Are they really different religions? and why are Catholics more strict about virginity, etc than "Christians"?
218467
Catholics are Christians if they have accepted Jesus as there saviour, same as any other denomination. (I'm not Catholic.) I don't know where you live but in UK the mainstream church had lost it's way and started compromising on things such as sex before marriage and the like, but now things are going back to God's word. The church I'm in is very Bibe based, happily.
383030
There's NOTHING wrong with questioning one's religion. I, too was brought up catholic, and went to their OWN books (because I didn't trust anyone else at the time) to study up on what they stood for. I came to my own conclusions, and I suggest you do the same. Christianity is the THINKING MAN'S FAITH, it is NOT, however a particular religion. It is a relationship with GOD, not something that can be achieved through something that man tells you to do. The Bible says to "study to show  thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."\n\nIf your heart is searching, God will show you the truth.\n\nGod bless you in your way.
564225
Yeah, because Christianity does not have any wrinkles. Give me a break, dude. They are both silly religions followed by the weak of mind.
13016
Catholics can be categorized as Christians. The difference is the Catholics believe that their church (via the Pope) has absolute authority in matters of spirituality. The rest of the Christian world (Protestants) believes that spiritual authority comes from the Bible alone.
525788
Other people dont understand the question. Its more like this....\n"Whats the difference between Catholics and (Protestant) Christians?"\n\nCatholics pray to Mary and the Saints even though Jesus said the only way to the Father is through Him. (Catholics also use priests as a link between God and man, therefor replacing Jesus' role.)\n\nCatholics think that the bread and wine is the literal body and blood of Jesus Christ being sacrificed over and over again every week even though Jesus died ONCE so that all sins would be forgiven.\n\nCatholics have statues of Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and the saints despite the second commandment saying that we shall not have any image of that which is in heaven or on earth.\n\nCatholics deal with the last problem by leaving out that commandment and splitting the last one (thou shalt not covet) into two parts...thou shalt not covet thy neighbors wife and thou shalt not covet thy neighbors possessions.\n\nCatholics have added books to the Bible that were viewed as erroneous for hundreds of years.\n\nThere are more but those are a few.\n\nProtestants are called Protestants because they are protesting the errors of the Catholic Church.\n\njudge by ur self
416186
The biggest difference is that catholics believe in the virgin mary as a god. because Jesus is God, catholics believe Mary must have been a god as well, thus Jesus would be 100% God. however, the Bible makes no claims for mary being a god. Jesus was 100% God and 100% man.
484400
Christianity: Christians believe in Jesus Christ, son of God. So they have, besides the Old Testament (which is also a holy book for jews) also the New Testament.\n\nChristians, in their history, have divided themselves for several reasons (some theological, others also more "political").\n\nNowadays Christians, which all believe in the same things, are divided in groups:\n\nCatholic Christians: they recognize the Pope in Rome to be the supreme guide and the descendant (in a metaforical sense) of Pietro (the first Pope and disciple of Jesus).\nThis religion is mainly practiced in Western Europe and parts of Africa.\nOrthodox Christians: They have split from Catholics. They do not have one official supreme guide. Their priests are called Pope.\nThis religion, originated in Bisantium (Istanbul), is practiced mainly in Eastern Europe and Greece (Russia, Ukraine)\nProtestants (or reformed) Christians: these split much later then Orthodox from the Catholic religion and, to some extent, show the more closeness to Catholicism. A great protestant reformer was Matin Luther who fought agains the Catholic hierarcy. The main differences between protestants and Catholics are:\n- the relationship with God is much more personal and individual\n- the religious hierarchy (the "priest") does not exist\n\nProtestants and Orthodox do not consider the Pope as being the supreme guide of the curch.\n\nProtestants have divided in many different groups some of which, in fear of furious persecution, fled to other countries (among which the USA) to practice their beliefs freely.\n\nTheologically speaking all Christian religions have the same "core" beliefs, but express themselves and are organized differently (very differently in some cases).\n\nThere are many theological differences, but I believe this is irrelevant to the play at school...\n\nBut there is nothing these religions "do against each other" they all come from the same source: the teachings of Jesus the Nazaren and the Vangels. They divided and separated eachother during the two millennia of Christiandom's history.
164594
All prayers are answered by God if you're a Christian. Catholics are another denomination of Christianity, like Protestants. Man has set up a number of barriers to free worship of God. To say you're Catholic or Protestant further divides Christianity. What it amounts to is like Crocodile Dundee said, a bunch of fleas arguing over who owns the dog they live on. That's what I tell them. Christians all pray to the same God, no matter if you're Protestant, Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, or any of the others. To say that God only answers the prayers of people who pray the Rosary or does it differently based on your denomination is just not logical.
300365
I am Protestant, but I prefer to just think of myself as Christian - there are many denominations of Protestants that I do not agree with. I don't think that all Catholics are going to hell, and I can't say that all Catholics think I'm going to hell. \n\nIt's difficult to classify Catholics vs. Protestants today, owing to the fact that there are so many Protestant denominations with so many different doctrines and practices. I can therefore only offer the difference between myself and the Catholics (Roman) as I knew them at the school I went to. \n\nCatholics pray to Mary and the saints, I do not. \n\nCatholics christen infants (some Protestants do this too), I don't think that a person should be baptized until they are saved.\n\nCatholics have celibate priests and nuns, I find no basis for that. \n\nCatholics confess to priests/fathers, I do not believe I have to confess to anyone but God in order to be forgiven.\n\nCatholics believe in mortal sins and other kinds of sin (in other words, they "rank" sin), I do not believe that God ranks sin. I believe that they affect us differently on earth, but that the wages of all sin is death.\n\nCatholics have texts such as the Maccabbees that I do not follow. \n\nCatholics believe that the communion wine and bread really become the blood and body of Jesus Christ, I do not. I simply believe it to be a memorial practice. \n\nCatholics believe that Mary remained a virgin her whoe life and had no children other than Jesus. I believe she was a virgin only until Jesus was born, and that she had other children.\n\nCatholics have worship practices that differ from my own - they cross themselves, use holy water, pray the rosary, etc. Their masses, or church services, are often scripted - the priest will say something, then the congregation will reply (see the link). I disagree with the concept of holy water and praying the rosary. I don't disagree with crossig oneself, but I don't do it. Same with the statement/reply format. I worship in a different style and according to some different beliefs. \n\nThere are several more points of difference...\n\nNone of these differences takes away from the fact that both Catholics and myself believe Jesus to be the Savior and the Son of God (part of the Trinity) - and this is the most important and central belief of Christianity.
