What's the difference between Christianity and Catholicism?
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Catholicism and Biblical Christianity are divergent religions. They are built on different foundations, and they propose different ways of salvation.\n\nIn principle, Christianity is built solely on the Holy Scriptures, the written Word of God. The Bible is our only infallible rule of faith, being sufficient to give us the sure knowledge of the Gospel for our salvation and holiness.\n\nRoman Catholicism demands submission of the intellect and will to the doctrines taught by the Roman magisterium (the Pope and bishops). It is claimed that the Catholic Church derives its doctrines from the "sacred deposit" found in Scriptures and Sacred Tradition. However the faithful cannot verify these doctrines by referring to the original sources. The Scriptures are inaccessible because only the magisterium is able to establish the authentic meaning. Similarly the contents of Sacred Tradition can only be known through the magisterium. Roman Catholicism is mental and spiritual slavery to the Vatican.\n\nAs expected, since the foundations are different, so also are the edifices built upon them. Christianity stands on the Gospel of God's sovereign grace. In love, God predestines His chosen ones to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ, their sole mediator. The Son became man and gave His life as a ransom to secure their freedom from sin. Being dead in sin, they are completely unable to convert ourselves or merit God's favour. Therefore God graciously grants His people repentance and faith to turn to Him and trust in Christ Jesus for salvation. Believers are accepted in Christ, solely on the merit of His righteousness and blood, and not because of any goodness or human merit. God also resides in His people by the Holy Spirit, enabling them to obey and glorify the Father, and to guarantee their inheritance in heaven forever.\n\nRome's "gospel" is not good news at all. The Roman institution, calling itself "The Church", usurps Christ's mediatorial office, proclaiming herself as the "sacrament of salvation." The "Church" dispenses salvation to her faithful in small portions, starting at baptism and continuing throughout life. Forgiveness can only be obtained through the sacrament of penance. The benefits of Christ's sacrifice are accessible through the sacrifice of the Mass. Instead of teaching the faithful to rest in Christ by faith, Catholics are taught to perform religious works to "merit grace" and to do penance to make satisfaction. Even after death, Catholics remains dependent on the "Church" to relieve their suffering in Purgatory by masses and indulgences.\n\nThe Roman Catholic Church is a mighty obstacle to anyone seeking salvation, enslaving millions of people to a religious system and preventing them from coming directly to Christ.\n\nThe choice is between the Bible and the Roman magisterium; the choice is between salvation by grace through faith in Christ, or through human merit and effort in the Roman religion.
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A christian is a person who believes in God\nA satanist is a person who believes in Satan
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This question has been asked many times. Most Orthodox, in attempting to distinguish between Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, usually mention the Pope or Purgatory, sometimes the filioque. Historically, the differences, however, are far more numerous and quite profound. \n\nAlso, in modern times, since Vatican II of thirty years ago, that major, if not tragic attempt, to "update" Roman Catholicism (e.g., the revision of canon law), the differences between Orthodoxy and the followers of the Pope have widened. \n\nIn our present discussion, however, the concern will be those differences which have grown since Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism separated almost a thousand years ago. \n\n1. Faith and Reason \n\nFollowing the Holy Fathers, Orthodoxy uses science and philosophy to defend and explain her Faith. Unlike Roman Catholicism, she does not build on the results of philosophy and science. The Church does not seek to reconcile faith and reason. She makes no effort to prove by logic or science what Christ gave His followers to believe. If physics or biology or chemistry or philosophy lends support to the teachings of the Church, she does not refuse them. However, Orthodoxy is not intimidated by man's intellectual accomplishments. She does not bow to them and change the Christian Faith to make it consistent with the results of human thought and science. \n\nSt. Basil the Great advised young monks to use Greek philosophy as a bee uses the flower. Take only the "honey," ---- the truth --- which God has planted in the world to prepare men for the Coming of the Lord. \n\nFor example, the Greeks had a doctrine of the Logos. The Gospel of John opens, "In the beginning was the Word (Logos, in Greek). For the pagans, the Logos was not God, as He is for Christians; rather he is a principle, a power or force by which "God: formed and governs the world. The Fathers pointed to the similarity between the Logos or Word of the Bible and the Logos of Greek philosophy as a sign of Providence. The difference between them, they attributed to the sinfulness of men and the weakness of the human intellect. They remembered the words of the Apostle Paul, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ" (Col. 2: 8). \n\nRoman Catholicism, on the other hand, places a high value on human reason. Its history shows the consequence of that trust. For example, in the Latin Middle Ages, the 13th century, the theologian-philosopher, Thomas Aquinas, joined "Christianity" with the philosophy of Aristotle. From that period til now, the Latins have never wavered in their respect for human wisdom; and it has radically altered the theology, mysteries and institutions of the Christian religion. \n\n2. The Development of Doctrine \n\nThe Orthodox Church does not endorse the view that the teachings of Christ have changed from time to time; rather that Christianity has remained unaltered from the moment that the Lord delivered the Faith to the Apostles (Matt. 28: 18-20). She affirms that "the faith once delivered to the saints" (Jude 3) is now what it was in the beginning. Orthodox of the twentieth century believe precisely what was believed by Orthodox of the first, the fifth, the tenth, the fifteenth centuries. \n\nTo be sure, Orthodoxy recognizes external changes (e.g., vestments of clergy, monastic habits, new feasts, canons of ecumenical and regional councils, etc.), but nothing has been added or subtracted from her Faith. The external changes have a single purpose: To express that Faith under new circumstances. For example, the Bible and divine Services were translated from Hebrew and Greek into the language of new lands; or new religious customs arose to express the ethnic sensibilities of the converted peoples, etc.; nevertheless, their has always been "one faith, one Lord, one baptism" (Eph.
