The Difference between Christianity and the Catholic Church

The Difference between Christianity and the Catholic Church

Introduction

People have always been interested in scrutinizing different religions of the world and the technological world has made this act simpler than before. Many religions are practiced around the world and many of them are practiced within the same vicinity at the same time. For instance, in Jerusalem, Jews, Roman Catholics, Protestant Christians, Muslims, Eastern Greek Orthodox Christians and many other religions compete for holy sites and often fight over their observances and beliefs. Though, these religions might be worshipping one divine power i.e. one God but they do not see each other as the follower of the same basic principal. Their rituals, traditions, holy books, worship style and languages separate then rather than making them a single unit. On the other hand, there are certain religions that are sub divided into the branches with the course of the time (Seghers, 2005). Christianity and Catholicism is one of them. In this paper the Catholicism will be studied after taking an interview of its follower at a Catholic church. This paper, also compare and contrast it with Christianity.

Discussion

Catholicism

The Christian religion, which originated from the Hebrew, it is then divided into different churches. The Catholic Church is one of them and the main feature that distinguishes it is the recognition of the primacy of the Pope (Ankerberg and Weldon, 2005). They were divided into two after certain conflicts. An example of the severity of these conflicts is the fist-fight that erupted on November 9th. Monks of the Eastern Orthodox religion fought with another group of monks at the Place of the Holy Sepulcure, which is where Jesus is said to have been, entombed (Bennett, n.d.). Both groups are supposed to be following Jesus' teachings of peace and they are involved in a bloody battle with one another. This is a deplorable example of the failures of practice and belief. These are not mainstream actions, but are indicative of the chasms that separate different religious orders.

The Catholic Church is very old and its practices and beliefs are said to be handed down directly from Christ to the twelve apostles and then given to the people. The current climate of the Roman Catholic Church is one of a very strict hierarchy of control and influence that begins with the Pope and moves to the Archbishops, Monsignors, Priests, Deacons, Nuns and so forth. This church has become a global empire with financial holdings worldwide that exceed those of many countries (Seghers, 2005). The variety of practices and orders is stunning. Some orders take vows of silence and never speak. Some deny themselves god given gifts that are part of the scope of human experience. These denials are not part of the Bible's code, but have been imposed over the intervening centuries. Self-deprivation is not natural for human beings and the consequences for mandating such practices have proved to be devastating for many families and practitioners. The mandate for celibacy ...