First, you are saved by faith alone (Catholics believe its through faith and good deeds).
Second, only the Bible tells us what we should do (Catholics believe that other holy books should also be considered).
Third, that there is no intermediary, like the Pope, necessary to communicate with God. In other words people should just talk to God and read his scriptures.
Fourth, by God's saving grace alone you are saved. In other words, like the first precept, your works do not count.
And fifth, people should worship Jesus alone and not other humans like the Virgin Mary, the Saints and Apostles, like the Catholics seem to do.
"Protestant" is an unnecessary term. Either a person is saved by Jesus, or they are not.
Catholicism is not Christian. Catholicism leads to eternal torment in hell, because Catholicism teaches works for salvation, and that is a false gospel of works (Galatians 1:6-9) that is against JESUS'S free gift of salvation!
And Catholicism will not give you a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with Jesus, which is what JESUS wants with you!
So, you need to get away from Catholicism, and instead, believe in JESUS for His free gift of salvation!
It's clear from the Book of Acts in the Bible that catholics didn't even exist during the days of Acts. Catholicism didn't exist for over 300 years after Jesus. And Catholicism didn't exist for over 200 years after the Bible was complete and compiled. Those in the Book of Acts are the first Christians, and they believed what would be called fundamentalist doctrine today. ANYONE can read the Book of Acts for themselves and see. Had Catholicism existed during the time of Acts, the first Christians would have rejected Catholicism completely.
Also there's TONS of Christians who also completely rejected Catholicism, long before Martin Luther was even born. Catholicism murdered millions and millions of Christians. :*(
So not only is it wrong for anyone to say that "catholics were the first Christians", but this blows away the catholic claim that "no churches existed other than the catholic church, until Martin Luther".
And there is no "pope" in the Bible. Every "pope" is a false prophet.
There were ALWAYS saved believers outside the catholic cult, who knew Catholicism cannot save anyone.
Catholicism cannot save. Only believing in Jesus for His free gift of salvation, is what saves!
So, catholics need to get away from Catholicism, and instead, believe in JESUS for His free gift of salvation!
Jesus is God, and Jesus loves you so very much! And the Trinity is true!
The truth about Jesus is that the only way to be saved and to get into heaven and avoid being sent to hell, is by believing in Jesus for His free gift of salvation, believing in faith alone that Jesus, who is God, died on the cross for all our sins as FULL PAYMENT for all our sins, and then Jesus rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Believe in Jesus for His free gift of salvation, and you will be in heaven, no matter what!
Salvation is a FREE GIFT that happens in a split second when you believe in Jesus alone to save you! It is impossible to lose or "leave" salvation (John 6:39-40, John 10:28, 1 John 5:13).
Please pray now: "Jesus, I believe that You died on the cross to pay for my sins and that You rose from the dead, and I thank You for eternal life!" You will be in heaven with Him forever when you die!
The word Protestant came from the word, 'Protest'. Martuin Luther, a Catholic Monk was excommunicated because he protested against irregularities within the Vatican and some of the beliefs that it made up. Protestants have no Pope, Saints, Confession, or worship of Mary because they know that she never ascended into heaven. That belief was made up by a 7Th Century Pope. Netflix has a History Channel DVD about the life of Martin Luther. He wasn't the 'bad guy' that the Catholic Church tries to depict him as.
When people say Catholic they usually mean the Roman Catholic church, which was part of the original church until 1054 when the Eastern church became the Orthodox and the western became the "Catholic". But actually the Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and part of the Anglican churches all consider themselves to be Catholic.
Having said that, the difference is that the Catholics are liturgical, meaning that the Mass, or Eucharist is the main focus of the worship service. The Protestant churches came about after the Reformation and have cast off everything that the Catholics did because they wanted to separate themselves from the Catholic church. It was like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Protestants focus more on preaching. They took out parts of the bible, and don't believe in the real presence of the body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist.
Protestants don't believe in Saints, and their theology is different than that of the branches of the Christian church that consider themselves to be 'Catholic'.
The main things are these.
We believe that you can pray to Jesus directly.
We don't have to pray to any saints or confess to a priest.
