I have a question.

[DoMiNiQuE]

I was looking at Chris' welcome to this site and I saw ashley put down~ "Just catholic, or Christian in general? Protestant standards are different than Catholics."
What is the difference about Catholics and Christians??? I mean, isnt Catholic a Denomination under Christianity?? And i know that the Cathloics like worship Virgin Mary and stuff.. Im not sure about that.. But yea.. I just wanted to know because I was a little confused. Myself, Im a Lutherin and I know that is a Denomination. Like one of thier beliefs is that you take Confirmation before you take communian.

See ya later

[LorentzForce]

as far as i know, Catholics

1) pray to Mother Mary instead
2) do more work in anything

thats as far as i could remember when i was a catholic when i was in primary school.

being a Catholic isn't so bad. it's just their ways of... caging the system of Christ that somehow makes it... flawless in church system, but does restrict the freedom that other Christians enjoy.

~in the end, it doesn't even matter~

because both end up in heaven. which is better, heaven or heaven? take you pick.

[shooraijin]

I'd like Technomancer to take a crack at this.

I've known many devout Catholics, and while Mary may be in the church, their walk with Christ is the part they cherish and they deal with Jesus directly.

[Technomancer]

erk. We do not worship the Virgin Mary or the Saints. We venerate them and revere their example, yes. We do pray to them, but for their intercession, and not their intervention. The idea is the same as asking other people to pray for you. However, such prayer (while benefcial) is not required: the centre of the Catholic faith is and has always been Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he made for us at Calvalry.

There are actually a lot of theological differences between Catholics and Protestants, so I'll try to cover some of the major ones. I'm an engineer and not a theologian, so my explanations will necessarily be lacking. I'll also try to put together a list of resources to consult on this matter if you wish. Please keep in mind that I am not trying to start a theological debate on these matters, but to provide a short summary of key points. There are also many good people at http://www.christianforums.com who can provide much better explanations.

1. Authority- Catholics and Orthodox christians do not hold that the bible is the sole source of authority in matters of faith. There is also Sacred Tradition. This entails both biblical interpretation as well some doctrines not found explicitly in the bible or only mentioned obliquely (such as Purgatory). These doctrines are all of ancient origin. Also Catholics believe that authority also rests in the living Magisterium of the Church which is the teaching authority of the popes, cardinals, bishops and so forth. Related to this is the matter of Petrine primacy, infallibility, apostolic succession an such like.

2. Soteriology- This concerns the matter of salvation. Protestants generally hold that salvation is through faith alone. We on the other hand, maintain a view that could best be described as "faith+works". In other words it is insufficient to simply believe in Christ without also acting on that faith.

3. Sacramentalism- In Catholicism and Orthodoxy, we hold that there are seven sacrements through which the Holy Spirit imparts grace to believers. The most important of these is the sacrament of communion: the holy Eucharist, in which the bread and the wine are the actual, physical body and blood of Christ.

4. Ecclesiology- We hold that the Catholic Church is the sole possesor of the fullness of the truth of Christian faith. It is the church instituted by Christ ("On this rock..", etc). This also relates directly to Petrine authority and apostolic succession.

There are many other specific doctrines, but this covers the most important ones. It can also be said that we view the world very differently than do (most) Protestants, owing to our differing theologies.

[Ashley]

And for quick reference, speaking for the protestant faiths, point by point what Technomancer mentioned:

1. Authority- Protestants hold that the Bible alone is the sole Word of God, and do not believe in "extraneous" or implied doctrine, such as purgatory. Protestants also excluded ancient texts from their bible such as the Apocrypha because their founding fathers so to speak did not feel these texts were authored and empowered by God.

2. Soteriology- Protestants argue that while good works are good (and generally come about on their own by genuine desire to do good and Christ working through a Christian-- the "know them by their fruit" idea--)they are not necessary for salvation. If you have accepted Christ Jesus as your savior (usually by a lead prayer), you are saved. No further works are necessary. Some denominations argue about the necessity of baptism, but I speak broadly.

3. Sacramentalism- Most of what the Catholic Church considers sacraments Protestants consider just good traditions. Protestants, for example, are not pushed to get married, while Catholics if I remember correctly, are. In other words, there's no "checklists" if you will for Protestants to fulfill.

4. Ecclesiology- Protestants will say they are the bride of Christ and are equal inheritents in Christ's kngdom. They usually hold to one doctrinal creed (sometimes it varies by denomination, but it's 99.9% the same) and have the idea that if you are not of this belief, you will not be saved, Catholic, Protestant, or unbeliever alike.

5. Hierarchy- Technomancer didn't mention this, but Protestants believe in what Martin Luther called "Universal priesthood of man". That is, everyone has a direct link to God Himself via prayer and are not in need of a confessor (you can confess your own sins to God and recieve forgiveness), or a pope. Catholic churches are comprised of a hierarchy of priests, bishops, etc. all the way to the pope. Protestants generally have one main pastor, a few deacons or subservient pastors to oversee various projects and ministries (sort of like the way we have CAA organized: one leader, several helpers with equal say).

6. Prayer- Protestants have no structured, repeated prayers akin to Catholic rosaries. I can think of one example where you repeat what a pastor is saying, but that is the salvational prayer.

I posted this not to undermine the catholics nor to start another 30 years war, but to give an obverse side to what Technomancer pointed out. Usually this sort of stuff would not be allowed, but since it is objective and for the sake of knowledge, I will allow it. Techno, I have several catholic friends, so my knowledge of catholicism is from them. If I have at all misquoted something, please tell me.

[Bobtheduck]

Technomancer, your explanation of the 'praying to the saints' was really enlightening. Their spirits live on in heaven, so they are not dead. But I do believe it is against the bible to communicate with those who have died. The case that comes to mind is when samuel died and Saul called his spirit back. It was a horrifying and very bad thing. And I believe that Samuel was as "dead" as peter, Paul, or John are now. However, something may have changed in that respect when Jesus died. I don't believe it did, but this gives me something new to think about.

[Bobtheduck]

My post here removed by me, bobtheduck... I feel it may not be the wisest thing to talk about right now..