what is a catholisim?and how many other religions do christianity bear in it?

Answer 1

The Catholic Church is the Church founded on the Apostles by Jesus himself. The official birth of the Church is considered to be Pentecost with the gift of the Holy Spirit which Christ promised would lead unto all truth. If I understand your second question, there are literally 30,000 denominations out there. Most of those use a truncated form of the Old Testament that came out of the Reformation.

Answer 2

Catholicisim is the largest Christian denomination and is the sucessor institution to the Church that was founded by Christ (though the Orthodox Christians will also say that they are that too).

Christ founded Christianity, and it stayed underground and unorganized for several hundred years. After that, when the Church became legal they had a council at a place called Nicea to determine what the teachings of Christianity were. The Creed is not a full definition,of Christianity, it is the minimum standard of what is required for orthodoxy.

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son].
With the Father and the Son
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. AMEN.

Any church that subscribes to the Nicean Creed would be "Christian". There are probably several hundred different Christian denominations if you count all the little Protestant ones. This is a good list of them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations

The splits began in the Middle Ages when the Eastern Orthodox split from Rome... mostly over political issues rather than religious ones. During the Middle Ages all of Europe was Catholic.

With the start of the Renesance the Catholic Church was having problems. Since it was the only relgion in Europe it had achieved a lot of power, and lots of people were joining the Church just for the power and the money, not because they loved God. There were a lot of abuses and also a lot of political and economic changes going on, and these got involved too.

The result was that Martin Luther lead a revolt against the Roman Catholics. This was called "The Reformation" because the people who were PROTESTING against Rome ("Protestants") thought they were reforming the church. They threw out things they didn't like and started their own churches. Some threw out everything that wasn't directly mentioned in the Bible, some threw out lots of stuff but not others, some thew out everything.

There were some horrible wars between the Catholics (who started a "Counter-Reformation" to clean up many of the problems the Protestants were upset about) and the Protestants. The last of these wars was the "30 Years War" which so tore up Europe that everyone just stopped fighting.

(You can see from the third post in this chain that there are still some people who are angry and bigoted about this, even though it was 500 years ago.)

Since then the Protestant Churches have splintered too. The Methodists split out of the Anglicans, and the Baptists have split into many different groups.

The Protestants will say they worship in a manner closer to how Christ wanted people too.

The Catholics say they are the Church Christ founded because they can trace a direct line of Popes going back to Saint Peter himeself... (See it here) http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12272b.htm
and Jesus said to Peter "Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church". (The greek word for rock is "Petros" so it sounds like Peter.)

Answer 3

Since you used a small "c" on catholic in your question, I will give you a small c answer.

Catholic means universal, and therefore encompasses all believers in the Biblical Christ.

Generally catholics subscribe the the three ecumenical Creeds, follow a liturgical form of worship, and accept the Biblical truth of the sacraments being means of grace.

Thus "catholic" encompasses those Churches that are catholic in doctrine and practice: not only the Roman Catholic Church, but the Orthodox Churches, almost all Lutherans, Moravian, and a large percentage of Anglicans. Also all believers in other denominations.

This will not be a popular answer, but although the Bible does not use the word catholic, this is how it defines the Church.

Mark

Answer 4

Catholicism is the Church founded by Jesus Christ at Pentecost, around A.D. 33, thus making it the oldest institution on Earth.

During the 1600's reformers in the Church started a revolution which spawned the Protestant sects you see today, such as Baptist, Methodist, etc. There are now over 20,000 Protestant denominations, but still only ONE Catholic Church.

Answer 5

Roman Catholicism teaches it only has the fullness of the truth (Matt: 16, verses 18-19). Protestants separated themselves from many of each teachings and from the Pope. but are still regarded as our separated Christian brethren.

Answer 6

Catholicism is a false pagan religion invented by Constantine in 300 AD, and catholicism is not true biblical Christianity. Catholicism teaches a false gospel of works that leads to eternal hell (Galatians 1:6-9).

Works cannot save. The only way to be saved and go to heaven and not eternal hell is by beleving that Jesus, who is God, died for our sins on the cross and rose again (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

Answer 7

Catholicism is not from Christianity.

Christianity is the followers of Jesus Christ. There is only one body that believers are baptized into.

Answer 8

Hath God Said ???
Out of all denominations, there are those having a pure heart toward God : The elect, that is walking in Truth and Faith. I plea with the body of Christ to walk in newness of Spirit, and not the traditions and doctrines of man.

Those that have an ear to hear : Let them hear what
the Spirit is saying to the church ...


From the fall of Eden, Satan has been using deceit to
destroy the TRUTH of God. Every denomination has
their own separation from Truth. Some more than
others, but all are polluted with " doctrines " of
MAN.

The FIRST denomination : The denomination of the Serpent !
Eve believed the lie of Satan, which perverted the
Truth.

Genesis 2:16,17 And the Lord God commanded the man,
saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest
freely eat : But of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil, thou shalt not eat of it : For in the day
that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Genesis 3:1-6 Now the Serpent was more subtle than
any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.
And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye
shall not eat of every tree of the garden ??? And the
woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit
of the trees of the garden : But of the fruit of the
tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath
said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch
it, lest ye die.
Note : Eve added to the Word when she said : "
neither shall ye touch ".
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not
surely die : for God doth know that in the day ye eat
thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall
be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Note : Satan perverted Gods Truth, using enticement,
an enticement to be as a god.
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for
food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree
to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit
thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband
with her ; and he did eat.

Thus, the first denomination of the Serpent. Using
the Word of God and perverting it. Eve believed the
perverting. And since then, people have been
listening to "other voices" other than the voice of
the Spirit of God.
Some are saying : This is the way; some are saying ,
No, this is the way.
Jesus said : I AM the way , the Truth, and the Life ;
No man cometh to the Father ( the MIND of God ) except through Me !

Well, Satan wasn't through with perverting the Truth. After the disciples received Power from
on high, the Comforter, The Spirit of Truth, Satan began an attack to those weak in the flesh,
and enticed them with another way of looking at things ( hath God said ). The result was heretics
which changed the Truth into a lie, breaking away from The Way, establishing their own way, thus
creating another denomination. And we see this throughout the history of Christianity.

1 st. Corinthians 1 : 10 - 13 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus, that
ye speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you ; but that ye be perfectly
joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me
that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith ; I am of
Paul ; and I of Apollos : and I of Cephas ; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided : Was Paul
crucified for you ? Or were ye baptized in the name of Paul ?

Even the disciples were having problems with people trying to promote : " I belong to THIS church,
This way of teaching, This way of believing ". Hath God said ?

Now I could go into the history of ALL denominations, when they came forth, and from what doctrinal
" tree " they came from, but if I did, this would be too long of a post to hold your attention, so,
I will leave that up to you, but encourage you to dig deep, and find where your " Hath God said "
came from.

Revelations 18 : 1 - 4 And after these things I saw another angel come down from
heaven, having great power ; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he
cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen,
and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a
cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of
the wrath of her FORNICATION, and the kings of the earth have committed FORNICATION
with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her
delicacies. AND I HEARD ANOTHER VOICE FROM HEAVEN, SAYING, Come out of her MY
PEOPLE, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Saints, the time is short ! There isn't much more time to gain the " water of the
Word ", The revelations of Gods mind ! The Spirit of Truth should be your teacher,
Not the doctrines of men...! Dig into the Word and allow the Spirit of Truth lead
you into ALL Truth...

Come out from under the stronghold of the denominations and doctrines of man ! " Hath God said "...

Peace and Love...