332350
I think that those who change religions are either confused or they find other religions to be more convenient with their lifestyles and so they change. I myself would never change my religion (I'm Catholic) and trust me being a Catholic is hard stuff, you have to forgive people all the time and not hold grudges (Jesus!!! Why are there so many a^s^s^holes out there!), so if I was confused I would choose another religion, but I'm not a coward, so I'll be a Catholic 4 life!
662038
There were many religions before Christianity. Judaism is one, just the Old Testament. Other religions have multiple Gods and Goddesses. Some have none. Christianity is not the only and not the first and maybe not even the right religion.
240362
Yes Catholics are Christian, but not all Christians are Catholic.  In order to be married in the Catholic Church,  you both must be Catholic.  Go talk to your priest.  He will clear things up for you, and tell you about how your fiance can go about converting, if he wants to.
160637
The Catholic church claims Mary is still a virgin.\n\nBut I think they're just trying to keep God from being charged with rape. No penetration, no rape.
631993
Before we get into looking at specific Scriptures, it is important to understand why the Roman Catholic Church believes in the perpetual virginity of Mary. The Roman Catholic Church views Mary as "the Mother of God" and "Queen of Heaven." Catholics believe Mary to have an exalted place in Heaven, with the closest access to Jesus and God the Father. Such a concept is nowhere taught in Scripture. Further, even if Mary did occupy such an exalted position, her having sexual intercourse would not have prevented her from gaining such a position. Sex in marriage is not sinful. Mary would have in no way defiled herself by having sexual relations with Joseph her husband. The entire concept of the perpetual virginity of Mary is based on an unbiblical teaching, Mary as Queen of Heaven, and on an unbiblical understanding of sex.\n\nSo, what does the Bible say about the perpetual virginity of Mary? Using the New American Bible, which is a Catholic translation of the Bible, we can see that the perpetual virginity of Mary is not taught in the Bible. Matthew 1:25 NAB tells us, "He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus." He, Joseph, did not have sexual relations with her, Mary, UNTIL after she bore a son, Jesus." The meaning of this Scripture is abundantly clear. Joseph and Mary did not have sexual relations until after Jesus was born. Matthew 13:55-56 NAB declares, "Is He not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Are not His sisters all with us?" Catholics claim, correctly, that the Greek terms from "brothers" and "sisters" in these verses could also refer to male and female relatives, not necessarily literal brothers and sisters. However, the intended meaning is clear, they thought Jesus to be Joseph's son, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas, and the brother of the unnamed and unnumbered sisters. Father, mother, brother, sister. It is straining the meaning of the text to interpret brothers and sisters as "cousins" or "relatives" with the mentioning of Jesus' mother and father.\n\n Matthew 12:46 NAB tells us, "While He was still speaking to the crowds, His mother and His brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with Him." See also Mark 3:31-34; Luke 8:19-21; John 2:12; and Acts 1:14. All mention Jesus' mother with His brothers. If they were His cousins, or the sons of Joseph from a previous marriage, why were they mentioned with Mary so often? The perpetual virginity of Mary cannot be drawn from Scripture. It must be forced on Scripture, in contradiction to what the Scriptures clearly state.
600712
Anything anyone prays to is being worshiped. Catholics have thousands of Gods (saints) they worship. Nice spin, but the fact is Catholicism is a pagan religion.
14230
I suppose today's society isn't as tribal as the past societies or the ones you still see in 3rd world countries where women were nothing but chattel.\n\nBased on that it's quite simple today to find someone you love having most of the qualities you desire - yes, even in the religious sense.\nA devout Catholic women should be chaste and so must her husband. Both should have a pure state of mind and believe in God.\nThere are many non-Christians who aren't Christians or Catholics but still have a sense of God, but are not ready to make a huge commitment to the Christian or Catholic faith if they're not ready yet.\nMany non-Christians are chaste, have pure, good hearts and I'm sure we all know not all Christians are better than non-Christians. I've met alot of non-Christians with hearts of gold that'd put many hollow-faithed and judgemental Christians to great shame if they were put together.\nIt maybe a matter of time before this person actually decides to take God and Christ into his or her heart, or through the spouse's good conduct and deep faith, decide that, yes, the children are better off having a religion then just skulking around in the wide open space looking for something.\n\nSo, I don't think we should judge non-Christians harshly - unless as individuals they have less-than-honourable conduct and character. It takes a lot of love, effort, acceptance and faith in God, as well as time, for the spouse to realise that yes, I want to accept Christ in my life.\nAnd of course, when the children come their religious beliefs will form naturally in the family.
411215
There will be Catholics that will NOT be saved and there will be other Religions that will NOT be saved. The Catholic Religion offers the entirety of Salvation though. Other Religions have part of the truth. It all boils down to judgement by Jesus. What did you know and when did you know it and did you ever refuse knowing it and what did you do with it once you knew it?