I'm a Roman Catholic, and most of my aquaintances are Christian. Is there a difference?

Fr_Chuck

It would be like saying what is the difference between a Baptist and a Lutheran, they are all denominations within the Christian faith,
So you as a Catholic are a Christian, but I wonder???? since all catholics know they are christian, just not a protestant.

In Catholic we have the Pope as the head of our group, the Lutheran will have a president of thier synod, the Anglican have a Arch Bishop and so on, The Catholics, Anglican, Orthodox, and some lutheran have specific beleifs about communion, other protestands have other beleifs on it,

So if you can tell us what denomination they are, we can tell you more specifi differences, since as I stated a Catholic is a Christian.

Lixue-Sebille 3

So are they basically the same?

Fr_Chuck

They have various customes and types of service, the Catholic and Anglicans and Lutherans and Orthodox are much more alike than a catholic and baptist.

So as noted unless you give what denomination your friends are, I can't say exactly what differences you may see.

For example a Penticostal church service is alot different than a Catholic Service, but then it would be alot different than a Lutheran or Orthodox also.

Donna Mae

I am a Christian and I can tell you about my beliefs.
Jesus Christ is the head of the church, not the pope.
I accept Christ by doing His will. This means I study the Bible so I will know what it is I have to do to be saved. I confessed before man that Jesus is the Son of God. I was baptized into Jesus Christ for the remission of my sins. I believe that you are baptized when you are old enough to know who Jesus is and understand the sacrifice He made for us. We do not baptize babies because we do not believe that babies are in sin. If a baby or small child passes away they will be with the heavenly Father. I believe that if I do not partake of the Lord's supper (communion), I will have no life in me. I believe that the Lord's supper must be taken every Lord's day (Sunday). I believe that my job, while I am on this earth is to tell others of the good news of Jesus Christ, and that the only way to heaven and our Father is through Jesus. There is no other way. I do not believe that just by accepting Christ into your heart you are automatically saved. That is a very good start though. I do not believe that once saved always saved. A Christian can certainly loose their soul if they don't do God's will. I believe that the judgement is final, there is no changing, there is no praying someone out of hell. The judgement is the end of life on this earth. If our name is not in the Book of Life, we will not be saved. "Every eye shall see Him." When Jesus returns, in the clouds, on that final day, we must be ready. There will be no second chances.

I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we cannot see heaven by any other person, and I apologize in advance, but not even the pope can get anyone to heaven. He is just a man and every man has sin, Jesus was the only man with no sin. The Bible warns us to watch out for false prophets. We have to be aware of the people who claim to be the way to God. That is why God says, "study to show thyself approved."

I certainly believe in heaven as well as hell, and that hell is eternal punishment.

Sorry if I offended anyone, but this is my belief and it is from God's word.

And yes, there are lots of differences between Catholics and Christians.

Donna Mae

I need to add this too. I believe that Jesus is the only mediator between God and man. Jesus said, "no one comes to the Father except through me."

LifePaparazzi

Simply put - There is no difference. Chistians are any religion that believes in Christ, in whatever way. Catholics believe in Christ so they are Christian.

It's like this:
The category is Christian
Subcategory - Catholics
Subcategory - Methodists
Subcategory - Jehovah's Witness
Subcategory - Baptists

The category is None-Christian
Subcategory - Buddists
Subcategory - Jewish
Subcategory - Hindu

LifePaparazzi

Hello Lixui, Listen, I realize you have all these long winded answers posted here. Then you can see a comment below my brief explanaition (Donna Mae disagrees: I can see you put alot of thought in your answer. (Don't have a winky smilie -you'll just have to imagine one.))

It really is NOT a difficult question to answer. What I gave you is purely factual, without any long winded religiously tained explanation. I was not out to convert you etc. just stating the FACTS.

ineedhelpfast

i think a big difference is that catholics believe that good works will get you into heaven, and they believe in purgatory which is basically an in between place of heaven and hell. christians believe that only through gods grace and our faith will get us into heaven.

Fr_Chuck

no, Catholics believe you get into heaven by grace, That Jesus died for our sins. The work does not get us into heaven, you must have Catholics confused with someone else.

Holy Souls Crusade - Where or what is Purgatory?

there is no clear cut opinoin by all christians, what happens to the soul from the time of death to what many call the second comming. do they remain asleep, do they go to heaven or hell right away or do they go to some waiting or staging area?
All the gorups differ greatly on this.
But they do agree that in the end, believers do go to heaven