Background
Whilst the Catholic and Protestant churches agree on several key points, there are significant differences in what they believe. Both believe in the Holy Trinity, consisting of one God in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Both also believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the saviour of humanity, and that He died on the cross to atone for the sins of the world, and in the concept of original sin, which holds that all humans are born with a sinful nature inherited from Adam and Eve.
Dogmas vs Doctrines
The Roman Catholic church holds certain dogmas – beliefs and principles – that it regards as incontrovertibly true. These dogmas consist of divine revelations contained in scripture (the Bible), church tradition as authentically interpreted through the magisterium (the official teaching body) of the church, and the official pronouncements (edicts) made by the pope. Dogmas are considered to be infallible because they are believed to have been revealed by God and declared by the Church as such. The decision on dogmas may occur through an ex cathedra (the Pope in his official capacity) decision by a Pope, or by a definitive statement made by an Ecumenical Council (a meeting of the church leaders). The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) is a comprehensive statement of the Catholic faith and its beliefs, which all its members are bound by.
Protestants reject many of these dogmas, either because they are not explicitly mentioned in the Bible, or are even contrary to teaching in the Bible. However, Catholics argue that these dogmas are based on their interpretation of the Bible, their traditions, and the pronouncements of their leaders.
In Protestant churches, doctrines are statements of the central themes identified from the Bible which form the core beliefs of the Christian faith, and are considered essential for understanding the message of Christianity. They express their current best understanding of the Gospel of Jesus, and are not considered to be infallible. Doctrines are therefore summaries of the central themes of God’s revelation in Scripture.
Areas of Disagreement
- The Pope as head of the church and with the authority of Christ
The Catholic church claims that Jesus appointed Peter as head of the church, with an unbroken line of popes succeeding him up to the present. They teach that the pope represents Jesus as the head of the entire Catholic Church and that his pronouncements on matters of faith and practice are infallible and binding upon all their followers.
CCC 2034 “The Roman Pontiff and the bishops are ‘authentic teachers, that is, teachers endowed with the authority of Christ, who preach the faith to the people entrusted to them, the faith to be believed and put into practice…’
Matthew 16:18. Now I say to you that you are Peter (Petros, male, a ‘rock’), and upon this rock (petra, female, a mass of rock) I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. So Jesus was actually saying that He would build His church on the revelation of who He is (see verse 16), and not on Peter or anyone else.
- The Catholic Church is the only true church
The Catholic Church teaches that each Pope is a successor to Saint Peter, that its bishops are the successors of Christ’s apostles, and that it infallibly practises the original Christian faith taught by the apostles, according to the scriptures, their sacred traditions, and the official pronouncements of their line of popes.
CCC 2105 “The duty of offering God genuine worship concerns man both individually and socially. This is ‘the traditional Catholic teaching on the moral duty of individuals and societies toward the true religion and the one Church of Christ.’ …It requires them to make known the worship of the one true religion which subsists in the Catholic and apostolic Church…”
Protestants hold that Jesus is the head of the church and we, all the believers, are His body (Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:15; 5:23; 1 Corinthians 12:27). Hence wherever we meet in His name, we are the church. Matthew 18:20 For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.”
- Infallibility of the Catholic Church
The doctrine of the Infallibility of the Catholic Church asserts that the Church – the ecumenical councils and the Pope, when he speaks ex cathedra – are preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine in her definitive dogmatic teaching regarding matters of faith and morals.
CCC 2035, “The supreme degree of participation in the authority of Christ is ensured by the charism of infallibility. This infallibility extends as far as does the deposit of divine Revelation; it also extends to all those elements of doctrine, including morals, without which the saving truths of the faith cannot be preserved, explained, or observed.”
- Authority of the Bible
The Catholic church holds that the Bible is one of the sources of God’s revelation, along with their church’s traditions, the teachings of their church, and the Pope’s authority, as all being equally binding upon their followers. The Roman Catholic Church’s insistence that the Bible and tradition are equal in authority, and that the pronouncements of the Pope, as head of the church and made with such authority are infallible and binding upon all their followers, clearly shows their distrust of the Bible as the ultimate authority for all believers.
Catholic and Protestant churches do not have identical bibles. In addition to some differences in arising from the texts used in their translations, the Roman Catholic version contains the Apocrypha – an additional seven books of the Old Testament that are not part of the Masoretic text, which is universally accepted as the authentic Hebrew Bible, and which are also not included in the bibles used by Protestants.
Scripture: Protestants hold to the principle of *sola Scriptura*, meaning Scripture is the church’s sole authority, ultimately determinative for doctrine, practice, faith, worship, and ministry. This principle was coupled with an explicit rejection of the Roman Catholic authority structure.
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
Tradition: The Roman Catholic Church holds Tradition as the second authoritative element, which refers to the teachings of Jesus that he orally communicated to his apostles. These teachings have been orally communicated to their successors, the bishops of the church, who continue to nourish and protect them.
CCC 82 “. . .the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honoured with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence.”
Protestants, however, reject this notion and believe that truth is found in Scripture, as interpreted by the individual. All doctrines must be tested against scripture.
