What is the difference between Catholicism and Christianity?
Catholicism, founded by Christ the Savior, is a church handed down by apostles. It abides by all the teachings, commandments and sacraments taught by Christ, and has not been changed, added or deleted. Christianity is a sect that split from Catholicism at the beginning of16th century. There are three primitive sects: one is Lutheran Sect. Luther was originally a priest of the German Catholic Austrian Association. He misinterpreted the doctrine and advocated that people can be saved as long as they have faith, and they don't need to pay any good deeds. Because he refused the persuasion of the church many times, he finally expressed his belief in the Wittenberg Church in Germany in 15 17, and split from Catholicism and became a Sect of Lutheranism. Second, Calvinism Calvinism French, living in Geneva, Switzerland. At the same time, together with Martin Luther, he not only agreed with Luther's proposition that "man can be saved only by faith", but also put forward his personal proposition that "man's salvation is predetermined by God". As a result, he split from Catholicism and became a Calvinist Sect. The third is the English Sect, starting with King Henry VIII of England. He split from Catholicism in 152 14, and established the Anglican Church in 152 14, because he wanted to marry Dalina, Queen of Golden Bell and another maid-in-waiting, Baolan.
After the establishment of the above three sects, believers of various sects have different views on their own beliefs, and many new sects have gradually emerged, such as evangelicals and American-Israeli-American associations. From Calvinism, Monotheism, Puritans, Axioms, Presbyterians, Baptists, etc. Be split; From Anglican Church, Anglican Church, higher church, lower church, liberal church, Oxford Catholic Church, etc. Christian sects have split into 100 sects of different sizes in the past 400 years. In Europe and America, all Christian sects are collectively referred to as "swearing against Christianity", because after the Lutherans came to power in Germany at that time, Catholicism was forbidden to hold sacred sacrifices. A few years later, 1529, speer's parliament announced the restoration of Catholic freedom to hold sacred sacrifices. At that time, there were five princes who converted to Lutheran sects and believers in 14 cities in China, who rose to the death and opposed them, claiming to be anti-sects. Since then, sects that split from Catholicism have been called sworn apostasy to show their separation from Catholicism. Later, they came to China to preach. Because the environment in China was different from that in Europe and America, they felt that the name apostasy was not honest, so they changed it to the name of Christianity.
Second, the difference between Christianity and Catholicism.
On the premise of believing in God and Christ the Savior, Christians are no different from Catholics. However, there are great differences in carrying out the teachings, commandments and sacraments revealed by God and Savior Christ. I have the following ambitions:
1. In the event of salvation through righteousness, all Christian sects except the Anglican Church advocate that people can be saved through righteousness only by faith without doing good deeds. Catholicism, on the other hand, advocates that people should be saved by righteousness, on the one hand, by faith, and on the other hand, by living and doing good according to the will of the Father.
2. Catholicism is completely faithful to the basic doctrine of the Trinity of God. Some sects in Christianity accept faith, while others, such as monotheism and Jehovah's Witnesses, deny faith. They only believe in one god, but they don't believe in three gods: the father, the son and the holy spirit. As for the seven sacraments set by Jesus, Catholicism followed them one by one. Except for the Anglican Church, other denominations of Christianity only practice sacramental baptism. For the Eucharist, they call it the Eucharist, and only hold the ceremony held by Jesus when the last supper becomes the blood of the Eucharist as a memorial, but they don't believe that bread and wine become the body blood of Jesus after dedication. Other sacraments, such as confirmation, mass sacrifice, repentance, anointed patients, holy rank, marriage, etc., have been deleted. In marriage, Christ the Savior solemnly declared that divorce was not allowed. Catholicism has been faithful for generations. Christian sects allow divorce.
3. As for the source of doctrine, according to the teaching of God and Savior Christ, there are two sources of doctrine, namely the Bible and the holy biography, which are called the treasure house of faith. Since the Apostolic Age, Catholicism has faithfully preserved this treasure house from generation to generation. Christian sects only recognize the Bible as the only source of doctrine, but refuse to accept the gospel.
4. With regard to the list of volumes of the Bible, there are 73 volumes of the Catholic Bible, including 46 volumes of the Old Testament and 27 volumes of the New Testament. There are only 66 volumes of the Christian Bible, of which 27 volumes are the New Testament and 39 volumes are the Old Testament, because they have deleted seven volumes of the original Greek in the Old Testament, such as Baruch, Tobiah, Jude, Wisdom, Dexun, First Maccabeus and First.
The Bible is the sacred word of God, which has objective, correct and true significance. Therefore, there are objective standards for interpretation, and individuals cannot interpret it subjectively, so as to prevent the original intention of the Bible from deteriorating, just as the constitution of a country cannot be freely interpreted by every citizen. Catholicism respects and observes this standard; Christian sects refused to accept it, believing that every believer could freely interpret the Bible. If two people's interpretations are different, or even not harmonious, they think that both interpretations are correct, and everyone can understand the Bible according to his own interpretation. Because of this, there are many different sects in Christianity.
