Difference between Denominations

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Hello,

I was talking with a Presbyterian friend and was wondering what the main differences between Catholicism and Presbyterianism were.

Thanks!
 
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Number one difference among many would be that Catholics have the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
 
jerryA said:
I was talking with a Presbyterian friend and was wondering what the main differences between Catholicism and Presbyterianism were.
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Historical differences would include:
  1. Pres. adhere to Sola Scriptura (the primacy of Scripture)
  2. Pres. do not include the deuterocanonical books in the canon
  3. Pres. adhere to Sola Fide (faith alone)
  4. Pres. adhere to Predestination, total depravity and irresistible grace so that man is completely helpless and incapable of contributing to his own justification. God has already decided who he will save. Justification is by faith, and God chooses who receives faith. Good works then flow out of God’s prior action in regenerating the human heart.
  5. Pres. believe in 2 sacraments, not 7. They are baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
  6. Pres. believe in infant baptism on the basis of covenant theology. Baptism is a “sign and seal” of the New Covenant and entrance into the visible church (explained below). Baptism itself does not regenerate. Only faith given by God does that. However, baptism is still spiritually important for the elect (those predestined to be saved), even though the grace signified in baptism might only be received later in life. Baptism has no effect on the non-elect, so the non-elect may by baptism be members of the visible church but they can never be members in the invisible church.
  7. Pres. reject transubstantiation and any notion of a bodily presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but they do believe that Christ is spiritually present by faith and that for the truly regenerated the Lord’s Supper is spiritual food.
  8. Pres. distinguish between the visible and invisible church. The visible church is the group of people alive on earth who profess to be Christians. There can be elect and non-elect within the visible church. Visible churches can have various degrees of purity in teaching and doctrine.
  9. The invisible church is that body of believers from all times and places (both living and dead) who are truly justified and born again.
  10. Pres. do not have bishops or priests. Presbyterian churches are led by elders. There are two types of elders: ruling elders and teaching elders (also known as “ministers of Word and Sacrament”). Ruling elders are laymen chosen by the congregation to lead the congregation and are ordained as elders. Teaching elders are full time ministers who preach, administer the sacraments and provide leadership for the session. Presbyterian churches also choose deacons, who are also laypeople.
  11. Presbyterian churches are grouped by geography into “presbyteries” and “synods”. These are like dioceses and sub-dioceses, except for not having any bishop in charge. Instead, each local church sends its ruling and teaching elders to meetings of the presbyteries, and presbyteries send representatives to synods. Finally, synods send representatives to the General Assembly. Each of these bodies has power to solve disputes and controversies between lower bodies, with final authority residing with the General Assembly.
These are just a few differences.
 
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Just a slight correction. Catholicism is not a denomination, it is the Catholic Church. Only Protestant churches have denominations, such as Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and so on.
 
Itwin’s analysis was detailed and informative as usual.

I would only add that there were/are a branch of Presbyterianism called ‘Presbyterian Church, USA’ which used to be the largest faction that became quite liberal, although I’m not sure if that is still the case as I left many years ago. There is/was a smaller more conservative faction of Presbyterians that broke off from the more liberal branch, if I recall correctly.

As an aside:
I was born and raised in a Presbyterian family (Presbyterian Church, USA) who attended church regularly. I was even made a deacon at 18 while still in high school for my zeal for serving Christ and people, which apparently stood out to church leaders at the time.

On a lighter note, I remember Presbyterians being called “God’s frozen people” by others as a joke for their reputation of behaving very prim and proper at church when compared to other Protestant denominations.

Ironically, the feeling of reverence for God that I felt when entering the sanctuary (pipe organ, stain glass windows, apostles on the windows, no talking after entering sanctuary) as a youngster was only rivaled by the reverence I felt when I visited a Catholic mass a few years ago.
 
I would reiterate what @Horton said about the Catholic Church being The Church and not a denomination.

