What is the most important difference between Protestants and Catholics?

Question

For me there will be the the Eucharist which Christ supreme gift of Himself to nourish us so that we could make it to the heavenly kingdom, as he strengthen us to combat sins and Satan by his own precious body and blood.

Answer 1

Where should we start. Okay.

The Catholic church says you can't be saved unless you are a Catholic.

The Catholic church says it is the one and only true church.

The Catholic church makes all it's members take part in the sacraments which are totally unbiblical.

The Catholic church has you confess to priests instead of directly to God.

The Catholic church baptises infants which is unbiblical.

The Catholic church worships idols and relics. Examples are people in the Bible besides Jesus. They worship angels and pray to statues.

The Catholic church believes in purgatory which is unbiblical.

The Catholic church makes the priesthood a proffession when the Bible says that every Born Again Christian is a priest.

The Catholic church makes it's priests and nuns take an oath of celibacy when this oath should only be taken by those whom God has given the gift to do so.

The Catholic church says that you are saved when you are water baptised as an infant.

I think all of those are huge important differences. I am not a Protestant although I think that they understand the Bible a little better than the Catholics.

Answer 2

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

If people stuck with catholicism we wouldn't have the 1001 DIY religions we have now and we wouldn't as a consequence be moving further away from the truth.

In short.
Catholics = hopes and dreams
protestants=ways and means.

Below are what Catholics believe and the verses the refute it from a Christian stand point:

Papal Succession: The concept that Jesus gave authority to Peter passed on through each Pope

Visit: Eph. 1:22 & 4:15; 1 Corinthians 10:4; Deut 32:2,3; Psalm 62:1,3; 1 Peter 2:7

Tradition is above the bible: The understanding that the scripture must be interpreted by the church and placed along side the decrees of church councils to be rightly understood

Visit: Jn 17:17 2 Tim 3:16; Jn 5:39; 2 Tim 2:15; Jn 16:7-13

Confession: The belief that an earthly priest is the mediator between God and man

Visit: 1 Tim 2:5; Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 John 1:9

Purgatory: unworthy of heaven but not evil enough to deserve hell.

Visit: Ps 6:5 & 115:17; Eccl 9:5; Jn 11:11-14 also Heb 4:15; Eph 2:8; Rom 3:25-

Very important difference is the different views on human nature,catholics believe people are basically good and that if you are genuinely sorry then God will forgive you your sins.

Luther on the other hand believed mans nature to be inherently flawed and he maintained that because God made man that way man shouldnt have to apoligise for his actions,hence no confession

During the Reformation, did the Protestants "re-evaluate" all the deutero-canonical and apocryphal Christian writings such as the Gospel of St. James, the Acts of St. Paul, the Apocalypse of St. Peter, the Gospel of St. Mary Magdalene, the Gospel of St. Thomas and the myriad of other writings from the first and second centuries of the Christianity? No. The Protestants accepted the New Testament as defined by the Catholic Church in the late 4th century. Why accept the Canon as defined and preserved by the Catholic Church yet not accept the other teachings of this same Church?

Answer 3

I was born a Catholic, and practiced catholicism up until the most devastating time in my life. I needed strength, faith and peace. A family member had a terminal illness. I went to Mass, lit candles, said the Rosary and continued to be empty and full of fear. When I met a lovely Christian lady a few months later, she witnessed to me and then asked me if I wanted to be "Born Again" . I jumped at the chance. My life was never the same. I left that dead ole Catholic Church and never looked back. The joy from worship and to hear the TRUE Word of God and the LOVE. Catholics have no idea what agape love is..love for their brethren. There is no comparison in the two.They keep Jesus on the Cross and miss out on all the Glory of the Resurrection. I don;t want to trash all Catholics but I rally feel bad for the darkenss they walk in. I am friends with 2 Priests and they both tell me I know the Bible better than they do. They are so focused on all the man made stuff, they miss out on the Word of God. It's sad. I know the Catholics made a few strides the past few years. they took the focus off of Mary, finally. I love Mary, too as the mother of my Lord and Savior but what they were teaching was just plain idolatry. Then there is LIMBO. Oh, my..could there be anything more bogus? Millions of little babies floating around for all eternity in a mythical place called LIMBO. That's too sick for words. So, as long as the Catholic Church focuses on their own man made dogma that is subject to change and disregard the Bible's teachings which are the same yesterday, today and forever they will be teaching falsehoods. They may have the best of intentions but the Bibles says, "having a form of Godliness but denying the power"... That's the Catholic Church. Sorry if I offended anyone, but I been there and I feel qualified to criticize and hopefully to cause someone to think.

Answer 4

The Eucharist is definately the center and pinnacle of our faith, Christ most Holy presence, in the flesh and offered to me.
But I must add the tradition, the apostolic succesion and the liturgy which are all part of our Church and it's importance to each of us. These are all missed out by the Protestant brothers and sisters out there.
These are the differences, God bless and have a great day.

Answer 5

I am from the U.S. Most of the time all of our denominations get along....there is even non-denominational, claiming to be of no denomination, just Christian. I am Baptist. I just thought it was an interesting question I have wondered for a long time myself. I have heard of Catholics and Protestants fighting over this. I guess the biggest question would be why the fighting?
I believe that Jesus is the high priest and he is the mediator. The last covenant to be kept. Only through Jesus can you come to know God.
Not through angels or the Virgin, but through Jesus Christ.
That is what we are taught.

Answer 6

I think the biggest difference is actually the source of where belief comes from what the two groups view as their source of doctorine. The Catholic church views both scripture and tradition as equally viable sources of sound doctrine. On the other hand one of the guiding principles of the Protestant reformation is the idea of sola scriptura. This belief holds that scripture and only scripture is the source for religious doctorine. The other considerible difference between the two groups such as view on the Euchrists, Maryology, and beafication of the saints arises from the difference between Protestants and Catholics go to find their doctrinal beliefs.

Answer 7

The Sacrifice of the Mass and about the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist

Answer 8

The main differences I see is that they pray to saints and to the Virgin mother. The one thing that is my pet peeve about this religion is that they withhold communion from non-Catholics. I don't recall Christ saying anything about Catholics only are welcome to take this bread and eat it in remembrance of me. Why must they set themselves up as being better than the rest of us who believe and have a rich relationship with Christ. Judge not lest ye be judged.
Blessed Be

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.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/documents/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_31101999_cath-luth-joint-declaration_en.html

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.

For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/index.htm

With love in Christ.

Answer 10

The Pope, who is not infallable all the time, only when he is speaking on topics of Morality and the Catholic Faith

Blessed Virgin Mary is NOT worshiped, she is thanked and honored as the one person in history God asked to be perfectly pure so as to be a vessel for Himself. We try to emmulate her.

But I agree with you, The Eucharist is the biggest misunderstanding and sticking point. Which is odd because how could you take every other word litterally but when He said, "Eat My Body, Drink My Blood" you assume he was using a metephor?