Is it easier to be Protestant or Catholic?

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Which is easier? Tough to say.

A year ago I would have said Catholicism was easier, because I was exposed to Protestant rigorism.

Then I was exposed to Catholic rigorism. Wow.

I will say that Catholic rigorism on its best day is 1000 times worse than Protestant rigorism on its worst day.

Though both groups often appear to be equally miserable, just about different things.
 
As a former protestant, I lean toward saying that it’s easier to be protestant because so many teachings can be rationalised into or out of existence. In protestantism, the Bible is often used as a proof-texting tool rather than one of several historical references to early church practices - practices that are, according to the Catholic Church, Sacred Tradition.
 
I want to clarify that the Bible is not only a historical reference for Sacred Tradition, but divinely inspired as well.
 
For me, having been around the religious block a few times, it’s much easier being a Protestant then a Catholic. being Catholic requires not only faith, but work! I actually work on trying to better myself and improve. I don’t mind. I thank God for the Catholic Church! I welcome the work I need to do! I want to strive to improve. I also appreciate the discipline and conviction we all share as Catholics.
 
CopticChristian said:
Your attachments are not showing up so I do not know what you mean.
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Coptic that person is a troll. If you right click on the image and open in a new tab you get websites telling how to make money on the internet.

I think that person is gone now.
 
One factor that may or may not be relevant here.
Code: 
 Protestant congregations - at least in this area - are usually much smaller than Catholic ones.We live in an area where many churches were organized along ethnic lines -Italian, Polish, Irish, French-Canadian, German, etc. - much less so today, of course. Because of this Catholicism wa svery strong, even dominant, in many communities.  

 Because of that it would appear that the Protestant churches are more like extended family groups - closely-knit. Because of the smaller number of members, more responsibility (financial and otherwise) often falls upon a small group of people. So, serious members can become very deeply involved and their church becomes front and center in their devotional, personal, and family lives. In this sense, it can be easier to be a Catholic where many see occasional attendence at mass and a few dollars in the plate as sufficient.    

 On the other hand, that core of truly devoted Catholics also may devote considerable time, resources and effort to their churches. Some attend mass daily, something that would not happen among Protestants. There rarely are Protestant churches with daily services - perhaps a few fundamentalist ones???

 The answer to the question, therefore, depends upon many variables. There are Protestants who, for example, never have smoked, consumed alcohol, gone to a movie on Sunday, etc. Then there are Protestants who are peripheral to religious involvement. Such diversity in commitment and practice exists along Catholics, also.
 
Roy5 said:
One factor that may or may not be relevant here.
Code: 
 Protestant congregations - at least in this area - are usually much smaller than Catholic ones.We live in an area where many churches were organized along ethnic lines -Italian, Polish, Irish, French-Canadian, German, etc. - much less so today, of course. Because of this Catholicism wa svery strong, even dominant, in many communities.  

 Because of that it would appear that the Protestant churches are more like extended family groups - closely-knit. Because of the smaller number of members, more responsibility (financial and otherwise) often falls upon a small group of people. So, serious members can become very deeply involved and their church becomes front and center in their devotional, personal, and family lives. In this sense, it can be easier to be a Catholic where many see occasional attendence at mass and a few dollars in the plate as sufficient.    

 On the other hand, that core of truly devoted Catholics also may devote considerable time, resources and effort to their churches. Some attend mass daily, something that would not happen among Protestants. There rarely are Protestant churches with daily services - perhaps a few fundamentalist ones???

 The answer to the question, therefore, depends upon many variables. There are Protestants who, for example, never have smoked, consumed alcohol, gone to a movie on Sunday, etc. Then there are Protestants who are peripheral to religious involvement. Such diversity in commitment and practice exists along Catholics, also.
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Good points Roy. I was recently corresponding with the UCC pastor in my community and she said her congregation only numbered 75 but everyone cared deeply about one another.

The Catholic churches in my area are also for the most part much larger, each with several Masses on weekends and one I know has 3 Masses on weekdays. I do know the Episcopal churches near me have a couple of weekday Masses as well but not daily.

What you also said about ethnic lines caused me to recall how where my parents were raised, they once had 2 Catholic churches literally side by side. A Polish church and an Italian. My relatives being Hungarian I think more often attended the Polish. 🙂 It wasn’t all that many yrs ago when they built one church for all.
 
Publisher said:
Most Protestants believe what they do IS OF UTMOST importance…sanctification is very very much a part of most Protestant’s theology.
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Absolutely. From my own tradition:
  1. Accordingly, we also believe, teach, and confess that when it is said: The regenerate do good works from a free spirit, this is not to be understood as though it is at the option of the regenerate man to do or to forbear doing good when he wishes, and that he can nevertheless retain faith if he intentionally perseveres in sins.
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[bookofconcord.org/fc-ep.php#IV. Good Works.](http://www.bookofconcord.org/fc-ep.php#IV. Good Works.)

