What is the doctrinal differences between cathoilcs and protestants.?

Answer 1

"Although both Protestants and Roman Catholics share the common ground of being founded upon faith in Jesus Christ, there are significant differences between the two groups. From general observation, one can see contrasts in everything from the way that their clergymen dress, to the way their services are conducted. Unlike most Protestant churches, Catholic masses are conducted in a liturgical fashion, with much emphasis upon symbols, rituals and ceremony.
In Addition, the Catholic church has traditionally regulated the type of Bible translation used in the church. For centuries, the only version authorized for use was the Latin Vulgate, a translation from the original languages by Jerome, in around 400 A.D. This Bible reads very similar to Protestant translations, however with a major exception. The Catholic version contains the Apocrypha, a collection of seven complete books and a few additions to others. These are considered non-inspired writings written between the period of the Old and New Testaments. Only one is actually dated. Two books, Judith and Tobit tell of the Assyrian and Babylonian invasions. Two more, 1st and 2nd Maccabees record the Jewish war of independence of around 165 B.C. Two more, Ecclesiasticus and Wisdom of Solomon, are considered books of wisdom. Another is an addendum to Jeremiah, and there are short additions to Esther and Daniel. The Protestants do not include them because they have never met the criteria for divine inspiration. Further, the writings of Jewish historian Josephus (in 90 A.D.) indicated that the Jews did not accept the books of the Apocrypha as a part of their scriptures, and although Jesus and the Apostles quoted frequently and accurately from almost every other Old Testament book, never once did they quote from the Apocrypha. Even if accepted, it would not alter the message of the New Testament, and it doesn't appear that much, if any, of the doctrines of the Catholic church had any foundation from the Apocrypha
As we have said, there are many differences worth noting between Protestants and Catholics. However, the main distinction that sets them apart is the authority to which they look for their core beliefs. To help you understand this, let's first explain some of the detail about their origin in church history.
Catholic comes from the Greek, KATHOLIKOS, which means "throughout the whole, or universal," and was used as a general reference to the entire Christian church until the reformation period. However, as early as the fourth century, the Catholic church began adopting traditions and beliefs which were never a part of original Christianity as seen in the New Testament. It appears that many of these new ideas first emerged from the era of the Roman Emperor, Constantine who ruled from 313 to 337 A.D."

for more, please see the link below.

Catholics and Protestants believe and do many of the same things, but they also believe and do some things differently. Some differences are trivial, but some differences deal with the foundational issues.

CATHOLIC CHURCH HISTORY:
The Catholic Church has a long history over which time it has changed in many ways, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. The history of the Catholic Church can be traced back to the city of Rome about 300 years after Jesus.

PROTESTANT CHURCH HISTORY
Protestant Christianity began in the 1500's when a group of people began to protest against some of the wrong things they believed the Catholic Church was doing and teaching. These protesters became separated from the Catholic Church and formed their own Church which was more inline with what they believed was the truth. Just like the Catholic Church, Protestant Churches are not perfect, they have also changed many times in many ways.

THE MAIN ISSUE:
Through the history of the Catholic Church, Catholics have believed and done some things differently to what Protestants believe the Bible has clearly instructed. Protestants believe this is a result of Catholics believing what certain individuals and traditions have said, rather than what God has said through the Bible. The problem of traditions becoming more important than God's truth is something all religions have at some time been guilty of, including Protestants. The Catholic Church has admitted to some of the errors it has been guilty of in the past, and has changed. But there are still some beliefs and practices that Protestants would say are against what the Bible teaches.

1) BIBLE
Historically Catholics have not encouraged people to study the Bible for themselves, in fact reading the Bible was at one time banned by the Church. Only certain people were allowed to do so. People that did read, or spread the Bible, were even killed by the Catholic Church, like William Tyndale who was one of the first people to translate the Bible into English. Such practices have been stopped.

The Catholic Church has also added to the Bible writings which Protestants say should not be there. Including those called the apocryphal books, which are writings that have not been approved as inspired by God. They are not referred to as Scripture by Jesus or His disciples.

At one time almost all Catholic Church services were entirely in the Latin language, and only a few people could understand Latin. This is no longer done in most Catholic Churches.

2) THE VIRGIN MARY
Mary the physical mother of Jesus is of great importance to Catholics, but the Bible says very little about Mary. Here is a summary of what the Bible says about her:

The Bible describes Mary as the physical mother of Jesus, and that she was made pregnant by God. (Matthew 1:16, Luke 1:26-42, Luke 2:5-19) Mary visited her cousin Elisabeth (Luke 1:39-56) Mary attended a feast at Jerusalem with her family. (Luke 2:48-51) Mary is present at a marriage feast. (John 2:1-10) Mary looked for Jesus when He was teaching inside a house (Matthew 12:46-47, Mark 3:31, Luke 8:19). Mary went to see Jesus at the cross (John 19:25-27). Mary was committed to the care of Jesus' disciple John. (John 19:27) Mary lived with the disciples in Jerusalem for a while (Acts 1:14).

