Do Protestants have something like the Catechism or the Code of Canon Law?

[PumpkinSeed]

No. There are different branches of protestants.

Protestants believe what their own church/pastor teaches.

If they don’t agree, usually they can find one, since most pastors preach up their own interpretation. You’ll be bound to find at least a few with your beliefs.

 

[JonNC]

=PumpkinSeed;9350031]No. There are different branches of protestants

No. There are different communions under the loose designation of protestant. They are not branches of the same monolith.

Protestants believe what their own church/pastor teaches

Not in Lutheranism. The pastor is bound to the gospel as expressed in the Lutheran confessions. I only believe my pastor if he holds to Lutheran doctrine.

If they don’t agree, usually they can find one, since most pastors preach up their own interpretation. You’ll be bound to find at least a few with your beliefs.

Outside of some of the more traditional Anglicans, I can’t think of a protestant church where I’m bound to find one.

This is not to say that others don’t feel or do differently, or respond in a way you have outlined.
Jon

 

[Usbek_de_Perse]

This remark is about as accurate as the description of Catholics “worshiping” St. Mary the Virgin.

No. There are different branches of protestants.

Protestants believe what their own church/pastor teaches.

If they don’t agree, usually they can find one, since most pastors preach up their own interpretation. You’ll be bound to find at least a few with your beliefs.

 

[JonNC]

Jon,

Perhaps you can tell us the extend of difference between the two (or four) catechisms.

I assume that you, in the LCMS adhere to the whole of Luther’s catechisms, right?

Well, here’s Luther’s Small Catechism.
bookofconcord.org/smallcatechism.php

I’m sure there is someone of the Presbyterian persuasion who can offer theirs.

Jon

 

[LegoGE1947]

You are home. Don’t you think, from your experience, that anything called a “Code of Canon Law” would be seen as legalism in the Evangelical community? I’m not sure I know what the definition of legalism is, but the idea of a “man made law” seems like a good place to start if your so inclined.

By all means such a thing would be condemned as a “man made law” or even worse the “T” word (t-t-t-t-tradition!) Except the evangelicals I hung around with were extremely legalistic. You wouldn’t dare sing an old hymn of the church in their services. The services themselves were all about prosperity, about self actualization, more entertainment and pep talks than sermons. Much like the shows of the tv evangelists.

 

[PumpkinSeed]

This remark is about as accurate as the description of Catholics “worshiping” St. Mary the Virgin.

Not really. Ive been to many protestant churches.

Perhaps you just have not experienced what I have.

If not, then hey, good for you.

 

[LegoGE1947]

Actually, it wouldn’t. Legalism would be, “You can’t cut your hair if you want to be holy.”

The Code of Canon Law is much more comparable to the Constitution and Bylaws that most evangelical denominations and congregations have. These will detail the rights and responsibilities of the various governing bodies (both local and national), clergy and members, and will make provision for a disciplinary process.

Back in the 1970s in some places you were’nt holy if you didn’t cut your hair, and wear a suit and tie to church.

 

[Mark_B]

As a former Baptist, now confirmed Catholic, I can tell you that the Baptist church does have a formal catechism. They don’t acknowledge it much because of the title of “catechism”. That would be much too formal for most Baptist churches. It was written in the 1600s and was more of a question and answer type of format. It outlined what the Baptist church believed as a matter of faith.

 

[Chuck_Finley]

Just recently I asked some Protestants whether they had some sort of Catechism like we do or another book with rules but none of them could tell. Maybe some of our knowledgable members here will

Yes. We have dozens of them.

Among the most well known are the Westminster Catechism, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Nicene Creed.
"myakay:

You’re making a major error in asking if “protestants” as a whole do something, because each denomination has their own way of worship. and individual denomination might have a menifesto of it’s beliefs, but not Protestants as a whole

There are some that are denomination specific, but most transcend denominational lines.

There are about 38,000 protestant denominations right now.

Actually, there aren’t. That number comes from the Encyclopedia of Religion and that number has been debunked many, many times because the methodology used to arrive at that number was grossly flawed.

1. They counted non-Christian religious groups as Christian denominations.
2. They counted committees within denominations as seperate and distinct denominations.
3. They counted multiple churches within a denomination as different denominations.

There’s no such thing as a catechism for Protestants,

I’m sure our children would have appreciated knowing that before we made them memorize the Westminster Catechism, not to mention all of the time we’ve spent studying the various catechism, creeds, and confessions in our homeschooling classes.

they don’t have a Pope or Bishops.

