How is Protestantism different from Catholicism? Orthodoxy and Protestantism: what is the difference

Dr Kevin DeYang of the Testament of Christ Church in Matthews, North Carolina, identified the eight major differences between Catholics and Protestants, arguing that disagreements still matter despite changing attitudes in recent years, Christian Megaportal invictory .com reports citing on the Christian Post.

DeYang raised this issue in his article published in The Gospel Coalition on Tuesday. He noted that although Protestants today call military action and the sexual revolution the greatest threats to Christianity, a hundred years ago the same believers would call the Catholic Church the biggest problem.

“Until recently, Protestants and Catholics in this country were, if not enemies, then players of opposing teams,” said the pastor and author.

DeYang called the recent "thaw" a positive development, but also noted that the theological differences between them are "still wide and deep in some places."

At first, views on the Church are one of the main differences. Catholics believe that the Pope is infallible when he makes official doctrinal statements, while Protestants do not think so.

Secondly, Catholics have an expanded biblical canon when it comes to the Bible.

“In addition to the 66 books of the Protestant Bible, the Catholic Bible includes the Apocrypha, for example, the book of Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Sirach and Baruch. Catholic teaching also values \u200b\u200btradition more than Protestantism, ”he said.

ThirdlyDeYang noted that, for Catholics, the Lord's Supper takes a central position of faith.

“Catholics believe that bread and wine actually turn into the body and blood of Christ,” he explained. - These components are offered as a sacrifice from the church and a sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. This is accomplished not just as a remembrance of Christ's sacrifice, but a renewal of redemption. The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist is one sacrifice. The sacrifice of the [Eucharist] is truly peaceful. ”

Fourth, the pastor recalled that baptism is also a controversial issue.

“Catholics teach that“ baptism is obligatory for atonement. ” During immersion in water, original sin is washed away and we become one with Christ. Baptism is not just a sign and seal of grace, but actually confirms saving grace, ”he wrote.

FifthlyHe noted that, unlike the Protestants, Catholics believe that Mary was not just the mother of Jesus, but also the “mother of the Church.”

"She had no original sin, and at the end of her earthly life" she was exalted into heavenly glory with body and soul. " She intercedes for the Church, “continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation” and “is a mother to us in the order of grace,” ”he explained.

At sixthDeYang pointed out differences in views on purgatory. Although Protestants do not believe in the existence of such a place, Catholics, he said, believe that those who die in the grace of God, but are still imperfectly cleansed, will have eternal life, but must first undergo purification in purgatory. ”

Seventh, in a commentary on Merit, DeYang argues that it is unfair to assume that Catholics teach that salvation can be earned.

“Many Catholics can believe this, but the official teaching of Rome is more subtle, although still far from the principle of the Reformation.” Sola gratia « ”, He wrote, referring to the Protestant principle of“ only by grace, ”which implies salvation by the grace of God and only through faith in Jesus Christ.

In his last paragraphthe pastor wrote that Catholic teachings reject the Protestant doctrine of imputed righteousness.

“The question is this: the righteousness by which we are forgiven, justified before God, and which works in us; or is it righteousness imputed to us outside our affairs? Catholics say the first, Protestants the second, ”he said.

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DeYang summed up the idea that Catholics and Protestants should respect each other, but also noted that they are significantly different and these differences "still matter."

It was previously reported that the Washington-based Pew Research Center, that 500 years after the Reformation, the theological differences between Catholics and Protestants disappeared to a degree that would shock the Christians of the past.

Scholars noted that in recent decades there has been a slow rapprochement between Catholic and Protestant traditions, and there is cooperation and dialogue between faiths that are encouraged by Pope Francis.

How is Orthodoxy different from Catholicism and Protestantism? You will learn about this from a lecture by Professor Osipov, published in our article.