So everything Catholics say about Mary that is not in the Bible has been made up by people, and are based on tradition rather than the truth revealed to us God's Word. Nowhere does the Bible say Mary was greater than any other Christian, she was just a human like all of us. The Bible does not say people should worship Mary or pray to Mary. The Bible does not say Mary prays for us.

Some Catholics may believe and teach that Mary acts as a mediator between people and God, but this is the opposite to the Bible which says, Jesus is only mediator between God and mankind. (1 Timothy 2:5)

A mediator is somebody that negotiates a solution between two people that are divided because of some problem.

Praying to Mary, singing to Mary, and bowing down or kissing statues of Mary, might even be classed as a form of Idol worship, which Jesus said was wrong. For He said we must worship and serve God alone (Matthew 4:10). And Mary was a person.

Mary is not the gate of heaven as some Catholics say, for Jesus Himself said that He is the way and nobody comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). And the Bible also says, there is no other name except that of Jesus by which we are saved (Acts 4:12).

A popular belief among Catholics is that Mary never did any sin, but the Bible says everyone has sinned (Romans 5:12-13, 1 Kings 8:46, 1 John 1:8-10, Psalm 53:3). Mary even admitted she needed a Saviour for she called God her Saviour (Luke 1:46-47). Jesus is the only person who has not sinned, and Jesus was God.

Some Catholics believe Mary never had any other children. But the Bible says Mary did have other children (Matthew 13:55-56).

Some Catholics often call Mary the mother of God, but God does not have a mother, for God and Jesus already existed before Mary existed (Isaiah 43:10). Mary was not God's mother, but simply a channel through which Jesus entered this physical world.

3) THE POPE
The Pope is a man Catholics have claimed is a mediator between God and mankind. But as it has been said Jesus is the only mediator between God and mankind (1 Timothy 2:5). Catholics also claim the Pope is the head of the Church on earth, but the Bible says Jesus is the head of the Church (Colossians 1:18, Ephesians 1:22, Colossians 2:9-10). We should not give to any man the honour that belongs to Jesus alone.

4) CONFESSION
It is often believed among Catholics that a certain group of people called priests, have the power and authority to forgive sins. So sins must be confessed to priests. But such beliefs are the opposite of what is found in the Bible, which says Jesus has the power to forgive sins (Matthew 9:6). Also, no human priest is a mediator between God and man. The Bible also teaches we can ask God ourselves for forgiveness, and He promises to forgive us and cleanse us (1 John 1:9). Peter also said in the Bible, that through Jesus name, whoever believes in Him will receive forgiveness of their sins (Acts 10:43). The Bible does not teach that today there should be a special class of people called priests, for God sees all Christians as priests (1 Peter 2:9).

5) PENANCE
Catholics generally believe sin causes spiritual penalties, and not all of these penalties are removed even if the guilt of a sin has been forgiven. They believe these remaining penalties can be removed or reduced by penance, which involves doing good works. What these good works are is decided by the priest after a confession. According to Catholic beliefs any remaining penalties will be paid by suffering in a place called purgatory after death.

However the Bible does not say anything about penance, God does not demand such things for the forgiveness of sins. God's forgiveness is a free gift we receive by turning away from our wrong ways and accepting it through believing in Jesus as our Lord (Galatians 2:16, Romans 1:17). According to the Bible good works do not make a person a Christian, but good works should be the sign of a person who is a Christian. Good works are the result of becoming a Christian. And we become a Christian by turning away from sin and turning our lives over to Jesus."

for more, please see link 2

for even more, see links 3, 4 and 5 (which has a nice summary chart.)

Regarding transubstantiation, some Protestants have a "distinction without a difference" belief in it:

"Regarding Lutherans and the Lord's Supper, we confess that we donot receive only bread and wine only to remember Christ's sacrifice, but that miraculously we receive the very body and blood of Christ. Through eating and drinking this Supper sins are forgiven, faith is strengthened, and we are joined ever more closely with our Savior. Our teaching is also that we do receive the earthly elements of bread and wine; they are not changed (transubstantiated--which is the Roman Catholic teaching) to body and blood, but are present in communion with the body and blood of Christ>"

Answer 2

Depends on which Protestants you're talking about.

The biggest doctrinal difference is that Protestants believe man is redeemed through faith alone. Catholicism requires both faith and good works.

