How is Catholicism different from Protestant Christianity?

How is Catholicism different from Protestant Christianity?

Catholicism

Catholicism is the most practiced version of Christianity in the world. Contemporary belief in the Catholic Church perceives it as the formal continuation of Christianity and the teachings of Jesus Christ after he ascended to heaven. Christ’s disciples are credited with the expansion of the religion after they all dispersed to different parts of the world where they were to spread the Good News. Regardless of constant Roman persecution and conflict with the Pagans, Christianity continued to spread and was legalized in the year 313 by Emperor Constantine I. With the Roman Empire, under the rule of Emperor Theodosius recognizing Christianity as the leading state religion in 380, the faith would spread, not only in Europe but across others parts of the world.

Protestantism

After Catholicism, Protestantism is the second-largest version of Christianity practiced in the world. Protestantism was established as a rogue faction that did not agree with the elements of sacraments and papal supremacy that Catholics practice. Protestantism formally began in 1517 after the publishing of theses by Martin Luther, which were based as a counter-reaction to the sales of indulgences in the Catholic Church. Over the years, Protestants have established a different Christian culture and dispersed into various groups, including Pentecostals, Anglicans, Methodists, and Presbyterians, among many others.

Differences between Protestantism and Catholicism

The Bible is considered the core guide that Christians follow. However, there is a difference in how both factions view the book. On the one hand, Protestants consider the Bible as the “Sola Scriptura,” as it is the only book through which God gives His commandments and revelations. On the other hand, apart from using the book, Catholics also adhere to the traditional rules of the Catholic Roman Church, including some of the practices that led to the establishment of Protestantism (Hemeyer(Julia, 57). Secondly, Apostle Peter is considered the pioneer of the Catholic Church and thus the first Pope. The continued practice of popes as heads of the Catholic Church is considered as respect to the first head of the church as appointed by Jesus Christ. This factor is seen in the unbroken chain of popes dating from the first century till now (Hemeyer 43). However, Protestants remain defiant to the idea that papal supremacy should exist. Evangelical view considers this aspect as a contradiction of statements in the Bible.

The nature of the church is also a significant distinction between these two factions. On the one hand, Protestantism developed from the term ‘evangelical’ or ‘reformation’ derived from ‘according to the Gospel.’ Protestants are divided into different subgroups that are all considered equal before God’s eyes. On the other hand, Catholicism is derived from the term ‘all-embracing.’ According to them, this version is the only pure form of Christianity. Partaking of sacraments is a core issue that arose between Catholicism and Protestantism when the latter was formed. The Catholics believe that there are seven sacraments rites, including the last supper, extreme unction, baptism, confirmation, holy orders, penance, and matrimony (Hemeyer(Julia, 79). These rites, according to Catholics, were started by Christ as a way of conferring the grace of God. However, Protestants only have two sacraments: baptism and the last supper, which are seen as symbolic acts accepted through faith.

Also, praying to and the canonization of Saints is a great issue between both factions. The Catholics believe that Mary is the ‘Queen of Heaven,’ an issue that Protestants refuse and term as unbiblical. Besides, the canonization and praying to saints for help is seen as the worship of human idols, an issue that Protestants do not agree with. Lastly, celibacy is another difference between both factions. The Catholics encourage abstinence from marriage and sexual intercourse for priests. However, Martin Luther determined that God ordained marriage (Hemeyermarriage(Julia, 50). Besides, he was sure that marrying would “make his father happy, angels laugh, devils cry and rile the pope.”

Summary of the Lecture Video about the Differences between the

American Mainland Churches

The clip mainly addresses the split of the American mainland churches that occurred in 1920. In this separation, the Evangelical Americans were divided into the fundamentalist and the modernist ones. Their main differences emanated from national ideologies and Christian teachings, and an excellent example is when the Northern Baptist members, who were fundamentalists, got into a full-blown conflict with their Southern counterparts, who were modernists. Interestingly, the reason for this dispute was due to each group’s position on slavery, demonstrating that some of the evangelical groups’ disagreements were not directly linked to Christianity. Unfortunately, the mainland churches lost many followers due to the differences, and the smaller churches took full advantage of this situation. For instance, in the 1940s, the evangelical churches lost more than 560,000 followers, while the smaller churches built about 10,000 new churches because of surging followers. Unfortunately, the Evangelical churches have never fully recovered to date.

Summary of Clip clip-on How Catholicism isIs Different from

Protestant Christianity

The Lecture video addresses the differences between Catholicism and Protestants. The structure of Protestants is horizontal and headed by one leader, while Catholicism is vertical with the Pope as the leader. Furthermore, Catholicism holds the existence of eternal salvation and purgatory, whereas Protestants believe hell never exists, and salvation belongs to only those that believe in Jesus. Catholics also believe that some individuals become saints and intercede between them and God, while Protestants become saints by believing in Jesus. Ordination in Protestants involves laying of hands and prayers by pastors, while in Catholics it entails a special sacrament (Holy Orders), which creates different hierarchies.