Question about Christianity?

Question

Catholic and protestant teaching/belief are very similar but also very different.

Question I have for Catholics is what happens if you accept christ and your saviour and are baptised.

If you dont go to mass and as such dont partake of the Eucarist yet believe you have a relationship with Christ, pray to him love him, study about him etc.

Question is what do you believe happens to that person when they die. Likewise what is the difference if you go to mass every week and go to confession.

Further as far as I can tell in the catholic church the emphasis is worship and receiving grace through the sacraments. In the protestant churches it appears to be community, worship and in some aspects learning or being thought (sometimes long) sermons.

Lets not make it a bashing session and please dont respond if you are going to make stupid assumptions based on what your buddy said.

Answer 1

Catholic and Protestant belief/teaching are not very similar at all. In fact, the beliefs/teachings of one Protestant denomination are often not very similar to those of another Protestant denomination. Protestantism in general has rejected so many core beliefs of the original Church founded by Christ that no Apostle would recognize it as Christianity. Christianity without the sacraments? Unbelievable! Christianity without the Eucharist? Impossible! Christianity without the priesthood? Inconceivable! Christianity without unity? An outright rejection of the stated will of God!

You can have a relationship with Christ on your own terms, or on His terms. "Finding a personal relationship with Jesus" has a nice ring to it, but such an idea is not found anywhere in the Bible. It is a modern tradition of men.

The Bible speaks of the Church, describing it as "the foundation of truth". Protestantism says "We reject the Church. Our foundation of truth will be a book compiled under the authority of the same Church whose authority we are rejecting. And, we'll only accept the parts of the book we like". A modern tradition of men, never heard of until a few hundred years ago. The Bible says that the Church Christ founded has full authority to teach in His name. Protestantism says "we accept no authority except the Bible". But of course the Bible must be interpreted, so they are really saying "we accept no authority except our own interpretations of the Bible", which really means "we accept no authority but ourselves". No wonder doctrinal chaos reigns!

The Bible says that unless you receive the Eucharist you have no life within you. Protestantism says, "its just a symbolic gesture, no big deal".

The Bible says you cannot enter the kingdom unless you are reborn through water and the Spirit, in the holy sacrament of baptism. Protestantism says, "it's just a symbolic gesture".

The Bible says that when a priest forgives your sins, you are forgiven them. Protestantism says , "we don't like to confess through a priest. We'll do it our way and God will just have to accept that".

In fact, all the aspects you listed above as characterizing Catholic vs. Protestant approaches to Christianity are important aspects of Catholicism - worship, grace, the sacraments, the relationship with Christ, community, and teaching. ALL of this, and more, is essential for living the full Christian life, and all of it contributes to our acceptance of the free gift of salvation. This is full Christianity, Christianity as known and practiced by all Christians for 1,500 years after Christ. The problem is the plague of unauthorized, watered-down, manmade semi-Christian churches founded since then, which have destroyed the unity that Christ said would be the mark of His Church. "That they all may be ONE, even as my heavenly Father and I are ONE".

Answer 2

Where the Bishop is, there let the multitude of believers be;
even as where Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church'' Ignatius of Antioch, 1st c. A.D

Seek knowledge in Catholicism.







The authority of the Church rests on three pillars:


Scripture: The Bible is the inerrant word of God and is to be read as the earliest Christians read it: in the light of Tradition and under the guidance of those ordained to teach. The Books of the Old Testament were put together by the Hebrews in the Septuagint (ca 300 B.C.), which includes the seven Books called "Deuterocanonical" by Catholics and "Apocryphal" by Protestants, and was the Old Testament used by the Apostles. The Books of the New Testament were made canonical over time and were first listed over 300 years after the Resurrection.

Tradition: the teachings which the Church has preserved and passed down from Christ, His Apostles, and the unanimous teachings of the early Church Fathers (1 Corinthians 11:2, 2 Thessalonians 2:15, 2 Thessalonians 3:6).



Magisterium: the teaching authority of the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The teachings of Catholic hierarchs have three different levels of fallibility:





The Church has 7 Sacraments -- "outward signs of invisible grace" and media of sanctifying grace. The Sacraments were given to us by Christ so that we may receive His grace and become more like Him.

Answer 3

"If you dont go to mass and as such dont partake of the Eucarist yet believe you have a relationship with Christ, pray to him love him, study about him etc."

This is contradictory. If you don't go to Mass and partake of the Eucharist then you do not have a full, real, and true relationship with Christ.
Catholicism was founded by Christ. Catholics do/believe what the Apostles did/believed and worship the way the Apostles worshipped.

Answer 4

It is the general consensus that Catholics put more emphasis on rules and attendance and sacraments and things like that. Lots of times priests will say that's what's important to large groups of people. But often if you talk to Catholic priests one-on-one and specifically ask them, "What's more important, going to church and fulfilling the sacraments or living a good life and generally being kind?" they will most likely respond the latter. I think the sacraments and mass and the Eucharist offer a way for people to get on the right track in terms of finding their religion, but are not the most important things to God and the Catholic hierarchy recognizes that.

Answer 5

This issue really boils down to what the true gospel is, and believing it.

If we agree the gospel is "salvation knowledge" then anything else a person believes as required or necessary to do in order to be saved is a false gospel.

Also, anything "added" to the gospel that is not a part of the gospel, falsifies the gospel.

The pope, back in 2001, declared that only Catholics could have salvation.

This means that everyone who believes the gospel, but is not Catholic, loses out on salvation because they are not a member of the Catholic church.

Is this therefore a false gospel? Looks like it to me.

.

Answer 6

You're off to a good start getting baptised and accepting Christ as your Saviour. The Bible doesn't say that you need to attend mass to go to Heaven but it does say that you need to recieve Holy Communion every Sunday (health permiting).

Because of our sinful human nature,we are tempted at
times to think,“I don’t need to take Communion. I just don’t
feel like it.”But when we feel this way,we need to realize that in the Lord’s Supper,the holy God of God,and Light of Light,very God of very God, is coming among us,under the bread and wine,to be with us,to join Himself to us,to forgive,renew and strengthen us. In the Words of Institution ijt clearing states "Do this for the remeberance of Me," which is what Jesus said at his Last Supper before he was betrayed.

Praying to God is escential in keeping a good and close relationship with him. Confession is also essential whether it be at home or in your church. God will forgive you all of your sins and cleanse you of all unrightouesness. Confession has two parts.First,that we confess our sins,and
second, that we receive absolution, that is, forgiveness, from the priest as from God Himself,not doubting, but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven.

In the end i think that a person with the descriptions that you described will most likely go to heaven.

John 3:16 (American Standard Version)
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Answer 7

I know some catholics ( my husband and expartner) believe being baptised as an invant and taking comunion is all they need.
as far as I know you must be born again of the spirit and know Jesus. I felt there was some thing missing untill I gave myself compleatly to God and knew I was boirn again but my catholic partner could not understand he sead as long as I went to church that was all that mattered.
unfortunatly many who think they are saved through Jesus are not as he will say I do not know you