| CATHOLICISM | PROTESTANTISM |
|---|---|
| Belief that both faith and good works are necessary for salvation. Gal 5:6; Ja 2:24. | Belief that faith alone is necessary for salvation. This is a misinterpretation of Rom 3:28 |
| Belief in Purgatory. 2Mac 12:45; 1Cor 3:15 / 1Pet 1:7 speak of a "cleansing fire". | Denial of Purgatory, either one goes straight to Heaven or Hell - in spite of Matt 5:26 |
| Veneration of Mary the Mother of God, assumed into Heaven, ever virgin, and immaculately conceived (conceived without sin). | Varying acceptance/non-acceptance of Marian dogmas despite some acceptance by the 3 famous Protestant Founders. |
| Belief in 7 Sacraments instituted by Christ: Jn 3:5, Act 8:14, Jn 6:52, Jn 20:22, Mk 6:12, Lk 22:19, Mk 10:7 | Non-acceptance of the Catholic sacramental system in spite of a Scriptural basis for all 7 Sacraments. |
| Belief in Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium (teaching body of the Church) (Mat 16:17). | Belief in the Bible alone being the sole rule of faith despite 1 Tim 3:15. |
| Abortion and euthanasia prohibited. | Abortion and euthanasia accepted by many Protestant churches, in certain circumstances. |
| Belief in the Real Presence (Mat 26:26) and Sacrifice of the Mass (1Cor 11:23). | Denial of the Mass and Holy Communion despite Jn 6:48 & Jn 6:54 |
| Infant baptism encouraged. Lk 3:21. | Infant baptism often discouraged in spite of Acts 16:15 and 1 Cor 1:16. |
| Belief in indulgences Eph 4:22, 23 | Denial of indulgences, as there is no belief in Purgatory |
| Nowhere in the Bible does it teach the Bible as the sole rule of faith. | Belief in the Bible alone as the sole rule of faith. Even though this is a contradiction to 2 Thessalonians 2:15 |
| Divorce and re-marriage prohibited whilst spouse is alive. Mat 19:3 | Divorce and re-marriage allowed (even though it may be discouraged) despite Mk 10:11. |
Monday, August 30, 2010
Differences of Catholics and Protestants
There are over 100,000 different protestant denominations, all teaching slightly different messages and interpretations of Scripture. Some of which are quite clearly contradictory, which concludes that they can't all be right! One thing that most Protestant denominations agree on is the fact that the Catholic Church (which has been round for almost 2,000 years) is wrong and sometimes diabolical. Below is a short table outlining some of the different teachings between Catholicism and some Protestant denominations. For a more complete review please read Differences between Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Self Improvement? Try Catholicism.
How do you know if someone is willing to undertake self-improvement?
The answer depends on the individual. Many people have goals and dreams, but do not know how to achieve them. Some people have a vague idea about how to go about self improvement. These are those who believe that if only they had a better job, or had better opportunities, or met their love in life or something else - everything would be better and they would be happy. They believe that their happiness or lack of happiness is decided by external factors and their thoughts and actions of circumstance. Some believe that if only they had more money they can get what they want and is intended to improve themselves.
They may have spent little time thinking about what they really want in life, and do not think there is something you can do to create their ideal life, apart from the tickets lottery number. Others do not even know what they really want their lives and perhaps even a small idea that would be very happy. It seems that derives only from day to day, week after week, month after month and year to year, not much more to face and virtually. They may have to get a job and remain not earn enough to live a relatively comfortable life. They seem very happy and have no great ambition to achieve something more than his life, they have now. Is it important to improve itself? The reality is that all our life, we all grow and develop. Circumstances make us grow and evolve, even if it takes a conscious decision to do so.
Have they thought of religion or God? I would assume most people have thought about religion and God, however not many take the step to become religious or Godly. Why not Catholicism provides some great in site into the Catholic Church and it's teachings.
Becoming a Catholic will greatly help in self improvement because it is the Truth, and for every question their is an answer.
The answer depends on the individual. Many people have goals and dreams, but do not know how to achieve them. Some people have a vague idea about how to go about self improvement. These are those who believe that if only they had a better job, or had better opportunities, or met their love in life or something else - everything would be better and they would be happy. They believe that their happiness or lack of happiness is decided by external factors and their thoughts and actions of circumstance. Some believe that if only they had more money they can get what they want and is intended to improve themselves.
They may have spent little time thinking about what they really want in life, and do not think there is something you can do to create their ideal life, apart from the tickets lottery number. Others do not even know what they really want their lives and perhaps even a small idea that would be very happy. It seems that derives only from day to day, week after week, month after month and year to year, not much more to face and virtually. They may have to get a job and remain not earn enough to live a relatively comfortable life. They seem very happy and have no great ambition to achieve something more than his life, they have now. Is it important to improve itself? The reality is that all our life, we all grow and develop. Circumstances make us grow and evolve, even if it takes a conscious decision to do so.
Have they thought of religion or God? I would assume most people have thought about religion and God, however not many take the step to become religious or Godly. Why not Catholicism provides some great in site into the Catholic Church and it's teachings.
