Little help please

[Clueless]

Okay, as some of you know, im not a die hard religious guy, but I am curious about some things.

 

What are the differences in the religions, such as Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, and so on. If I ever did wanna give it a try, I wouldnt have any idea what is what, or where to look.

 

And what is the deal with Jehovah's Witness?

 

(I was baptised Catholic, but would never have anything to do with them, so I need no info there )

[YoMamma]

Catholic believe in God, the church, Jesus, and the virgin Mary.

Lutheran believes you do not need to go to church, but follow the Catholic ideas.

Jehovah's Witness = crazy

[Preacher]

OK Catholics (as you know) follow old religeous service and conduct rules and traditions laid down a long time ago.

 

Baptists believe in the whole Bible and are very strong in the teaching of it.

 

Lutherans are very similar to the Catholics except they do not pray to saints or Mary but do follow the same sort of belief and structure as the Catholic Church.

 

Penticostal (what I am) believe everything just like the Baptists with a single exception and that is that we believe in the modern use of Spiritual gifts (given in a seperate from salvation infilling with the Holy Spirit)

 

Personally I like the Baptists for thier strong Biblical teaching and thier promotion of morality in both church and media. If you would like to try out a few churches let me know the name of your town and I'll do a little research for you, tell you what to expect at a few and make some recommendations so you can make an informed choice.

 

Just remember that the Bible says to "Seek and you will find, Knock and the door will be opened o you" and Jesus said to keep on knocking till you find your answers.

 

There are thousands of different denominations out there and most are doing the best they can to follow God but there are a few like the Mormans and the Jehovah's Witnesses that have decided to use the Bible as a guideline and not use it as God's word.

[Fatty]

My understanding is that, for one thing, priest and the pope, etc are given more authority.

 

i.e.

Protestants: you --- (through the Good Word and Jesus) --> God

Catholics you --- (through the rituals) -- > Priest --> God

 

Lemme do some looking around for a better explanation, I'm sure there are many sources that lay it down.

 

One other thing that pops into mind that Preacher mentions is the rituals. Hardcore belief that any act will get you closer to God goes against the belief that God's gift to you is completely Good and Perfect (i.e. you can manipulate it and be "better")

[mookie]

My understanding of it is that Catholics are much more mystical than the Protestant denominations. We pray to a large number of saints, and some believe strongly in exorcism.

Edited December 10, 2005 by mookie

[Fatty]

Here:

 

The Protestant Church generally embraces the Bible as its sole source of authority and faith, while the Catholic Church views the post-biblical traditions of the church and its Popes to have more than equal authority with scripture.

 

In depth paper where I found that here:

 

http://www.victorious.org/chur40.htm

 

Here's another nice read with a table for comparisons.

 

http://www.godonthe.net/evidence/catholic.htm

 

From there, worth noting:

 

Only God can forgive sins. VS Catholic priests have been given the power to forgive sins, acting as representatives of the Holy Spirit.

 

The Holy Spirit is Jesus' representative. VS The pope is Jesus' representative on Earth.

 

The pope speaks for no one. VSThe pope speaks for all Christians.

 

 

-----

 

There is much reading out there. I did a google search on catholicism differences protestant

[shep48]

leaving out some big stuff about catholic belief such as confession and purgatory

[Clueless]

I would never be interested in anything Catholic, they make even the smallest ceremony last hours, lol.

 

I also think there is alot of arrogance and corruption in the Catholic church, but that is a whole other topic.

 

I know quite a few people that are Witnesses, anyone know what the deal is there? They claim to be using the bible more as it was originally, including the name of God which they say was omitted from the std Bible.

 

I know, every religion thinks they are right, thats only natural, how can you have faith in something that you dont believe in, i'm just looking for general info.

 

Thanks for all the help so far.

 

Clueless (but looking for one)

[Fatty]

leaving out some big stuff about catholic belief such as confession and purgatory

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

There is indeed confession in the Protestent religion, although it's more of a "repentence" (a new direction), done not with another man, but with the Man himself!

[ConGregation]

I could'nt tell you much about JW's except they do not believe in the deity of Christ. Something I strongly believe in.

 

Religion is so mixed up today. From Baptist (my affiliation) to Catholic they all tend to push form over spirituality. Spirituality is something greater than ritual or even service. It entails (christian spirituality that is) a real relationship with God (He must be worshipped in spirit and in truth.

 

Sorry. I tend to make things complicated. If I were you I would start reading the Bible. At first it may seen dry or difficult but if you approach it in a prayerful manner, God will reveal it to you. I would recommend reading the Gospel according to John.

 

The Gospel (means literally 'good news') is the greatest love story ever told. It is simply amazing when you see it even in small glimpses. I have been saved for 25 years and even now I get insights into I never saw before and just marvel!

