What common belief does roman Catholics Protestants and Eastern Orthodox followers share?

Answer 1

They are all Christians. Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox share a belief in the Trinity, Christ's deity, and basic doctrines such as Christ's Virgin birth. This puts the three main branches of Christianity in a separate category than the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses, the United Pentecostal Church, and the Unitarians, who each deny the Trinity and Christ's deity, or else redefine them in radically different ways. Protestantism and Orthodoxy largely agree against Catholicism on the following points: * Both Protestants and Orthodox agree that the Roman Pope is not infallible. Most Protestants no longer see any reason for the Papacy to continue to exist as an institution, while Orthodox are willing to give the Pope a "primacy of honor" due to the historical importance of Rome as a Christian center. But both agree that the Pope has no legitimate authority to manage other Churches. * Neither religion has a defined belief in Purgatory, the supposed in-between state where imperfect souls suffer to atone for their sins. Protestants tend to regard Purgatory as a heresy since they see it as a denial of the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice. Orthodox tend to see Purgatory as a mere speculation unworthy of the status of dogma. * Orthodoxy does not believe in "original sin," the inherited guilt that humanity has due to Adam and Eve's sin. With the rise of evangelical Protestantism, which generally practices adult baptism and believes in an "age of accountability" when children become moral agents capable of being guilty of sin, the concept of "original sin" no longer plays a significant role in much of Protestantism, although the Reformers did speak of it. * Orthodoxy places a great deal of emphasis on the concept of "theosis," the gradual process where human beings are spiritually transformed into God's likeness, as typified by Christ. "God became man so man could become God" expresses this concept (although one must be careful to note that this does mean that men merge monistically with the deity). In comparison, evangelical Protestants place an increasing amount of emphasis on a concept called Sanctification, the process whereby the Holy Spirit transforms a believer into the image and likeness of Christ. While there are differences in terminology between evangelical Protestants and Orthodox on this issue, the two doctrines are striking in their similarly and provide the occasion for rich discussion between the two groups. Catholicism, on the other hand, places much more emphasis on man being redeemed from a fallen state, with the idea being that redemption restores us to a primeval innocence we lost in the Garden of Eden. Evangelical Protestants speak of both redemption and sanctification, and so seem to bridge the gulf between Catholicism and Orthodoxy on this issue. * The Orthodox use the original version of the Nicene Creed which says that the Holy Spirit proceeds only from the Father. The Roman Catholic Church edited this creed in 1054 A.D. to say that the Spirit also proceeds from the Son. This addition prompted the schism between Rome and Constantinople. Protestants have tended to use the Catholic version of the Creed, if they use the creed at all, and have followed Catholicism's tendency to emphasis the Father and the Son more than the Holy Spirit. In recent decades, however, Protestants have come to emphasize the Holy Spirit more. * The Eastern Orthodox continue to baptize by full immersion, like the fastest-growing Protestant groups. However, they baptize babies, which many Protestant traditions do not do (although some do). * Eastern Orthodoxy and evangelical Protestantism seem to both emphasize Christ's risen, gloried state and His active spiritual presence. By contrast, Catholicism seems to emphasize Christ's death and physical agonies on the cross. The Catholic Mass spends a great deal of time discussing Christ's death and symbolizing it in the Eucharist, while Christ's resurrection and second coming are only referred to in passing. Catholic depictions of Christ usually depict him on the cross, often with a bleeding crown of thorns and distended limbs. Orthodox icons, by contrast, show the glorified, risen Christ surrounded with divine energy, while Protestants usually show an empty cross to signify Christ's resurrection and triumph over death.

Orthodoxy and Catholicism agree on the following points against Protestantism: * Both groups call their clergy "priests" and have bishop-led church governments, although the definition of "priest" seems to have some variation between the two churches. Orthodox, like Anglicans, say that "priest" is only a contraction of the Greek word for elder, "presbyter." Orthodox priests are considered symbols of the presence of Christ in the community. Catholic priests, by contrast, are considered mediators between men and God. This difference is expressed in the Churches' different methods of Confession - in the Catholic Church, the priest listens to the penitent's confession, declares that the penitent is forgiven, and assigns acts of penance. In the Orthodox Church, the priest is merely a witness to the penitent's direct confession to God.

* Both agree that bishops should be ordained in a line of "apostolic succession" going back to the original apostles. * Both churches seem to prefer established relationships between the Church and the State, and are adverse to Church/State separation. The fastest growing Protestant traditions, like the Baptists and evangelicals, are generally avid proponents of Church/State separation. (Note that Catholicism encourages separation of Church and State in America due to Catholics' numerical minority, but opposes it in countries where Catholics are the majority.)

* Both Orthodoxy and Catholicism teach that the sacraments have real spiritual power, such as the transformation of the bread and wine into Christ's literal body and blood, and that salvation is dependent to some degree on partaking in the sacraments. Protestants usually regard salvation as coming through repentance and faith, with the sacraments being symbolic of the grace one receives through faith. The most recent edition of the Catholic Catechism, however, did concede that baptism has its salvific power as a result of one's faith, and both Orthodoxy and Catholicism have exceptions such as "baptism by blood" and "baptism by desire" that largely make baptism unnecessary for salvation as long as the deceased person didn't decline or seek to avoid being baptized.

