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Have you ever wondered what's the difference between Catholics and Protestants? What do they teach and what are the differences? Do those differences really matter? If you've got questions, we've got some answers for you.
Catholicism has been on the front burner for us particularly lately over the last 5 to 10 years for whatever reason. Growing up in Winona, Minnesota—a predominantly Catholic town complete with St. Mary's College for men, St. Teresa's College for women, five parochial schools, and St. Mary's Seminary—provided unique insights into these theological distinctions.
"I grew up in Winona," Les explains. "I didn't go to church. I wasn't at all religious. Good family, wonderful family, but I was surrounded by Lutherans and Catholics, and so with all the Catholic friends I had, the girls I dated, I was really interested in trying to figure out what that was about."
Winona was "really a Catholic town" with St. Mary's College for men, St. Teresa's College for women, five parochial schools, a high school called Cotter High School, and St. Mary's Seminary.
How Grace is Received: The Central Distinction
What was really shocking was when Les came to genuine faith in Jesus Christ just after high school. "The day or two after I became a Christian, born again, I went looking for my Catholic friends thinking 'oh, they're going to be really happy for me.'" Instead, they told him, "oh no, no, this isn't—you're not doing the right thing."
This sparked questions: "You believe Jesus is God, you believe he's virgin born, you believe in the resurrection—I do. You believe he's coming again, I do. You believe in a literal Heaven, literal Hell. What's the difference?"
The biggest difference turned out to be how believers receive God's grace. "I asked them, 'So how do you get right with God?' They said, 'Well, it's through Grace.' I went, 'Oh my goodness, that's what I think!' Then I started to realize, well, how do you receive Grace? Because Ephesians 2:8-9 says 'for by grace are you saved through faith'—so it's received through faith. And my Catholic friend said, 'Well, the grace of God is received through the seven sacraments.'"
For Protestants, the way we receive Grace is freely through faith in Christ. Either Ephesians 2:8-9 is legit or it's not. Catholics seem to believe they get Grace in "little consumable portions that then pass through your body and you got to keep refilling."
The Catholic Church teaches that sacraments are symbols, but also that they "contain God's grace" and are "the instrumental cause of God's grace." This teaching is officially documented in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, published in 1994 with the approval of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (who later became Pope Benedict XVI).
The Seven Sacraments: Portioned Grace
The seven sacraments through which Catholics receive grace throughout their lives are:
- Baptism (typically of infants) - Handles or does away with original sin
- Confirmation - Personal commitment to faith, when the Holy Spirit is given
- Eucharist/Communion (the Mass) - This is where Catholics and Lutherans have their first real divide
- Penance and Reconciliation (Confession) - Confession of sins to a priest who grants absolution
- Holy Orders - Becoming a deacon, priest, or bishop
- Matrimony - The sacrament of marriage
- Extreme Unction (Last Rites) - "Last rights when you're just about to die... to give you just a little more grace before you die"
Catholics are taught to seek grace throughout their lives through participation in these sacraments. "At the beginning of Life you get Grace in infant baptism, at the end of life you get Grace through last rights." They're "constantly, their whole life earning Grace through all of the things they do."
The sacraments can only be administered by ordained Catholic priests. "That's why salvation is in the church because the means of Grace is through the sacraments but only as administered by the priests."
The Priesthood and Authority
Another crucial distinction involves where believers get their spiritual authority. This leads to the concept of the "priesthood of the believer." Protestants believe that "as believers, we have direct access to Christ. We call that the priesthood of the believer. We as individuals, it's my relationship with Jesus Christ, my high priest, and I can approach him through prayer."
The means by which Protestants approach God is not through any other human priest or church. "Your church in Harland where you are, Chris, or my church here in North Carolina - we do other things, but we're not the means by which the people have to come here so they can approach God. They can approach God at home."
This goes back to "when you look at the story, the event of the crucifixion, when that veil was torn, we were given access, and that access is through Christ Jesus."
In contrast, Catholics rely on both Scripture and Church tradition, with the Magisterium (the teaching authority of the Church) interpreting both. "A very crucial difference is the understanding of what's authoritative for us. We go to the Bible as priests before God, and God tells us what we need to know from his word. A Catholic is taught no, you go to the priest, and any questions he has, there's the magisterium of all the collection of all the Bishops in the world."
