Catholicism Vs. Christianity - How do they differ?

Michelle just wanted to answer your question/ respond to your statement...You absolutely can be both catholic and christian in fact anyone who professes to be christian regardless of denomination is catholic as well. The word catholic is Latin for UNIVERSAL! So unless you are in rebellion as a christian against other christians (remember what Jesus said about who is for us and and against us) every single Christian should strive to be "Catholic" as it is only universal unity in Christ that followers can fully do the great commission we were put on Earth to do and be fishers of men...By the way fishing in a lake for fish that are already part of your ocean to bring them over to your side of the ocean is really redundant don't you think?

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IF Catholics are Christians, then why call them by BOTH? You are either one or the other, now which is it? You cannot say you're a Christian, but yet claim to be under the Catholic church, you're either UNDER the Christian Church (Christ's church) or you're not a Christian. Simple as that. Nothing further to add. 

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There are ancient Christian groups like the Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopic, Chaldean, Malabar and Syriac Churches that have no connection to Rome. Their beliefs however, aside from the primacy of the pope are alnost the same as Catholicism and they claim apostolic origins. They have sacraments, priesthood, tradition and scripture. They offer the Body and Blood of Christ in sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins and have a faith and works theology which they also claim was passed to them by the apostles. They have saints and a great devotion to the Mother of God. These things are not unique to the Church of Rome and to suggest that it was all hatched there by Roman popes and bishops is at odds with the facts.

Why people completely ignore churches of the ancient world is beyond me. In all countries that the apostles preached and spread the faith, the Christianity professed flies in the face with any of the fundamentals of the Reformation. There is no sola scriptura, sola fidei or sola gratia in any of these places.

Most occidentals, believes that Christianity is something hatched in the western world, which it is not. In the ancient Christian lands which were the cradle of the faith (aside from Rome), the politics that brought about the Reformation were not a factor. The confusion that the Reformation wrought just isn't present in these countries, though the scourge of evangelicalism is slowly but surely bringing a myriad of made to measure, suit your own bias brands of pseudo-Christianity which were unimaginable until now. 

The idea of equating Protestantism with Christianity is wrong because it implies that the true faith was largely absent from the world until some grumpy 16th century men from Germany, Switzerland, England, Ireland and Scotland who were smarter than the rest revealed their wisdom. Interestingly enough, even they would cringe at what Protestantism has become and are likely rolling in their graves because of all the havoc they've unleashed. Nothing any of them ever said or professed comes close to the jingling, jangling, let's jump for Jesus, 'Christian' rock, send me $2000,000, the end of the world is tomorrow evangelical Protestant religion concocted in the US and other Western countries.

Ignorance of Christian history, a good helping of prejudice and a warped view of what constitutes the Christian world is the surest way to remain a firm Protestant.  
 

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I agree 100% with those that say Catholicism and Christianity are two different belief systems. I've studied enough of both to know they are. I believe the Bible is the Word of God and the final authority. Catholicism is not based on the Bible. Sure, the Bible is regarded as scripture, but Catholicism has many sources of authority, and this is the problem. The Catholic Church teaches the Word of God consists of the Bible, The Catechism, holy tradition, and the Church, or the decisions of the Vatican. Unfortunately, the Catechism and the Bible are vastly different of a great number of foundational doctrines even salvation. That's huge! Catholicism teaches a different way to heaven that what the Bible teaches. I've discussed this with many for years and the argument always boils down to what is the final authority. In other words, what source do you find to be true? As I've studied history, I've learned that Catholicism came about under the Roman Emperor Constantine. He opened the door for Christianity, but the people didn't want to lose their ways, so they ended up with a mix of Roman Mythology and Christianity. That's what Catholicism is. Roman mythology is where many Catholic beliefs came from such as the saints, belief in Mary, confessionals, purgatory, etc. None of these doctrines are supported by the Bible. In fact, they are condemned. For example, try to find the doctrines of the saints in the Bible. It's not there. As for Mary, the Catechism teaches she was born without sin and remained sinless, and it's okay to pray to her because she intercedes for us. The Bible says in Rom 3, "There is no one righteous, not even one, and For all have sinned." I could list dozens and dozens of differences. But beyond that, Catholicism teaches an alternate way to God, but I believe this way is completely, and utterly false. It is a religion. It is a system of beliefs and customs, but really has little to do with creating or fostering a real relationship with God through Jesus. It is a counterfeit. No offense to anyone but through prayer and study I came to the conclusion that Catholicism is a cult, a diversion, or a counterfeit with many diversions to keep us from God such as Mary, the saints, and the church. It was made my man, or the enemy, to actually keep men from God. It has some of the same characters, and it is similar in many ways, but nevertheless, it is a diversion. Jesus told us we must be Born Again, and by receiving Him, we are made new creatures, and then and only then are we forgiven of all our sins, past, present, and future because Jesus paid the price for all sin. We are orphans until we receive Jesus, but then we are adopted by God. -reply by Gossman

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Amen brother, or sister, not sure you're a boy or a girl. While I do consider protestants Christians because they are "following Christ", yes protestants, thats the more biblcal term, not "accepting him as you're Lord and savior", which is true, but "following Christ" is better, I don't believe Protestants are following TRUE Christianity. Doesnt mean they wont make it to heaven, just means they aren't doing it the more direct way, which is the Catholic Church, which is the only TRUE church. Sorry protestants, before the reformation, the Church that the bible talks about was always known as the Catholic Church and not this invisible church of the believers that Mr. Luther came up with.

-Proud member of Christ's One, True, Holy, Apostolic, CATHOLIC, Church :)

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