Nowadays, this boundless question worries a lot of people. The reason is completely obvious. The religious pluralism that we are witnessing now, given the unprecedented influx of various religious movements, movements, churches, it unwittingly compels us to once again turn to the faith that has always been traditional for us. For us, I say, for our people, primordially, for a thousand years now.

Why are so many uninvited guests coming to us now? What is the reason? Where did some completely new religious movements come from that find here, nevertheless, an address and registration? How can we respond to this? What does our faith say, why do we prefer to remain Orthodox? After all, the truth is not because they were just born? If I was born - I am Orthodox, born Catholic - I am Catholic, born Muslim - I am Muslim. Is this a sign of what? Man's disinterest in his faith.

The interest is just meaningful: what is Orthodoxy, what gives it priority to man in comparison with the vast sea of \u200b\u200breligions that we all now face?

As far as this will be impossible, I will try now not to give an academic lecture, otherwise you will fall asleep. Since I understand perfectly well: academic lectures are rather dry, they present a lot of formal material that is needed for students, future priests, but they need it for another reason, more, I would say, methodological rather than essential.

It seems to me that for every person, at least for me, despite the fact that I am engaged in theology, it has always been the most important interest - to see the essence of the matter. And what is Orthodoxy? Of course, it is easiest to show this by comparing it to non-Orthodoxy. By the way, this method is very effective. Compare and show how it differs from Catholicism, from Protestantism, how does Orthodoxy differ from other religions in essence?

If you are interested in such a plan, we can talk precisely in this context, since now such a methodology is very relevant. But we can look on the other hand, no less, it seems to me, interesting, look at Orthodoxy from a completely different point of view, namely, how it responds to the deepest essential needs of the human person.

What are these significant requests? What are these requests, without which we cannot literally live? Well, you can, of course, not think about anything, but now we are not talking about such people. But if a person thinks, if he lives, what is he interested in? And if he is also a thinker, then he consciously raises the question of the meaning of life.

And if it is tougher to say, then it will be even clearer - all the same, they seek happiness. Happiness. Throughout history, mankind seeks precisely this. And from this point of view, it would be interesting to know how Orthodoxy responds to this idea, and what does it give preferential to a person in answering this urgent question?

Here's the thing. All Christian denominations say that the center, being, meaning, ultimate goal of Christianity is Christ. He is our Savior, He is our ideal, and He is the One in whom we, in the body of which, using the image of the apostle Paul, in whose church we all enter into unity with God and gain the fullness of good. All denominations. Christian denominations.

Professor Osipov

I explain to those who, maybe, do not know this word. “Denominations” when we use it, we are talking about Christian denominations. Therefore, we are talking about non-Orthodox. When we talk about other religions, we are talking about different faiths, about other faiths.

So, we are talking about denominations. A representative of any faith will say yes, here we are completely united. That’s the whole point. As soon as we touch on the essence of the matter: what does it mean that we believe in Christ as the Savior, how do you understand what He has done for us? - Disagreements begin. And so serious that sometimes it looks like the struggle for peace, as a result of which there is no stone on stone from our buildings.

So here it is. Of course, the essence of Christianity is the confession of Christ, the One who is the real Savior, we say. But how do you understand what He did? Here, let’s go through a little how Catholicism looks at this issue, how Protestantism looks, and how Orthodoxy looks.

So, from the Catholic point of view, the primary emphasis, which is literally the center of the Catholic doctrine, is the belief that people - the first people - have infinitely offended God with their crime, with their hearing. And we do nothing else, as we continue this business.

Those. this doctrine assumes voluntarily or involuntarily that the God who, according to the idea of \u200b\u200bnot only Christian, but also the idea of \u200b\u200bpre-Christian, Old Testament, the Divine is an unchanging being, in which there is no passion, an impassive being, a simple being, in this case, was in the position of who suffers from the sins or crimes of his creature. Those. the unchanging turned out to be changeable, dispassion turns out to be deeply passionate. This is the first question that involuntarily arises in connection with this doctrine. The doctrine that we can insult God.