Magisterium: The third authoritative element in the Roman Catholic Church is the Magisterium, which consists of the pope together with the bishops in unity with him.
The Roman Catholic Church holds that it alone has authority to interpret Scripture.
CCC 100, “The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him.”
Protestants reject this authority structure. The principle of sola scriptura, which means “by scripture alone”, is a Christian theological doctrine that affirms the Bible as the sole infallible source of authority for Christian faith and practice. It is one of the five solae, or basic principles, of the Protestant Reformation, along with sola fide (by faith alone), sola gratia (by grace alone), solus Christus (Christ alone), and soli Deo gloria (glory to God alone).
The first person to state the principle of sola scriptura was Martin Luther, the leader of the Protestant Reformation in 1517. Luther rejected the authority of any human teacher or tradition over the scriptures, and argued that every Christian should interpret them for themselves by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He wrote: “It is, therefore, a settled determination with me, not to argue upon the authority of any teacher whatever, but upon that of the Scriptures alone”.
- Salvation
The Roman Catholic church has several dogmas relating to how one can be saved, and what is required to retain one’s salvation.
Salvation is by faith, baptism, and by works
CCC 2068, “so that all men may attain salvation through faith, baptism and the observance of the Commandments.”
Protestants hold that salvation is by faith in Jesus alone, and cannot be earned by any ‘works’ – anything that we can do to in any way to earn or justify our salvation, and quote:
Romans 10:10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.
Ephesians 2:8-9 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Membership of the Roman Catholic church
The Roman Catholic Church holds that membership of it is necessary for salvation.
CCC 846, “How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers? Re-formulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body: Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.”
They also hold that the full benefit of salvation is only through the Roman Catholic Church
“For it is only through Christ’s Catholic Church, which is “the all-embracing means of salvation,” that they can benefit fully from the means of salvation,” (Vatican 2, Decree on Ecumenism, 3).
Pentecostals hold that at the moment of salvation, which is a gift given freely to all that repent to God for their sins and accept the sacrificial death of Jesus as having paid for all their sins, and accepting Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, all are included as member of the worldwide church of God. As Christians, they then join a local church to work out their salvation, not to work for their salvation.
Penance and Confession
The Roman Catholic doctrine of Penance is a crucial part of the Church’s teachings. Penance, in the Roman Catholic Church, is a sacrament that involves the confession of sins to a priest, followed by absolution and the performance of certain acts to express repentance and make amends, resulting in the forgiveness of sins. Penance is held to be necessary to maintain one’s salvation. However, there have been exceptions. For instance, due to coronavirus restrictions, the Vatican issued a temporary dispensation allowing Catholics to confess directly to God without a priest present.
CCC 980 “This sacrament of Penance is necessary for salvation for those who have fallen after Baptism, just as Baptism is necessary for salvation for those who have not yet been reborn.”
They also believe that sin requires that satisfaction be made to appease God, which is achieved through penance and good works, or through indulgences which are authorized by the Pope, and even after death can be met through enduring a period of sufferings in purgatory.
Pentecostals believe that repentance for sins is made to God, and is granted freely, since Jesus has already paid as the sacrifice on our behalf, and that any attempt to earn our salvation is pride, and an insult to Jesus.
Ephesians 2:9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Galatians 2:21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.
Grace can be merited – the forgiveness of God can be ‘merited’ – received as a reward for good works. In the Roman Catholic Church, the concept of “merit” is understood as the performance of a good work which entitles the doer to receive a reward from whoever the service was performed. It is the result of God’s grace when God chooses to reward the acts which please Him. This reward from God is ultimately eternal life.
CCC 2010, “Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification.”
CCC 2027, “Moved by the Holy Spirit, we can merit for ourselves and for others all the graces needed to attain eternal life, as well as necessary temporal goods.”
The Treasury (storehouse) of Merit
The Treasury of Merit is the belief that the good works done by Jesus, the Virgin Mary, all the saints and others can be stored up for the benefit other people. This ‘fund’ can be used for the salvation of others, and is available for dispensation through indulgences.
The merit of Mary and the Saints can be applied to Catholics and others
CCC 1477, “This treasury includes as well the prayers and good works of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They are truly immense, unfathomable, and even pristine in their value before God. In the treasury, too, are the prayers and good works of all the saints, all those who have followed in the footsteps of Christ the Lord and by his grace have made their lives holy and carried out the mission in the unity of the Mystical Body.”
Protestants hold that each person will be rewarded, if saved, and judged if not, solely according to their own deeds. (Matthew 16:27; Ephesians 6:8; 2 Peter 3:7; Hebrews 9:27; Revelation22:12.
Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds.
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.
- Purgatory
1031 “The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:
CCC 1475, “In the communion of saints, “a perennial link of charity exists between the faithful who have already reached their heavenly home, those who are expiating their sins in purgatory and those who are still pilgrims on earth. Between them there is, too, an abundant exchange of all good things.” In this wonderful exchange, the holiness of one profits others, well beyond the harm that the sin of one could cause others. Thus recourse to the communion of saints lets the contrite sinner be more promptly and efficaciously purified of the punishments for sin.
