Catholic Churches Vs Protestant Churches

Kylah Loftin

World Religion

Professor Sede Basil

April 5th, 2019

Catholic Churches vs Protestant Churches

There are many differences between Catholic and Protestant churches while there are also many similarities. Five differences between the Catholic and Protestant churches are the understanding of the bible, salvation and grace, authority of the pope, Mary, and worship.

The scripture in both Catholic and Protestant Churches is the Bible. Protestant Christians believe that the Bible is the only scripture and book by God which allows them to enter in communion with them. Protestant Bibles have 66 books. Catholics do not base their beliefs on the Bible alone, they believe in Roman Catholic traditions also. They believe that both tradition and scripture must be accepted. Catholic Bibles have 77 books.

Another difference between the two is salvation and grace. Protestants believe that salvation is by faith alone, along with grace. They believe that it is all up to Jesus Christ. In Catholic churches, they believe justification is a process. The amount of time you spend in church determines your grace and salvation.

The authority of the church is a big difference between Protestant churches and Catholic churches. The Catholic church believes that the pope is an earthy representative of Jesus Christ. The pope in Catholic churches role is to lead the church into determining what is right and proper for all Catholics. Protestants do not believe that there is one person who can speak without error to represent for Jesus Christ.

In Catholic churches, Mary is viewed as the “Mother of God” and/or the “Mother of the Church.” They worship her a bit stronger than Protestants. Catholics often pray to Mary and view her as sinless. Protestants have a high and upheld view for Mary, but they do not pray to her, nor make her as big of an icon as Catholics do.

Worship in Catholic and Protestant churches vary in a few different ways. Protestant churches are more straight to the point in worship and they also sing a few modern songs and get to the sermon. Catholics will go over hierarchy, mysteries, and symbols regarding the religion. The focus in Catholic churches is the Eucharist while the focus in protestant churches is the sermon. Catholics have a more in-depth service than Protestants.