By the way, Protestantism affirms the same point of view, but Orthodoxy rejects it. How does it differ in this case? It says: no, we hurt ourselves by sins, every sin is a wound on the body of our soul. We break the laws of our being that are established by God. We are not shapeless amoeba, we are god-like creatures.

And going beyond the boundaries of those laws in which we exist, we harm ourselves. Sin is self-harm. I won’t bring any inconvenience to the law of gravity if I jump down from some floor there.

But I myself will suffer great. We do not harm God with our sins - we kill ourselves. The sin-making slave is sin. He falls into this slavery of the element advocating laws. We are killing ourselves.

From here it takes on a different meaning, an understanding of what Christ has done for mankind. From a Catholic-Protestant point of view, He redeemed us from the righteous wrath of God. He took all the punishment for us, you hear, for our sins and for the sin of the first people. He suffered this punishment for us. He tamed the righteous wrath of God. Here is the idea.

Protestantism in their symbolic texts, the most authoritative, argues that if before that God was angry before Christ, then from now on He has changed, He has ceased to be angry at people. Change occurs in God, and not in man with the coming of Christ. From being angry and hating, he turned into loving and saving, thanks to the sacrifice of Christ.

Therefore, in Catholicism, the central dogma of salvation is called the dogma of redemption, redemption. The term atonement means ransom, ransom of a slave. In Protestantism, the same dogma is called the dogma of justification. As in the trial, they accuse him and justify him, as a result of this, the other and the third.

And only in Orthodoxy the emphasis is on a completely different side. We say: Christ is the Savior. We do not deny this terminology - justification, redemption. Please, there are many other terms - adoption. There are many terms in the Holy Scriptures, but the terms in this case show HOW we understand what Christ did. And if in Western Christianity the cause of salvation is seen as an action of the legal order, of the court, then in Orthodoxy it is seen as an act of love. Like - I’ll say it now.

I will continue now on Western understanding. What is the seriousness of the problem - but what. If Christ appeared to the One who redeems us, pays the debt to the justice of God, then the idea naturally arises from here - what can I do? Christ redeemed us - in what sense, what did He do? Catholic theology answers: He brought satisfaction to God the Father for the first sin of the people. And for personal sins, we must also bring a ransom.

Question: what if I did more than is required? And a whole doctrine is being developed in Catholicism, completely unacceptable in the Orthodox mind with all its spirit - the doctrine of super-merit. It turns out that I can not only pay the debt for my sins, but I can do something more, and infinitely much more.

And Catholic theology points out: we find these extra-long endless merits in the Mother of God, so much that now the second thousand years are about to end, I have no doubt that another dogma will appear in the Catholic world. Dogma of the Applicant - Our Lady.

I have already met this term more than once; I remember that I entered into a discussion with one of the cardinals on this subject. They have a redeemer - who is this? He who repays debts redeems debts for sins. Christ, yes, brought a lot of debt, brought full debt for original sin, for personal sins - we must. But we can not only fulfill, get a debt, we can bring an extra debt.

What follows from this? I would say terrible things. What is this horror? And here's the thing. Imagine that I understand perfectly, here I live, in something I sin, but who does not sin, you understand. For these sins, I do what is right for me, but I do more.

They will tell me that I must do this and that for sins, in Catholicism this doctrine of satisfying God's justice is very developed. I do more - how do I feel? I know that I do more, do you understand how I feel? I do even more - how do I feel?

And we see the dogmatic teaching of Catholicism imposes its terrible seal on the soul of man. She immediately puts a person on the path of pride, vanity. Pride in the full sense of the word.

Do you think such statements are random as those of Francis of Assisi when he says: I don’t recognize a single sin that I would not atone for by confession and repentance. Such things are accidental when some saint Teresa shouts: “Oh my God, my husband”? She is Christ, who declares: “Before that, I was your God, and now I am not only God, but also your spouse.” These are absolutely not accidental things when Francis of Assisi sees the seraphim and recognizes Christ in this seraphim, and suddenly he feels, think only, he feels completely transformed into Jesus!

