How Catholicism Differs from Protestantism

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Worldwide, the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church both fall under the three largest groups of Christianity, along with the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Catholic Church and the Protestant Church have a lot in common such as that they are both mono-theistic, they both believe that Jesus is the son of God, that he was born of the Virgin Mary, that he died for our sins, that he ascended into heaven, that he rose from the dead, and that there will be a second coming of Jesus. Some other things they have in common are that both Catholics and Protestants worship in churches, chapels, or cathedrals via prayer, praise, song, and/or reading of the scriptures. The two churches both follow the word of the bible as well as the Ten Commandments, they both believe that human souls are eternal, and they both teach that those who are believers and take the time to exemplify their faith will go to Heaven whereas those who are non-believers will go to Hell. It makes sense that these two churches share many of the same beliefs and follow many of the same things considering that Protestants were originally members of the Catholic Church up until about 500 years ago when they broke off into their own church in an attempt to return to the church’s origin. However, even with all their similarities they have some differences as well.
The first difference, and what may be considered the biggest difference between the Catholic and Protestant Church, is their views on the authority of the Pope. The Catholics have a Pope, the current Pope being Pope Francis, who lives in Vatican City in Rome and is a member of high importance to the Catholic Church. He is viewed as the head of the church and is believed to be the “Vicar of Christ” which is basically a...

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...ifferent from each other and not to be compared in regards of which religion is “better” or more superior.

Works Cited

"Catholic vs Protestant." Diffen.com. Diffen, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
"Catholicism- Sacraments." ContendorMinistries.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
Hamilton, Andrew. "The Differences and Similarities Between Catholicism and Protestantism."Yahoo Voices. Yahoo Contributor Network, 29 Apr. 2010. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
"Roman Catholic Patron Saints" AmericanCatholic.org. Franciscan Media, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
Russell, Wendy T. "12 Simple Differences Between Catholics and Protestants | Wendy Thomas Russell." Wendythomasrussell.com. Wendy Thomas Russell, 10 June 2013. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
"Saint." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
"The Seven Catholic Sacraments." AmericanCatholic.org. Franciscan Media, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.

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