Over time, Catholic teachings collect into tradition, making it "scripture plus tradition." Things like Purgatory, which aren't in the Bible, are justified through tradition.
The Protestant position is that "the Bible's clear - the perspicuity of scripture teaches us the Bible is clear." Catholics would say "no, it's obscure, you have to go to a priest to understand the Bible." Through the centuries, "this doctrine of perspicuity was denied by the Catholic Church leadership because they didn't want people reading the Bible for themselves and seeing what the Bible had to say, which is not what the Catholic Church always teaches."
Saints, Mary, and Prayer
Catholic theology includes prayers to saints and Mary. When asked why Catholics pray to Mary rather than directly to Christ, one explanation offered was: "Jesus is Creator and really busy, but when you talk to his mother, he would never refuse a request from her."
Catholics also pray to various saints for specific needs. St. Anthony is the saint you would pray to when you lose something - "Tony, Tony, look around, something's lost and must be found." St. Christopher is for travel, and there are all kinds of different saints for different purposes.
Protestants pray directly to God through Christ, maintaining that Jesus is our only mediator.
Camino Experiences: Faith in Practice
Walking the Camino de Santiago—a famous Catholic pilgrimage route in Spain—provides a practical window into how these theological differences manifest. Catholic pilgrims often offer formal prayers along the route, "saying let my suffering along this journey go onto the weight of the scale for my good work. Let this count, let this count for good for me as I suffer along the way."
"They literally say, 'When, Lord, when you weigh the good and bad, let this count towards the good.' The more they suffered, the more grace they would get or forgiveness or whatever."
During a Mass at the Santiago Cathedral, communion was explicitly restricted to Christians, which they further explained meant "number one, you are Catholic." This reinforces the idea that certain spiritual benefits come only through the Catholic Church specifically.
While on the Camino, Chris and Emily met a man almost 70 years old, a chief executive officer estranged from his children and on his second or third marriage. After hearing the gospel, he asked, "You mean I don't have to do this walk? I don't have to do this to earn my salvation?" Seeing the truth dawn on him was "a wonderful thing."
Can Catholics Be Saved?
On a Los Angeles radio show, a caller once asked bluntly: "Chris, I need to know, are Catholics going to be in heaven or not? Thanks, I'll listen." This creates a difficult situation because "it's really hard to put your finger in someone's face who believes in Jesus and say 'you're wrong,' but it's also really hard to justify when you know they're in error."
The essential answer is that "the only people in heaven are not Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Jews, Muslims. It's the people who've placed their faith alone in Christ alone to save them from their sin."
There can be genuine Christians within the Catholic Church "who truly trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior alone by faith alone and Christ alone, and they're in the church because they like the music or because if they leave it would cause trouble in their marriage."
Similarly, "there are people in our churches who've never placed their faith in Jesus Christ. That's the key. It's not that they come to my church or your church or the Catholic church, it's what have they done with Jesus Christ."
Right On or Way Off?
Mike Shaw joins the show from Texas for the Right On or Way Off segment, where statements are evaluated as either "right on" or "way off."
"What we want is to win souls and they are not won by flowery speeches."
RIGHT ON!
The truth is sometimes a little bit on the harsh side. You can try to flower it up, you can try to pour sugar, but you've got to come back to the hard truth. The softness of the Evangelistic message is an ingredient, but it's not the main reason.
What has led to an epidemic of false conversions is focusing too much on the gentle side. People do come to Christ because of God's loving kindness, that is true, but no one comes to Christ unless the Father draws him. You have to know your need before you can really come to Christ. Until you recognize that without God you are a loser and that without him you can do nothing, and until that really hits home, you can't truly come to Christ.
The key to evangelism is the law of God, and that will sometimes come across as not being loving. But ultimately, that is love, because you are telling people the truth and giving them exactly what they need.
This quote comes from Charles Spurgeon, affectionately called "Funky Chuck" on the program.
"Christianity is a lifestyle, a way of being in the world that is simple, nonviolent, shared and loving. However, we made it into an established religion and all that goes with that, and avoided the lifestyle change itself."
WAY OFF!
