List five differences between Protestant and Roman Catholic Christians.?

Answer 1

1. CATHOLICS do directly pray to God (the Father) and Jesus (the son), but they also believe that you can pray to an intermediary on your behalf (Ex: praying to Mary, St. Teresa, St. Michael the Arch-Angel, your Guardian Angel, etc; whereas PROTESTANTS pray directly to God (the Father) and Jesus (the Son); Protestants do not believe in praying to/through an intermediary.
2. CATHOLICS believe that a person's good works account for something, in other words, they believe in contributing to the greater good. This has often been misunderstood and abused by some Catholics by thinking they can "buy" their way into heaven. PROTESTANTS think that a person is saved by the Grace of God alone. This too, has been often misunderstood and abused by some Protestants by thinking that being "saved" has been pre-determined and that a person's actions/good works account for nothing.
3. CATHOLICS celebrate communion at every chance they get: at every mass (whether it be Sunday or any other day) and believe the Eucharist to literally be the body of Christ; whereas most PROTESTANT faiths celebrate communion only at Easter in remembrance of the Last Supper and believe the Eucharist to be the symbolic body of Christ.
4. CATHOLICS believe that they need to confess their sins to a priest to get forgiveness; whereas PROTESTANTS believe that God/Jesus alone grants forgiveness of sins so it is not necessary to "confess" to a Priest.
5. CATHOLICS tend to have a belief in a variety of "mysteries" for lack of a better word which grant them specific outcomes. For example some of these "mysteries" include: the belief that if you go to mass on the first Friday of the month for nine months in a row, you will be "guarenteed" that the Blessed Mother Mary will greet you upon your death, the belief in Novenas which are specific prayers said for a specific number of days in order to arrive at a specific outcome, the belief in lighting a "blessed" candle to give your prayer an extra boost; the belief in "holy water," and the belief in saying "the rosary" which includs specific prayers said in a specific order a specific number of times. Why these acts "guarantee" a specific outcome is a "mystery." PROTESTANTS, on the other hand, do not believe in these "mysteries." They don't believe that by "doing X" will guarantee the outcome " Y".
6. (I know you only asked for five, but I couldn't resist). CATHOLICS now believe that Priests must take an oath of celebacy and not marry (by the way, this was not always the case; original Catholic priests were allowed to marry). Catholics also will not ordain women. Protestants do not believe that their clergy be celebate, and allow their ministers/pastors to marry. Many Protestant faiths also allow women to be pastors/ministers.
(Side Note: When I was in college in a Comparative Study of Religions course, I wrote a paper in which I argued that Catholic "mysteries" such as Novenas were no different than Wiccan spells.)

EDIT: Just curious: Why did Todd and I get a "Thumbs Down"? I thought (according to Community Guidelines), that "Thumbs Down" are suppose to be given if the answer is inflamatory, judgemental or completely unhelpful. Todd's answer is certainly not inflamatory nor judgmental. And, I made a point of not making a judgment on neither the Catholic nor Protestant faiths. If you disagree with an answer, that's fine; but why does disagreeing warrent a "Thumbs Down"?

Answer 2

well do you want real differences or the misconceptions of some of the other answers. One difference, Catholics believe the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist,Protestants symbolic. Misconception Catholics do not worship Mary. They would consider that idol worship. Difference two, celebent clergy,Catholic Priest celebent ,Protestant minister can marry.Misconception 2 Catholics do not worship the Pope, and by there interpretation of the bible he is in there, they believe Peter was the first Pope. Difference 3 they believe Mary remained a virgen but some Protestants including myself feel that may be possable. I know the bible speaks of Jesus having brothers but there was no word for a cousin or other family member at that time so brother was used. If Jesus had brothers why did he command from the cross the care of Mary to John. Difference 4 belief in Purgatory. Misconception purgatory is notin the bible, yes it is but not in the Protestant version.Difference 5 confession, While protestants do confess perse just not to a Priest.Misconception, Priests do not forgive sins they absolve sins and it is biblical, Jesus said to the apostles "Whatever you bind on earth I shall bind in heaven". There you go to the best of my ability. And I am a protestant just not a zealot, I can have fellowship with my Catholic brother and sisters. God Bless us all amen

Answer 3

Anglican and Episcopal are almost identical. Very heavy on ceromony, what a good friend of mine calls Catholic lite. Catholic is Catholic. THey follow what the Pope decides, and it's a very interesting part of Christianity to me. They do have some beliefs that other Christians have a problem with, (intercession thru a priest instead of on your own, praying thru the saints and Mary, the statues in the church, purgatory) but they are a branch of Christianity and have a lot of history.(Crusades were the Roman Catholic Church's thing) Lutherans are Christians who follow the teachings of Martin Luther. The one who nailed his famous letter to the church door way back when, not Dr King who was involved in the civil rights movement in the US.Methodists are pretty fundamental. Basic Christian beliefs, and I think Presbyterians believe in predestination. Coptic, I have no idea.