Remember, Francis of Assisi is not some little saint. This is the first magnitude star in the Western Church. This luminary, which we have so many people extol, just read Durylin’s entry in the book “Flowers of Francis of Assisi,” as he writes there, how he extols Francis! The apostles themselves, it turns out, are lower than him. This vanity and pride are generated by the dogmatic teaching of the Church itself.

For a wide range of people, all dogma is a rather complicated area and boring. When you touch on its refraction in the immediate spiritual life of a person, you begin to understand how enormous the significance of this or that understanding of what Christ accomplished. Super merit. Christ says: if you had done all that was commanded to you, speak and think that you are not slaves.

If we take and consider the psychology of those whom the Orthodox Church calls the greatest saints. There are not many of them in history, those whom the church calls great: Anthony the Great, Athanasius the Great, Macarius the Great. There are not many of them. But if we look at their psychology, how they thought, how they felt!

Here is a striking example that we meet in the life of the Monk Sisoy the Great. Before his death, when all his associates and students gathered around him, he prays, they ask him: “What are you praying for, Sisoy?” - “So that God will give me more time to repent”. - “Sisoy, do you repent?”

And his face at the same time became more and more enlightened and shining. So radiant that it was already hard to look at him. He answered in such a way that he still has to be surprised: “Believe me, brothers, I don’t know if I even laid the foundation for my repentance.”

I draw your attention: a person is dying, and there can’t be any talk of hypocrisy here. We find similar examples as many as you want. Those who are sitting here, and those who read morning prayers, could not help but pay attention, for example, to the morning prayer of Macarius the Great.

A striking prayer, very brief, but think what he says, the Great Makarios, who was called the “earthly god”: “God, cleanse me a sinner, as if I had done good before You.” Those. I haven’t done anything good to you. It is he, Macarius, says so.

What it is? What is it, humility, maybe? Is it supposed to say that? God save you from thinking like that! These are people who were afraid to allow a shadow of cunning in their souls! And then they begin to hypocrite?

I’ll tell you about one of the greatest truths that Orthodoxy holds with both hands, you know how it sounds? Saints mourned their virtues as sins. You hear: virtues mourned as sins. Well, well, how to put this next to super-merit? Full contrast! Complete mutual exclusion!

And what is it - mourned virtues as sins? How can this be mourned? I give alms, help the poor, save someone from misfortune, what am I going to mourn? Glory to you, Lord, I am not a pound of raisins! As Feofan the Recluse said: "It’s rubbish itself, but it says everything: bring other people as well."

The saints saw that in every good deed that we do, a spoon of tar is necessarily mixed with a barrel of honey - vanity, man-pleasing, calculation. Well, the shadow at least mixes with what I myself realize, as improper, as vile at times, as bad, as evil.

Here were subtle psychologists. That's who really analyzed the state of his soul. That's who was attentive to what was happening inside the person. Think, saw, and therefore mourned their virtues as sins. That's where the cleanliness was! This is amazing.

Look, like the ancient Greeks, for example. Now, compare the ancient Greek musical ear and modern, that modern, which is the norm of music schools. It is enough to distinguish between tone, semitone, quarter-tone - they already say: well, what a rumor he has! But the ancient Greeks - no, the eighth tone.

And what are we talking about? What is absolute pitch? He does not tolerate the slightest deviation, not only one eighth, but, perhaps, one sixteenth tone can not stand, this dissonance. We say - the thinnest hearing, it is amazing, but what a purity of sound when everything is performed without any dissonance.

That's how in music this purity of sounding, so it turns out, this purity can be in the human soul. They felt how always even their good deeds, even their deeds and prayers, how imperfect they were in the face of the holy shrine of God that they subtly experienced and felt in their souls.

