How do the beliefs differ between Catholism and Protestants?

Answer 1

Greetings. Here is the answer to your question.

Catholics believe in:

-Jesus Christ as the Savior of humanity
-Doctrine of Jesus passed down from the Apostles as Sacred Tradition because not every thing Jesus did is in the Bible.(John 21:25). For several hundred years there was no Christian Bible.
-The Bible as the inspired word of God that was compiled a few hundred years after the Lord's ascension. The bible is not to be interpreted literally and out of context of history and writing style. We should not interpret it alone (2 Peter 1:20)
-The Sacraments as outward signs that give grace to the faithful. The most important one being the Eucharist.
-The importance of the 10 Commandments and the need for everyone to at least strive towards righteousness by obeying them.
-Salvation through Faith in God and through works as a means of responding to His divine love.
-Obedience towards God in all things, whether we like them or not. This includes confessing to a priest in regards to mortal sins, being chaste until marriage, attending mass on Sundays, loving all people including our enemies etc.
-Christ gave us a teacher to help us toward Him, this is the Pope aka the visible sign of the head of the Church. Jesus is the head of the Church but the Pope is an important office for Catholics to recognize out of respect for His decision to appoint St. Peter as the head of the Church.
-Catholics have 2 things they must remember all the time. We must love God above all things, and we must love other people as Jesus loves us.
-Our Beliefs can be summarized in the Apostles' Creed:
http://www.ecatholic2000.com/pray/prayer19.shtml


This is what I was taught as a rank and file Protestant.

-Salvation is by faith alone (James 2:24 counters this belief)
-I have the authority to interpret scripture anyway I like, until someone older comes along and tells me that I'm wrong, then I'm wrong.
-The bible is the only authority for Christianity and must be followed as it is written. Our 20th century interpretation is fine and we don't need anyone to help us. We can pick and choose what to practice.
-Once saved always saved. That means once you claim to be a Christian you can be rapist, a thief, a murderer and all will be fine for you once you die because you were saved at one point in your life. You can even be a demon worshiper and all will be well. You can deny God your whole life and you can still avoid the fires of Hell.
-All other Christians (especially Catholics) have been wrong for centuries.
-Organized religion of any kind is of the devil. Constantine did more to destroy Christianity than anyone in history.
-Martin Luther was a great man for questioning the Church, breaking his vows of chastity as a monk and marrying a nun. His disobedience to the Catholic Church was the first move to restore the Church to its greatness, one where unity is absent and the teachings of Jesus can be interpreted any way to facilitate social, political, and spiritual change.

Protestants believe in changing whatever they want to get more members. They also think it is alright to ignore history and teachings that interfere with their human urges. This makes it difficult to generalize what Protestants believe because they have no unified doctrine, except for their hate towards the Catholic Church. I should know, I was once a very zealous Protestant.

Please keep in mind these are my own thoughts and no doubt I am bias like everyone else who attempts to answer your question. To me there is no other way but the Catholic Church. Sometimes I wonder if I would be happier not knowing or believing in its teachings, like everyone else I like to have fun. Knowing what I know now I can not turn back to paganism or protestantism because it is not pleasing to God.

Just because I don't believe in something doesn't mean it is not true. An ostrich that sticks its head in the ground to avoid a predator is still in danger, regardless of what it believes.

I apologize for my harsh words towards Protestants but you deserve the truth from someone who has been on both sides. I wanted to prove the Catholic Church wrong when I was a Protestant. Extensive study has shown me that my zeal for Protestantism was misplaced. However, they are still my fellow Christians. To trash them would be like assaulting a family member. I can love them and still hate their beliefs.

Peace be with you.

Answer 2

Catholics do not compliment saints, they elevate them up as examples of a Godly existence lived in the international. the main distinction between the two is the existence of the clergy as a mediator between the lay human beings and God interior the Catholic faith and the perception interior the Protestant faith that a lay individual can communicate directly to God with out advice from the priest or pope. additionally, there's a distinction interior the sacraments. Catholics believe that the wine and wafer become the actual blood and physique of christ, while protestants specifically believe that they are symbolic.

Answer 3

The authority of the Pope over the church is a prime difference.
Next would be communion service:
Catholics believe that the communion wafer and altar wine have been physically changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus, through the miracle of transubstantiation.
Protestants believe that the substnces used in communion remain unchanged, but are symbols of Jesus' Body and Blood.
Catholics also believe that faith and works, and membership in hte Roman Catholic Church is what saves a person. (Not my words, these are the words of Benedict XVI from two days ago.)
Protestants believe what is says in the BIble, that salvation is by grace through faith.
Protestants generally belive the Bible, God's Word, to be the authority over the church, and the source of all teachings.
Catholics look to the Pope, and church dogma to tell them what to believe.

Answer 4

Generally, the difference is in the human and outward manifestations of belief and service to the Divine Will of God.
Both groups claim that theirs is the correct way and the other ways are wrong.

We must note however, that there are other non-Christian religion that claims all forms of Christianity are ungodly.
If God is a just an loving god, these differences should not anger Him. He is just probably amused by these human foibles.

Answer 5

Basically Protestants disagreed with a lot of dogma that filled up the Roman Catholic Church, feeling that it superceded the display of faith in God. After Martin Luther, other theologians had diverging paths and all are different because of idea differences.

Answer 6

We don't believe in the Pope. We believe we are worthy enough to pray to God without anyone intervening for us. We believe that married clergy are okay. We believe that men and women are equal in the eyes of God. We believe that all religions that profess and worship the triune God are legitimate. We believe that religions that confess Jesus as the true son of God, the savior of mankind, and hold the Bible as God's word and teachings to the faithful are true religions. We believe that repeating prayers to saints are meaningless rituals and are contrary to the Bible's teachings. Other than these few things I could think of, (there's probably more) we're cool.

Answer 7

diff dreams

Answer 8

Both are forcing the God....!