What is the difference between a Christian and a Catholic church?

Answer 1

None, although the term can be used to describe the eastern churches as long as they have valid apostolic succession. It cannot be used to describe protestants as they have rejected the Church.

Answer 2

Roman Catholic answerThere is no difference, they are the same thing:

Christian. A name first given to the followers of our Lord at Antioch (Acts xi, 26). since the rise of Protestantism the name has been used in so many different senses as to have become almost meaningless: it may indicate a Catholic or a Unitarian, or even be applied to an infidel who displays some virtue which is associate with Christ. It may reasonably be applied to the members of all the ancient churches, whether in communion with the Holy See, or not, and to those Protestants who profess, explicitly or implicitly, the Nicene creed in its traditional interpretation. The Church puts no definite official meaning on the word, as she does on Catholic.

Protestantism. A generic name for those forms of Christianity derived from the teachings of those who revolted from the Catholic Church in the 16th century and for the principles characteristic of them. These were chiefly the sufficiency and supremacy of the Bible as the rule of faith; the total corruption and depravity of human nature by the Fall; the dependence of salvation solely on the merits of Christ (justification by faith) ; predestination to Heaven or Hell; the universal priesthood of all believers interpreted as an opposition to the divine appointment of an ordained priesthood and as a right to private interpretation of doctrine in general and the Bible in particular. The Hebrew Scriptures had a sudden and new importance; in particular, Calvinism, in its ultimate analysis, was an enlarged Judaism and Hebraism (for example, the idea that prosperity and success are tokens by which election can be recognized) is still a characteristic of much Protestantism, even when it has to a considerable extent repudiated the Old Testament. There followed from these the rejection of papal (and in some cases of episcopal) authority and the doctrines of the Mass as a sacrifice, the Real Presence, confession and penance, Purgatory, indulgences, the intercession of the saints, the meritoriousness and necessity of good works for salvation, etc. The principle which became ruling was that of private judgment and free choice which is supreme in popular Protestantism today: the latest and most devastating development is "Modernism," which in effect adopts historical statements of doctrines in faith and morals and chooses the interpretation to be put on them according to the ideas and taste of the individual concerned. In accordance with the spirit of the times, Protestantism is now pragmatist, ethical and naturalistic, and less and less upholds a divine revelation of absolute truth. The primary forms from which Protestantism derives are Lutheranism, Calvinism, Zwinglianism, and Anglicanism.

from A Catholic Dictionary, edited by Donald Attwater, second edition, revised.

Answer 3

Catholic AnswerNothing. There is no difference, the Catholic Church IS the Christian Church, and has been since Jesus Christ established it and send the Holy Spirit to guide It always. Some protestants use the word "Christian" to mean "not Catholic". This is an error that has been propagated recently when protestants have been trying to say that there has always been a Christian Church that is not the Catholic Church since the time of the Apostles, in order to legitimatize their claim to Christian after leaving the Church in the sixteenth century. Christian answer:

There are some significant differences in teaching of Christian churches and the Catholic Church. For example The Bible says:

1Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

So there is no need to confess sin to and ask for forgiveness from a priest. There is no evidence in the Bible to suggest that this is what the early church did

Click on related links for a short description of the differences between Christian and Catholic.

Answer 4

Roman Catholic AnswerHere are the definitions of the two words:

from Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J. Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980

Catholic Its original meaning of "general" or "universal" has taken on a variety of applications in the course of Christian history. First used by St. Ignatius of Antioch (A.D. 35-107) (Letter to the Smyrneans, 8, 2), it is now mainly used in five recognized senses: 1. The Catholic Church as distinct from Christian ecclesiastical bodies that do not recognize the papal primacy; 2. The Catholic faith as the belief of the universal body of the faithful, namely that which is believed "everywhere, always, and by all" (Vincentian Canon); 3. Orthodoxy as distinguished from what is heretical or schismatical; 4. The undivided Church before the Eastern Schism of 1054; thereafter the Eastern Church has called itself orthodox, in contrast with those Christian bodies which did not accept the definitions of Ephesus and Chalcedon on the divinity of Christ.

In general, today the term "Catholic" refers to those Christians who profess a continued tradition of faith and worship and who hold the Apostolic succession of bishops and priests since the time of Christ. (Etym. Latin catholicus, universal; Greek katholikos, universal.)

Catholicism. The faith, ritual and morals of the Roman Catholic Church as a historical reality, revealed in Jesus Christ and destined to endure until the end of time. It comprehends all that the Church teaches must be believed and lived out in order to be saved and, beyond salvation, in order to be sanctified. This system of doctrine, cultus, and practice is called Catholic (universal) because it is intended for all mankind, for all time, contains all that is necessary, and is suitable in every circumstance of human life.

Answer 5

Nothing; Catholics are Christians. You may want to reword your question.