* Both Orthodoxy and Catholicism have strong traditions of church art that include the use of idealized human forms, including depictions of Jesus, while Protestants have few if any human images in their churches due to the superstitious abuse of these images that was prevalent at the time of the Reformation. * Catholicism and Orthodoxy each claim that they are the one true Church - and that the other is a schismatic body that can no longer claim to be the one true Church. * Both revere the Virgin Mary and allow prayers to saints (actually, prayers are allowed to all dead Christians). Catholicism has dogmatically defined several doctrines in regards to Mary, such as her Immaculate Conception, that are not held as dogmas by the Orthodox. * Both Catholicism and Orthodoxy assert that the Bible must be understood in the context of "Holy Tradition," although Catholicism asserts that tradition consists of beliefs that are not found in the Bible, whereas Orthodoxy tends to view tradition as springing from the Bible under the guidance of the Holy Spirit over the course of Church history. * Protestant worship tend to be much simpler and Protestants easily adapt their worship styles to different time periods and cultures. Orthodox fiercely resist adapting their worship (although some do hold their services in the local language), and Catholicism similarly resisted change until they instituted a new form of the Mass during Vatican II.

Protestantism and Catholicism have the following points in common against Orthodoxy:

* Both Protestantism and Catholicism have strong missionary traditions that have spread their faiths across the globe. In comparison, Orthodoxy has performed little missionary work in recent times, and tends to be strongly associated with ethno-national groups such as Greeks and Russians. Catholicism retains some ethnic associations, such as among the Irish and Portuguese, but has believers in many countries where Catholics are not the majority (like Britain and Germany). Evangelical Protestantism has no ethnic identity whatsoever, and the ethnic associations of older mainline Protestant denominations, such as Anglicanism and Lutheranism, is largely diminished in modern times. The lack of missionary activity among the Orthodox is largely attributable to persecution from Communists and Muslims.

* Dating from the Reformation, some forms of Protestantism (particularly Anglicanism and Lutheranism, and to a much lesser degree, Calvinism) retained certain Catholic terms and ideas, such as infant baptism and belief in original sin. Other groups, like the Baptists and Anabaptists, largely jettisoned Catholic beliefs in total. In general, the larger number of Protestants in various denominations have moved more and more towards Baptist-like ideas, away from the Catholic remnants in their traditions, except for some within the Episcopal/Anglican Church. Meanwhile, Catholicism has dogmatically proclaimed more doctrines since the time of the Reformation, particularly in regards to Papal Infallibility and the role of the Virgin Mary, moving itself further away from doctrinal agreement with Protestants. The three branches of Christianity disagree with each other on which books belong in the Old Testament. Nearly all Protestants agree that the Old Testament should be limited to the Jewish Bible. Catholics add a number of books to the Jewish Bible, which they assert were viewed as authoritative by early Christians. The Orthodox also add these books, and several others, and assert that the Old Testament Christians should use is not the Masoretic Text of the Jewish Bible, but the ancient Greek translation of the Jewish Bible called the Septuagint, which disagrees with the Masoretic Text in many places. Orthodox think that this translation preserves the original wording of the text, which may have been lost or corrupted in the existing Hebrew manuscripts, or that the differences were inspired by God. It is worth noting that the Septuagint is frequently quoted in the New Testament. Many observers think that Orthodoxy places more emphasis on Christ's divine nature, as is evidenced by the unearthly quality of Orthodox icons, while Western expressions of Christianity place more emphasis on Christ's humanity, as evidenced by the more realistic art in Catholic churches, the tolerance of emotional expression in some Protestant churches, and the unparalleled amount of attention Catholicism places on Christ's physical suffering and death.

Protestant and Catholic churches each contain Liberal theological movements. These movements generally hold that the Bible is not infallible but is instead a fallible human document, and that the miracles in the Bible are likely fables or metaphors and not real historical events. Liberal theology is dominant in Protestant denominations like the United Church of Christ and the Episcopal (Anglican) Church in North America and Britain. Liberal Catholics flowered after Vatican II, but have largely been silenced by the papacies of John Paul II and Benedict. Liberal Protestantism has declined in North America as evangelical Protestantism has risen in numbers. Charismatic or neo-Pentecostal spirituality that involves speaking in tongues and active use of "spiritual gifts" like prophecy and faith healing has a following in most Protestant denominations and the Catholic Church.

Answer 2

1. There is a God ("Jehovah").

2. Jesus is the Messiah.

3. Jesus is both man and God.

4. Jesus will "come again" and judge people into those who will be saved and those who will not.

5. Jesus was crucified, but rose from the dead two days later.

6. Jesus ascended into heaven.

7. The two testaments are sacred scripture (however, the groups vary on how they are to be interpreted).

8. The teachings of Jesus are the truth, and all people should live by them.

Answer 3

Roman Catholicism is one religion, however there are many different Christian religions and Roman Catholicism is one of the main ones.