We go directly to Jesus.
We believe that only people old enough to understand the gospel of Jesus
should get baptized. Babies don't need it.
We believe in choice, if you want to leave the church, stop paying tithes, or
get a divorce, it's up to you and God.
We believe you should read the Holy Bible and use it to guide your life.
This allows God to lead you and not a man only.
We don't have statutes of Mary and Jesus in the church, and feel that you
should not bow down to any kind of statue.
We think you should talk to God as a friend and tell him all your troubles.
We do not think you should memorize prayers.
Catholicism is just like every other religion in the world. "If you do enough good deeds you might get to go to Heaven, Paradise, Nirvana, escape the cycle of reincarnation, etc."
Protestantism (at least in it's pure form) says that you have earned Hell as a result of your breaking of God's laws (the ten commandments) and the ONLY way that you can be COMPLETELY forgiven is through the good deed of Jesus, when He took your punishment for you on the cross.
Catholicism gives you a little bit of Jesus goodness, but you need to work the rest out yourself.
Protestantism says you can't work ANY of it out yourself, you need to understand that Jesus paid it ALL for you.
Catholicism is just a sect of Christianity. Catholics worship the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, just like other Christians. They do not worship the pope, Mary, or any of the other saints. They believe in the necessity of Christ?s death in order to achieve salvation. There are some differences between Catholicism and other Protestant sects, however. Here are the main ones:
1. Saints. Catholics will pray to saints, asking them to intercede on their behalf. Protestants don't do this, and don't really have saints. Also, Catholics believe Mary was born without sin (the "immaculate conception"). Protestants do not.
2. Structure. Catholicism has a hierarchical structure with the pope at the top, then cardinals, bishops, priests, deacons, other religious, and laypeople. This is not to say Catholics follow the pope mindlessly or above God, just that he acts as a father and a guide for the Church. Protestants do not have this structure, but rely on small self-governing communities.
3. The Bible. Protestant Bibles have 7 fewer books than Catholic Bibles Also, Protestants believe that God's will is solely expressed for us in the Bible. Catholics believe it is in the Bible and in sacred Tradition passed on from the Apostles.
4. Priests. Catholics have a celibate, male priesthood wherein one of a priest's duties is to hear confession. Depending on the denomination, Protestant ministers may be married or female. Protestants do not believe in confessing to a minister.
5. The Eucharist. Catholics say that the Eucharist is the essence of Christ, present with them. They worship Christ in and through the Eucharist. Protestants (generally) think the Eucharist is bread, symbolic of Christ, but not actually Christ.
6. Salvation. Generally, Protestants believe that salvation can only come from accepting Christ as your savior. Essentially, no matter how good a person is on their own, because they're not perfect, they wouldn't be able to make it to heaven if it weren't for Christ's sacrifice. Catholics believe this is true, but that you also have to 'walk the walk, not just talk the talk.' Salvation is based on the acceptance of Christ as savior combined with good works.
The Catholic church, is the original church established by Christ himself when he gave Peter the Keys. 1054 was the first split between east and west. The Eastern church became the Orthodox and the western became the Roman Church. Orthodox is Catholic but doesn't follow the Pope and they are in full communion with Rome. Another Split happened when Henry the 8Th broke away and formed the Anglican church because they wouldn't grant him a divorce.
Protestant means Protest. Martuin Luther, who was Catholic was excommunicated. He protested against some of the churches teachings because he didn't understand them and had a sewed definition of grace. He removed 7 books from the Biblical Cannon. The Protestants churches are all splits off of Martin Luther's first split and they continue to split.
Catholics do not worship Mary or the saints only God. The confusion comes in with the term prayer which has a different meaning between Catholics and Protestants. To Catholics it is a form of communication where as Protestants use it interchangeably with worship. Catholics only worship God. Also Catholics believe "faith with out works is dead" This doesn't mean what most people think it does. The truly faithful will do things for their God because they love him so they will do works for him anyway if they are truly faithful.
For a brief explanation of Catholic beliefs just turn to the Nicene Creed.
How is Protestantism different from Catholic?
And the Trinity is true!
