What's the difference between Catholics and Methodists?
The answer is that there is very little difference. We worship the same God. We follow the same Bible. Our church histories are virtually identical.
So why is it that some Christians have become so entrenched in perpetual 'Catholic vs. Protestant' wars?
The Catholics on EWTN, the Catholic network, seem unwilling to move past such old wars. On one of their shows, 'The Journey Home', new Catholics are described as having "converted" from Protestantism to Catholicism. All Protestants and Protestant beliefs are lumped together under the label "evangelical", as though ALL Protestants think and act alike.
Such doctrinal disputes are foolish! What does it matter whether we choose to baptize through immersion or through sprinkling water? Either way, it's still baptism! And yet, some Christians are so busy arguing over such petty and foolish doctrinal differences that they aren't working together with other Christians of other denominations for the greater good.
Doctrine never saved anyone [FONT="], and neither did the Catholic church or the Episcopal church[/FONT]. What saves us is not having the "correct" opinion on various doctrinal issues but accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
Denominations are unnecessary, as they seem to create more problems than they solve. Some Christians become so deeply entrenched in defending their "turf" that they lose sight of issues far more important than how we baptize: spreading the good news.
When you peel away all denominational distinctions, extraneous doctrinal issues and stylistic differences, we are not Baptists, or Catholics, or Lutherans - we are Christians. Let's work together, as Christians united, to spread the good news that the world so desperately needs.
Ringo
The answer is that there is very little difference. We worship the same God. We follow the same Bible. Our church histories are virtually identical.
So why is it that some Christians have become so entrenched in perpetual 'Catholic vs. Protestant' wars?
The Catholics on EWTN, the Catholic network, seem unwilling to move past such old wars. On one of their shows, 'The Journey Home', new Catholics are described as having "converted" from Protestantism to Catholicism. All Protestants and Protestant beliefs are lumped together under the label "evangelical", as though ALL Protestants think and act alike.
Such doctrinal disputes are foolish! What does it matter whether we choose to baptize through immersion or through sprinkling water? Either way, it's still baptism! And yet, some Christians are so busy arguing over such petty and foolish doctrinal differences that they aren't working together with other Christians of other denominations for the greater good.
Doctrine never saved anyone [FONT="], and neither did the Catholic church or the Episcopal church[/FONT]. What saves us is not having the "correct" opinion on various doctrinal issues but accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
Denominations are unnecessary, as they seem to create more problems than they solve. Some Christians become so deeply entrenched in defending their "turf" that they lose sight of issues far more important than how we baptize: spreading the good news.
When you peel away all denominational distinctions, extraneous doctrinal issues and stylistic differences, we are not Baptists, or Catholics, or Lutherans - we are Christians. Let's work together, as Christians united, to spread the good news that the world so desperately needs.
Ringo