With regard to the worship of God and Christ the Savior, Catholicism attaches great importance to ritual life, so as to promote the unity of heaven and man. To this end, a sacred mass sacrifice is held for its members every Sunday, and a special holy week ceremony is held before Easter every year. In order to worship the body, sacraments and sacraments are held many times throughout the year to bless; In order to respect the sacred heart of Jesus, the first Friday tribute ceremony is held every month; Hold a memorial service for a funeral, etc. These ceremonies can stimulate the participants to worship God and Christ the Savior, make the human body aware of the kindness between heaven and man, and strengthen the life of faith. Christian sects do not attach importance to ceremonial life, that is, they only read the Bible, preach and sing hymns in Sunday worship, and other ceremonial life is absent.
6. In terms of belief content and education management, Catholic churches all over the world believe in the same teachings, abide by the same commandments, accept the same sacraments of purifying and sanctifying souls, participate in the same mass ceremony of offering sacrifices to God, and preach the gospel of Christ to all people in the world under the leadership of the living representative of the same head of state, and guide them to believe in God and get Christ's salvation. However, Christian sects have different doctrines and sacraments, and they do their own things in education management.
The Catholic Church pays tribute to Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. First, because she is the mother of Jesus, she raised Jesus. When Jesus atoned for the suffering of others, she shared Jesus' pain spiritually. Jesus Christ loves her very much, and we Christians should also respect her. Secondly, because the Virgin Mary has many virtues, such as obedience to God, humility, patience, charity and helping others. , is our role model, worthy of our respect. However, Catholicism respects the Virgin Mary, which is different from respecting God and Christ the Savior. Catholicism respects the virgin Mary, and does not think that she is the master of the gods, and can save the good and avoid the evil like God becomes Christ. It only thinks that she is our mediator before Christ and she has the right to speak before Jesus Christ. She can ask God for help for us, get rich grace from God for us, strengthen our faith life, and serve God and Savior Christ more devoutly. Christian sects don't respect the Virgin Mary. They think the virgin Mary is just like other women. Why should they respect her? Some sects also oppose respecting the Virgin Mary, and even condemn and misinterpret the original intention of respecting the Virgin Mary by Catholics. Some sects also openly slandered and said, "Catholicism worships neither God nor Jesus Christ, but only Mary. Catholicism is Maria. Regrettably, many people in society are misled by this kind of libel propaganda.
8. With regard to idolatry, Catholicism allows idolatry in churches or parishioners' homes, such as the crucifix, the sacred heart of Jesus, the Madonna and other saints, for the worship of parishioners; Its purpose is not to arouse people's respect for the image itself, but to help others see the image and think of others. For example, when you witness the suffering of Jesus, you will think of the great kindness of Jesus being crucified to atone for others. Seeing the image of the sacred heart of Jesus will remind you of the depth that Jesus loves; When you see the Madonna, you will think of her mercy. Catholicism worships idols, just as we worship pictures of our parents. The purpose of worshipping parents' photos is to gamble on relatives, and so is the purpose of Catholic worship of icons. Christian sects oppose idolatry, which is regarded as idolatry and evil behavior; However, they worship the cross on the top of their church, which makes people respect it and don't think it is idolatry. This contradictory style is incomprehensible.
9. With regard to ancestor worship, when Catholics celebrate the Lunar New Year, they will hold ancestor worship ceremonies in accordance with the traditional customs and habits of China, because according to the original intention of the ancient philosophers, the purpose of offering rent is to advocate filial piety, carry forward the virtues left by ancestors, and achieve the purpose of pursuing the future with caution and respecting the people. This is quite consistent with the fourth commandment of God's Ten Commandments, so it is also helpful to spread the gospel of Christ among China people. Christian sects are opposed to holding ancestor worship ceremonies, believing that it is an evil idolatry to hold worship in front of ancestral tablets.
10. Regarding the name of the true god who created the universe, in Catholicism, when Father Matteo Ricci first came to China to preach in the late Ming Dynasty, he used the right of "heaven" or "god" in China's scriptures, and later changed it to the name of "god". Christianity uses the name of "God", and recently it uses the name of "God". As for the third person in the Trinity of God, Catholicism translates from the original Bible into the "Holy Spirit" and Christianity into the "Holy Spirit". There are many names or places in the Bible. Due to transliteration, some translators of Catholicism and Christianity are the same, while others are different. There are many differences. Here are a few examples: in terms of place names, the place where Jesus was born was translated into Bethlehem by Catholicism and Bethlehem by Christianity. In the hometown where Jesus grew up, Catholicism translated into Nazareth and Christianity translated into Nazareth. In terms of names, disciples of Jesus, such as Peter, Paul, Mathieu, Kyle Polo and John, were all translated from Latin by Catholics. Christianity translated into English is Peter, Paul, Matthew, Kyle and John. There are many other different translations, so I don't want to repeat them.