Protestants vs. Catholics

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april_hosen:
What has a Protestant done that no Catholic hasnt?
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Hi April -

I’m a bit confused by this question. Please bear with me, I’m about to sound like a teacher correcting a paper. It contains a double negative…“no Catholic hasnt?” This is the part that confuses me.

Maybe you could reword it, or give some examples of what protestants have done that might show what you mean?

Subrosa
 
Hi Subrosa,

What I mean to say was is what is the difference between a Catholic and a Protestant,if you were to take away the fact that they were a Catholic and a Protestant? Thats probably not much better, but I tried.
 
I am confused too,

Are you trying to say this…

What has a Protestant done that Catholics haven’t done?

Please clarify the question, though I personally wouldn’t try to categorize all Protestants or even all Catholics, there are many Catholics who once were Protestants or vice versa.

God Bless

Scylla
 
Oops, I was off, saying evening prayers with my kids.

So you were asking what is the difference between a Catholic and a Protestant if you take away the labels?

Here is a quick not too detailed answer,

A Catholic would believe in a unity of faith, which is contained in the Church based on Jesus Christ and preserved by the Apostles and their chosen successors, which continues to this day.

This is my understanding of a Protestant, but it is impossible to clearly define this.
A Protestant, usually professes a belief in an invisible\sometimes Church which is defined by a belief in Christ and based on the doctrines of Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide.

I am sure others can elaborate,

God Bless
Scylla
 
good answer:)

April!!! Hi love!
Protestants rejected the authority of the church. The things that always stand out to me are the rejection of the Real Presence and the Holy Mother…a lot of the Catholic faith revolves around those beliefs. Other people can definitely give better answers than I can, but that’s just what came to mind first.
 
Aside from doctrinal disputes, the biggest difference to me (I’m Prot, for now) revolves around ritual and the mystery of the faith.

The Protestant faith is immediate and visceral. Billy Graham’s crusades are an example. Catholic edge gradually into communion by ritual.

I regret today that I just didn’t get it. In HS my girlfriend and I would go to NYC now and then on Sunday. Her parents only let her go if we attended Mass. Fine will me. Got to see St. Patricks and that area of the city. But I saw it as an obligation only. It looked painful to me (so do tent revival type Protestant services). Only now, decades later, am I starting to see the beauty of it and how many Catholics I know can’t wait to go to Mass. For a while, been watching EWTN. The history, art and theology stuff. I would surf out when the services began. About a week ago, around 8AM, I thought darn…I missed the earlier…don’t know what it is called… the “For the sake of the sorrowful passion…” segment which is repeated often.

Me? Kicking myself because I missed chants?

Wow…
 
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David_Paul:
Aside from doctrinal disputes, the biggest difference to me (I’m Prot, for now) revolves around ritual and the mystery of the faith.

The Protestant faith is immediate and visceral. Billy Graham’s crusades are an example. Catholic edge gradually into communion by ritual.

I regret today that I just didn’t get it. In HS my girlfriend and I would go to NYC now and then on Sunday. Her parents only let her go if we attended Mass. Fine will me. Got to see St. Patricks and that area of the city. But I saw it as an obligation only. It looked painful to me (so do tent revival type Protestant services). Only now, decades later, am I starting to see the beauty of it and how many Catholics I know can’t wait to go to Mass. For a while, been watching EWTN. The history, art and theology stuff. I would surf out when the services began. About a week ago, around 8AM, I thought darn…I missed the earlier…don’t know what it is called… the “For the sake of the sorrowful passion…” segment which is repeated often.

Me? Kicking myself because I missed chants?

Wow…
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Hey,
“For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have Mercy on us and the whole world.”:gopray2: -Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Thanks and God Bless.
 
Thank you! The voices are exquisite and caught my attention right off. But then I started intellectualizing. Too simple. Needs more verses. Some counterpoint. About the fourth time hearing it, it clicked. It’s not Bach. Isn’t supposed to be Bach. Something else is going on here…🙂
 
It was the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy, which the Lord Jesus gave to his servant Sr. Faustina Kowalska. (try go get a copy of the Diary that Sr. Faustina kept while Jesus was appearing to her) The feast of the Divine Mercy was established a few years ago by the Pope John Paul II. It is celebrated on the first Sunday after the Easter
 
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David_Paul:
Thank you! The voices are exquisite and caught my attention right off. But then I started intellectualizing. Too simple. Needs more verses. Some counterpoint. About the fourth time hearing it, it clicked. It’s not Bach. Isn’t supposed to be Bach. Something else is going on here…🙂
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Hi David_Paul

Nope, not Bach. It is chant. It is just a melody line and sung in a mode, not a key. Gregorian chant is the official music of the Catholic Church and gets it’s name from Pope Gregory the Great (590-604) who standardized the chants for the whole church’s liturgy. Polyphony (counterpoint) didn’t happen for nearly another 500 years. Bach wrote in the 1600’s - 1700’s and borrowed the chants often. He also wrote for the Lutheran church.

Chant is supposed to provide an “other worldly” or heavenly atmosphere, which is why it is sung in mode and not key. The typical mode used the notes d-e-f-g, with c and a occasionally used. Notice no sharps or flats. If you havr a piano, try playing those notes in some fashion. It’s cool.