Here is Orthodoxy, and now compare with the super-merit. Now compare with psychology, when I do not recognize a single sin. See, what's the difference? This is amazing! There is nothing in common! It is understandable, therefore, that the spiritual life in Catholicism led to that which was most definitely, clearly, with all responsibility said by our greatest saints as a state of charm. Ignatius Brianchaninov, an aristocrat of the highest class, the finest educated, delicate man, and suddenly, from his lips we hear the phrase when he says about these holy Catholic: “crazy”! He does not find another word.

Well, really, try to find another word when a young girl walks around the kindergarten with Jesus Christ for hours and talks. And, you don’t understand anything, this is one of the greatest saints of the Catholic Church, Katharina of Siena, who at the age of twenty felt that something unusual should happen to her soon and began to pray earnestly with great prayer.

Which one? I won’t tell you right away. We have the prayer of Jesus: Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. She began to pray, too, "Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God." Only further a strange continuation - “marry me in faith”!

Amazing! In my opinion, no explanation is required. Where are her thoughts directed, where are her feelings directed? Hence the endless visions, is the divine bridegroom Christ, attracts her to himself, i.e. hugs her, you need to say bluntly. He takes a heart out of her, inserts another heart into her, and these sweetest experiences, alas, make up the essence of her spiritual life. And how this spiritual life is expressed, look.

After all, I’m not telling you now some malicious slander against poor Katarina of Siena, this is what is now coming to us from Italy and published in Milan - the book “Portraits of Saints”. What does the author write while touching? Firstly, he is moved by this prayer: “marry me in faith”, then the author no longer finds words.

How does she address the rulers, the pope, the king of France? What she writes, you only think. The author of her life writes: in a state of ecstasy she even said to Christ himself “I want!” With an exclamation mark. And that was the leitmotif of all her letters. The king of France writes: listen to me and God. The Pope writes: Listen to the voices of the Holy Spirit that is addressed to you.

By the way, a curious fact occurs to her, which is difficult not to pay attention to. She has four or even more secretaries, and she immediately dictates answers to all of them, to different people at once. And at such a speed that they barely keep up with her. We find approximately the same picture with Helena Roerich when she hears a voice from there and also writes treatises of revelation with great speed. The phenomenon is similar and very understandable from a Christian point of view, not in doubt what happens to these poor people.

Now, understanding Christ as Savior, understanding what He did. Let's move away from Catholicism a bit, but what does Protestantism say about this? Oh, even more interesting things. What is Protestantism? This is Lutheranism, this is Reformation, this is the later Baptists, Pentecostals.

All this totality of Christian movements and, as the ecumenical language now expresses, churches - there the solution of the problem is even simpler. So simple that from tenderness you simply do not know what to do. It turns out that Christ so satisfied the justice of God with his sacrifice that he not only paid for the original sin, but for all the sins that we believers commit. And therefore, from now on, all of us believers are holy by the holiness of Christ. And sin to the believer is not charged with sin.

I say to students: listen, I’m moving to Lutheranism or somewhere. So good, so easy, and nothing else is needed - I am holy! What I want, then I create. It turns out that believers are not charged with sin. It turns out we are righteous with the righteousness of Christ. This is how the great words of the apostle Paul are interpreted: "we are saved only by faith."

All the time it surprises me, excuse me, if Protestants are present here, primitivism, there is no other word, how can such things be done so easily - to turn the work of salvation into such an elementary thing? I believe that two thousand years ago Christ came, I sincerely believe, I have no doubt, and therefore I am already holy by the holiness of Christ. What is it? You will now understand how dramatically, fundamentally different Orthodoxy from these things.

As Orthodoxy understands “we are saved only by faith”? How does Orthodoxy understand the feat of Christ, what did He do? If we take patristic theology, the first thing we see is that there is no question of redemption. It's funny to imagine.

Gregory the Theologian writes: to whom is the sacrifice of Christ made? I am said to be very worried, to whom? To the devil? - asks Gregory the Theologian. How crazy it is for God to offer sacrifice to his creatures. And what a creature - fallen. Maybe he sacrificed to his father? - then he asks.