Are you sure about that? Because, I grew up as a Methodist and our church was our bishop’s home church.

Some denominations have a “Conference,” such as the Southern Baptists. But it’s a loose organization of individual churches - each church is run by a pastor, on his own.

As a twenty-plus year Baptist, I don’t believe either of those statements are true.

Protestants threw out Church tradition and teachings when they left the Church, so they tend to believe only in the Bible (sola scriptura), so there is no need nor would they pay attention to a catechism or the traditions like we do.

Actually, that’s not true.

First of all, sola scriptura doesn’t mean that we only believe the BIble, but that the Bible is the authority to which all other things must defer.

Second, as I’ve already pointed out, we do have catechisms and traditions. We just don’t elevate them to the same level as scripture.

 

[LegoGE1947]

Yes. We have dozens of them.

Among the most well known are the Westminster Catechism, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Nicene Creed.

There are some that are denomination specific, but most transcend denominational lines.

Actually, there aren’t. That number comes from the Encyclopedia of Religion and that number has been debunked many, many times because the methodology used to arrive at that number was grossly flawed.

1. They counted non-Christian religious groups as Christian denominations.
2. They counted committees within denominations as seperate and distinct denominations.
3. They counted multiple churches within a denomination as different denominations.

I’m sure our children would have appreciated knowing that before we made them memorize the Westminster Catechism, not to mention all of the time we’ve spent studying the various catechism, creeds, and confessions in our homeschooling classes.

Are you sure about that? Because, I grew up as a Methodist and our church was our bishop’s home church.

As a twenty-plus year Baptist, I don’t believe either of those statements are true.

Actually, that’s not true.

First of all, sola scriptura doesn’t mean that we only believe the BIble, but that the Bible is the authority to which all other things must defer.

Second, as I’ve already pointed out, we do have catechisms and traditions. We just don’t elevate them to the same level as scripture.

Just out of curiosity what kind of Baptist Church is the one that has been in the news so much in recent months that keeps showing up at funerals and doing these weird protests, especially at funerals of soldiers killed in the line of duty?

 

[billt9]

Just recently I asked some Protestants whether they had some sort of Catechism like we do or another book with rules but none of them could tell. Maybe some of our knowledgable members here will
And also, you guys have bishops so I was just wondering who is the head of them?

As a life long Methodist, I would say no for us, not like the Catechism. We do have a book called The Discipline, Most of it is Roberts rules/organizational stuff, not doctrine. There is a Social Principles section which contains mainly socialist resolutions adopted by folks way out of the Methodist layman main stream (you can tell my opinion of it)

To my knowledge, the only doctrinal official statement is the Articles of Religion. While no creeds are mentioned, the Articles contain the essence of the Nicene Creed (plus some other stuff). The Nicene Creed and the Apostles creed are printed in the Methodist Hymnal and the Apostles Creed is recited every Sunday in every Methodist Church of which I have been a member (I think there are some very informal, country (not meant pejoratively!) Methodist Churches which do not routinely recite the Apostles Creed).

We have bishops over “conferences” but no “overall bishop.” The just completed GC (see below) tried to add a supernumerary bishop (of disputed powers) but it was defeated,

The final authority is a general conference (clergy and laity) that meets every four years. So the bishops report to no one except in a sense the 4 year general conference. Bishops can be “impeached” (I don’t know the procedure) but it rarely if ever happens even for (what i would consider) quite unorthodox actions/statements.

 

[pismopal]

If you have not read the Catechism of the Catholic Church…you need to do so. If you are not Catholic but a believer…you will have a different view of the Church that Christ founded. If you are a Catholic, you will be a better Catholic and be glad that you are.
I daresay that there is nothing in non Catholic Christianity…organized or not, that can even approach the beauty and exhaustive explanation of our Catholic faith.

 

[LegoGE1947]

If you have not read the Catechism of the Catholic Church…you need to do so. If you are not Catholic but a believer…you will have a different view of the Church that Christ founded. If you are a Catholic, you will be a better Catholic and be glad that you are.
I daresay that there is nothing in non Catholic Christianity…organized or not, that can even approach the beauty and exhaustive explanation of our Catholic faith.

The Compendium to the Catechism is a very excellent work also.

 

[Chuck_Finley]

Just out of curiosity what kind of Baptist Church is the one that has been in the news so much in recent months that keeps showing up at funerals and doing these weird protests, especially at funerals of soldiers killed in the line of duty?