I suspect you’re unlikely to get a more thorough answer than the one provided by @Itwin.

Of course, Presbyterians lack apostolic succession and valid orders. Therefore, they don’t have bishops and priests. That means they cannot have a valid Eucharist.

As you can see in @Itwin’s list there are many aspects of the Faith they reject.
 
I’m in the city right now, at my sister’s house. I can walk up the road, and in less than a mile (1.6 km) I’ll have passed a Methodist Church, Baptist Church, and another Methodist Church. Telling you what Presbyterians believe, would be a little simplistic because there’s more than one Presbyterian denomination. Which one do you want? The Church of Scotland? The Presbyterian Church of the United States of America? The Orthodox Presbyterian Church? I hate to sound mean, but this is the problem with Protestantism, in a nutshell. Even amongst Presbyterians, some denominations allow for abortion, some say that there are exceptions to allow for abortion, and some are pro-life. That’s not getting into doctrinal things that specifically have to do with the Bible and sacraments and whatnot. I can’t answer the question, because there’s no such thing as Presbyterian , there’s a bunch of groups of people that call themselves that, but they don’t have a single, Central, unified Authority, so there’s really no way to define Presbyterian.
 
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I’ve never really bought the ‘not a denomination’ reasoning. Catholicism is either a subdivision of Christianity, in which case it is a denomination, or it is the only real line of Christianity (ignoring the Orthodox for the moment), in which case it is the only denomination.
 
I’m not aware of any Protestant groups that keep Marriage as a sacrament. Anglicans do, but strictly speaking they’re not Protestant.
 
How intriguing. Then again, I’ve never heard a Protestant use the word “sacrament” as it relates to their faith. Then again (again), perhaps I never asked.
 
Dougbro1 said:
And not Marriage?
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No, marriage is not a sacrament in Presbyterian churches. It’s a covenant and a divinely ordained institution but not a sacrament.
Dougbro1 said:
How intriguing. Then again, I’ve never heard a Protestant use the word “sacrament” as it relates to their faith. Then again (again), perhaps I never asked.
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A sacrament in Protestant theology typically is defined as a rite instituted by Christ himself and attached to some visible sign. That would be baptism and the Eucharist.
 
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Question has been answered quite well already.

I’ve attended a Pres church here in town. I liked it. They read the creed (which I love), they also seemed reverent of Holy Communion even though they don’t believe like Catholics believe. Very nice people there.
 
adamhovey1988 said:
I can’t answer the question, because there’s no such thing as Presbyterian , there’s a bunch of groups of people that call themselves that, but they don’t have a single, Central, unified Authority, so there’s really no way to define Presbyterian.
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There are many different Presbyterian denominations, but it is possible to differentiate them from other Christians. Many of the divisions are not doctrinal at all but geographical. There are Scottish Presbyterians, English Presbyterians, Irish Presbyterians, American Presbyterians, etc.

In America, Presbyterians early on divided over how strictly the Westminster Confession should be held to. Did ministers have to subscribe to every word and comma or was there wiggle room to disagree with a man-made document? That is still the basic disagreement between the various Presbyterian churches.

The Presbyterian Church (USA), which happens to be the largest Pres. church in America, has watered down adherence to the Reformed confessions under the influence of liberal theology. Other denominations like the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, the Presbyterian Church in America and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church attempt to follow the Westminster Confession more closely.
 
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Inquiry said:
Anglicans do, but strictly speaking they’re not Protestant.
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Strictly speaking, they are (at least everyone considered them Protestants before the 19th century). But that is a debate for another thread. 😁

Even with Anglicans its tricky. Some Anglicans would say marriage is a sacrament. Others would say it is a rite that is “commonly called a sacrament” but really isn’t.
 
TomH1 said:
I suspect you’re unlikely to get a more thorough answer than the one provided by @Itwin.
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Actually I never get more thorough answers than the ones provided by Itwin. He tells me all I needed to know without extreme detail, which he could supply if asked.
 
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