Becoming a Catholic will greatly help in self improvement because it is the Truth, and for every question their is an answer.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Understanding the Bible
Catholics are commonly accused of not being allowed to read the Bible on their own due to misinterpretation. This however is simply untrue. When, in history, Catholics were forbidden to read the Bible, this “Bible” a mistranslation of God’s word, therefore not the bible at all. Hence the banned versions were simply unauthorized editions.
We commonly hear that Catholics cannot interpret the Bible on their own. The Papal Encyclical, Divino Afflante Spiritus, (Pope Pius XII, 1943) counteracted this by stating that there are but few texts whose understanding has been determined by the teaching authority of the Church; and Catholics do indeed have freedom to interpret the Scriptures.
It is interesting to note though that it is easy (and quite common) to find contradictory meanings and teachings from Scripture, this does not mean that the Scriptures are in error or are wrong, it simply means that they must be read in context.
Literal sense of interpretation
Definition: the literal sense of Scripture is the meaning which the human author directly intended and the author's words convey.
Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John is a perfect example of the Bible speaking in a literal sense. We hear Jesus reiterating the same message in different words to get a specific point across. He allows people to leave and reject Him based off this one teaching. If Christ was not speaking literally he would have told them to come back as His teaching was only figurate or he was speaking metaphorically. He did not do this, therefore we can conclude that this was not a parable, but Truth itself.
Fuller Sense
The Bible has both a human author and divine author – God. The Church teaches that there exists a more-than-literal meaning for understanding the Bible: a fuller sense.
Definition: The fuller sense is the deeper meaning intended by God as divine author. This meaning of the scripture may not have even been clearly known (or understood) by the author.
We see an example of the “fuller sense” of Scriptures in Isaiah and the New Testament. Isaiah provides no evidence that he was speaking of Jesus' conception in the womb of Mary. Isaiah speaks of an unmarried woman, not a virgin. Isaiah is not clear that he is even speaking to a distant future conception. At the time of Isaiah's words in chapter 7, the mother of the future King Hezekiah would have been unmarried.
Then in the New Testament, Matthew, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, creates an interpretation of Isaiah which is definitely not literal, but spiritual. He interprets Isaiah in the fuller sense: the unmarried woman is the virgin Mary, and God-with-us is Jesus.
Typical Sense
The definition of the typical sense of interpretation is as follows: The typical sense of Bible texts is the deeper meaning of the Scriptures that foreshadow/shadow further things.
We see an example in Paul's writings. Paul establishes similarities between the New Testament and the Old Testament. In 1 Cor 10:6 Paul compares the events which took place in Sinai to the Israelites to those things that are happening to Christians in his present day.
Another example of the typical meaning in the Bible is when Moses raises the bronze serpent, in the New Testament the evangelist John presents raising the bronze serpent as a type of Christ crucified (3:14).
We commonly hear that Catholics cannot interpret the Bible on their own. The Papal Encyclical, Divino Afflante Spiritus, (Pope Pius XII, 1943) counteracted this by stating that there are but few texts whose understanding has been determined by the teaching authority of the Church; and Catholics do indeed have freedom to interpret the Scriptures.
It is interesting to note though that it is easy (and quite common) to find contradictory meanings and teachings from Scripture, this does not mean that the Scriptures are in error or are wrong, it simply means that they must be read in context.
Literal sense of interpretation
Definition: the literal sense of Scripture is the meaning which the human author directly intended and the author's words convey.
Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John is a perfect example of the Bible speaking in a literal sense. We hear Jesus reiterating the same message in different words to get a specific point across. He allows people to leave and reject Him based off this one teaching. If Christ was not speaking literally he would have told them to come back as His teaching was only figurate or he was speaking metaphorically. He did not do this, therefore we can conclude that this was not a parable, but Truth itself.
Fuller Sense
The Bible has both a human author and divine author – God. The Church teaches that there exists a more-than-literal meaning for understanding the Bible: a fuller sense.
Definition: The fuller sense is the deeper meaning intended by God as divine author. This meaning of the scripture may not have even been clearly known (or understood) by the author.
We see an example of the “fuller sense” of Scriptures in Isaiah and the New Testament. Isaiah provides no evidence that he was speaking of Jesus' conception in the womb of Mary. Isaiah speaks of an unmarried woman, not a virgin. Isaiah is not clear that he is even speaking to a distant future conception. At the time of Isaiah's words in chapter 7, the mother of the future King Hezekiah would have been unmarried.
Then in the New Testament, Matthew, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, creates an interpretation of Isaiah which is definitely not literal, but spiritual. He interprets Isaiah in the fuller sense: the unmarried woman is the virgin Mary, and God-with-us is Jesus.
Typical Sense
The definition of the typical sense of interpretation is as follows: The typical sense of Bible texts is the deeper meaning of the Scriptures that foreshadow/shadow further things.
We see an example in Paul's writings. Paul establishes similarities between the New Testament and the Old Testament. In 1 Cor 10:6 Paul compares the events which took place in Sinai to the Israelites to those things that are happening to Christians in his present day.
Another example of the typical meaning in the Bible is when Moses raises the bronze serpent, in the New Testament the evangelist John presents raising the bronze serpent as a type of Christ crucified (3:14).
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
New Catholic Apologetics Website!
Check out Why not Catholicism for answers and explanations to defend the Catholic Church.
Please note that because the author wanted to keep the answers to a single page, much detail and background information has been purposefully left out. Please refer to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and other references for a detailed account.
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