How are Catholics and protestants different?

Answer 1

Catholic AnswerThe following two definitions are from A Catholic Dictionary, edited by Donald Attwater, 2nd Edition, revised

Catholicism. the system of faith and morals revealed by God to man through Jesus Christ, who found a catholic, i.e. universal, Church as the depository of that revelation and as the common ark of salvation for all; the ecclesiastical system and organization of that Church. The principal articles of faith of Catholicism are: the unity of God in three divine Persons (the Holy Trinity); the fall of Adam and the resulting original sin of all mankind; that sanctifying grace was given to man at the beginning, lost by Adam, restored by Jesus Christ; the incarnation, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in whom are united two natures, human and divine; the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church established by him; the immaculate conception, divine maternity and perpetual virginity of his mother, Mary; the real presence by transubstantiation of the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ in the Eucharist; his institution of seven sacraments for our salvation; the absolute need of grace for salvation; purgatory, the resurrection of the body and everlasting life in Heaven or Hell; the primacy of jurisdiction and the infallibility of the pope of Rome; the Mass a true and proper sacrifice; the lawfulness of the veneration of saints and their images; the authority of Tradition and Scripture; the necessity for salvation of membership of the Church, at least invisibly; the obligation of the moral law. The most obvious call of Catholicism on the attention of humankind is that it is the religion of God-become-man, and therefore it "calls for the whole personality, not merely pious feeling but also cool reason, and not reason only but also the practical will, and not only the inner man of the intelligence but also the outer man of the sensibility. Catholicism is according to its whole being the full and strong affirmation of the whole man in the complete sum of all life relations. It is the positive religion par excellence, essentially affirmation without subtraction, and in the full sense essentially thesis" (Karl Adam), as opposed to anti-thesis, conflict, contradiction and negation. Catholicism makes no claim to a monopoly of truth, goodness and beauty; it knows that man has an aptitude for the discovery of religious truths and moral values, that the True Light "enlightens every soul born into the world." But only in Catholic Christianity are religious truths found in their fullness, synthesized into a whole which gives a meaning to life, in God and his love for men. Catholic Christianity if the fulfilment of all those elements of truth found scattered and mixed with varying proportions of falsity, crudity and charlatanism throughout the myriad religions of man: it raises human beings to a supernatural state, making them "partakers of the divine nature."

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 to-day;: the latest and most devastation 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.

Answer 2

Catholic AnswerBecause they have completely different philosophies of the world, God, and mankind. The Catholic Church teaches that God came and redeemed the world, and that mankind has a choice: to either freely accept God and live according to His revealed teachings or to reject Him. Protestants can not all be grouped together, but on the whole, they feel that they have a God given right to say how they are going to respond to God. The Calvinist streak, which is very strong in protestantism teaches double predestination: some men are created for @#!*% and there is nothing you can do about it. The only way you can tell if you are predestined for heaven is if you are materially successful. Thus the Puritans, and the resulting United States are founded with a basic understanding that if you work hard and are successful, you are going to heaven. They have completely lost the sense of redemptive suffering and taking up their cross daily and following in Our Blessed Lord's footsteps. Other protestans do not have the Calvinist streak, but just feel that all you have to do is accept Our Blessed Lord as your personal Lord and Savior and that's it. Which is why Martin Luther inserted the word "alone" in St. Paul's verse about being saved by faith. They completely ignore St. James "faith without works is death" as even the devils believe in God - and tremble.

Answer 3

"What separates us as believers in Christ is much less than what unites us." (Pope John XXIII)

Almost all doctrine is completely agreed upon between Catholic Christians and other Christians.

Here is the joint declaration of justification by Catholics (1999), Lutherans (1999), and Methodists (2006):

By grace alone, in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping us and calling us to good works.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/documents/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_31101999_cath-luth-joint-declaration_en.html

The main difference seems to be the source of the authority that God has given humans in this world.