Here are a couple links…
christusrex.org/www2/cantgreg/cantos_selec_eng.html
newadvent.org/cathen/06779a.htm
chant.hchc.edu/ - this is Byzantine chant…very similar.

Subrosa
 
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april_hosen:
Hi Subrosa,

What I mean to say was is what is the difference between a Catholic and a Protestant,if you were to take away the fact that they were a Catholic and a Protestant? Thats probably not much better, but I tried.
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I seem to read this a little different.

What is the difference between a Catholic and a Protestant, if you were to take away the fact that they were Catholic or Protestant…I would say you would have two human beings, not Christian so no Christian differences.???
 
If you remove religion from the equation we are all people. If you see a Catholic at a football game or the grocery store you wouldn’t be able to identify them outwardly as Catholic, if that’s what you mean.

If you mean what are the differences between the Catholic faith and other Christians; the main difference is that the Catholic Church was established by Jesus Christ and we have passed His “deposit of faith” down unbroken for 2,000 years. Other Christian churches have taken some elements of this original faith but none of them have the fullness of faith. When I went to see Pope John Paul II at World Youth Day in Denver in 1993, I received a booklet called “Pillar of Fire, Pillar of Truth” which is conveniently online for you to read. I refer to it often when explaining my faith. It is a concise explanation of the Catholic Church:

catholic.com/library/pillar.asp

I’m not sure about the specifics differences between the Catholic faith and your own. But you may be able to glean that information from reading the above link.
 
Thank you all,
Umm you all sort of answered my question. The reason why I asked it is there seems to be a lot of discrimination against Protestants here. I just wanted to understand why. I meandont take this thewrong way, but if I were to judge my general veiw on Catholics just on this site then, it would be that Catholics have a seriosue grude/ hate against Protestants or those who are not Catholics.
Thank you for your imput,
April
 
That’s a shame that you see it as hate. If a Protestant respectfully desires to understand our faith and what we believe, the Catholic posters here are very happy to share.
I think it’s :cool: (cool) that you were interested enough in our differences to join us! 👋
 
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april_hosen:
Thank you all,
Umm you all sort of answered my question. The reason why I asked it is there seems to be a lot of discrimination against Protestants here. I just wanted to understand why. I meandont take this thewrong way, but if I were to judge my general veiw on Catholics just on this site then, it would be that Catholics have a seriosue grude/ hate against Protestants or those who are not Catholics.
Thank you for your imput,
April
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I can understand that. I am Catholic and I feel it. But I don’t think it is hate. I think it is that Catholics have a strong sense that they are absolutely right and have to convince everyone else to be Catholic.
 
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feather:
I can understand that. I am Catholic and I feel it. But I don’t think it is hate. I think it is that Catholics have a strong sense that they are absolutely right and have to convince everyone else to be Catholic.
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Catholics might consider being more aggressive in promoting their faith. I’ve been proselytized by Baptists, Mormons, Unitarians, Hari Krishna, more varieties of marxists than I care to remember but can’t recall a Catholic ever suggesting I become Catholic. Took Catholic girlfriends to Mass many times. Wonder why Catholics are shy about it. The nativist anti-Catholic history in America?
 
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David_Paul:
Catholics might consider being more aggressive in promoting their faith. I’ve been proselytized by Baptists, Mormons, Unitarians, Hari Krishna, more varieties of marxists than I care to remember but can’t recall a Catholic ever suggesting I become Catholic. Took Catholic girlfriends to Mass many times. Wonder why Catholics are shy about it. The nativist anti-Catholic history in America?
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That’s very true. Catholics are not known for their evangelization work. We seem to prefer to lead by example rather than lead with words. Here’s one explanation for the dearth of Catholic evangelists:

allroadsministry.com/Tracts/WhyDontCatholicsEvangelize.asp
 
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april_hosen:
but if I were to judge my general veiw on Catholics just on this site then, it would be that Catholics have a seriosue grude/ hate against Protestants or those who are not Catholics.
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That is an interesting perpective. My experience is the opposite. I have seen scores of anti-Catholic protestants, come to this forum, not to understand what the Catholic faith truly teaches, but to attack the faith with vitriol, bigotry, and uncharitable dialogue based on their own misconceptions about the Catholic faith. I think what you may experience are somewhat gun-shy Catholics who have been attacked repeatedly based on the same misconceptions. It is often said that the last acceptable prejudice in this country, is anti-Catholicism. 😦
 
Eden said:
allroadsministry.com/Tracts/WhyDontCatholicsEvangelize.asp
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So that is it. Sorta what I thought: “many Catholics become intimidated by the task. This is all wrong, of course.”

On the other hand, I do see the evangelization in deeds and by example. To bring it down to my field of expertise, Catholics have made 95% of the sale. All they need to do close the deal is ask the customer to sign. Many salesmen choke at that point. That is why car dealerships have closers.

All my life I’ve been around Catholics who were headed off to midnight mass at Christmas. To this day I’m not sure if non-Catholics are really wanted or are supposed to attend. Nobody asked me to go. Certain, if I asked, my friends would have been taken me. But I wasn’t sure if it was proper to ask.
 
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