Jon
 
You either live as one or the other .I don’t consider it hard or easy.If it is your faith,then it should not be hard for you.
 
I was raised Protestant, in the Methodist church, and my family was also New Age. I have been Catholic for 21 years. I am in the process of leaving the Catholic Church. I realize I have been programmed not to leave the church, with such sayings as, “the Catholic church has the fullness of the faith”, and “the Catholic church was the one founded by Peter”. I have had my eyes opened by research on the Illuminati and have found out that the Vatican and Papacy are up to their left eyeballs in the Illuminati and the New World Order. But then so is Billy Graham, Max Lucado, and Tim LaHaye. We live in a fallen world. At one time I was obsessed by Marian apparitions. If someone was receiving messages I had the book. And my church in Scottsdale Az had its own members channeling entities calling themselves “Jesus” and “Mary”. About 15 years ago I found out all of that was demonic, similar to the New Age. All that glitters is not gold. The Marian apparitions are a subtle deception to lead us away from Jesus who saves us, not the Catholic church or Mary. She certainly isn’t coredemptrix. That is blasphemy. I love many aspects of the church and it is breaking my heart to leave. I have been a member of my current Catholic church for 13 years and don’t know a soul there. I suspect that will change at the Assembly of God church I plan to join. I also believe in the Rapture and that Jesus is coming soon. Catholics consider that heresy. I have found the Catholic church to often be an idol in the place of Jesus. It is Jesus alone who saves us. I will miss daily Mass and Perpetual Adoration the most. I am not leaving the church in anger but rather looking more for a focus on Jesus and less of Mary, the angels, and saints, although I still love Mother Teresa. I don’t pray to her though. I do respect the Catholic church for their pro-life stand, especially since the Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches are all pro-abortion. I think it will be easier to be Protestant as I will have a solid Biblical focus to keep me away from Mary worship and apparitions and to help me to prepare for the End Times. Also I won’t feel so alone there. I guess I have been more Protestant than Catholic in my views for many years.
 
To suggest that the Lutheran, Presbyterian and Methodist churches are all pro-abortion is a mistake. Those denominations, along with various others, allow for individual viewpoints on such delicate and difficult matters. I have taken no poll, but I think most Protestants would oppose abortion in general but allow for certain exceptions, based on the woman’s health, perhaps, and on rape or incest. They also hesitate to see the state make criminals out of women who seek abortions. I am old enough to recall those days when abortions were performed illegally under unclean and unprofessional conditions, killing both mother and baby. Those certainly were not the ‘good old days’. The wealthy, of course, flew off to some foreign city where abortions were legal.
Code: 
As to easier - which one? This depends upon how devout one is, plus what Protestant denomination you may belong to. The Amish are Protestants and think of their lifestyle. The Mafia are largely Catholics as are most Mexican drug cartel magnates. 

Either faith, faithfully practiced, can have its difficult side, but self-discipline along with deep faith can also make it easier. So to talk about which is easier - it depends so much on so many other factors that no response can be all that authoritative.
 
Roy5 said:
To suggest that the Lutheran, Presbyterian and Methodist churches are all pro-abortion is a mistake. Those denominations, along with various others, allow for individual viewpoints on such delicate and difficult matters. I have taken no poll, but I think most Protestants would oppose abortion in general but allow for certain exceptions, based on the woman’s health, perhaps, and on rape or incest. They also hesitate to see the state make criminals out of women who seek abortions. I am old enough to recall those days when abortions were performed illegally under unclean and unprofessional conditions, killing both mother and baby. Those certainly were not the ‘good old days’. The wealthy, of course, flew off to some foreign city where abortions were legal.
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Good post Roy. And those days when women other than the wealthy didn’t have a legal choice and both mother and baby lost life, didn’t sound to be all that pro life either.
 