Protestants believe that:

+ The Bible is the inerrant "Word of God".

+ The Church is the body of Christ and the congregation is a member of this body through infant baptism and the Eucharist

+ Original sin remains a factor following baptism

+ The saints are at rest until the 6th Seal on the Scroll of Life is broken before the Tribulation; saints are unavailable as intermediaries for the intercession of sins

+ The Holy Spirit provides us with his Faith, from which we then produce Works of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit receives all the glory for God blessing works, rather than the free-will of mankind

+ Free-will in the spiritual sense, towards salvation, is a pure gift of the Holy Spirit; of the Holy Spirit's election, and not free-will of our own corrupt nature in original sin

+ Free-will, once it has been given as a gift of the Holy Spirit, can then be rejected or accepted, so falling from grace is possible

+ Conciliarism over papal infallibility

+ Sacramental union of the body and blood of Christ Jesus as literal & immediate; rather than a series of transitions: transubstantiation

+ Apostolic succession has equal authority among all twelve, 72, and etc... apostles appointed by Christ Jesus, and not Peter alone

+ Don't have separate approaches to Scripture and tradition; only those traditions and doctrines fit for canonization are of value towards salvation

+ Justified by the Holy Spirit's free gift of Faith, not by the free-will of Works

Catholics believe that God:

+ Established His Church with divine authority

+ Has passed this authority from person to person in an unbroken chain from the Apostles to the bishops of today

+ Gave the Church the deposit of Faith (not all of which was included in the Bible)

+ Uses the power of the Holy Spirit to preserve and deepen the understanding of this truth within the Church

+ Inspired the Church to write the documents that would become the New Testament

+ Inspired the Church to select which documents would be included in the Bible

+ Inspires the Church to properly interpret Scripture

For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/index.shtml

With love in Christ.

Answer 4

Because the Catholic Church was begun by Jesus Christ on St. Peter in the first century, guaranteed by Him as His Body, and He sent the Holy Spirit to guide it always. The protestant churches are so named because they were founded by various men fifteen centuries after Christ to protest Christ's Church, so they were founded on those individual men's ideas, and have no guarantee from Christ, nor guidance from the Holy Spirit.

Answer 5

Catholic Answer
Pretty simple, actually. Catholicism was revealed by God through His Son, Jesus Christ, who established His Church to be ruled over by His Apostles (St. Peter and his successors). Catholicism means that you love God, once you choose God, how you worship Him, and what you are to do to follow Him are pretty well laid out, and revealed by God, through His Church, which is His Mystical Body (read St. Paul). Protestant ways reject all this and say that it is up to each believer to determine how he, himself, is going to worship God. Each individual protestant is his own little pope, and God for that matter. Protestants do not believe that Our Blessed Lord actually changes them, thus all they have to do is to announce that they believe, and they are saved. Martin Luther says that a believe is a like a pile of manure that is smuggled into heaven because he is covered with snow - his evilness is hidden by the snow, which is Christ. Catholics believe that baptism, and the other sacraments really change us, that we are made adopted Sons of God, and that we are really changed by God's grace, and must live that life, and, as Our Blessed Lord says: Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)

Answer 6

Because Catholicism is a revealed religion. It was revealed by Jesus Christ, when He came to earth, taught His Apostles, suffered, died, and rose from the dead. He established His (one) Church on the Apostle Peter (Matthew 16:17-19) and guaranteed it until the end of the world. Protestantism is a heresy based on a denial of Christ's Church and posits that everything to be believed is in the Bible, which was written by the Catholic Church as part of its teaching. Protestants must then use a truncated Bible and their own individual interpretation as to what it means, instead of Christ's Church's interpretation of what it means. Thus, they splinter into, literally, thousands of different groups which all believe something a little bit different. As they were formed by individual men fifteen centuries after Christ left His Church in charge, they have no guarantees.

Answer 7

Catholics emphasize the Authority of Church, while Protestants emphasize the authority of the Holy Bible.