As can be seen, the Roman Catholic Church teaches that sin requires that satisfaction be made to God for sin, and this is achieved through penance and good works, through the enduring of sufferings in purgatory, and through indulgences which are authorized by the Pope.
Protestants reject the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory, citing verses such as:
Romans 8:1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. and Ephesians 2:8-9 God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
- Indulgences
CCC 1471, “The doctrine and practice of indulgences in the Church are closely linked to the effects of the sacrament of Penance. What is an indulgence? ‘An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints. ‘An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin.’ The faithful can gain indulgences for themselves or apply them to the dead.”
CCC 1478, “An indulgence is obtained through the Church who, by virtue of the power of binding and loosing granted her by Christ Jesus, intervenes in favour of individual Christians and opens for them the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints to obtain from the Father of mercies the remission of the temporal punishments due for their sins. Thus the Church does not want simply to come to the aid of these Christians, but also to spur them to works of devotion, penance, and charity.
CCC 1498 “Through indulgences the faithful can obtain the remission of temporal punishment resulting from sin for themselves and also for the souls in Purgatory.”
CCC 1472 “…On the other hand every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory. This purification frees one from what is called the “temporal punishment” of sin…”
Martin Luther, a key figure in the Protestant Reformation, disagreed with the Catholic Church’s practice of selling indulgences, which were said to reduce the need for purification from the effects of sin in Purgatory before entering heaven. He believed that this practice was not supported by the Bible. Both Luther and John Calvin rejected the Roman Catholic doctrine of Purgatory because they believed it contradicted the doctrine of justification that they found in the Bible. To the contrary, the Bible states:
1 John 1:8-9 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
- Mary
Here are some of the many doctrines concerning Mary (mother of Jesus) found in Roman Catholicism:
Immaculate Conception: The Church believes that Mary was immaculately conceived, meaning she was exempt from original sin at the moment of conception and was not subject to sin throughout her life.
Protestants refer to the following passages, showing that we are all sinners.
Romans 3:23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
Romans 5:12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.
Mary is the mediatrix (intermediary provider) of all graces, a belief that all graces that God bestows on humans pass through her.
CCC 969, “Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.” The church holds that ‘because of her assumption and role as mother for all of us, she prays for us, interceding on our behalf, asking the Lord to bestow graces to us as He wills’.
Protestants reject this, and point to:
1 Timothy 2:5 For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity – the man Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 7:24-25 But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. 25 Therefore He is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through Him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.
Assumption (or ‘taken up’) into Heaven: The Assumption of Mary is a Catholic doctrine of faith stating that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was assumed body and soul by God into Heaven at the end of her life. The belief in Mary’s Assumption has been held since the earliest centuries of Christianity. The Assumption of Mary remained a widely-held belief throughout the centuries until it was officially made part of the Catholic Church’s teachings by Pope Pius XII in 1950.
Perpetual Virginity; The Catechism refers to Mary as the “all-holy ever-virgin Mother of God”. Mary is believed to have remained a virgin before, during, and after the birth of Jesus. In other words, Mary remained a virgin throughout her life.
Protestants argue that the Bible clearly mentions Jesus having brothers and sisters – four brothers are mentioned, and a reference to ‘sisters’ i.e. at least two. These passages show that Joseph and Mary had other children after Jesus.
Matthew 12:46 As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him.
Matthew 13:55 Then they scoffed, “He’s just the carpenter’s son, and we know Mary, his mother, and his brothers -James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas.
See also Mark 6:3, John 2:12, John 7:3, John 7:5, John 7:10, Acts 1:14, 1 Corinthians 9:5, and Galatians 1:19).
Furthermore the letter of ‘James’ is traditionally attributed to James, the son of Joseph and is often referred to as the brother of Jesus. He was a prominent figure among the communities of the followers of Jesus living in Palestine in the first century. Note that James, the apostle, and brother of John, was the first of the apostles to be martyred, in around 44 AD, long before this letter was written.
Veneration: the act of showing respect and reverence towards someone or something.
The Catechism does not explicitly discuss the veneration of Mary, but it is a significant part of Catholic practice.
- Prayer to Mary and the saints
CCC 2677 “By asking Mary to pray for us, we acknowledge ourselves to be poor sinners and we address ourselves to the ‘Mother of Mercy,’ the All-Holy One. We give ourselves over to her now, in the Today of our lives. And our trust broadens further, already at the present moment, to surrender ‘the hour of our death’ wholly to her care.”
Protestant point to the scriptures that say there is no contact between the living and the dead, and that Jesus is our sole mediator, and He lives forever to intercede on our behalf. (1 Timothy 2:5 and Hebrews 7:24-25.
- The Communion elements become the actual body and blood of Christ
CCC 1374 “In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist “the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained.”
CCC 1376 “The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: “Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation.”
Protestants say that this is clearly metaphorical language, and not meant to mean that the bread and the wine actually become His body and His blood. We can see the same principle in Jesus speaking of the ‘yeast’ of the pharisees (Matthew 16:11-12) or the church as the ‘salt of the earth’ and the ‘light of the world’ (Matthew 5:13-14).
Dr Brian Drury