I dont know the difference please help

[the new justin]

Out of curiosity I decided to go to a Catholic Church last sunday to see what it was about. All I know about the Catholic religion is what I have seen on TV and some things I have read. But I am still confused because people who are not Christian or Catholic refer to them as the same religion.
I looked it up and found out that Protestantism: Numerous groups such as Anglicans, Lutherans, Reformed/Presbyterians, Evangelical, Charismatic, Baptists, Methodists, Nazarenes, Anabaptists, and Pentecostals. The oldest of these separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century Protestant Reformation, followed in many cases by further divisions. Estimates of the total number of Protestants are very uncertain, partly because of the difficulty in determining which denominations should be placed in this category, but it seems to be unquestionable that Protestantism is the second major branch of Christianity (after Roman Catholicism) in number of followers.

At the Catolic Church that I went to, it was pretty much the same message as the Presbyterian Church that I normaly attend accept they chanted alot, kneeled down to pray, had statues and art of Jesue everywhere, and dipped there fingers in water, followed by a touch on the head and a touch on the left and right of the chest when leaving the Church.

My question is are Christians the same as Catholics? Do we read the same Bible? I dont understand the whole hail Mary thing and the confessions to the Priest, and why is every Catholic Church named after a saint, or the blood of ....... And why is the Pope concidered so high and Holy? Is there faith in Christ the same as Christians? Sorry for all the questions but there must be a reason these things. We belive in Christ but we are not the same??????
Im confused please help. Thanks
God Bless!

 

[On the Path]

Here's the way I understand it:

I believe that when Jesus saved me, He washed away all my sins. My name is written in the BOOK, never to be erased. I have "assurance of salvation"

Catholics do not have "assurance of salvation". They think that if they don't go to certain masses, if they don't go to confession, they will go to hell. They think that you have to work your way in. You will see Catholic lottery winners give a lot of it to the church.

They believe in a pergatory, which is not in the Bible, so it is made up.

They pray to Mary and all the disciples, which Jesus never ever said to do.

They think the Pope is God's personal representative on earth and he personally has God's ear. They think the Pope is without sin, even though the Bible says "all have sinned".

They think Mary was without sin even though the Bible says "all have sinned".

They have extra books to their bible that are not in ours, mainly because we don't consider those extra books sacred and dictated by God.

They think that if they baptize a baby that he/she is guaranteed a place in heaven. We believe that being baptised is a "sign" of your repentance, that the actual work of salvation was done by Jesus.

That's just my opinion and I may be wrong. If I am, someone correct me, please.

 

[stephen]

Hello New Justin,

Nothing wrong with research......well done my brother. But you see it is all about finding Jesus.......When you have found Him you will not be nipping off to the R.C. company. Candles. Smoke, Bellringing. Beads, etc. Dear LOrd Jesus.......I look to your grace.

If you are prepared to search for Jesus.........you will find Him, but only as you set your mind to seek and find Him......."Seek and you will Find" so said the Master.

I think you are on the correct track of seeking.........Praying for you....in Jesus

"I am the WAy....the TRUTH and the LIFE" John ch 14 Jesus said

Without the WAY.......there is no GOING
Without the TRUTH....there is no KNOWING
Without the LIFE.......there is no LIVING


Thats what Jesus said.

God Bless You dear Friend........In His LOve

 

[Bloodbought]

Hi New Justin
you are a very intellectual person to have researched this. My pastor once said, religion is man's way to God, relationship is God's way to man. It is evident that many people are searching for the truth, and they try to do it by works, so it seems. Eph 2: 8,9 tells us we are saved by grace, not of works. There is a devil that has blinded their eyes(spiritually) that they may not see the truth.- 2 Cor 4:4. Yes, On the Path has it correct. I was formerly a catholic, but I felt empty inside.I was taught if I would follow and do things according to those doctrines, I would make it to heaven. Wrong! Jesus says there in only one mediator between God and man, Jesus. -
I Timothy 2:5. And when Nicodemius, (who was a high priest) came to Jesus and asked him, how to get into heaven. Jesus said it in the gospel of John 3:3 you must be born again. God loves the catholics just as much as He loves us. Let's pray for their spiritual eyes to open and that they receive a true revelation to who Jesus is. Amen.

