Christianity

[Yai]

What is the difference between Catholics, Protostants, Roman Catholics and Church of Englanders? I know they're all Christian, but it doesn't seem to make sense that there are 4 different groups within it...

[andy hughes]

Catholics and Roman Catholics are the same - just a shorter version of the name. Protestants and Church Of England are also the same - different names, same approach. These are the two main branches of Christian faith in the UK. The Roman Catholic church is governed by the Pope and the Vatican Council, founded on the belief that St Peter came to Rome after the crucifixion and founded the RC Church. It's ministers are priests and nuns - priests and nuns are celibate when they join, and never marry, although by a bizarre twist of fate, married men with children can become priests and are exempt from the celibacy rule. The Church Of England was founded in the sixteenth century by Henry VIII who broke away from the Catholic faith when the Pope refused to allow him to divorce Katherine Of Aragon to marry Anne Boelyn. Their clergy are vicars who are permitted to marry and have children. That's it in a (very) shortened version - there are other sub-divisions, but it's too long to go into here. Hope this assists.

[Westminster]

The Christian church has long been divided and there are many more than four groups within it. The first great division came in the fourth century, between the Eastern and Western churches. The second great division came in the sixteenth century, when the Reformation split the Western church. The main part of the Western church, Roman Catholicism, traces its origins to St Peter and continues to this day. At the Reformation, a number of Protestant churches were created: Lutherans in nothern Europe, Calvinists in France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Scotland, and elsewhere. The Church of England is one of the Protestant churches (although Protestant does not mean the same as Church of England). It is rather unusual among Protestant churches in its retention of cathedrals. The Church of England itself has split, principally by the de facto secession of Methodists.

[maitre d']

Andy - can you answer why our Local CofE church's vicar now calls himself Father..... or they refer to taking up the Priesthood?  It's by no means a "high" CofE

[Jen23]

The 2 main groups of Christianity are Catholics and protestants. The protestant church is then split further into other groups (or denominations) for example, Methodist, Church of England, Baptist, United Reformed etc. The beliefs of Catholics and Protestants differ on many issues. These tend to be issues regarding lifestyle rather than fundamental religious beliefs. For example for a person to be a Chirstian they have to believe in the fact the Jesus Christ came to earth as God only Son and died on the cross to save our sins, and though faith in Jesus God grants us salvation and we get to spend eternity in heaven. However Catholics and Protestants disagree in their approach to general day to day issues, for example whether the use of contraception is acceptable. Catholics believe that contraception is interfering with the hand of God whereas Protestants believe that it is acceptable to prevent pregnancy until the right time.

I hope that helps!!

Also, just to confuse matters further the protestant church can be referred to as being part of the catholic church (with a small 'c'). This then is just referring to the church of Christ rather than the Roman Catholic church!!!