Christianity is not a lifestyle. Christianity is dead going to life. It's dead people, dead in their trespasses and sins, doomed, completely revived and alive in Christ. Now we start the sanctification process, and in that sanctification process, while we're still in the flesh, yes there will be lifestyle changes. That's true, that happens because the Spirit guides us into all truth.
Whether it's religion or lifestyle, authentic Christianity is dead people becoming alive. When they're alive, they start living for the one who made them alive, and it's His will, not your own. It's making His name great. He increases, we decrease. That's not a religion and that's not a lifestyle.
As Scripture says in Romans 7:19-25: "For I do not do the good I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do... What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
This quote by Richard Rohr, the face of deconstructionism, sneakily puts these ideas in, but here's the reality: being nonviolent or loving or living a simple life - those things don't save you. The only thing that does save you is the Lord Jesus Christ. And guess who he's saving? Wretched people.
These false teachers will give you lists: do this, do that, don't do this, don't do that. And if you can do all that, then you're a Christian. They do this so they can manipulate and control you. If you're involved in deconstructionism, if you're reading quotes from Richard Rohr - run for your life!
"It is futile to talk facts and analysis to people who are enjoying a sense of moral superiority in their ignorance."
RIGHT ON!
This speaks to the heart of why we don't debate, we only proclaim. You can politely or abrasively (depending on the context or how the person receives it) share the truth of God's word, but it's up to God and His Spirit to break through.
To sit and haggle with scoffers is just a waste of time - it's like giving your pearls to swine. There can be opportunity to plant seeds, to water seeds that were planted by somebody else, maybe even times to ask closing-type questions like "is it time for you to surrender your life to Christ?" But interacting with people who enjoy a sense of moral superiority in their ignorance isn't likely to produce breakthrough.
So many people in America live in that state now. We've become a country of just individual, selfish - everything is self. Until Jesus breaks through on that, just play along and give them the best proclamation you can and leave it at that.
What's really funny is probably 30 years ago, people were arguing with me and I didn't get it, because I was so full of myself and what I believed. "What I believed was true, and of course I'm right, and if you don't believe me just ask me." But the only thing that can break through is God's spirit. That's what finally got me.
Keep bringing the gospel, be a light, be salt, have an influence, but don't be shocked if you're not rejoiced over.
Final Thoughts
When approaching Catholic friends, approach them first with respect because "they're created in the image and likeness of God." Don't look at them as "targets for arguing and yelling."
When evangelizing, refuse to debate and just politely proclaim. The message is simply that "Jesus (or Yeshua) paid it all. He paid it all, so there was nothing else for us to really do other than accept it."
The discussion turns to thinking about the future of the church in 2050. "I got an email from a friend of mine... saying anybody have any ideas about what we can do foundationally for the church to influence the church in 2050." The church in 2050 is going to be here before we know it.
When asked what we need to be intentional about now to help the church in 2050 be strong, the responses centered on fundamentals:
"Fundamentals for me, I mean that's easy. So like when you're a basketball player, the first thing you learn is the fundamentals of dribbling, passing, moving without the ball. When you get to be a big time pro, if you neglect the fundamentals, you're in trouble. So I don't care how fancy you get, how good you get, how much you think you know, you have to have the fundamentals and stick to the fundamentals, which is the truth."
Another key emphasis was "teaching them sound doctrine and how and discernment to pick up on false teaching." This is especially important because "every book of the Bible except for Philemon, I think, talks about beware of false teaching."
The most crucial foundation might be helping people understand "that they are sinners. That is the one thing that I think is missing - that we all have to come to grips with that we're fallen and sinful because that's not what's being taught."
This recognition helps with "the elevation of self," putting others before yourself, and enables love. "When you realize you are as sinful as anybody else, but by the grace of God you go forward knowing that he's going to save you and present Jesus, because of his work, is going to present you in front of God as if you've never sinned."
This perspective breaks down barriers like racism and elitism, "because we all look at each other as if we're on the Bottom Rung of anything... it's hard to look down on somebody from Rock Bottom."
Perhaps it all comes down to that one phrase: "You must be born again." This encompasses so much: "Why do I have to be born again? Well, because you're a sinner. Well, what does that mean to be born again?" It evokes the right questions that lead people to search the Scriptures.
As Paul so aptly put it: "What a Wretched Man I am!" And the answer to that desperate cry is always: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord."