By grace alone, in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping us and calling us to good works.

There are many minor doctrine issues and some major cultural traditional differences which, I believe, do not matter that much.

A Catholic worships and follows Christ in the tradition of Catholicism which, among other things, recognizes that Christ made Peter the leader of His new Church and Pope Benedict XVI is Peter's direct successor.

With love in Christ.

Answer 10

Well first it depends on what branch of Protestant he is to the exact difference but I answered this question a basic outline of some major differences before (and was best answer) so here
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AqxlDSGl.cprT7QurKaWDFPty6IX?qid=20070426073108AANqPTm&show=7#profile-info-WS9JU2Oxaa
As I stated in that post it is impossible to explain all the differences or indepth as needs be here on yahoo answers but this will give you a start.

David L most of the theological differences are actually quite major.

Vox have you read the 95 thesis. They are only 95 sentances (half of them are praising the correctness of the Catholic Church)

Answer 11

*Which* Protestantism? Some Protestants deny the deity of Christ. Some Protestants reject all institutional authority. Some Protestants actually believe in the Real Presence (most don't). The list goes on.

There is no "This is Protestant belief." It depends on which sect you're discussing, so there is no real way to answer the question.