10 Differences between Catholics and Protestants

what is the difference between Catholicism and protestantism give me examples of things that Catholics and Protestants don't have in common uh Protestants are richer Catholics of more frackles we all remember the famous Simpson clip where Marge dies and goes to Protestant heaven and Homer and Bart go to Catholic Heaven which is way more fun mod Simpson welcome to Protestant heaven where's Homer and Bart [Music] but down here on Earth what are the differences between protestantism and Catholicism well it goes back to Martin Luther not that Martin Luther I'm talking about the fat augustinian German priest

Martin Luther who like many in his day noticed discrepancies and corruption in the Catholic Church in the 16th century and instead of reforming the Catholic Church from the inside Martin Luther wanted to formally change the structure the theology the sacraments the Liturgy and created something entirely new beginning in 1517 which became Lutheranism but then broke into many other pieces of what we call protestantism so today we'll go through the 10 major theological differences between Catholicism M and protestantism the main difference number one that's so obvious to people is the Blessed Virgin Mary and I started

with this one because it's probably one of the most controversial for Catholics the Blessed Virgin Mary is not only the mother of Jesus Christ but she's also the mother of every Christian who ever lived Catholics take this from the Gospel of John it's one of the seven last words of Jesus from the cross when he says behold your mother and Catholics take those words literally whenever Catholics look up at Jesus on the cross they believe Mary stands next to them as their spiritual mother in every single Encounter of Jesus Christ Mary stands next to us

and Jesus says behold your mother Catholics also believe that the Virgin Mary is the new Eve and the new ark of the New Covenant and they base all of this on the Book of Revelation 12 where we read about a woman clothed in the sun standing on the moon with a crown of stars around her head and she's at war with Satan now Protestants deny all of this they say Mary was a good woman she was normal but she was sinful just like the rest of us but Catholics think this claim is Blasphemous they argue

if God pre-ordained a special golden box the Ark of the Covenant to contain Ain The Ten Commandments why wouldn't he do the same thing for his Divine son Jesus Christ the virgin mother who would literally contain Jesus Christ and this is why Catholics call Mary the Ark of the New Covenant number two the second difference is that Catholics and Protestants have different Bibles and this makes it really difficult when you're having a discussion because they'll say well where is that in the Bible Well Catholic Bibles are different than Protestant Bibles Catholic Bibles have 72 or

73 books depending on whether you count the book of baroo as part of the book of Jeremiah whereas Protestants have only 66 books in their Bibles and so here are the books that are missing in Protestant Bibles that Catholics include Tobit Judith wisdom ecclesiasticus also called sirak baroo first and 2 mccabes and there's also extended text in the Book of Daniel and in the Book of Esther this makes Catholic Bibles much bigger number three is the structure of Christianity as perceived by Catholics versus Protestants for Catholicism the church is a monarchy Jesus Christ is the

king he's at the top but he has delegated his Authority on Earth to Peter St Peter one of the 12 apostles and Catholics identify the successors of Peter throughout time over 2,000 years they call him the papa in Latin or in Greek or in Italian which in English we call the pope Protestants see the church more as a democracy it's more we the people and Martin Luther said no more Pope no more Cardinals no more Arch Bishops no more Bishops and no more even a class of clergy called priests instead in protestantism clergy or pastors

or reverends are more like authorized teachers and not actual Leaders with Divine binding authority over the leoty and that brings us to difference number four the Pope the papa the papacy in Catholicism the pope is so important now what is a pope according to Catholics they believe that in Matthew chapter 16 Jesus transformed one of the Apostles named Simon into a pope and gave him a new name so according to Catholics Jesus Christ changed Simon's name and gave him the name sephus which in Aramaic means Rock in Greek the name is Petros which is the

