Differences between Catholicism and other branches of Christianity

[mvh18]

I was wondering if someone could explain to me the major differences between our Catholic beliefs, and other Christians? I understand we are under the ruling of the Pope, and that we put greater importance on Mary, the mother of God. What are the other major differences?

 

[Charioteer]

I was wondering if someone could explain to me the major differences between our Catholic beliefs, and other Christians? I understand we are under the ruling of the Pope, and that we put greater importance on Mary, the mother of God. What are the other major differences?

Let’s back up for a moment…

First the Catholic Church is THE Church created by Jesus Christ. That is how we differ from everyone else within Christendom. The absolute fullness of the Christian faith is available only in the Catholic Church.

We avail ourselves to the seven sacraments instituted by God. We enjoy the entirety of Sacred Tradition which includes 73 books of Sacred Scripture. We have a teaching magisterium headed on Earth by the Pope of Rome – the direct descendant of Saint Peter.

The Pope is Jesus Christ’s Vicar here on Earth. When we follow the Pope we follow God.

It’s not that we put “greater importance” on Mother Mary. We simply pay Her the respect She deserves as the Holy Theotokos.

 

[ConflictedBoy]

I was wondering if someone could explain to me the major differences between our Catholic beliefs, and other Christians? I understand we are under the ruling of the Pope, and that we put greater importance on Mary, the mother of God. What are the other major differences?

Hmmm differences

First off, we Protestants (I use that loosely since I dont consider myself a protestant anymore, its a long story its in my other posts) believe in a think called “Sola scriptura” or Scripture alone, which means the Bible is the FIRST source of information about God. Then there’s the very important “Sola fide” made by Martin Luther who was excommunicated from the Catholic Church for teaching that salvation was “from faith alone”. Then there’s the idea of “Once saved, always saved” which to a lesser extent is followed in Protestantism (the Penticostals for example do NOT believe this).

Protestant churches, tho more simplified than that of the Catholic cathedrals, range from denomination to denomination…the calvinist churchs are very beautiful (maybe beause the ones in Europe any way were formally Catholic) but contain no religious imagery at all, in fact most Protestant churches do not have imagery. To get back to my point Protestant churches range from cathedrals just as elaborate a Catholic ones (especially in Anglicanism, which is actually Anglo-Catholic, thats a different story). While some protestant churches take place in buildings no more magestic than your avarege grocery store, but that is the view of some in the charasmatic movement, humble worhsip environment, rock music for worhsip, everybody’s lively, im a bit on the traditionalist side so ya but if it works for them…

Then there is the evangelicals whom i suspect have $$$s. Just look at pictues of where Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell lived. Makes you go hmmm but anyway, some evangelicals worship in ultra modern but elaborate none the less (the cathedral for the modern world i suppose =/)

Now on politics: Mainline protetants have become quite liberal in recent decades, a notable exception would be the Southern Baptists, who in their opposition to gay marriage and abortion, find themselves in common place with many Catholics. Baptists I have talked to (remember, as of now, i technically am still one) support the War in Iraq, Capital Punishment, and such, which put themselves at odds with Rome, And i mean that, the US has already received criticism from the papacy over the war in iraq. As for Roman Catholics, the agenda when put in political terms is conservative on some issues, more liberal on others (such as charity, social justice) and is impeccibly consistant on its stance to protect life (no one be subject to life’s end, whether unborn or living) Even when I had no interest in the Catholic church (well i should say that, I kinda always found the church fascinating, but I would mention it to my protestant parents and grandparents and they would be like “nooooo, you cant go there you’re not catholic”. and i remember being like awww. HEhe sorry for the rant.

ohhh and protestants have doneaway with

liturgy

vestiments

the beautiful alter style we all love

communion, for we do this and we have life its IN SCRIPTURE!! =) =)
*I should not my protestant church does this but its crackers, grapejuice and no beliefe in transubstantiation, its just a “symbolic” thing

Confession: they think forgiveness requires no mediator

images - the only art you will find at a protestant church is a wooden cross…"whats this? its a piece of wood! Show me HOW it was used! So that I may see Christ on the cross, what he did for the world and know its a new day to be thankful for him and help others. "

Thats what i think

sorry , i went on a rant again

Now: Let’s take a VERY QUICK look at some Protestant doctrine:

1. Sola fide (faith alone): If this were true we could say “ok Jesus, I believe in you” and then that’s that. Get drunk the other night? Ohh its ok, Im saved. Cheat in class? Nah its ok, Im saved…see wheree Im getting at, does it honour God to say we have “Given our lives to him” only to be exactly the same as before? Of course not! And i dont have the other verse but it pretty much says “Faith without works is dead”. Only the grace of God can save anybody, but we cannot live the christian live if we arent doing anything, and keeping to the very commands he laid out for us to live.
2. Sola scriptura (scripture alone): This is easy, it basically says that the Bible, being the Word of God, is sufficient authority upon the Christian and nothing else is needed. Well, apart from the fact that bishops and elders are mentioned in scripture, it would see thats not so much the case. No one denies that the Bible is the Word of God, but there’s a human tendency to interpret certain scriptures in a way that fits your view of how it “should” be, and this has given birth since the reformation to about 35,000 protestant denominations, what other than theological issues could they have split over?? The sheer number should serve as a clue that Sola scriptura doesnt work, we also need church guideance, and instruction on points that remain consistant and dont change.

I thnik that’s all i’ll touch up on for now…see ya later =)

 

[TheDoctor]

I was wondering if someone could explain to me the major differences between our Catholic beliefs, and other Christians? I understand we are under the ruling of the Pope, and that we put greater importance on Mary, the mother
of God. What are the other major differences?

The major difference: The Eucharist. No other Christian faith has the fullness of the Eucharist other than Catholics and our Orthodox brothers and sisters - sorry for the big blanket statement, but the major difference begins and ends there.

Minor major difference #1: Sacred Tradition. We are not under the ruling of a Pope. We follow the bible and Sacred Tradition, of which the Pope and Magesterium are the keeper and teachers.

Minor major difference #2: Apostolic succession (which we share with the Orthodox) and which allows us the fullness of the 7 sacraments.

Minor major difference #3: We honor Mary but we give her none of the worship reserved for God alone (you don’t have to honor Mary to be Catholic, but it helps me). This is really not as much of a difference as many other Christian religions honor Mary as well.

Other stuff: There are so many different Christian religions that I really can’t break it down for you any more. Many other Christian religions have bits and pieces of the truth, but no other has the fullness that the Catholic religion has.

Is there a particular one that you are interested in learning the difference between?

 

[stuart12]

Catholic Church: founded by Jesus Christ
Other Christian communities: founded by heretics or schismatics

 

[Barb3]

I want to congratulate those who expressed MY idea of the differences between Catholicism and other denominations. I listen to EWTN all the time – also Catholic Answers on Catholic radio (Station 1260 in the San Francisco Bay Area). One thing I’ve noted is that MANY of the apologists on these programs are CONVERTS!!!
I also used the term “cradle Catholic” a/c I’m pretty old so have been a Catholic for MANY years. Let’s face it, Jesus said to Peter “Thou are Peter and upon this Rock, I shall build my Church” (hope I quoted it correctly a/c this is the Catholic Church) – then the 2nd most important part of the Church for me is receiving the Eucharist – I don’t know if I could get along without the Eucharist and I try to go to Mass EVERY day!!!

 

[twf]

TheDoctor:

Minor major difference #3: We honor Mary but we give her none of the worship reserved for God alone (you don’t have to honor Mary to be Catholic, but it helps me). This is really not as much of a difference as many other Christian religions honor Mary as well.

Where do you get that Catholics “don’t have to honor Mary”??? That flies in the face of Tradition and is a great insult, in my opinion, to both Our Lord and His Blessed Mother. We ARE required to honor the holy Mother of God, for she is also our mother. What do the commandments say? “Honor your father and mother…” That being said, we are not required to practice any particular Marian devotion (such as the rosary)…though it certainly helps. The following are examples of ways in which Catholics, under pain of mortal sin, MUST honor the Blessed Mother:

1. In the liturgy (Mary is honored in the mass, and we are required to unite ourselves to the priest as he offers this greatest of prayers to God)
2. On holy days of obligation in honor of Our Lady (such as the feast of Mary, Mother of God on January 1…this may vary somewhat from country to country)
3. In penance as required by your confessor (ex. the priest may assign a number of “Hail Marys” as your penance).
4. Finally, we must honor her by accepting all that the Church teaches about her…such as her immaculate conception, her assumption into heaven, her perpetual virginity, her role as the Mother of God and of the Church, etc.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

Re: Honor Mary

Remember that there is a biblical prophecy

And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, 47* and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

Luke 1:46-47

 

[PA650]

Hmmm differences

First off, we Protestants (I use that loosely since I dont consider myself a protestant anymore, its a long story its in my other posts) believe in a think called “Sola scriptura” or Scripture alone, which means the Bible is the FIRST source of information about God. Then there’s the very important “Sola fide” made by Martin Luther who was excommunicated from the Catholic Church for teaching that salvation was “from faith alone”. Then there’s the idea of “Once saved, always saved” which to a lesser extent is followed in Protestantism (the Penticostals for example do NOT believe this).