And he answers: does the Father love less than the Son? Is not the Trinity a work of salvation? Indeed, does the Father love less than the Son? And was it even allowed to Abraham to sacrifice his son? Didn't He replace Isaac with a ram, a sheep? Those. rejects even that. And ends with the words: man had to be sanctified by humanity of God.

It is necessary to decipher it. First: there is no question of any ransom. Legal, legal, legal relations are not applicable between a person and God. Just as between the child and the parents are not applicable, a completely different principle applies. Orthodoxy pays all its attention to what is forgotten, actually discarded, and what is central in the Christian profession - God is love. Love God is.

By love, God humbles himself to a human image, unites with man, takes on his nature, unites with damaged human nature, and heals it through suffering, through humiliation, through the cross, through death, and resurrects it.

See how dramatically Christ is changing in his appearance to the disciples. If before that He is always with them, before that he is hungry and thirsty, he even says on the cross: My God, my God, left me free?

Look after the Resurrection: He goes with his companions, begins to break bread and - disappears, enters the “locked door” to the disciples.

On the one hand, it seems that he eats and drinks with them, on the other hand, He possesses properties that were not previously observed. Here is that transformed, that primordial, that flesh in glory, independent of the elements of this world, with which man was created, and to which man is destined in eternal life.

Watch how it changes. What did he do? He healed the damage that arose in our human nature as a result of sin. Sin of the first people. They committed a personal sin, but as a result of this personal sin, a serious damage to our nature occurred.

What do fathers say about this? They directly say: in a person there was a dissection of his being into the mind, heart and body. And these three seemed to be isolated, each of them acquired its own will, the confrontation began. “Ah, two souls live in my chest, and are torn apart, and long for separation.” And every person notices this, everyone knows that there is no unity in us. The mind directly says that there is truth, that there is truth, what to do, and conscience tells, and the heart, and the body leads directly to the opposite.

Here Christ restored, healed this nature, and for love it did it, for the love of the whole Holy Trinity. We are not talking about any ransom. And thanks to this restored nature, we can now spiritually, yes, spiritually, be born of Him, receive this new nature in the sacrament of Baptism.

In baptism, we receive the seed of a new person. As Simeon the New Theologian writes, one of the three theologians called by the Church: John the Theologian the Apostle, Gregory the Theologian and Simeon the New Theologian. What is he writing? Amazing words. “Then the God the Word comes into the baptized, as in the womb of the Evergreen, and abides in it like a seed.” It turns out how we get the fruits of Christ's sacrifice in ourselves.

Nothing seems to have changed outwardly. When Christ was resurrected, what people were, they remained, wars, illnesses continue, sins and crimes continue. However, a great thing happened - every person who saw that Christ really is the Truth, that He is that shrine that my soul craves, that in Him I see the meaning and justification of the worldview that leads me to the good of my life. When I am convinced of this, I can partake of Him.

In this sacrament of birth to the Church, in this sacrament of Baptism, I can receive this blessed seed, and if I lead a truly Christian life, this seed can grow in me. What does it mean to grow in me? After all, I can be baptized, and as I was, I remained so - a pagan. I can live a pagan, but I can live completely differently.

And so the history of the Church offers us an infinite number of those people who have shown what this seed of new life, which we received in baptism, does with a person. On the examples of saints that history has left for us, we see how a person is transformed, what kind of light he becomes for human society.

It is no coincidence that these great words of Seraphim of Sarov, who said: "Take hold of the spirit of peace, and thousands will be saved around you." Right A person who develops in himself this seed of a righteous, righteous Christian life, who repents of his sins, who perfectly understands that he has not only no merits - and cannot be. Who repents even of his good deeds, realizing that even this good I did not do as required, not kindly.

This person is gradually sanctified, his seed sprouts, turns into a tree that brings great fruits that sanctify the world. There is no ransom, no excuse, a completely different principle of life, a different view of Christ and spiritual life in comparison with the Western understanding of Christianity.