Jellen said:
I was raised Protestant, in the Methodist church, and my family was also New Age. I have been Catholic for 21 years. I am in the process of leaving the Catholic Church. I realize I have been programmed not to leave the church, with such sayings as, “the Catholic church has the fullness of the faith”, and “the Catholic church was the one founded by Peter”. I have had my eyes opened by research on the Illuminati and have found out that the Vatican and Papacy are up to their left eyeballs in the Illuminati and the New World Order. But then so is Billy Graham, Max Lucado, and Tim LaHaye. We live in a fallen world. At one time I was obsessed by Marian apparitions. If someone was receiving messages I had the book. And my church in Scottsdale Az had its own members channeling entities calling themselves “Jesus” and “Mary”. About 15 years ago I found out all of that was demonic, similar to the New Age. All that glitters is not gold. The Marian apparitions are a subtle deception to lead us away from Jesus who saves us, not the Catholic church or Mary. She certainly isn’t coredemptrix. That is blasphemy. I love many aspects of the church and it is breaking my heart to leave. I have been a member of my current Catholic church for 13 years and don’t know a soul there. I suspect that will change at the Assembly of God church I plan to join. I also believe in the Rapture and that Jesus is coming soon. Catholics consider that heresy. I have found the Catholic church to often be an idol in the place of Jesus. It is Jesus alone who saves us. I will miss daily Mass and Perpetual Adoration the most. I am not leaving the church in anger but rather looking more for a focus on Jesus and less of Mary, the angels, and saints, although I still love Mother Teresa. I don’t pray to her though. I do respect the Catholic church for their pro-life stand, especially since the Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches are all pro-abortion. I think it will be easier to be Protestant as I will have a solid Biblical focus to keep me away from Mary worship and apparitions and to help me to prepare for the End Times. Also I won’t feel so alone there. I guess I have been more Protestant than Catholic in my views for many years.
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I’m sorry for you. I think that you have fallen for a lot of fantastical claims about the Catholic Church and Billy Graham as well.

My husband grew up in the Assemblies of God. It’s not what it appears to be, either, and I pray that you will not find this out the hard way. The focus is not on Jesus, but on emotional “experiences” such as speaking in tongues and praise and worship music. This is not Jesus.

At least the Assemblies of God has a clear authority structure, unlike a lot of the non-denominational churches which are very confusing at times. You will learn that relying on the Bible does not work–you will find Christians in the Assemblies of God who use the Bible to justify or condemn all kinds of things, and these things will contradict each other, and you will be left confused and wondering just what Jesus really teaches.

You will also discover that even though there is a lot of outward appearance of “love” in the A of God, there are still plenty of people who do not demonstrate Christian charity and good-will to their fellow man.

I’m very sorry that you are taking this course, and I urge you to re-consider. Tim Staples, one of the apoligists with Catholic Answers, was a pastor in the Assemblies of God–I urge you to get hold of his CDs and/or books and do some more studying about Catholicism. Please don’t waste years of your life in the Protestant churches. I wish with all my heart that I had the first 47 years of my life back again to live as a Catholic Christian.
 
=Roy5;8364445]To suggest that the Lutheran, Presbyterian and Methodist churches are all pro-abortion is a mistake. Those denominations, along with various others, allow for individual viewpoints on such delicate and difficult matters.
I have taken no poll, but I think most Protestants would oppose abortion in general but allow for certain exceptions, based on the woman’s health, perhaps, and on rape or incest. They also hesitate to see the state make criminals out of women who seek abortions. I am old enough to recall those days when abortions were performed illegally under unclean and unprofessional conditions, killing both mother and baby. Those certainly were not the ‘good old days’. The wealthy, of course, flew off to some foreign city where abortions were legal.
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Just to clarify, the LCMS statement on abortion:
Q: What is the Missouri Synod’s view of abortion?
A: The LCMS believes that abortion is contrary to God’s Word and “is not a moral option except, except as a tragically unavoidable byproduct of medical procedures necessary to prevent the death of another human being, viz., the mother” (1979 Res. 3-02A). Official synodical resolutions and other materials on this topic are available from the Synod’s Commission on Theology and Church Relations (CTCR).
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Jon
 
Roy5 said:
To suggest that the Lutheran, Presbyterian and Methodist churches are all pro-abortion is a mistake. Those denominations, along with various others, allow for individual viewpoints on such delicate and difficult matters. I have taken no poll, but I think most Protestants would oppose abortion in general but allow for certain exceptions, based on the woman’s health, perhaps, and on rape or incest. They also hesitate to see the state make criminals out of women who seek abortions. I am old enough to recall those days when abortions were performed illegally under unclean and unprofessional conditions, killing both mother and baby. Those certainly were not the ‘good old days’. The wealthy, of course, flew off to some foreign city where abortions were legal.
Code: 
As to easier - which one? This depends upon how devout one is, plus what Protestant denomination you may belong to. The Amish are Protestants and think of their lifestyle. The Mafia are largely Catholics as are most Mexican drug cartel magnates. 

Either faith, faithfully practiced, can have its difficult side, but self-discipline along with deep faith can also make it easier. So to talk about which is easier - it depends so much on so many other factors that no response can be all that authoritative.
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Roy, the Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches do in fact support abortion. They support the reproductive rights coalition. There are many articles on it if you do a google search. The reason I did the search was that I read the book Unplanned by Abby Johnson and her Protestant church pretty much kicked her out after she left Planned Parenthood and became pro-life. It is a great book. I highly recommend it.
 
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