No Protestants recognize the Pope, or Bishop of Rome, as the successor of St. Peter and head of Christ's one, holy and apostolic Church, which is the Catholic doctrine.

Anglicans or Episcopalians are, as far as I know, otherwise similar to Catholics -- the Archbishop of Canterbury is the head of their Church.

The biggest historical difference between C'ism and P'ism was in INDIVIDUAL INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. P's think that's where it's at. C's believe such interpretation is best effected through Church doctrines.

Catholic religious -- priests, monks, and nuns -- are celibate. The Protestants do not require their ministers to be so.

In Catholicism, the priest is an intermediary between the congregation and God and administers the sacraments. In Protestantism, the minister is more an administrator for the congregation, who pray directly to God, not through a priest.

Catholics recognize 7 sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation (affirming one's belief at the age of 14), the Holy Eucharist (Communion), Penance (confession and forgiveness of sin), Matrimony (marriage), Holy Orders (becoming a priest), and Extreme Unction (rites for the dying).

Baptism, Matrimony and the Holy Eucharist are the only ones of these rites acknowledged as SACRAMENTS by most P'tants, and some of the others may not even be performed at all, depending on the denomination.

Catholics baptize infants. Most Protestants go for adult baptism. Personally, I think full immersion would be cool in a river or other natural setting, just like Jesus, rather than a stupid plastic hot tub.

The Catholic sacrament of Penance is generally replaced in P'ism by a direct private dialog of repentance with the Almighty. Catholics receive "absolution" for their sins from the confessing priest upon profession of sincere repentance and perform "penance" (currently, prayer; historically, might have included public humbling, wearing a hair shirt, etc.) Once again we see the difference between the faiths re the role of the "professional" religious person in them.

That's the serious stuff... should get you started. Now, less than serious, the closest the Catholics ever got to a televangelist was Bishop Sheen, back in the 50s and early 60s. He was kind of the Perry Como of religion, conducting a bull session rather than a fire and brimstone exhortation to seek salvation and send money, not necessarily in that order.

Answer 3

This is probably a bit simplified but here are the big ones. I've tried to be non-biased.

Transubstantiation: Catholics believe that the wafer and wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus. Protestants believe that they are powerful symbols, but not actually transformed into the body and blood.

Marriage of Priests: Catholics believe that priests should remain celibate while Protestants believe that it is not necessary. In fact they believe that it can help a priest to be married because then he/she can relate to his/her parishioners better when they have marital problems.

Gender of Priests: Catholics believe that only men should be priests. Nuns should be respected and have their own purposes, but the prieshood is for men alone. Protestants (in some cases only recently) have opened the priesthood (or whatever each particular denomination calls them) to people of both genders.

Role of Priests: In Catholicism the priest is essential to the salvation of the soul (confession and administering of the sacraments are big parts of it). The priest acts like a go-between between the person and God. For Protestants, priests are not always necessary. Many of them value the priest as a person knowledgeable about theology, or as a person with a good moral compass, but he is not necessary for salvation. That is between each person and God.

Back in the day there were more (like the Catholic service was always in Latin, a language few spoke, and Protestant services were in the common language of the people--or how reading the Bible was not thought important in Catholicism because the priest was supposed to do that for you and then educate you on what you needed to do, but in Protestantism reading the Bible was essential for each person to learn about God on his/her own.) But a lot of those differences are not in effect anymore. There are also ones that aren't as major--like that role of Mary. I think someone covered that already. Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Catholics believe that you need an intercessor to gain forgiveness i.e. a priest which you must make confession to. As well, they used to inforce that only priests could read biblical texts. Protestants believe that you can gain forgiveness by simply asking for it yourself, and they also do not put emphasis on the Virgin Mary/Saints or insist on prayer to them. Of course Mary played a pivotal part in Christianity and deserves respect, but she does not deserve the worship that catholics give by praying to her. This is spoken against in the bible.

Answer 5

From the perspective of a protestant raised atheist

The pope is a head of state (of the Vatican). He has no role as "father" nor does he have a hotline to god.

Protestants pray directly to God, not through saints or clerics.

Protestants don't believe in transubstantiation. wafers remain bread and wine remains wine.

They don't believe in purgatory, limbo and intermediate places. Protestant hell is full of fire and brimstone.

Protestants disapprove of statues of religious figures, both for reasons of idolatry and aesthetic taste.

Protestants have a much greater propensity to criticise their clerics and tell them they are wrong.

In general terms, they are not expected to do what clerics tell them.

The roman catholic church has a long tradition of influencing political elections from the pulpit

Answer 6

Luthers reformation says that the pope is not infallable. Confession is not necessary, Mary is not to be worshipped, priests cannot abolve sin. and works are more important than faith.

Answer 7

a protestant priest wont hold his hand out for money.