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As people have said, Catholicism is just a specific type of Christianity.  As for the cross bit, many Protestants use crosses as opposed to crucifixes (the cross with Jesus on it) because of the commandment that says you shouldn't make any graven images.  Catholics interpret this to mean you shouldn't worship any graven images and use the crucifix to help focus their thoughts during prayer or worship.  Some other points based on the differences between Catholics and Protestants (most Christians who aren't Catholic are Protestant):\n\n 1. Saints.  Catholics will pray to saints, asking them to intercede on their behalf.  Protestants don't do this, and don't really have saints.  I believe one reason is they sometimes think of this as worship, naturally forbidden.  Also, Catholics believe Mary was born without sin (the "immaculate conception").  Protestants do not.\n 2.  Structure.  Catholicism has a hierarchical structure with the pope at the top, then cardinals, bishops, priests, deacons, other religious, and laypeople.  This is not to say Catholics follow the pope mindlessly or above God, just that he acts as a father and a guide for the Church.  Protestants do not have this structure, but rely on small self-governing communities.\n 3.  The Eucharist.  Catholics say that the Eucharist is the essence of Christ, present with them.  They worship Christ in and through the Eucharist.  Protestants (generally) think the Eucharist is bread, symbolic of Christ, but not actually Christ.\n 4. Salvation.  Generally, Protestants believe that salvation can only come from accepting Christ as your savior.  Essentially, no matter how good a person is on their own, because they're not perfect, they wouldn't be able to make it to heaven if it weren't for Chirst's sacrifice.    Catholics believe this is true, but that you also have to 'walk the walk, not just talk the talk.'  Salvation is based on the acceptance of Christ as savior combined with good works.
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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.
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Guardian Angel, what the hell are you talking about?  Catholics are Christians.  By definition Chrsitian is a follower of Christ.  DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Christian is the tree. Catholic is the branch of the tree.
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The catholic religion is in reality based on traditions created by the church, not Christ.  They do however claim that they follow Christ, but actions speak louder than words.  Catholicism is primarily a pagan religion.\n\nThis I believe; http://homelessheart.com/testimony.htm
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body of Christ.\nthe catholic religion believes the wafer actually becomes the body of Christ whereas protestants believe it is representative of same.\ntransubstantiation vs consubstantiation.\ni think i remember that corectly.
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Catholicism is a religion of idol worship.  The Bible does not support worshipping or praying to Mary.  She was a human being like all of us.
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catholicism is one of the two major branches of christianity, the other being protestantism. protestantism was founded by martin luther in the 15th century as a rebellion against what he perceived as the corruption of the then-current christian church. he wanted christianity to focus more upon the teachings of the bible rather than those that the church had built upon them. this was called the reformation. the church responded to this with the counter-reformation, which gave rise to catholicism.\n\nthe current differences are that the catholics have a far greater canon than protestantism, for instance they believe in the power of the saints, the authority of the pope, and the divinity of mother mary, none of which is written in the bible. the pope is the highest authority for theological questions. the protestants, on the other hand, tend to keep their canon far simpler, and consider the bible to be the highest authority, and that it should be interpreted individually by each person. they also tend to view religion as more of an individual, personal affair -- a personal relationship with god, while for the catholics it is more of a structured, community affair.