I presented you with the first version of a possible explanation. Sami understands that this is a brief summary. Naturally, in the theological school we analyze this in detail, there are a lot of curious things, for example, in Catholic dogma, in Protestant dogma, there are a lot of curious, I will tell you, things that now lead to such phenomena in life that everyone is starting to little by little to understand what we are dealing with, what is Western Christianity.

It gave rise to nihilism, materialism, deism, atheism. Moreover, this follows from theology itself, moreover, I must tell you that the whole of European civilization was generated precisely by Western theology as such, in all those forms that we see.

Question: In what year did the Orthodox Byzantium fall, what events preceded this?

- In 1453. Well, you know that the Turks were already gradually capturing the entire empire over the previous century, maybe even more. In the end, by this time the entire Byzantine empire was already within the walls of Constantinople. The whole empire. And she fell. Moreover, how she fell is very interesting.

The last emperor Constantine XI, with a sword in his hands, fought along with his fellow citizens for the salvation of his fatherland. That's wonderful - with a sword in his hands, to death. And in this sense it must be said that he died as a worthy emperor, as a hero. But what came before, you know, in evaluating any events of this kind, there are two approaches.

We will call one approach such a secularly historical approach, which finds and sees the causes of such phenomena in the historical processes that are taking place in the world. Why these processes go, no one can ever say. These processes go, it happens there - then something else happens here.

Christianity offers a completely different method of consideration. It claims that all processes taking place in society, historical processes, all processes taking place in the biosphere and even in the space sphere are all conditioned by a person’s spiritual state. Christianity does not deny the term, which, in truth, had a different meaning in paganism, but from there it comes that man is a microcosm.

Yes, a person, indeed, is that lever, that force that determines the entire state of the world around him. And, of course, the state of society and all the processes taking place in society and in the state. The reason is our spiritual moral condition.

There are vivid biblical examples: Sodom and Gomorrah, or the Flood. But we indicate biblical examples, but could we not give examples from the life of any state, including any Orthodox state? Could, and no less convincing, which would show as a degradation of spiritual life, as the conversion of Christianity into form, which ultimately leads to the impoverishment of the spirit.

It is clear that such a form and impoverishment of the spirit? Those. we are all Orthodox, but we live in a pagan way, but we beat ourselves in the chest, we perform services, we decorate everything that is necessary, well, we do everything with the order. And we ourselves remain pagans.

So, when from the outside the church life can even flourish, but if there is no corresponding spiritual process, when people do not get better, when there is no struggle with passions, if this change of soul does not occur, if there is no such correct spiritual change within a person, inside people, within society, this inevitably leads to cataclysms of a social historical character.

So one should not be surprised that entire Orthodox empires and Orthodox states often fell precisely because of this, that this external well-being, like a warm bath, relaxes us. And instead of the right Christian life, we begin to prosper. Then the disastrousness comes, necessarily and inevitably.

So in relation to the situation in which the fall of Byzantium occurred, we should look not so much at historical moments, not at external ones: how the Turks appeared there, why they decided here, how they moved - all this is only a consequence.

For the most part, people, as a rule, are blind tools in the hands of God's wise providence. He thinks that he is killing someone, but he, the poor one, does not even know that you have freedom and you will answer for the malice with which you commit a sin, but to kill or not to kill a person is not in your hands . They want to kill one, and they just can't do it, but the other way, the thought has come - and it's easy for you. Each person will be responsible for the state of his soul.

It is the spiritual state that determines not only our personal life, the life of each person, but also determines the processes taking place in society. A striking example of this is Sodom and Gomorrah. Remember how Abraham talks with wanderers, with angels? When they told him that the city would be destroyed, remember, Abraham says: but, Sir, what if there are fifty righteous ones, destroy it? - Do not destroy. “What if forty-five?” - Do not destroy. - And if forty? - Do not destroy. And so he reached ten. - And if ten? - Do not destroy. And then he turned away and walked away from him.