Greek word for rock and the word rock is a title for God in the old Testament now this doesn't mean that Jesus turned Peter into God that would be ridiculous but it does mean that according to Catholics Jesus gave him a name that signified God so that Jesus could be a representative or a Vicor of God on Earth secondly in Matthew 16 Jesus Christ gave the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven to Saint Peter the Protestants on the other other hand reject this completely they say look no one is infallible on Earth by being a

sinner you're not infallible and they say you only go by the Bible the Bible alone is infallible now this is a little bit controversial because technically it was a pope Pope damus in the year 382 that gave us the Canon of the Bible so even the Bible itself comes from the action of a pope number five is the holy Eucharist Catholics and Protestants disagree fundamentally on this mystery for Catholics the Eucharist is two things first of all the Eucharist is really and truly the body and blood of Jesus and they refer this miracle or this

mystery as transubstantiation that's a big word with a lot of syllables what does it mean transubstantiation is the belief that when the priest says this is my body and this is the Chalice of my blood the bread and the wine actually transform into the essence the substance of Jesus's body and blood it looks and smells and tastes like Bread and Wine but in reality when a person receives the Eucharist they're actually receiving the true body and blood of Jesus Christ Catholics also believe that the Eucharist is the holy sacrifice of the mass so when a

priest does the mass what's happening is is the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is being made present in our very time on the altars of the Catholic church that's the Catholic view now Protestants have a totally different view Protestants believe that the communion they usually call it the communion or Holy Communion is just a memorial or a symbol of the body and blood of Jesus Christ so they could take what they use in their service and they could recycle it or throw in a trash because they believe it's still just Bread and Wine whereas

a Catholic literally believes it is Jesus Christ and just like Catholics believe that the mass is a sacrifice or putting us in the presence of Jesus on the cross literally Protestants believe that it's more of a remembrance ceremony so we're all coming together and we're memorializing or remembering what Jesus did for us but they don't believe that Jesus actually in that moment is present presenting himself on the cross to the people so that's the difference between Catholics and Protestants on the Eucharist all right so we're halfway through that's the first five points now we're going

to move on to the second five points if you're enjoying this video and learning a lot please push the like button and consider subscribing all right so Point number six between Catholics and Protestants are the Saints the idea of the communion of the Saints Catholics believe they can invoke people people in heaven so if they're traveling they'll ask St Christopher to pray for them if they lose their car keys they'll pray to St Anthony uh they can pray to St Peter St Paul St Mary Magdalene anyone in heaven is still connected to them through the

Holy Spirit and the Catholics on Earth can ask intercession from anyone who is in heaven now all of these intercessions ultimately go through Jesus Christ to God the Father I know that's a lot of theology there but they believe that they have a connection just like you could ask someone on Earth hey pray for me I have a toothache you could pray to someone in heaven and say hey pray for me I have a toothache and it all works together through the Holy Spirit Protestants on the other hand say late that is too complicated it

obscures the Priestly power of Jesus we're only going to pray to or through Jesus and you shouldn't ever talk to anyone who's a saint so that's another major difference and this is why if you go into a Catholic Church you'll see statues or I icons commemorating all these great Christians who lived over the past 2,000 years Martyrs whereas if you go into a Protestant Church you likely won't see statues or images or icons of saints because that's a fundamental difference between the two what we have there is a difference number seven is the difference on

Authority so Protestants following Martin Luther say we go by solos scripture which is Latin for scripture alone if it's not in the Bible we don't believe it Catholics have a different Viewpoint Catholics say we follow scripture and tradition and this is obviously going to make for a lot of differences because if you can't find the Bible a Protestant won't accept it whereas a Catholic will say yes we follow the Bible but there are also Traditions that come down over time for example uh making the sign of the cross is a tradition and other things like

electing a pope and liturgy and sacraments and all these things that come down through tradition and we accept those things also and that kind of brings us to the eighth difference and that is the number of Sacraments Catholics say that Jesus Christ while he was on Earth instituted seven sacraments what's a Sacrament a Sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ that confers interior Grace so you can think of the seven sacraments as like instruments that God uses to give people down here on Earth more and more grace to save them Catholics say there are

seven sacraments and they are baptism confirmation Holy Eucharist which we already talked about Penance or confession anointing of the sick also called Extreme unction holy orders which is the ordination of a man to a deacon or a priest and then matrimony these are the seven sacraments and their very holy and Catholic life and piety and devotion revolve around the reception of these seven sacraments which you can find in the gospels and in the New Testament Protestants however following Martin Luther following John Calvin Thomas krer the the whole original cast of protestant reformers they say no