Answer 4

1) Catholics believe the Eucharist is (transubstantiation) the Body and Blood of Christ (John 6:35-66, Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:17-20, 1 Corinthians 10:16), whereas Protestants either believe communion is only a symbol or that Christ is in and around the bread and wine (consubstantiation).

2) Catholics believe they are the one true Church, according to apostolic succession; and that the Church was founded by Peter at Christ's command (Mt. 16:18-19). Protestants believe this verse differently and so they do not believe that the Church was founded by Peter and they do not have apostolic succession.

3) Catholics and some Protestants (but not most) believe that one can ask saints to intercede and pray on their behalf. For example, on earth one can ask a friend to pray for them, so can we ask our "friends" in heaven to pray for us. God grants prayers according to His will.

4) Catholics believe that Christ commanded us to confess our sins to the Church to seek forgiveness and absolution (Jn 20:22-23, 2 Cor 5:18-20, and 1 Jn 1:6-9). Protestants believe they can just confess sins in prayer to God.

5) Protestants believe in sola scriptura, that the Bible is the ultimate and only authority in matters of faith. Catholics believe that the truth is revealed through the Bible, sacred tradition, and Christ's Church (1 Corinthians 11:2, 2 Peter 1:20-21, Luke 10:16).

Answer 5

1. Catholics have communion and believe it is the body and blood of Christ. Protestants, if they do have a communion, believe it is just symbollic.
2. Protestants tend to only follow the bible word for word. Catholics believe it is the inspired word, and can be translated different ways.
3. Catholics believe Mary is the mother of God and can intercede for us in prayer. Protestants think this is wrong, and only pray to God himself.
4. Catholics have the Pope, who is the descendent of Saint Peter, the first priest. Protestants think the Pope is evil.
5. Catholics have Saints. Protestants do not.

How was that?

Answer 6

Different belief regarding what happens during communion.
Catholic (actual body and blood) Protestant (more symbolic)

Different view on how Christ's righteousness is applied: Catholic (infused) Protestant (imputed)

Different view on authority
Catholic (Pope and scripture) Protestant (scripture only)

Different view on afterlife
Catholic (purgatory intermediate state) Protestant (no purgatory)

Different view on Mary's role
Catholic (Mediatrix) Protestant (Blessed above women but no special spiritual significance)

I tried to just answer your question and I mean nothing inflammatory to either group.

Answer 7

The Five solas are five Latin phrases from the Protestant Reformation and summarize their basic theological beliefs in contrast to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church:

+ Sola scriptura ("by Scripture alone")
+ Sola fide ("by faith alone")
+ Sola gratia ("by grace alone")
+ Solus Christus ("Christ alone")
+ Soli Deo gloria ("glory to God alone")

With love in Christ.

Answer 8

From your question, I am guessing you might be roman catholic, hehehee since you BULKED all the Protestants together, but still separating the Catholic to just the Roman and not the Eastern Orthodoxies.

The churches most commonly associated with Protestantism can be divided along four fairly definitive lines:

Mainline Protestants - a North American phrase - are those who trace their lineage to Luther, Calvin, or Anglicanism. The doctrines of the Reformation are their doctrines. They include such denominations as Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and Methodists.

Anabaptists are a movement that developed from the Radical Reformation. Today, denominations such as Baptists, Pentecostals, Adventists, Brethren, Mennonites and Amish eschew infant baptism and see baptism as aligned with a demonstration of the gifts of the spirit.

Nontrinitarian movements reject the doctrine of the trinity. Today, they include such denominations as the Universalists, Unitarians, and some Quakers.

Restorationists are a more recent movement. Today, they include such denominations as the Latter-day Saints, and Jehovah's Witnesses.

Each of the 'denominations' are similar within each of the groupings, but in several ways EACH has its own theology. Each of them stemming from arguments of one or several edicts of Roman Orthodoxy.