 

But, yeah, read the Bible and ask God to direct you to a good church. Like Preacher, the one thing I would worry about is if the they use the Bible for their doctrine. I could make a whole list about what to look for in a church but just let God direct you as you go. He will let you know if you found a good one

[*BiGBonES**]

Do you guys get armies of Jehovah's Witness knocking on your doors in America? It happened a lot in my area and got quite annoying. If only I had spoke to one I would have been able to answer your question clueless

 

I do know Jehovahs don't like homosexual people. An old friend of mine came out lame (coincidentally whilst I was playing an MMC match ) and got kicked out of his house

 

I'm not a big fan of protestants, or the Church of England, as Henry the 8th (do you guys even know him?) started this 'religion' because he wanted to get a divorce...

[ConGregation]

I'm not a big fan of protestants, or the Church of England, as Henry the 8th (do you guys even know him?) started this 'religion' because he wanted to get a divorce...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I don't know him. Didn't know he was still around.

 

[ConGregation]

<treads in carefully...>

 

The Baptists aren't Protestants. But that is neither here nor there.

 

Everyone bases what they are by denominations. I personally don't care for 'labels'. To be quite honest, it isn't even relevant to God. Throw out all the denominations and you can boil it down to two things.

 

1. Do you have a personal relationship with God?

 

2. Does your church follow the Bible and honor God.

 

There are a lot more than that but I have found if a church wants to honor God they will be affected by the Holy Spirit whcih will in turn produce love. A loving church is one that will minister to you and help you in your walk.

 

It goes on and on but I will stop

[MrDuke]

I had a problem with all the rules, ceremonies and traditions at my family's church. It made me wonder about all the other denominations out there.

 

This is my opinion and it originated from the book of Mark 5:5-8.

 

So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?"

Jesus replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

"'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.

You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."

 

My interpretation of that is:

There is already a methodology to having a relationship with God, it is the Bible. As long as a church follows the Bible, it boils down to whether or not you like that church.

Once a church gets into too many rules and rituals, I feel they are straying from what was intended to be. They are following rules made by man, not by God.

[Kilzugud]

i myself go to an Evengelical Free Church. my family was raised Baptist then changed churches. The message didnt change at all. We still believe the same thing....

 

-The need for a spiritual relationship with God.

 

-The only way to heaven is through him and him alone.

 

the thing that is different is that some people in the church might have been raised Catholic, some maybe Lutheran, some maybe Baptist, however we are all there because we believe in the same thing. that is(real short version):

 

Christ died for our sins, and then rose from the dead 3 days later. The only way to heaven is to ask him into your heart and to forgive you of your sins.

 

there is alot to it but i didnt want to go on and on and lose you clue. the hardest thing for me when i was growing up was to go to church and believe in something my parents pretty much forced me into from a young age. the hardest thing about it all was having faith in what you believed that it was true and right.

 

however as i got older it went from my parents religion to my religion as i could see for myself now what God was doing in my life for me and around me. its hard to explain sometimes. i know this isnt exactly what you asked for clue however this was the only thing i could think of to say in hopes that it would help in any way.

 

just remeber this though..... there is nothing easy about religion no matter what denomination you are. it takes alot of work, dedication, FAITH, and much more. i dont think it would be the same if it all just came easy. i hope you find what you are looking for clue.

[Norguard]

Clue, it looks like a lot of writing, but I've got just a tad more to add.

 

Three years ago, I totally found myself in your shoes, short of starting out Catholic:

 

I had always leaned to Christian faith, but I had a lot of distaste/distrust for the church - mainly the Catholic denomination. They have so many rules and rituals it's ridiculous... ...and then, to me, every service in an orthodox Catholic setting feels more like mourning, instead of celebration. If that's what those people need in order to come to the throne, then good for them.

 

I really can't tolerate it, myself. Never could.

 

I got in with a rough and rowdy bunch of Christians - Preach knows them well. I met some Pentecostals and I've been there ever since. It's just a tiny little church plant that used to have service in an AMC movie theatre.

 

They kept talking about the gifts of the spirit, and they were the happiest bunch of religious people I had ever met. Not only that, as hippy as this particular church seemed to me at the time, the more I read, the more biblical it seemed. I always saw perfect Christianity as more of a communism (not fascist dictatorship, a la Russia) than a heirarchy/capitolism/democracy, but I didn't expect it to be quite so happy about it.

 

...now, I know that all of this is totally dependant upon the people you meet and the leadership that you meet.

 

I get along with just about every denomination out there, wether it be Baptist or Anglican or a more Evangelical approach. Each one has its snags - things that they don't talk about, because it doesn't fit with their style of teaching: Pentecostals teach on some of the happier stuff in the middle of the book, at the expense of some of the more serious stuff at the end, whereas some of the more upright/orthodox religions teach on all of the grave stuff, and totally discount the fun stuff, that's equally important.

