Expert: Rev. Robert Woods - 6/27/2007

Question
I would just like to know: What is the difference between christianity and
Protestantism?, or is there one? And what do we believe(as christians) that they
do or dont?? What are the beliefs that separate these religions???? (esp. with
things like salvation, and heaven and hell, etc.) if you could answer these
questions, thanks...they have been on my mind recently. thank you.

Answer
Blessings and thank you for your question.

I am sorry this is late, but my computer went down the other night when some storms came through.

First of all Protestantism is a form of Christianity.

Christianity began with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The church, itself, did not begin until Pentecost when the Holy Spirit fell upon the early disciples.  When the church started, it was only divided by geography not doctrine.  There was only one church.  There was no pope, no head bishop, just churches in every major city of the Roman world.

For the first 300 years of Christianity, it was persecuted.  First by the Jews, then by the Romans.  It wasn't until 324 AD that Constantine made Christianity the offical religion of the Roman Empire.  By this time, Bishops (especially in Rome and Constantinople) held some power over the church.  

In 1054 AD, the Great Schism occured between the Roman Church and the Eastern (Orthodox) Church.  The split occured because of two doctrinal differences.  First, the Roman Bishop proclaimed a universal papal supremacy (that the Roman Bishop was the pope and the leader of the church).  Secondly, the Orthodox Church did not believe in the "filioque" being added to the Nicene Creed.  (The filique says that the Holy Spirit came from both the Father and the Son, Orthodox leaders believe the Holy Spirit only came from the Father).   The Orthodox church has over 214 Million Christians which extend across Eastern Europe, Slav countries and the Eastern Mediterranean.  They are very similar in worship and practice with the Roman Catholic Church.

The Roman church continued to grow with the Bishop of Rome (or Pope) leading.  In 1303, Pope Bonafice VII issues the first papal letter to the Christain church, this is the first de facto use of the doctrine of Papal infllibility, although not formally ratified until the 1800s.  

Over time, many of the church's leaders became corrupt.  With that corruption also came bad doctrine.  In 1517, Martin Luther nails his 95 Theses to the door of the ROman Church in Witteberg, Germany, thus starting the Protestant Reformation.  Luther's aim was to expose the corruption and bad doctrine that had risen in the church.  He never intended on starting a new church, but only wanted to debate and discuss what he saw as major flaws in the church.  Instead of listening to Luther, the Catholic Church excommunicated him in 1521. (it will take until 1545 at the Council of Trent, before the Catholic Church will address some of Luther's concerns).

With Martin Luther excommunicated, the Protestant Church began.  There are many differences between the Prostetant Church (Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Charismatics etc) and the Catholic Church.

1.  Salvation:  Catholics believe that salvation is a combination of faith, works, and inclusion in the Catholic Church.  Prostestants follow the Bible which says that salvation comes alone through faith not through works.  Works are part of the Christian life, but they do not help save you.

2.  Tradition and Scripture:  Catholics hold that church tradition and the Bible hold equal weight.  Also, the words of the Pope are above both tradition and the Bible.  Prostestants believe that the Bible is the highest revelation of God and that everything else is judged by it.

3.  Sacraments:  Catholics hold to 7 sacraments (baptism, confirmation, penance, the Mass (which includes communion), marriage, anothing the sick called extreme unction and ordination) and believe they are necessary for salvation.  Protestantism holds to only 2 sacraments: baptism and communion, different groups hold different views on both of these.

4.  Communion:  Catholics hold to transubstantiaion (the idea that in communion the elements (bread and wine) of the body and blood actually become the flesh and blood of Christ.  Protestants hold that the wine and the bread only symbolize Christ's body and blood.

5.  In Catholicism, priests and nuns are forbidden to marry.  Only preists (men) can lead the church.  In Protestantism, ministers can marry and can be women.

This is only a sampling of the differences.