Brief History...Constantine, the Roman Emperor in the early 4th Century, got fed up with all the DIFFERENT 'christian' groups all fighting amongst themselves, ordered that they define what Christianity WAS. One should note that ONLY the Pauline sects were invited to attend the orthodoxy councils, and that none of these early votes were hardly unamimous concerning their edicts. Here are a few of the Highlights and Some of the 'problems' with the Orthodoxy put out by the Church.

325CE Council of Nice Promotion of the Goodman: Christ is Divine. Which was in violation to the OT idoltry Law: Deut 4:15-16 "Since you saw no form on the day the the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire. beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of man or female..." The Nicean Council edict created ALOT of conflict for YEARS and many splinter sects at the time and hundreds of years LATER, and still today.

364CE Council of Laodicea ordered that religious observances were to be conducted on Sunday, not Saturday. This one is one of the BIG issues for the 7th day Adventists.

381CE First Council of Constantinople drew up a dogmatic statement on the Trinity and defined Holy Spirit as having the same divinity expressed for the Son by the Council of Nicaea 56 years earlier. Some of the protestant traditions still hold to the concepts of Trinity while others do not.

Some edicts that caused alot of problems were not from council descisions but edicts from the early Popes.

366CE Damasus I makes it heresy to question nature of Christ and other doctrinal points as decreed at Nicea.

380CE Theodosius reinforces Damasus I's decree and makes it illegal for believers to question church doctrine.

380 CE Theodosius condemns unbelievers as "demented and insane" and orders they "be smitten first by divine vengeance and secondly by retribution of our own initiative".

One should also not that the ONLY punishment at the time for 'heresy', which originally meant 'free thinking' in contrast to the Orthodoxy "the way made straight" put out by the Church, was DEATH. The early catholic church did use the roman legions to enforce their edicts on the OTHER 'christian' groups of the time period. Ephiphanius of Salamis wrote a heresiology in the 4th century denouncing 80 different sects.

By about 600 AD, the cathlolics had wiped out most of these OTHER groups and many of the pagani traditions of the area. Pope Gregory I, the declared reading and writing should only be taught to the clergy, thus starting what we know call the Dark Ages. He also order that several of the larger libraries of the time be put to the torch, 'so their secular knowledge would not interfer with the Orthodoxy."

It was almost a thousand years later, that people started the Rennisaince, RE-discovering alot of the knoledge. One example there was an archeological dig in egypt where they found blue prints for a steam engine, that they have dated to the first century AD. It wasn't 'rediscovered' until the 18th century with Robert Fulton.

Catholism has also been one of the BLOODEST sects that human have ever known. Much of Centural, South America, and many of the Polonecian Islands were depopulated as a result of the missionaries bring disease to their civilizations, as well as their theology.

The Inquistion or 'Burning Time' was is also a dark spot. Even the Bubonic plague was caused by the Catholics. There was an edict put out banning cats by the Church, because they 'were the minions of satans and witches." No cats, the rat population grew, and the disease spread.

Much of the hygiene and medical knowledge practiced by the Hellenic sect of Greece and Rome was destroyed by the Catholics in their zeal to spread their Orthodoxy. Alot of the herbalism that is now being re-discovered was in common practice prior to the Catholic Orthodoxy.

Though NOT was we know now as Protestantism, there have always been splinter sects that have disagreed with ORTHODOXY. Protestantism as we know it, stemmed from the 'reformation writings' of Martin Luther in the 16th century. Though without the 'reformation' of the protestants, the roman catholics might STILL be performing their masses in Latin, catholic women still covering their heads in church, and selling Indulgences--people would pay money to the church or a priest to get a 'get out of hell free card".

Hehhee this is just 'scratching the surface' for your question. The Rise and Evolution of Christianity is an INTERESTING saga.

Answer 9

I would like to congratulate you on the fact that you realize that both Protestants and Catholics are Christians. Many fundies deny that Catholics are such.
.

Answer 10

False beliefs of the Catholic church:

1) Salvation requires something more than faith.

2) Difference between clergy and laity.

3) Church tradition and the pope trump the Bible.

4) Priest stands between God and humans. The need to confess to a priest.

5) Sacraments vs. ordinances. Baptism and communion convey grace.

6) The need to re-crucify Christ in the mass on a regular basis.

7) Beatification of saints (Bible says all believers are saints).

8) History of persecution of Christians.

9) Immaculate conception (Mary was without sin).

10) Mary and saints intercede for us before God.

11) Veneration of religious artifacts and sites.

12) The pope; the hierarchy of bishops et al.

13) Indulgences, purgatory, limbo, etc.

That's enough.