Catholic vs. Protestant

Catholicism and Protestantism are two denominations of Christianity, just like Shia and Sunni are sects of Islam. While the Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, Protestantism is a general term that refers to Christianity that is not subject to papal authority.

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Definition

Catholic is an adjective derived from the Greek adjective καθολικός, meaning "general; universal" (cf. Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon). In the context of Christian ecclesiology, it has several usages:

1. The word commonly refers to the members, beliefs, and practices of the Roman Catholic Church and those sui juris churches that are in full communion with the Pope (Bishop of Rome). It comprises the Latin Rite and twenty-two Eastern Catholic Churches. The Eastern Catholic particular Churches include the Ukrainian, Greek, Greek Melkite, Maronite, Ruthenian Byzantine, Coptic Catholic, Syro-Malabar, Syro-Malankara, Chaldean, and Ethiopic Rites.
2. The Eastern Orthodox Church also identifies itself as Catholic, as in the title of The Longer Catechism of the Orthodox, Catholic, Eastern Church.
3. Most Reformation and post-Reformation Churches use the term Catholic (sometimes with a lower-case c) to refer to the belief that all Christians are part of one Church, regardless of denominational divisions. It is in line with this interpretation, which applies the word "catholic"/"universal" to no one denomination, that they understand the phrase "One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church" in the Nicene Creed, the phrase "the catholic faith" in the Athanasian Creed, and the phrase "holy catholic church" in the Apostles' Creed.
4. The term is used also to mean those Christian Churches which maintain that their Episcopate can be traced unbrokenly back to the Apostles, and consider themselves part of a broad catholic (or universal) body of believers. Among those who regard themselves as "Catholic", but not "Roman Catholic" , are Anglicans, and some small groups such as the Old Catholic Church, the Polish National Catholic Church, the Independent Catholic, the Ancient Catholic and Liberal Catholic Churches, as well as Lutherans (though the latter prefer the lower-case "c," and, like Anglicans, stress that they are both Protestant and Catholic).
5. The term can refer to the one Church founded by Jesus through the Apostle Peter, according to Matthew 16:18-19: "And I tell you, you are כיפא (Kepha) (Aramaic for "rock"), and on this rock I will build my Church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’" In Roman Catholic theology, this is understood to mean specifically the Roman Catholic Church.
6. Some use the term Catholic to distinguish their own position from a Calvinist or Puritan form of Reformed-Protestantism. These include High Church Anglicans, known also as "Anglo-Catholics", 19th century Neo-Lutherans, 20th century High Church Lutherans or evangelical-catholics and others.

Protestantism encompasses the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated with the doctrines of the Reformation. The word protestant is derived from the Latin protestatio meaning declaration which refers to the letter of protestation by Lutheran princes against the decision of the Diet of Speyer in 1529, which reaffirmed the edict of the Diet of Worms against the Reformation. Since that time, the term has been used in many different senses, but not as the official title of any church until it was assumed in 1783 by the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, a branch of the Anglican Communion.

Usage of the Name

History

A letter written by Ignatius to Christians in Smyrna around 106 AD is the earliest surviving witness to the use of the term "Catholic Church". St Cyril of Jerusalem (circa 315-386) urged those he was instructing in the Christian faith: "If ever thou art sojourning in cities, inquire not simply where the Lord's House is, nor merely where the Church is, but where is the Catholic Church. For this is the peculiar name of this Holy Church, the mother of us all, which is the spouse of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God". The term "Catholic Christians" entered Roman Imperial law when Theodosius I, Emperor from 379 to 395, reserved that name for adherents of "that religion which was delivered to the Romans by the divine Apostle Peter, as it has been preserved by faithful tradition and which is now professed by the Pontiff (Pope) Damasus and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria. The use of the term "Catholic" to distinguish the "true" Church from heretical groups is found also in Augustine's writings. Protestantism generally refers to the faiths and churches born directly or indirectly of the Protestant Reformation in which many Roman Catholics split from the larger body and formed their own communions. In common Western usage, the term is often used in contradistinction to Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. This usage, however, is regarded by many groups as improper since, among other things, there are many non-Roman-Catholic, non-Eastern-Orthodox communions that long predate the Reformation (notably Oriental Orthodoxy). The case of the Anglicans can be argued to be different as well in that, although born during the Reformation era, the Anglican doctrine is substantially different from the Reformation principles of most of the other Protestants of the time and is sometimes referred to as a middle path - a via media - between Roman Catholic and Protestant doctrines. Yet some other groups, such as the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses, reject Protestantism as having deviated from true Christianity and see themselves as Restorationists.

Branches of Protestantism

The churches most commonly associated with Protestantism can be divided along four fairly definitive lines:

1. Mainline Protestants - a North American phrase - are those who trace their lineage to Luther, Calvin, or Anglicanism. The doctrines of the Reformation are their doctrines. They include such denominations as Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Methodists.
2. Anabaptists are a movement that developed from the Radical Reformation. Today, denominations such as Baptists, Pentecostals, Brethren, Mennonites and Amish eschew infant baptism and see baptism as aligned with a demonstration of the gifts of the spirit.
3. Nontrinitarian movements reject the doctrine of the trinity. Today, they include such denominations as the Universalists, Unitarians, and some Quakers.
4. Restorationists are a more recent movement. Today, they include such denominations as the Latter-day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses and Adventists.

Related Comparisons

• Catholicism vs Christianity
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• Christianity vs Judaism
• Sunni vs Shia
• Christianity vs Protestantism

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"Catholic vs Protestant." Diffen.com. Diffen LLC, n.d. Web. 15 Apr 2024. < >