Catholic vs Protestant: what's the difference?

Catholics are Christians. The difference people ask about is between the Catholic Church and Protestant churches: where doctrine is settled, how a person is justified, what the Eucharist is, what is said about Mary, the saints, and purgatory, and whether the pope is Peter’s successor. Both confess the Nicene faith in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Key points

• The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1) prints the Nicene Creed: “true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.”
• Catechism 818 (2) says those justified by faith in baptism “have a right to be called Christians.”
• Catechism 82 (3) says the Church “does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone.”
• The Westminster Confession, 1.6 (5) says nothing may be added to Scripture, “whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men.”
• The Augsburg Confession, Article IV (6) says people “are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith.” Catechism 1992 (9) says justification “is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.”
• Catechism 1376 (11) says the change of bread and wine “the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation.” Westminster 29.6 (5) says that doctrine “is repugnant, not to Scripture alone, but even to common sense, and reason.”
• Catechism 881 (13) says the Lord made Simon alone the rock of his Church. Westminster 25.6 (5) says the pope of Rome cannot, “in any sense, be head” of the church.

Do Catholics and Christians believe in the same God?

Yes, if “Christian” means the Nicene confession. A search for “Catholic vs Christian” often uses Christian to mean Protestant. The Catholic Church and the Protestant confessions on this page both say the one God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that the Son was born of Mary, crucified, and raised.

The creed in the Catechism (1):

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.

Matthew 28:19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:King James Version (17), King James Version: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

Catechism 816 (2) says the Church Christ entrusted to Peter “subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him.” Catechism 818 (2) still says baptized believers in separated communities “have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers in the Lord by the children of the Catholic Church.”

Someone can be Christian and not Catholic. Protestant churches say so by existing as churches. The Catholic sentence just quoted also calls them Christians, and calls the communion imperfect. What do Protestants believe? maps those churches. What do Catholics believe? stays on the Catholic side.

Authority

Catechism 82 (3):

As a result 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.

Catechism 95 (4) says Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium “are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others.”

Westminster 1.6 (5):

The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men.

The Anglican article that says Scripture contains all things necessary to salvation is quoted in What do Protestants believe?. Which books each list counts is What Bible do Catholics use?.

Justification

Catechism 1989 (9) quotes the council’s formula: “Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.” Catechism 1991 (9) says justification “is at the same time the acceptance of God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ,” and that “faith, hope, and charity are poured into our hearts.” Catechism 1992 (9) says justification “is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith,” and “makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy.”

Augsburg IV (6):

Our churches teach that people cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works. People are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake.

Westminster 11.1 (5) says God justifies “not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous,” “by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them.”

The Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 60 (8) says God “grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner,” “out of sheer grace.”

The United Methodist Article IX (10) says, “that we are justified by faith, only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort.”

Ephesians 2:8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:King James Version (18): “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” Romans 3:28Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.King James Version (19): “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” James 2:24Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.King James Version (20): “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” Catholic texts read James with the claim that justification renews the person. Westminster says the faith that is the alone instrument still “worketh by love.” Can you lose your salvation? is the related disagreement about whether that grace can be lost.

Sacraments and the Mass

Westminster 27.4 (5) says there are “only two sacraments ordained by Christ our Lord in the Gospel; that is to say, baptism, and the Supper of the Lord.” The Catholic Church teaches seven. What do Catholics believe? names them from the Catechism’s own order.

Catechism 1374 (11) says that in 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.” Catechism 1376 (11) quotes Trent: the change of the whole substance of the bread and wine “the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation.”

Westminster 29.5 (5) says the elements “still remain truly and only bread and wine, as they were before.” Westminster 29.6 (5) says the doctrine of a change of substance “is repugnant, not to Scripture alone, but even to common sense, and reason.”

Westminster 29.2 (5) rejects a sacrifice in the Supper. The confession’s own wording is:

In this sacrament, Christ is not offered up to his Father; nor any real sacrifice made at all, for remission of sins of the quick or dead; but only a commemoration of that one offering up of himself, by himself, upon the cross, once for all.

