Comparing and Contrasting Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism

[Vicomte13]

What does the Roman Catholic Church believe?

I will answer that directly and with authority.

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, of all things visible and invisible.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. He has spoken through the Prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

That is exactly what all Catholics believe.
Anything else they may believe or practice within the very rich and ancient Church tradition is a matter of seasoning to taste. Not all Catholics pay much attention to various of the other Church traditions, but all Catholics believe

 

[jimmyjimmy]

The first what?

Do you think God allowed the church to fall away from what Jesus taught?

Churches were falling away right within the NT texts! Man's inclination is toward self-justification. It has been that way since the fall.

 

[FenderTL5]

Check the list of the Bishops of Yerushalayim...

This is a good point and should not be overlooked.
Acts chapter 15 gives the account (Biblical for all of the protestant/evangelicals) of how the church operates in council. Yes, Peter is there and he speaks but the account seems very clear to me that James was the one presiding.

 

[2Timothy2:15]

It is from the word katholikos ("according to the whole") that the word catholic comes. When Ignatius wrote the Letter to the Smyrnaeans in about the year 107 and used the word catholic, he used it as if it were a word already in use to describe the Church. This has led many scholars to conclude that the appellation Catholic Church with its ecclesial connotation may have been in use as early as the last quarter of the 1st century.

Ignatius of Antioch - Wikipedia

St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans (Hoole translation)

Seems historically many believe a lot of his letters were actually forged and not authentic.

 

[GingerBeer]

What does the Eastern Orthodox Church believe?

What does the Roman Catholic Church believe?

I believe (I may be wrong) the Protestant churches believe the Five Solas of the Protestant Reformation
Sola Scriptura- The belief that Scripture is the rule of faith, not creed.
Sola Fide- The belief that faith justifies the individual, not works.
Sola Christus- The belief in the substitutionary atonement of Christ in place of the sinner.
Sola Gratia- The belief that salvation is a work of God's grace alone, not human assistance.
Soli Deo Gloria- The belief that one should live under the lordship of God alone.

Catholic & Orthodox Christians believe the Niene Creed. Catholics have the Catechism of the Catholic Church to explain their beliefs.

 

[ChristianFromKazakhstan]

All denominations have gone astray from the true Jesus.

 

[Tangible]

research the waldensians, lollards
research the Anabaptist movement.
though not all followed the pure movement
for sadly munsters group picked up arms...
bad seeds in every group.
here is something most don't know.
Constantine..............most know he was not really a christain.
but what most don't know is
he had the true christains who refused to conform to his huge church state as one
KILLED..............
yes true believers even way back then that knew
paganism and christanity ought never mix
were persecuted . Most, few know this.
now...........you did ask. so please don't anyone report me .

Sounds a lot like ...

 

[Yeshua HaDerekh]

All denominations have gone astray from the true Jesus.

That is silly. That is like saying we all sin...yeah, we know...

 

[ChristianFromKazakhstan]

That is silly. That is like saying we all sin...yeah, we know...

It's not. Absolute majority of people don't realize this. Churches are against Jesus.

 

[Greg Merrill]

What does the Eastern Orthodox Church believe?

What does the Roman Catholic Church believe?

I believe (I may be wrong) the Protestant churches believe the Five Solas of the Protestant Reformation
Sola Scriptura- The belief that Scripture is the rule of faith, not creed.
Sola Fide- The belief that faith justifies the individual, not works.
Sola Christus- The belief in the substitutionary atonement of Christ in place of the sinner.
Sola Gratia- The belief that salvation is a work of God's grace alone, not human assistance.
Soli Deo Gloria- The belief that one should live under the lordship of God alone.

Five Solas | Theopedia

My hope is that we can come to appreciate each other's differences and understand each other better as we are all one in Christ Jesus.

All "one in Christ Jesus" with such diverse doctrines on the very basic subject of salvation itself? Good luck with that one.

 

[Yeshua HaDerekh]

It's not. Absolute majority of people don't realize this. Churches are against Jesus.

All but Baptist's right? LOL

 

[ChristianFromKazakhstan]

All but Baptist's right? LOL

Especially Baptists

 

[Monk Brendan]

I'll mention two right quick -- Peter and Paul. Hard to argue against the "true believer" label for those two...

How about one of them in the 2nd century, after the apostles died?

I can think of several, but I'm going to let you dig.

 

[Monk Brendan]

Constantine..............most know he was not really a christain.
but what most don't know is
he had the true christains who refused to conform to his huge church state as one
KILLED..............

Wrong Wrong Wrong. And if that is all you know of Church history, you'd better start really studying. Don't look at Foxe's Book of Martyrs, Don't begin with Martin Luther. Rather start with:

"The Complete Ante-Nicene & Nicene and Post-Nicene Church Fathers Collection: 3 Series, 37 Volumes, 65 Authors, 1,000 Books, 18,000 Chapters, 16 Million Words"

When you're finished with that, I'll give you some more to read. BTW, this book is available on a certain bookstore website that begins with a river in South America (not allowed to advertise, you know).

 

[Monk Brendan]

oh, here is an example of true beleivers from way back being persecuted.
though sorry I don't know their names.
this says a lot . DONT IT.

Where is the link? Show us your source material.

Yes, it means your sense of Church History is very limited.

As far as the true believers that Constantine killed, please name one, tell me where he was born, where and when he died, and what did he believe?

 

[HawgWyld]

How about one of them in the 2nd century, after the apostles died?

I can think of several, but I'm going to let you dig.

Ignatius has already been mentioned -- very influential figure from 2nd century.

And the point of all this is...

 

[Monk Brendan]

The one problem with sola scriptura that irks me is that outside of scripture, there's no authority for scripture. As the EO and RC folks are fond of saying -- the Church created the NT, not the other way around.

Oh, but there is. The "ancient" Church, with bishops, priests, deacons, and laity said it was the Word of God. Over 1,000 years of Christianity says it is the Word of God. The Church revealed and codified what was already believed by the laity. There's the Authority. And yes, that includes the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church

 

[Monk Brendan]

When Christianity is agreeable or seen as legal and acceptable in the worlds eyes it's not Christianity it's conformity.

Oh? Then you would rather that Christianity was illegal, and you had to practice a state religion? What religion would you think it would be (and it would NOT be Roman Catholic)?

 

[Monk Brendan]

Let's say that's true. It still doesn't say a thing about a papacy, which is the most distinctive doctrine of the Church of Rome, the Vatican Catholic Church. And that's what we've been discussing.

Papacy is defined by Merriam-Webster as:

• Definition of papacy

1. the office of pope
2. a succession or line of popes
3. the term of a pope's reign
4. capitalized : the system of government of the Roman Catholic Church of which the pope is the supreme head

BTW, it is NOT the the Vatican Catholic Church. It is the Roman Catholic Church, to define it from the various Eastern Catholic Churches in union with Rome. And there is more than one pope. The Patriarch of Alexandria for the Coptic Christian Church is also called Pope. And the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria is also called Pope.

As far as papacy itself, it is an adjectival form of the word Pope, which comes from the Greek "Papa" (Πάπας) which is an affectionate form of "father" in Greek (and quite a few other languages)

 

[Monk Brendan]

RCC Crusaders also burned our frickin' capital in the 4th crusade!... not that we are still bitter about that...

Right! I know I am only a monk, and an Eastern Catholic one at that, may I say that I am sorry about the sacking of Constantinople. It was wrong, and for all Catholics, I apologize.

Now, seeing as how that is way back in 1203, could we please have peace between us?