Catholicism and Nondenominationalism?

Question

What are some similarities and differences between the two?
I know that both pass out the Host, but Catholics don't see it as a symbol of the Body of Christ; instead they see it as the Body of Christ through transubstantiation.

Thanks in advance for any information you might be able to provide!

Answer 1

There are a lot of differences between nondenominational Christianity and Catholic Christianity, but some of those differences depend on WHICH nondenominational church you're talking about. They don't have a central leader and some don't even have a common statement of belief, so it's exceptionally hard to pinpoint all the differences.

For one thing, nondenominational churches do NOT "pass out" a HOST. The word HOST means that Jesus is in the bread and nondenominational churches don't believe that at all. At best, they may perform some sort of communion ritual that involves bread and usually grape juice (not wine) that symbolizes the bread and wine that were set on the table at the Last Supper. They might do this monthly or once or twice a year, depending, and generally they don't care who partakes because they don't really think it means all that much. But it is a far, far, far cry from the Catholics' Holy Eucharist, in which bread and wine are consecrated and Jesus makes Himself present under the species of bread and wine.

I've already touched on the lack of government for nondenominationals. All seem to be pretty fundamentalist about Scriptures, but some go a little haywire in stating only the King James Bible is reliable or only the New Testament is valid or only the Gospels count or whatever. Catholicism is a bit more learned about Scripture and uses the oldest copies (Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew) -- ALL of the books, instead of picking out the ones that are most palatable.

Catholicism has seven sacraments and nondenominationals only have one -- baptism. Plus you have to choose baptism in a nondenominational or it doesn't count, whereas Catholics look at baptism as a grace from God that no person can earn or choose for themselves.

A number of nondenominationals oppress women, some to the point of making them sit in the back of the church silently and wear only dresses and never cut their hair. Women are welcomed and lauded as equal to men in the Catholic Church -- there are women saints and women have a huge role in the function of the Church.

Most nondenominationals look at serving others in terms of testifying about Christ and "bringing people to Jesus," while Catholic missions are as much about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, freeing the oppressed, ministering to the sick, etc. as witnessing about Christ.

You can go to Catholic worship every single day and know that you are hearing the same Scriptures as millions of other Catholics around the world. In three years time, you will have heard the Bible from cover to cover, som parts more than once. Nondenominationals only meet once or twice a week and the pastor talks about whatever moves him, rarely covering the WHOLE Bible, but often sticking to the same 100-250 sermons and just recycling them as he sees fit.

Of course, there are many more differences as well.

Answer 2

My experiences with non-denominationalism is that non-denominational churches/individuals still adopt a Protestant stance in their beliefs; they just claim to be "generic" and don't hold ties to any "established" denomination. Therefore, the basic differences between Catholicism and Protestantism, as a whole, is the answer.