 

[the new justin]

I understand what you are all saying but just because Catolics do not believe is the same "rituals" or same praise as us does that mean they are not excepted through Christ. I mean they believe in Christ and excpt him and love him for the same reasons we do, so isnt that all that matters, that we know and except Christ as our Lord and Saviour? Even if they feel they need all the excess stuff?

 

[the new justin]

I still dont know these questions please help Thanks!

 

[trucker]

catholic church

There are many Catholics that are born again, however, the catholic religion teaches you are saved by works and that it’s your good deeds that allow you into heaven. There are many people that believe in Christ, the bible even says in James 2: 19 even the devil believes and trembles. You can believe something, but never act on it and that is the key difference. Many Catholics are working and doing good deeds thinking that is what makes them acceptable to God. Faith is the only thing that makes us acceptable. That means, you accept by faith the finished work of God through his son Jesus. Your good works come from a heart of love for God, not to get God to bless or accept you. It is essential you confess Jesus as Lord due to the curse Adam passed on to all mankind. Again, see Romans Chapter 5 and Eph chapters 1 and 2. Also, in Hebrews 1: 1-5 it tells us that God in times past spoke to us through the King, priest and the prophet. They were the only people that the people went to to hear from God. It goes on to say, but now we hear from God through his son Jesus Christ. The spirit of God now lives in us and we get our direction from the Holy Spirit within us. That direction will always line up with his written word. One of the big problems with Catholic doctrine is they have deified Mary and the the Apostles. Mary was a virgin once, and she was used as a vessel to bring Jesus into the world, but we are never to pray to her nor seek her for guidance. She had to accept Christ just like you and I. She holds no special place in the trinity or in heaven and saying hail Mary is like saying twinkle twinkle little star. It does nothing.

 

[Tonyb]

Roman Catholicism

Hi,

I was brought up a Roman Catholic and while it taught me there was a God and Jesus was His Son and He died on a cross. They did not teach me how to be saved. In fact all the really important things that were taught by Jesus and the writers of the New Testament they managed to miss out.

If you want to research the Roman Catholic church further no one is going to stop you. But where is it going to lead you?

There are many counterfeits to true Christianity and orthodox Roman Catholicism is one of them.
There have been revival in the RC church though with the RC Charismatic movement. That's where they become born again Holy Spirit filled Christians. I suppose it is RC Pentecostalism, but that tends to be a fringe movement within the RC Church and there are even counterfeits of that.

If you want to research something edifying try the Pentecostal movement.

Tonyb

 

[stephen]

New Justin.

Precious brother. It would appear that many Catholics in my home area love Jesus.....

This leaves me with questions to which I cannot give an answer.....beads, candles, prayers for the dead etc...

This web-site is about knowing Jesus......and I do know Him....I have met Him.....and He is real in my life.

I do not want... absolutely not....to be rude when I ask......have you met Jesus yet.

You can meet Him......Her is a real person.....alive from the dead, and the only Saviour of men.

 

[the new justin]

New Justin.

Precious brother. It would appear that many Catholics in my home area love Jesus.....

This leaves me with questions to which I cannot give an answer.....beads, candles, prayers for the dead etc...

This web-site is about knowing Jesus......and I do know Him....I have met Him.....and He is real in my life.

I do not want... absolutely not....to be rude when I ask......have you met Jesus yet.

You can meet Him......Her is a real person.....alive from the dead, and the only Saviour of men.

I believe I have. I have asked Jesus into my life and excepted him for the son of God, dieing for our sins, and his resourection but I know Catholics believe in Christ for the same reasons and I was just curious to know the difference.
Religion is a huge and biggest choice that we can make in our lives and we all know according to every religion that I know, there are consequences (hell) for the unfaithful.
I have done alot of searching of many religions for understanding and truth. I felt that I just couldent settle for the first thing thown at me, that would be just following my enviorment or following tradition. I dont think that its wrong to explore other religions, I mean if that was the case then people wouldent convert to Christanity either. I try to understand all religions with a open mind and ask God to guide me. I am a Christian but I still have questions concerning other religions especially since all religions claim to have the truth about God and that there are so many belivers claiming to be witnesses and stories of testimonies just as Christians. Christians convert everyday and many convert to Christianity everyday as well. Religous debaits are won and lost everyday and it never ends so who was I to say I have the right religion without ever trying to understand anything eles and asking questions. I mean I have God on my mind and am only seeking him when I try to understand something that is not of Christianity weather that religion is a fraud or not. I mean I never converted just needed to know these things before I settled for what is most common and expected of me as of my soroundings and backround. I am glad that I live in a country that allows me to do these things without being killed.
I am convinced and believe that Christ is the way but I will never stop asking questions. If this is wrong then hey I have God to deal with, but I cant help the way I feel.