 

Honestly, my suggestion is to either find a few nearby Baptist churches, or a few nearby Pentecostal churches... ...or both... ...and just attend them once or twice, see what and whom you like, in terms of layout and sermon and music - I love hymns, but getting up and playing rock songs in church is something I look forward to every week. If you find a couple that you enjoy, go to one or the other and decide.

 

I still refuse to be labelled by any denomination - I have faith, and I try not to have too much to do with religion, except for the stuff that I feel is Biblical. I will say that the baptism of the spirit is one of the coolest experiences ever.

 

PS: BIGBONES, I believe that the closest cousin to the Church of England over here is the Anglican denomination - 99% Catholicism, 1% deviation; most notedly, divorce, there are female priests, and priests can be wed. The first priest that I met at my friend's Anglican church was pretty radical by their standards... ...a great guy, but I don't think 'radical' was one of the attributes I would accredit him with.

Edited December 18, 2005 by Norguard

[ephemeral]

Catholics you --- (through the rituals) -- > Priest --> God

this is one reason that i really am creeped out by catholics, they are just TOO religious, and their rituals scare me. plus, their history is not to be prided over, and there are still traces of that in the catholic church today.

[dragonfly]

<treads in carefully...>

 

The Baptists aren't Protestants. But that is neither here nor there.

 

I dunno if you guys are even around still, but can anyone give any sort of evidence for this hypothesis at all?

 

BTW, I'm E-Free too, and currently attending a Baptist church (b/c my home church is not in this city where i go to Uni)

[Preacher]

"any Christian denomination which is not Roman Catholic or Orthodox Christian"), those denominations considered to be well within the realm of Protestantism all have firm roots in the Protestant Reformation initiated by Martin Luther's 95 Theses during the sixteenth century."

 

Baptists are indeed protestants.

[whudats]

The main difference between Catholicism and Protestantism:

 

Catholics believe you can get to heaven by doing good works. They believe that you can earn your way into heaven by what you do while you are alive. If you were to ask a Catholic if and why they are going to heaven, they would say something like "I think so. I mean, I try to do all the right things, and go to church every weekend. I think I've lived a pretty good life."

 

Protestants believe that the only way to heaven is through the salvation of Jesus Christ's death and His resurrection. If you were to ask a born again Christian if and why they are going to heaven, they would say something like "Yes. There is nothing that can get me there but my complete surrender to Christ and my trust in his grace. My belief in the salvation He granted by dying for me, for us, is all that I need."

[dragonfly]

That's what I thought too, preacher. I didnt know where that was coming from.

 

I've studied Catholicism, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism at a bible college (nondenominational, but fairly conservative), so I know what they stand for.

 

I'm not sure I'd say that Catholics believe in salvation by works essentially. If you study their... nuts cant remember the name... the course before you get affirmed, it's basically all the same teaching that we have as protestants. There's very very few points that are in there that contradict the protestant undesrtanding of the scriptures.

 

I think it's more in the utilization of the few differences - like confession, purgatory, etc.

[Preacher]

The diff between catholics/protestants is that Catholics look for the gateway to God through the priest. Even their prayers are mostly for Mary or Saint So and So to get their request to God. Protestants believe that they have a direct line of communication to God the Father through Jesus. No other mediums are necessary or even important.

 

And Whudats, you would hear a fair number of protestants answer with works in mind as well.

[dragonfly]

The diff between catholics/protestants is that Catholics look for the gateway to God through the priest. Even their prayers are mostly for Mary or Saint So and So to get their request to God. Protestants believe that they have a direct line of communication to God the Father through Jesus. No other mediums are necessary or even important.

 

And Whudats, you would hear a fair number of protestants answer with works in mind as well.

 

Exactly: we both need to pray, we pray to different people. We both know that sins need to be atoned for, but theirs is through purgatory and ours are already atoned for. It's sort of like the main differences is not in the belief itself, it's how you go about living the belief. Well, i guess that could also be argued to mean the belief itself is different... bah. I'm sure you catch my drift.

 

Works is something that is very attractive to everyone. If it's by works then we dont owe God anything, and we become the one that deserves worship.

[ConGregation]

What source are you quoting, Preacher? Cause I disagree.

 

A Protestant denomination is a denomination that came out of the Catholic religion during the protestant era. Hence the name Protestant. Lutherans, Presbyterians, Anglicans, etc. Some would even include Methodists but they came out of the Anglican church later on I believe.

 

Baptist history is fascinating although I don't know it as well as I would like. But basically we never came out of the Catholic Church but go back through the "Anna-baptists". And the Anna baptist existed for centuries right along with the Catholic church.

 

It's splitting hairs and most people of today would lump us in with the Protestants but its a label that technically doesn't apply.

 

Works is something that is very attractive to everyone. If it's by works then we dont owe God anything, and we become the one that deserves worship.

 

That is an excellent statement.

Edited December 13, 2006 by ConGregation