One that calls themselves Baptist, but doesn’t adhere to Baptist beliefs or practices. Same as any number of groups that call themselves “Catholic”, but operated in opposition to Catholic teaching and practices.

 

[LegoGE1947]

One that calls themselves Baptist, but doesn’t adhere to Baptist beliefs or practices. Same as any number of groups that call themselves “Catholic”, but operated in opposition to Catholic teaching and practices.

Thank you. While not a Baptist, I had never heard of a Baptist Church doing what this group has done in acting the way they have at funerals, etc.

 

[Chuck_Finley]

Thank you. While not a Baptist, I had never heard of a Baptist Church doing what this group has done in acting the way they have at funerals, etc.

Well, let’s start with this:

Baptists are defined by a creed commonly known as the Baptist Distinctives (you can Google it. There are thousands of websites that discuss these distinctives). Westboro Church denies these distinctives.

In an interview on Way of the Master Radio, Westboro’s spokesnut and daughter of Fred Phelps, Shirley Phelps-Roper, was asked to explain her understanding of the Gospel several times and could not do it. She was asked several times what Westboro’s understanding of the Gospel is and, again, could not articulate it. Instead, she insisted that salvation is works-based and that one cannot be saved if they are not a member of the Westboro Church.

Unfortunately, we can’t trademark the word “Baptist” anymore than you can trademark the word “Catholic”, so anybody can call themselves Baptists, whether they are or not.

 

[LegoGE1947]

Well, let’s start with this:

Baptists are defined by a creed commonly known as the Baptist Distinctives (you can Google it. There are thousands of websites that discuss these distinctives). Westboro Church denies these distinctives.

In an interview on Way of the Master Radio, Westboro’s spokesnut and daughter of Fred Phelps, Shirley Phelps-Roper, was asked to explain her understanding of the Gospel several times and could not do it. She was asked several times what Westboro’s understanding of the Gospel is and, again, could not articulate it. Instead, she insisted that salvation is works-based and that one cannot be saved if they are not a member of the Westboro Church.

Unfortunately, we can’t trademark the word “Baptist” anymore than you can trademark the word “Catholic”, so anybody can call themselves Baptists, whether they are or not.

An example we have several politicians who call themselves Catholic but do not subscribe to Catholic teaching on a lot of social issues

 

[JRRTFAN]

Actually, it wouldn’t. Legalism would be, “You can’t cut your hair if you want to be holy.”

The Code of Canon Law is much more comparable to the Constitution and Bylaws that most evangelical denominations and congregations have. These will detail the rights and responsibilities of the various governing bodies (both local and national), clergy and members, and will make provision for a disciplinary process.

OK, that makes sense.

 

[504Katrin]

Some less traditional Protestant denominations will have statements of faith that ministers must adhere to for ordination. Sometimes new members are also required to assent to the church’s doctrinal statement as well. Statements of faith, however, are not catechisms. They are often very brief and deal with the non-negotiable tenants of the faith. Other aspects of doctrine, practice, and social teaching are explained in position papers and other documents, which may or may not be binding.

Evangelical churches will not have canon law. Usually at the denominational level they will have a Constitution and Bylaws which set out the form of government and policies of the denomination.

Local churches will not use catechism. They will instruct members and children through a variety of Bible studies and classes. Often, new member classes will educate participates on what the church believes.

Some denominations, like the Nazarene Church, actually have handbooks that detail the duties and rules that every level of authority must follow. My cousin’s family goes to a Nazarene Church and she said that they are always referring to the handbook, “The handbook says this, the handbook says that.”

Thank you for your explanation. I find this to be very interesting, hence here comes the next question What happens if you are out of town for work or if you’re on vacation some place else, can you go to any other protestant church like the Nazarene church for example, and do they have the same liturgy like the same order of prayers and songs and readings? I’m just thinking that with so many denominations it might be hard to find your own church some place else.

 

[504Katrin]

ANGLICANS: The earliest Books of Common Prayer (certainly starting in 1559) have almost always contained a catechism.

PRESBYTERIANS have a Longer Catechism and a Shorter Catechism.

**LUTHERANS **also have a Longer and Shorter Catechism. I don’t know how they agree and differ from the Presbyterian ones.

**METHODISTS ** seem to have had catechisms but do not seem to have them in modern times.

**BAPTISTS **also seem to have had catechisms but not in modern times.

In practice, the catechism among American Episcopalians is really just a formality, a link with the past, sadly. It has also been rewritten to avoid offense, to some extent. But, how many Catholics ever refer to their catechism?

Thank you for your explanation.