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catholics are christians
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Catholicism is a sect of Christianity.  All Christians are the same in that they believe in Jesus as the Savior.  Catholics and other sects will have their own way of worshiping.  Catholics celebrate mass every Sunday where the most important part of the mass is the Liturgy of the Eucharist where we receive Holy Communion.  Here is another difference.  It is in the form of a small circle called a host, but we believe that the priest changes it into the real body (and the wine into blood) of Christ just as Jesus did at the last supper.  Other Christians may only receive Communion 1 time a month or on certain occasions ( I think Lutherans may recieve weekly).  Other Christians may also believe that the communion is only a representation of Jesus.  We also see the Pope as the head of the church.  Catholics believe in saints, but not all Christians do
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YES.  According to the good ol' American Heritage Dictionary, a Christian is one who professes "belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus."  I'm a Catholic, and I know this describes me, as I'm sure it describes you as well.\n\nI have come to understand a bit more about why sometimes Protestants say Catholics aren't Chritistian, however.  Hopefully, these will help you understand your friends' logic:\n\n1. The Saints.  It's thought that by praying to saints, Catholics are worshiping them.  This isn't true, of course, for reasons I won't get into here - I'm sure you know them - but you can see how people might think you're not Christian if they thought this was true.\n2. The Bible.  Because Protestants don't have a Church structure the way Catholics do, Protestants often end up paying a lot more attention to the Bible, memorizing passages etc.  It seems to them that Catholics ignore the Scriptures and so the word of Christ.  This isn't true either, but it's a not-infrequent misconception.\n3.  The Eucharist.  Catholics say that the Eucharist is the essence of Christ, present with us.  We worship Christ in and through the Eucharist.  If you're Protestant, you (generally) think the Eucharist is bread, symbolic of Christ, but not actually Christ.  So if they see us worshiping God in the Eucharist, they think we're bowing down to a piece of bread.  You can see how this would seem sacriligious?\n4. Salvation.  Generally, Protestants believe that salvation can only come from accepting Christ as your savior.  Essentially, no matter how good a person is on their own, because they're not perfect, they wouldn't be able to make it to heaven if it weren't for Chirst's sacrifice.    Catholics believe this is true, but that you also have to 'walk the walk, not just talk the talk.'  Salvation is based on the acceptance of Christ as savior combined with good works.  The reason some Protestants have a problem with this is because they're thinking we're discounting the importance of Christ's sacrifice and that we think we could get into heaven on our own. \n\nSo you see, the concept of Catholics not being Christian is generally based on misconceptions.  Try explaining these concepts to your friends (without proselytizing) and try to find out why they think Catholics don't count as Christians.  We all believe in Christ as the source of eternal life.  Maybe you can help them see this.
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Actually, the Catholic Church was the ONLY Christian church for many many years. Now, as different groups have disagreed with the teachings of the Catholic leaders, some have broken away and founded new religions.\n\nA CHRISTIAN is someone who believes that God became a human being (Jesus of Nazareth), and saves us from the consequences of our sins by dying on a cross.\n\nCATHOLICS believe exactly that. We also believe that the apostles were given the responsibility and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead Christians in faith - and that the bishops carry on that responsibility (and receive that guidance) still today.\n\nIn other words, Catholics ARE Christians. But there are other kinds of Christians as well (Orthodox, Schismatics, Christian/cults, and Protestants).
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Catholics are Christians.  \n\nChristianity has many different 'branches' called denominations, which all have slightly different beleifs on the interpretation of the Bible and slightly different practices.  Catholics are just one denomination.  Other denominations include Methodist, Baptist, Mormons, Evangelicals and so on and so forth.  \n\nHope this was some help!
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Where to begin...the Roman Catholic Church teaches that the Patriarch of Rome has universal authority while the Orthodox Church teaches that no bishop has authority outside his diocese.\nThe Roman Catholic Church teaches that the Holy Spirit proceeds in essence from both the Father and the Son and illegitimately changed the creed, while the Orthodox Church teaches that God the Father is the essential source of both the Son and the Holy Spirit.\nThe Roman Catholic Church teaches that we bear the actual guilt for the disobedience of Adam and Ever whereas the Orthodox Church teaches that we suffer the consequences of their disobedience but are ourselves not culpable for it.\nBecause of the RC's teachings on original sin they have made up the doctrine of the immaculate conception, which is not the same thing as the virgin birth, whereby she was born free of the guilt of original sin, or is somehow different than other humans to explain how Mary could be able to give birth to God. Of course they wouldn't need to make the Virgin Mary free of the consequences of Adam and Eve's disobedience if they hadn't construed it the way they had in the first place.\nThe Roman Catholic Church requires preistly celibacy whereas the Orthodox Church allows married priests, only bishops and monks are required to be celibate.\nThe differences go  on and on, these are just some of the essential ones.\nBy the way the difference between the Roman Catholic Church and the Ukrainian Catholic Church is that the Ukrainian Catholic Church uses the liturgy of the Orthodox Church and has married priests while still being in communion with the Roman Catholic Church and accepting the authority of the Pope. It is an Eastern Rite, or Uniate, church.\nIf you have more questions feel free to ask me. I am Orthodox.