 

[Tonyb]

Hi New Justin,

One of the most precious things we have as Christians is our free time. And it behoves us to use it wisely. Do you remember Jesus' talk with Peter after Jesus had risen from the dead. John 21: 18-21. “ I tell you the truth when you were younger you dresses yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you were you do not want to go.”
19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then He said to him, “Follow Me.”
20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. ( this was the one who had leaned back against Jesus in the upper room and said, “ Lord, who is going to betray you?”)
21 When Peter saw him, he asked, “ Lord what about him?”
22 Jesus answered, “ If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow Me.”

To put this another way, we could say, “ Well Peter it is none of your business what happens to John, You follow me. Likewise, I belive Jesus would say to you, never mind what the Roman Catholics are doing, You Follow me.

In John 17: 3 Jesus said, " Now this is Eternal Life; that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." This knowing is not knowledge in the sense that you know facts about a person, it speaks of personal intimacy with someone. God whats you to know Him as Abba Father or daddy God. Jesus wants you to know Him not just as your Lord but also as an itimate order brother.

There is a prayer in the Paul's letter to the Ephesians, Eph... 3:14-20 about Knowing God's power and His love in your life, if you want to use your time wisely you could make this your personal prayer. As you seek the Lord in His word and pray these things you will find God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit become very real to you in an intimate way.

But remember Jesus' words its the same for every Christian, “ You Follow Me.”

I wish you well,

Blessings,

Tonyb

 

[the new justin]

I understand what your saying Tony but I dont think you understand me. I mean your only looking at it from a Christians perspective as expected, but I am looking at it from some one who has not known any religion. Sciptures from the Bible mean nothing to a Muslum and same goes for the Quron to a Christian right. Im trying to look at it from a neutral position and not quoting scriptures. As if new to this earth and have never heard of any religion. I know all religions contradict each other and have different versions of what they think life and God is all about and I already understand Christianitys main source (Christ) which I have excepted but probably because that its most accessible to me being from a north America Christian backround and being told that its right from the beginning. Is that fair and good to settle for something that is bigger than life (God) for what is first told to us to be true or do most of us settle for tradition and a comfy religion that were used to. If so no one would ever covert to Christianity and be lost in life and punished in death for something they believed to be truth without understanding of what is really truth because they never wanted to believe in anything outside of there comfort zone or tried to even understand or make a sensible decision for them selfs. All I want to do is know whats out there and make the decision for my self. I dont want to know for thinking that there may be something better or with the intent of converting but I do not feel comfortable just settleing right away knowing that there could be more to the story or that I have made the wrong choice. I dont feel I have and I do put my faith in Jesus and pray to God that I am right in seeking him.

I respect everything you have said but your words are not convincing me that another relgion is wrong and other religions can easily say the same about Christianity and give me words of comfort that they are right.... so to use scripture to contradict another religion is not a strong argument to me because every religion has that weapon. I just want to know the source of others beliefs and why they believe it to be true. I have learned alot about other religions and it has strengthened me and eased me to know that I feel more confident and that believe I have made the right decision in Christ. Im eliminating other belifs but still have many questions regarding other religions and that is why I asked about Catholics to begin with. I hope you understand and do not take offence to this.
God Bless!

 

[Tonyb]

Hi New Justin,

First I would say I'm not offended at all at what you wrote and I now have a better idea of were you are coming from. I guess you are the analytical type and you are always going to analyze things. There is a man called Mark Virkler who has written some interesting stuff on how do you know the stuff you've heard about God is true.

He found much of the things he had been taught at church and Bible college was in fact wrong. You might, or might not find it interesting to down load the free PDF documents Wading deeper into the river of God and sound doctrine from cwgministries.org/catalog.

Wishing you all the best with your search.

Tonyb

 

[stephen]

I believe I have. I have asked Jesus into my life and excepted him for the son of God, dieing for our sins, and his resourection but I know Catholics believe in Christ for the same reasons and I was just curious to know the difference.

If you have asked Jesus into your life.......You are just the same as me. I have asked Jesus into my life....I have accepted Him as my Saviour, I believe that he died in my place, suffered in my place.