Protestant churches, tho more simplified than that of the Catholic cathedrals, range from denomination to denomination…the calvinist churchs are very beautiful (maybe beause the ones in Europe any way were formally Catholic) but contain no religious imagery at all, in fact most Protestant churches do not have imagery. To get back to my point Protestant churches range from cathedrals just as elaborate a Catholic ones (especially in Anglicanism, which is actually Anglo-Catholic, thats a different story). While some protestant churches take place in buildings no more magestic than your avarege grocery store, but that is the view of some in the charasmatic movement, humble worhsip environment, rock music for worhsip, everybody’s lively, im a bit on the traditionalist side so ya but if it works for them…

Then there is the evangelicals whom i suspect have $$$s. Just look at pictues of where Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell lived. Makes you go hmmm but anyway, some evangelicals worship in ultra modern but elaborate none the less (the cathedral for the modern world i suppose =/)

Now on politics: Mainline protetants have become quite liberal in recent decades, a notable exception would be the Southern Baptists, who in their opposition to gay marriage and abortion, find themselves in common place with many Catholics. Baptists I have talked to (remember, as of now, i technically am still one) support the War in Iraq, Capital Punishment, and such, which put themselves at odds with Rome, And i mean that, the US has already received criticism from the papacy over the war in iraq. As for Roman Catholics, the agenda when put in political terms is conservative on some issues, more liberal on others (such as charity, social justice) and is impeccibly consistant on its stance to protect life (no one be subject to life’s end, whether unborn or living) Even when I had no interest in the Catholic church (well i should say that, I kinda always found the church fascinating, but I would mention it to my protestant parents and grandparents and they would be like “nooooo, you cant go there you’re not catholic”. and i remember being like awww. HEhe sorry for the rant.

ohhh and protestants have doneaway with

**liturgy

vestiments

the beautiful alter style we all love

communion, for we do this and we have life its IN SCRIPTURE!! =) =)
*I should not my protestant church does this but its crackers, grapejuice and no beliefe in transubstantiation, its just a “symbolic” thing

Confession: they think forgiveness requires no mediator

images - the only art you will find at a protestant church is a wooden cross…"whats this? its a piece of wood! Show me HOW it was used! So that I may see Christ on the cross, what he did for the world and know its a new day to be thankful for him and help others. "**

Thats what i think

sorry , i went on a rant again

Now: Let’s take a VERY QUICK look at some Protestant doctrine:

1. Sola fide (faith alone): If this were true we could say “ok Jesus, I believe in you” and then that’s that. Get drunk the other night? Ohh its ok, Im saved. Cheat in class? Nah its ok, Im saved…see wheree Im getting at, does it honour God to say we have “Given our lives to him” only to be exactly the same as before? Of course not! And i dont have the other verse but it pretty much says “Faith without works is dead”. Only the grace of God can save anybody, but we cannot live the christian live if we arent doing anything, and keeping to the very commands he laid out for us to live.
2. Sola scriptura (scripture alone): This is easy, it basically says that the Bible, being the Word of God, is sufficient authority upon the Christian and nothing else is needed. Well, apart from the fact that bishops and elders are mentioned in scripture, it would see thats not so much the case. No one denies that the Bible is the Word of God, but there’s a human tendency to interpret certain scriptures in a way that fits your view of how it “should” be, and this has given birth since the reformation to about 35,000 protestant denominations, what other than theological issues could they have split over?? The sheer number should serve as a clue that Sola scriptura doesnt work, we also need church guideance, and instruction on points that remain consistant and dont change.

I thnik that’s all i’ll touch up on for now…see ya later =)

The bold section can vary, but overall the items in bold are found in the Anglican Communion and in many Lutheran churches. Communion with belief in true presence is found in Lutheranism, in addition, a crucifix, and confession to a lesser extent.

 

[dixibehr]

Books have been written on this question.

Do you think it can be adequately dealt with on computer boards?

BTW–I’ve noticed that all of these answers seem to deal with the difference betwen Latin Catholicism and Protestantism. Nobody seems to be considering the differences between these two variants of Western Christianity and the Eastern Churches: Catholic, Orthodox, Non-Chalcedonian, and Assyrian.

 

[mark_a]

I was wondering if someone could explain to me the major differences between our Catholic beliefs, and other Christians? I understand we are under the ruling of the Pope, and that we put greater importance on Mary, the mother of God. What are the other major differences?

One major difference in the teaching of Christian behavior is the Catholic Church’s unwavering stand against contraception, just like all the rest of Christianity until 1930.

A few Protestant Churches have had the guts to at least address this teaching and provide some weak justification for the change, but most Protestant Churches turn a blind eye to it.

What a shame.

