CAtholic/Christian?

Question

What is the difference between someone saying they are a Christian instead of saying they are a Catholic? What's the difference?

Answer 1

This is because catholics aren't christians.

Answer 2

All Catholics are Christian but not all Christians are Catholic. Catholicism is just another denomination within the Christian faith, like Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, etc. I believe a lot has to do with the traditions and some of the differences in theology between the Roman Catholic church and the various protestant denominations. Both the Catholics and Protestants at one time focused more on their differences than their shared faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and savior. While there are still doctrinal differences, the focus on these differences, I believe, has diminishes over the years.

Answer 3

All Catholics are Christians but not all Christians are Catholic. There are minor differences between all the denominations of Christianity but the major ones that seperate Catholics from the Rest are:

1.) Catholics believe that the Pope can speak unerringly and with the same authority as the Bible
2.) Catholics believe Baptism is a right that welcomes a soul into the church and clenses a person of original sin.
3.) Have a lot more sacraments
4.) Believe in purgatory(without Biblical support)
5.) believe good works can get you into Heaven.

Check out http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/charts/denominations_beliefs.htm if you would like to know more.

Answer 4

Okay.
All Catholics are Christian.
All Christians are NOT Catholic.
: ) Sometimes that gets confusing.
A Christian is someone who follows the teachings of Christ. Christianity has many different sects: Protestant, Catholic, Baptist, etc. (It goes on and on).
Each of these different denominations is based on the same basic belief in Christ, but then they go off and have different detailed beliefs after that. They also have different practices (like Catholics praying the Rosary).
Plus, Catholics follow the Pope.
Hope this helps!

Answer 5

Christians who claim Catholics aren't Christians have a vested interest in saying so. Primarily, their legitimacy is threatened by a lack of historical connection to the early Christian community. They compensate for this by appealing to the authority of the Bible, primarily the New Testament, which was composed by that early Christian community quite some time after it was formed. But this limits their ability to respond to new social developments by requiring that something in the Bible must be interpreted to address the issue, now matter how distorted it has to be. The Catholic church simply meets in conclave, appeals to the Holy Spirit, and makes a pronouncement. This unfair advantage motivates the Evangelicals to denounce the machinations of the Catholic church as the un-Biblical "traditions of men". If they didn't do this, they would look too foolish.

Answer 6

Being "Christian" means that a believer follows the teachings of Christ, Jesus. Christianity accounts for one-third of the world's population today, i.e., every third person claims to be a "Christian".

Being a "Catholic" means belonging to the Catholic Church [Roman or Eastern Orthodox], which denomination accounts for about half of Christendom or Christianity.

Peace be with you.

Answer 7

Only about half of the Christians in the world are Catholics.

"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 8

None. Catholics are Christians.

Many people are ignorant of the historical development of Christianity. They think that because the Catholic Church does not exactly look like the early Church in the Bible that it is not the true Church. They don't realize that the Body of Christ is a living organism, and like any other living thing, it will not look the same as it did 2000 years ago, just as you do not look like your baby pictures even though you are the same person.
They think the Word of God is a book, and fail to remember that the Word LIVES - It became Flesh and dwelt among us, and He lives on in the Church - that Church is Christ on earth..
They often buy into simplistic anti-Catholic publications that reinforce their anti-Catholic attitudes, including the false idea that Catholics are not Christians.
Remember: America is historically anti-Catholic, and that attitude is part of the American pyschi.

All Christian churches today are offshoots of the Catholic Church. They broke away for various reason.

Answer 9

different branches of the same tree

the original tree is Catholic, then Orthodox branched off to it's own and split about a half a dozen ways
then centuries later Protestant branched off and they then branched into hundreds if not thousands of denominations

but we're still the same tree

Christianity teaches that we as Christians are grafted on to the truly original tree by Christ's salvation, the Jewish faith refered to as the Root

Answer 10

There is no differnece since Catholics are Christians. Given that there are so many denominations out there, people will tend to want to associate themselves with their denominations by claiming to be Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, whichever.

Answer 11

There are several christian churches out their. It is like saying you are a Ford vs saying you are a Taurus. Other Christian groups are: Lutheran/Baptist/orthodox etc