What are the main differences between Catholics &. Protestants

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phil_at_dayboro

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As the Question asks, for I have little idea and am Sure I am not alone ,
 
phil_at_dayboro said:
As the Question asks, for I have little idea and am Sure I am not alone ,
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That’s a loaded question that depends on what kind of Protestant you’re talking about. And technically what kind of Catholic, Latin Rite, Ordinariate, Eastern, you’re talking about.
 
Protestants are heavily divided among themselves. Even the heretical doctrines of Sola Fide and Sola Scriptura are debated among Protestant denominations. And don’t even get them started on Predestination. Actually, Baptism is worse. Wait, no! The real presence! :slapfight:

In fact, a lot of denominations don’t even have a central unified doctrine. Anglicans are a great example. Though, in recent months they seem to be shaping up. The one ultimate thing that divides all Protestants from Catholics though is their denial of the primacy of the Bishop of Rome.
 
Padres1969 said:
That’s a loaded question that depends on what kind of Protestant you’re talking about. And technically what kind of Catholic, Latin Rite, Ordinariate, Eastern, you’re talking about.
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There is no difference in doctrine between Latin Rite and Eastern Rite Catholics. Only tradition. There is difference in doctrine between Catholics and Protestants though, and also among Protestant themselves.
 
Protestants use a heretical Bible, Luther’s Bible, in which he removed books which the Church had declared inspired. This rejection is not just a rejection of Church “teaching” but a denial of scripture itself, 2 Tim 3:16-17 which says that all scripture is inspired by God. Now, that book was written in Greek to Greek-speaking Christians who would have understood by “scripture” to mean the Greek Septuagint, which contains the books that Luther rejected. The Church itself has not recognized all the books that are in the Septuagint either, though.

And, that involves the rejection of the authority of the Pope and the Church to define and defend doctrine. And, that rejection includes the rejection of Tradition of the Catholic Church, which includes the tradition (“handing down”) of how the Bible is to be understood.

There are many divisions with Protestantism, with some groups who don’t even like the term “Protestant.”

Most Protestant groups do not recognize the priesthood as it is understood in the Catholic Church – they cannot find it in scripture.

The Protestants in my family don’t recognize that there is a Church – they tell me when we die, we’re not going to be judged for what church we belonged to. Hmmmm. My cousin just wrote a newsletter criticizing “lent” and “fasting.” When they want to, various Protestants will criticize every doctrine (teaching) of the Catholic Church.

so, open your Catechism of the Catholic Church, and there’s the list of things that Protestants potentially disagree with. Someone younger and more energetic than myself could probably list the number of each paragraph of the catechism and then next to it write the name of the Protestant group that disagrees with it.

If you’re familiar with the Salvation Army in the U.S., they don’t practice Baptism. In history, you may recall Henry VIII of England rejected the authority of the Pope and the Church and divorced his wife and he set himself up as the head of the Church of England. So, here’s a protestant who denied the scripture where Christ prohibited divorce. Protestants can do that, like Luther did, rejecting scriptures that they don’t agree with.

I don’t think I’ve said anything wrong. Need I say more?
 
Padres1969 said:
That’s a loaded question that depends on what kind of Protestant you’re talking about. And technically what kind of Catholic, Latin Rite, Ordinariate, Eastern, you’re talking about.
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Well I did say I have no idea,😃

And I’m sure I’m not alone on that ,
 
No doctrinal difference between the Latin Rite Catholics, the Eastern Catholics and the Ordinariate Catholics.
 
The reality is that Protestants choose what they believe from their own interpretation of the Bible, from which seven books have been removed.

Thus they lack the Magisterium (teaching authority) established by Christ, and Sacred Tradition, the priesthood, most of the seven sacraments, and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and most do not believe in Purgatory.

They vary, but tend to have fallen prey to divorce, contraception, abortion, euthanasia, IVF, because the Scriptures, privately interpreted, cannot always guide us on every issue, capital punishment, cloning and many other modern problems - this results in uncertainty and lack of unified Christian action.
 
phil_at_dayboro said:
As the Question asks, for I have little idea and am Sure I am not alone ,
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All Protestant denominations are characterized by which parts, and to what extent they deny the Apostolic Faith that has been infallibly preserved by the Holy Spirit in the Catholic Church.

Protestants emanate from the Reformation, so the establishment of their ecclesial communities is only about 500 years old.

All Protestants agree on at least one essential element - the Catholic Church has it “wrong” somehow. 😃
 
I am Catholic since birth , I have never taken an interest in any other denominations ,
So it’s nice to gain a better understanding
 
phil_at_dayboro said:
I am Catholic since birth , I have never taken an interest in any other denominations ,
So it’s nice to gain a better understanding
Click to expand...
Well, technically speaking, no one is “born” Catholic. You don’t officially become Catholic until you are baptized, that is why we call ourselves Cradle Catholics.
 
phil_at_dayboro said:
Well I did say I have no idea,😃

And I’m sure I’m not alone on that ,
Click to expand...
Well one difference that all Protestants, and other Christians such as Restorationists, share with regard to being different from the RCC is of course the issue of the Pope (and by extension the priesthood). Papal infallibility and Petrine Supremacy, are at the very least rejected. And in many cases the idea of the episcopate and even holy orders are rejected depending on the denomination.

Another big difference that stands out is the idea of saintly intercession, and the Marian dogmas. Some protestants do recognize the saints and of course recognize that Mary is the mother of God. But few protestants recognize the ability of saints to intercede on our behalf. And the position on Mary in terms of being a intercessor or even perpetually virgin can vary.

The position on sacred tradition among Protestants more often than not is that it has no position. That the bible is the sole source of authority would be the general position with a few notable exceptions (my own faith being one). The bible used is also typically different with Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus (Sirach), Baruch (includes the Letters of Jeremiah), I and II Maccabees not present due to disagreement on their place in relation to the Hebrew Scriptures vis-a-vis the Septuagint (again there are exceptions as Anglicans do include the Apocrypha in the bible).

And as an extension of the above, the belief in what constitutes the way to salvation can vary. Some belief it’s through the 5 solas, some believe works have a place. As an extension of that the typical protestant position is that at most there are 2 sacraments (baptism and Eucharist/communion). Though again there are variations as some protestants reject the necessity for even those 2 or that they’re merely symbolic of salvation already attained. And some protestants, again typically Anglicans in the Anglo-Catholic branch are a good example, retain both the 2 great sacraments (baptism and Eucharist) as well as the other 5 sacramental rites.

And finally, because this post is getting overly long (and there’s acetone leaking down from a suite above my office and we’re all getting dizzy 🤷), there are differences in the practice of the 2 great sacraments from how Catholics view them. For some protestants baptism is not something that you do with children, but rather as a symbol of an adult experience of being born again in Christ. Of course this difference is not universal and many Protestants have retained childhood baptism and a similar if not identical meaning as Catholics place on it. With the Eucharist, some Protestants don’t practice it at all, some view it as merely symbolic, and some like Catholics view Christ as being actually present in the Eucharist (though what form that presence takes is varying and can even include the Catholic view of Transubstantiation).

I’ll conclude here before I pass out…
 
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