Protestantism Vs. Catholicism

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Differences between Protestantism and Catholicism Protestantism is one of the major divisions of Christion faith along with Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Protestantism was founded by Martin Luther in 16th century. He was a German Catholic monk, who served in the Catholic Church. He started the reformation when he posted his 95 theses to the door of a Catholic Church in Wittenberg. This was like the critical essay; Luther made the list of topics by which he was criticizing the Catholic Church. He even criticized the Pope, Leo X, himself and of course he did not like it. Martin was forced to leave Germany and seek for the refuge in the other countries. Protestantism gained popularity very quickly among landlords and also among poor …show more content…

Protestants believe that only the Bible is the source of God’s special revelation to mankind and teaches us all that is necessary for our salvation from sin. They see the Bible as the measurement of every person’s action. This belief is known as “sola scriptura” and it is one of the “five solas”. “Sola” in Latin means alone and “sola scriptura” or scripture alone is the belief in the Bible as the supreme source of authority for the church. Catholics reject the doctrine of sola scriptura and do not believe that the Bible alone is sufficient. They believe that both Bible and the Roman Catholic traditions are important for Christian in order to be a really religious …show more content…

Catholics see the Pope as “Vicar of Christ”, which means a substitute of Christ. For them Pope is considered to be on the same level as Jesus. Protestants believe that no one is sinless and that church’s authority comes not from apostolic succession but from the Word of God. “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.” This quotation from the New Testament also shows us that the only thing which is important is the Word of God and it should be in each and every one of us and no one, except God, could teach it to us. Protestants believe that one of the “five solas” is “sola fide” which means “faith alone”, which affirms the biblical doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone because of Christ alone. However, Catholics teach that the Christian must rely on faith plus “meritorious works” in order to be saved. Protestants believe that, on the basis of faith in Christ alone, believers are justified by God, as all their sins are paid for by Christ on the cross and Jesus’s righteousness is imputed to

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