I accept Jesus as my Saviour....O Lord..only you can save us.

Keep visiting us at 'talkjesus' we appreciate you

God Bless

 

[kenwyn]

Hi,

In answer to your original question, most Catholics would have no problem agreeing with everything in the talkjesus statement of faith.

There are some big differences in Protestant and Catholic understanding of the authority of the church, the person of the virgin Mary, and on sainthood.

You have seen for yourself the difference in style.

As with the Protestant church there are both shining examples of humbly following Christ, and a some truly shameful stories within the Roman Catholic Church.

Many Protestant churches here in the UK are looking again at Catholic traditions for inspiration. With some surprising results.

From reading your posts, you sound like the kind of person who is never content to accept things straightaway and at face value. Why not ask the Priest at your local Catholic church for some of his time so you can put your questions to him.

For assessing whether a person, teaching or spirit is from Christ or not, try reading John's first letter. It was originally written to Christians surrounded by false teachings, and John steps in to try to clear up the confusion and uncertainty.

 

[the new justin]

Alright thanks Kenwyn. I just might do that.

 

[gladstone]

a bit of english history (but probably not terribly accurate!)

Catholics are Christians. They were part of the original church set up from Rome, and certainly in England it was the main religion right up until King Henry the 8th. Then he changed the national religion to the Church of England, and this is where protestantism came in. Henry didn't like being ruled from Rome, as they wouldn't let him divorce Queen Catherine. There was a lot of unrest as after Henry came Queen Mary, and she changed it back to R.C, and then Queen Elizabeth who made it Protestant again. Pretty much, at some point (my history is very bad) Martin Luther renounced the high church hierarchy, and need for incense and intercession and the church that I know today was born. We don't need icons, or priests to confess to. It was in the Stuart's reign that our country went into civil war, and Cromwell began his take over, and the more puritan beliefs became the country's way of religion. This is when the Puritans left England and sailed to America and began their way of life over there. Then Charles the 2nd came back to power and Protestantism remained. That is why both our nations are founded on Christian principles and laws.

But essentially, all denominations including Catholicism are Christian. They just have alot of differences in the way of worship. Catholicism is still the largest demonination I believe in the world, especially in various European countries.

 

[SpiritLedEd]

Re: I don't know the difference - please help

I believe I have. I have asked Jesus into my life and excepted him for the son of God, dieing for our sins, and his resourection but I know Catholics believe in Christ for the same reasons and I was just curious to know the difference.
Religion is a huge and biggest choice that we can make in our lives and we all know according to every religion that I know, there are consequences (hell) for the unfaithful.
I have done alot of searching of many religions for understanding and truth. I felt that I just couldent settle for the first thing thown at me, that would be just following my enviorment or following tradition. I dont think that its wrong to explore other religions, I mean if that was the case then people wouldent convert to Christanity either. I try to understand all religions with a open mind and ask God to guide me. I am a Christian but I still have questions concerning other religions especially since all religions claim to have the truth about God and that there are so many belivers claiming to be witnesses and stories of testimonies just as Christians. Christians convert everyday and many convert to Christianity everyday as well. Religous debaits are won and lost everyday and it never ends so who was I to say I have the right religion without ever trying to understand anything eles and asking questions. I mean I have God on my mind and am only seeking him when I try to understand something that is not of Christianity weather that religion is a fraud or not. I mean I never converted just needed to know these things before I settled for what is most common and expected of me as of my soroundings and backround. I am glad that I live in a country that allows me to do these things without being killed.
I am convinced and believe that Christ is the way but I will never stop asking questions. If this is wrong then hey I have God to deal with, but I cant help the way I feel.

"I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it...." (1 Cor 3:2) Paul wrote these words to Christians who were very new in the faith and who had fallen into divisiveness which was threatening the church at Corinth. The enemy was taking advantage of their inexperience in the Word and stirring up all kinds of trouble.

I don't think that Stephen was upbraiding you for your curiosity. As you learn God's Word and grow as a Christian, the Lord may well use that curiosity to grow his kingdom. But you, Justin, are like the members of that Corinthian church in that, while you are sincere in your love of God, you are immature where understanding of his Word is concerned and, as such, vulnerable to being misled by the enemy. I share Stephen's belief that it is too soon for you to be delving into issues like the ones you raised in your post.

"Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising,then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness." (2 Cor 11:14-15).

SLE