there's not seven sacraments there's only two sacraments and they say that the only two sacraments are baptism and Holy Communion or Eucharist so they say for example matrimony is not a Sacrament or as Catholics believe it is a Sacrament so Catholics will have things like confirmation uh matrimony ordination these are all major events in the Catholic Church whereas for Protestants it's really just about baptism and communion number nine and that is how are you saved are you saved have you been saved Protestants believe following Martin Luther in justification by faith alone Sola they believe if

you just go to Jesus and you say Lord Jesus Christ I believe in you instantaneously you are Justified you are redeemed and you are born again in that moment now some Protestants believe you can't lose your salvation some Protestants believe you can lose your salvation but they generally agree with Martin Luther that you are justified by faith faith alone in the moment you have belief in your heart and they'll often point to the thief on the cross who is hanging next to Jesus who expressed his belief in Jesus and Jesus said to him today you

will be with me in Paradise now the Catholics they point to the Epistle of St James who says we are justified by faith and works in fact James says we are not justified by faith alone but by faith and works now Catholics don't believe in Salvation by works alone a lot of Protestants wrongly think oh you just are saved by works no faith is the beginning and then working together like in a Synergy are Faith and actions and so they'll Point towards in teachings of Jesus like if you love me you'll keep my commandments so

they're saying look if you if you believe in Jesus and you love Jesus you're going to obey the Commandments and your faith and your works are going to work together they're going to cooperate together and this means that Catholics understand salvation more as a process and Protestants understand salvation more as an instantaneous event and that's the main difference so a Protestant will say I was saved or I was saved five years ago at such and such a time at such and such a date whereas Catholics will say I've been saved I'm being saved in the

moment through the sacraments and and my my good works and my faith in Jesus and my love for God and my neighbor and then I hope to be saved on my deathbed through last rights extreme unction uh and so on so that's kind of the main difference it's instantaneous verse a process that unrolls over a person's life and then that kind of brings us to the last one number 10 life after death Protestants it's very simple it's very binary you you either go to heaven or you go to hell that's it two Destinies very clean

when you die Heaven or Hell Catholicism just as they see salvation as a process that's unfolding Catholicism has Heaven and it has hell which they identify with the word Jesus uses in the gospel gehenna but then they also have in the afterlife purgatory and limbo and this is something that Mark Martin Luther rejected and all Protestants reject they don't believe in a complicated uh life after death it's just Heaven or Hell whereas Catholics will say look if you believed in Jesus you loved God you loved your neighbor but in your life you didn't fully repent

you didn't fully understand the gravity of your sin uh how you hurt people how you hurt God how you hurt yourself you're kind of still muddy you're still dirty you're saved like in 1 Corinthians 3 you're saved but as Through Fire and then there's the idea of limbo and Catholics believe limbo is the place in the Old Testament where Adam Eve Abraham Sarah Esther Daniel Isaiah all the good and righteous people who believed in God until Jesus died on the cross they couldn't go to heaven so they were in the Underworld also called Abraham's bosom

Jesus talks about that and they waited it was Paradise it was nice but it wasn't Heaven until Jesus died on the cross and when Jesus died on the cross he descended into hell into The Nether world into limbo and he brought all those Old Testament people into heaven limbo is also used for babies or young people and if you read Dante's Inferno he puts righteous pagans in there though that's kind of De debated uh and and this is where the unbaptized go who aren't aren't saved they can't go to heaven but they don't they never

believe they never were baptized they aren't equipped to go so they're not punished in the fires of hell but they're still excluded from heaven and that's called Limbo which is from the Latin word limbus which means Edge like you're on the edge you're neither in heaven you're neither in hell you're in the limbo where you get waiting in limbo and in limbo so Protestants and Catholics have a different understanding of life after death for Catholics it's very Dynamic with different terrain different geography different departments whereas Protestants have it clean Heaven and Hell all right there

are 10 differences between Catholics and Protestants did I miss anything leave a comment below I look forward to hearing your comments and uh let's continue the discussion between Catholics and Protestants and I'd also like to hear if you're one or the other let me know how did I do and what would you like to see in the future thanks for watching and remember our Lord Jesus Christ says you're the light of the world and the salt of the earth so go out there and be salty God bless and Godspeed hey thanks for watching my podcast

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