The Anglican Article XXVIII (12) says, “Transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of Bread and Wine) in the Supper of the Lord, cannot be proved by holy Writ.” Article XXXI (12) says, “The Offering of Christ once made is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction, for all the sins of the whole world, both original and actual; and there is none other satisfaction for sin, but that alone.”

1 Corinthians 11:24And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.King James Version (22): “Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.” Hebrews 10:12But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;King James Version (23): “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.” Catholic teaching reads “this is my body” as the real presence Trent defined. The Protestant articles read the same words as a sacrament in which the substance of bread remains, and they read Hebrews as excluding a repeated offering.

Mary, the saints, and purgatory

Augsburg XXI (7):

But the Scriptures do not teach that we are to call on the saints or to ask the saints for help. Scripture sets before us the one Christ as the Mediator, Atoning Sacrifice, High Priest, and Intercessor. He is to be prayed to.

1 Timothy 2:5For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;King James Version (21): “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

The Anglican Article XXII (12) says, “The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping, and Adoration, as well of Images as of Reliques, and also invocation of Saints, is a fond thing vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.”

Catechism 1030 (16) says those who die in God’s grace “but still imperfectly purified” “undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.” Westminster 32.1 (5) says that besides heaven and hell, “the Scripture acknowledgeth none.”

What do Christians believe about Mary? quotes the Catechism on devotion and the Orthodox answer on intercession. Is purgatory biblical? puts the verses each side cites next to these texts. Neither article decides the question.

The pope

Catechism 881 (13):

The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the “rock” of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock. This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church’s very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope.

Catechism 882 (13) says the Pope, “by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered.”

Westminster 25.6 (5): “There is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor can the pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof.”

Who started the Catholic Church? quotes Matthew 16:18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.King James Version and the claim about Constantine.

Comparison

What are the five precepts?

Catechism 2042–2043 (14) lists five precepts of the Church: attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation; confess sins at least once a year; receive Holy Communion at least during the Easter season; keep holy the holy days of obligation; observe the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence. The same paragraphs add “the duty of providing for the material needs of the Church, each according to his abilities.” Protestant confessions fetched here do not list those five precepts. They do teach gathering for the word and the Supper.

Why the last line of the Lord’s Prayer differs

Matthew 6:13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.King James Version (24) in the King James Version ends, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” Catechism 2855 (15) teaches a final doxology, “For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and forever,” and calls it praise that takes up the first three petitions. The Catechism does not say Catholics omit that praise. It places the doxology after the petitions.

Frequently asked questions

What is the main difference between Catholic and Christian?

The question treats Catholic and Christian as two religions. The texts above do not. Catholics and Protestants confess the same Nicene Christ. The differences they name are Scripture and Tradition, justification, the Eucharist, the saints, purgatory, and the pope.

Are Catholicism and Protestantism the same religion?

On this site they are one Christian family, the Trinitarian churches, not two religions. Christianity is the shared confession. Catholic and the Protestant shelves are denominations inside it. Catechism 816 (2) says the Church subsists in the Catholic Church. Protestant articles say Rome has erred. Those are claims about who is fully the church. They are not a claim that the other side worships a different God.

Do Catholics worship Mary?

What do Christians believe about Mary? quotes the Catechism: special devotion to Mary “differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit.” It also quotes the Augsburg Confession against calling on the saints. The page does not decide.

Can someone be Christian but not Catholic?

Yes. Catechism 818 (2) uses the name Christian for those justified by faith in baptism outside full communion with the Catholic Church. Protestant confessions speak as churches.

The churches on this site

• Catholic
• Lutheran
• Reformed
• Anglican
• Baptist
• Methodist
• Eastern Orthodox
• Christianity
• What do Catholics believe?
• What do Protestants believe?
• Common arguments
• Charity in disagreement