 

[TheDoctor]

TheDoctor:
Where do you get that Catholics “don’t have to honor Mary”??? That flies in the face of Tradition and is a great insult, in my opinion, to both Our Lord and His Blessed Mother. We ARE required to honor the holy Mother of God, for she is also our mother. What do the commandments say? “Honor your father and mother…” That being said, we are not required to practice any particular Marian devotion (such as the rosary)…though it certainly helps. The following are examples of ways in which Catholics, under pain of mortal sin, MUST honor the Blessed Mother:

1. In the liturgy (Mary is honored in the mass, and we are required to unite ourselves to the priest as he offers this greatest of prayers to God)
2. On holy days of obligation in honor of Our Lady (such as the feast of Mary, Mother of God on January 1…this may vary somewhat from country to country)
3. In penance as required by your confessor (ex. the priest may assign a number of “Hail Marys” as your penance).
4. Finally, we must honor her by accepting all that the Church teaches about her…such as her immaculate conception, her assumption into heaven, her perpetual virginity, her role as the Mother of God and of the Church, etc.

Hey. By saying Catholics are not required to honor Mary, I mean that there are no Marian devotions (i.e. the Rosary) that a Catholic is required to practice to achieve salvation (I think we agree here). I also strongly agree with you that we are required to believe and accept all that the Church teaches about Mary. I do not agree that we must honor her under pain of Mortal Sin:

1. Where is Mary specifically honored in the Mass please? I know of one Eucharistic prayer in the OF where Father says “we honor Mary and (insert a list of saints)” but that is participating in the Mass, not choosing to specifically honor the Blessed Mother. I don’t see the mortal sin if one person does not have a devotion to the Blessed Mother as long as they are participating in Mass.
2. On HDOO we are required to attend Mass in honor of the Blessed Mother, but the mortal sin is missing Mass, not in requiring devotion to Mary.
3. The mortal sin is in not performing the penance, however if one does not have a devotion to Mary they may ask for a different penance with no sin.
4. I agree with this, but I don’t see any mortal sin if someone believes in this yet does not choose to do anything special to honor Mary other than believe in all the Church teaches about her.

 

[dixibehr]

1. Where is Mary specifically honored in the Mass please? I know of one Eucharistic prayer in the OF where Father says “we honor Mary and (insert a list of saints)” but that is participating in the Mass, not choosing to specifically honor the Blessed Mother. I don’t see the mortal sin if one person does not have a devotion to the Blessed Mother as long as they are participating in Mass.<<

It happens several places in the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

In the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, the Priest says, “Especially we commemorate our most pure, most blessed, and glorious lady, the Theotokos and Ever-virgin Mary” (similar phrases occur at the end of various litanies), and the Congregations sings, “It is truly right to bless you, O Theotokos…” or similar hymn.

The Latin Church is NOT the whole of the Catholic Church.

Does this answer your question?

 

[twf]

TheDoctor: As dixibehr pointed out, Mary is more explicitly praised in some liturgies than others. In the ordinary form of the Mass, we invoke Our Lady’s intercession during the penitential rite, and she is commemorated in all Eucharistic Prayers, not just one…the Church asks us to unite ourself to the priest in prayer, which includes honoring Our Lady along with the whole Church. As far as holy days of obligation in her honor, to simply attend mass without the intention of honoring Our Lady would totally defy the spirit of the law, if not the letter of the law…
Regarding penance, if a priest assigned a Marian prayer as penance, and the penitent asked for another penance, explaining that he had no devotion to Our Lady, I can’t imagine any decent orthodox priest changing the penance to something else…the priest would know how important Mary is in the economy of salvation and in the life of the Christian. I would recommend that you read St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. St. Louis, while not infallible, is a highly respected saint, and has been honored with the title “the apostle of Mary”. He teaches that indifference to Our Lady is a sure sign of a “reprobate soul”. How could anyone who loves Our Lord (which is certainly necessary for salvation) not love His Blessed Mother (who is also our mother)?

 

[Cat]

My husband and I were extremely active evangelical Protestants for 47 years before converting to Catholicism in 2004.

The biggest difference between Catholicism and other branches of Christianity is the issue of authority.

Catholics believe that Christ gave authority on earth to His Church, while Protestants believe that Jesus established the Bible as His authority on earth.

When my husband and I started studying Catholicism, we eventually came to see that all the other issues fall into place when people get the authority issue settled. The Eucharist, Marian devotion, contraception, the Canon of Scriptural books–if the CHURCH says it, we believe it, and that settles it.

As we studied the history and doctrine of the Catholic Church, we came to accept the Christ-given authority of the Holy Catholic Church over the authority of the Holy Bible. We came to see that a “book”, even a God-written book, cannot hold authority because SOMEONE has to interpret that book for each age and each person. It seemed to us that the “SOMEONE” is the true authority. And we came to the conclusion that the “SOMEONE” is the Catholic Church, not each individual believer. We came to see that Jesus’ prayer in John 17 was not just meant to be a “warm fuzzy feeling” between believers in Jesus, but rather, true unity among Christians.