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Philosophy 101
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What makes a catholic "Catholic?"
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What makes a catholic "Catholic?" |
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Kitherion Member
since 2006-08-01
Posts 181Johannesburg |
I'm sorry if this disscussion sounds a tad ridiculous, but I'm just slighly confused. What's different between a Catholic, and an Anglican? Or an Anglican and a Protestant...? And even more pressing is the ever confusing: what is the difference between a Catjolic, and a Roman Catholic? I'm sorry if I sound ridiculous, it's just that I have a Catholic friend, a Roman Catholic Friend and an Anglican friend... and they all believe the same things... almost to the exact "T" (to use a rather ambiguos expression) but, they cannot get together as one... Now, unless I'm mistaken, does not God say that all religions will become one in his new world? If so, then why are there so many denominations of Christianity? At the rate that Chrisrianity is breaking apart, soon we will have more "branches" than the first century Christians and their discussion of the Trinity. Why Then do people continue to preach that their religion is right when, they believe that all Christians will go to Heaven and be with God and Jesus? Anyway... Just Confussed... |
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Stephanos
since 2000-07-31
Posts 3618Statesboro, GA, USA |
Kitherion, A lot of questions there. There are two answers to the question of "why denominations" that I can see. One is positive, the other negative. One is the normal and even healthy expression of diversity. Though truth is exclusive in many ways, it is also living and organic, not brittle like frozen tin. Hence many denominational differences fall under that heading. The negative answer is pride and sectarianism, which is not content with being diverse, but wants to cut the dividing lines as deep as possible. Jesus Christ, and Paul both expressed warning against this tendency. So there's a lot of good diversity that never would have found expression if the "scattering" of Christendom had never happened. But there is also much contentiousness and smug pride as well mixed in along the way. It's a phenomenon that we'll not fix by fiat or ecumenism, but which God has promised to deal with. Jesus spoke of there being "one fold". I do recall C.S. Lewis commenting that while the world thinks Christianity is dying of old age, in reality our present divisions are more like the infantile pains of cutting teeth and colic. (He wasn't euphemizing the sin involved though, but rather speaking from a Heavenly view). I think if we prayed for one another as much as we found reasons to separate, we would be much further along. As to a discussion of the doctrinal variences between Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, and Protestantism, I'll have to look into suggesting some reading for you. I would however encourage you to study (most importantly) what is their unifying reality (often in spite of themselves). "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis is a great book to get you thinking in that direction. "Mere" meaning the basic and unadorned message of the Gospel. Let me know if I can help you in any way. Stephen. |
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ChristianSpeaks Member
since 2006-05-18
Posts 396Iowa, USA |
The main differeence in my best estimatioin is interpretation of the Bible along with ritualistic variances. Catholicism is built on litergy and the same is true for Lutherans. The difference between the two is the role of the pastor/priest. Catholics believe there is no repentance that is not first filtered through the priest and, subsequent pennence. Lutherans believe, generally, that there is repentance through personal apology to God. Protestant basically means non-catholic. As you go further down the rabit hole you will find differences in theology according to denomination. Some are very similiar, some are the same. If you aren't talking about Catholic and Luteran you begin to see a division of Calvinist (those that follow the theology more or less of John Calvin) and Weslyan/Armenian (those that follow the theology of John Wesly and Joseph Armenius). Calvinist believe that once you are saved you are good. You can't loose your salvation. Weslyans (spelling?) belive that once you are saved you must foolow closely the teachings of Jesus to keep your salvation (the working man's Christian) They also believe in a second work of grace illustrated in the telling of John the Baptist's baptism of Jesus where the holy spirit came down as a dove upon Jesus' baptism called salvation. There are other references to the bestowing of the holy spirit on to the deciples in Acts. This is a general overview. You can research in Wiki about particular demoninations as well as their main sites. Some are more forthcoming than others, but it should be there. hope that helped. CS Ps if your friends think that they believe the same thing, I would guess they are not too versed in their church's theology. |
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Juju Member Elite
since 2003-12-29
Posts 3429In your dreams |
That's not neccessarly true The differance between catholics and lutherans is the pope, the host, and even the masses are differant. You don't repent for your sins by confessing either. You usually need to say prayers or due certain acts for a while to repent. The priest after you confess usually tells you to say prayers and such as a guidline for your repentance. Confessing lets god for give you of your sins. Infact I think you can confess to god in prayer, but I not sure on theose details. You can wikipedia those terms before you wonder. If you have questions about The catholic faith you should vist the website or purchase one of "our" books that we give to the kids in church school. I have found that even alot of catholics don't know alot about the faith. So your better of going to a website and looking it up than asking some one. -Juju |
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