There is a certain measure, it turns out. A very interesting phenomenon is indicated, which is extremely important. And what a pity that we do not understand this. There is a measure of righteousness. If there were even ten righteous people, the city would not be destroyed. There were none of them.

So it is now. Why will the same end of the world happen? These ten righteous will not remain. It is no accident that the Apocalypse says: “a woman clothed in the sun,” which, according to the interpretation of all the fathers, is the Church. “A woman clothed in the sun will flee into the wilderness.” In human society, no place can be found for it. As Tikhon Voronezhsky wrote, the 18th century, about the state of affairs in Russia, that he writes: “Christianity is imperceptibly moving away from people, only hypocrisy remains”.

Theophan the Recluse at the end of the last century writes: "Nobody does anything, another one or two generations, and Orthodoxy will not remain in Russia." A generation and a half passed after his words - and the revolution came.

Ignatius Brianchaninov what wrote? The idea is understandable - from a Christian point of view, which is confirmed by a huge number of facts, all the cataclysms of our world, as well as, by the way, take-offs in life, are caused by the spiritual moral state of man and society.

This is where the main reason for the fall of Constantinople.

Now I will say a few general words about Protestantism. What is the trouble with Protestantism in general? The fact that he resolutely rejected the Holy Tradition of the Church. What is Holy Tradition? This is the combined patristic teaching, teaching and experience of the fathers. For questions of faith, for questions of life. Rejecting, Protestantism declared: only Scripture, and that’s it.

So I have to talk with them, and I tell them: well, well, and how do you explain the fact that there are many Christian denominations that have the same Scripture? The answer is one - a different understanding of the Bible. What are the criteria, which of these understandings is true and which is false? Why do you think, for example, that the Pentecostal understanding of the Bible is true and the Catholic false, tell me why? Why do you consider the Lutheran understanding false? Why orthodox and so on? Where are the criteria?

So Orthodoxy claims that if we stand on the basis of a subjective understanding of the Bible, then we can come to any interpretations and any absurdities.

In Orthodoxy there is a golden principle - we believe that which everyone always believed everywhere and everywhere. Why is this true? For a very simple reason. For example, is the priesthood a sacrament or not? On the basis of the book of Acts, it is still difficult to understand who the elders are and who are the bishops. The apostle writes in his epistles, and it is not clear who this is about. How to find out what they wrote about?

We can think anything, but let's see what the disciples of the apostles wrote on these issues. They probably knew better than anyone what their direct teachers wrote. Are there such compositions? Yes, in the Church they bear the names of the husbands of the apostles. Clement of Rome, Hermia, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna.

From their writings it is very clearly, directly and clearly visible who the bishop is, who the presbyter is. And it turns out that only a bishop can ordain, and it turns out that the succession of ordinations is one of the laws of the Church. Their students write the same thing. That is, the picture is absolutely clear. We figured out how to understand the words of the apostles in this subject. This we call the Holy Tradition of the Church. Tradition, because the Gospel does not write about it. And we see how it is understood.

There is no criterion in Protestantism. Imagine: in the XIX century, after 1800 years after the emergence of Christianity, some teacher, some Muller, suddenly appeared and says: this is what you need to understand. We ask why? - I had a revelation. Ah, there it is, revelation. You had one thing, and your neighbor another, and he had a third. And you did not think, on what basis can you judge the truth or falsity of revelation?

All these teachers are completely unfamiliar with the teachings of the fathers, i.e. with the Sacred Tradition of the Church. Therefore, what comes to the head’s head, in which he can convince his followers, is considered to be the truth, completely without any relation to what the Church has taught for millennia.

Here, in this case, the Church does not reject at all, it even claims that with a correct Christian life, with a holy life, a person is compared with the Holy Spirit. But apart from the first century, we do not find in the history of the Church that even the great saints speak foreign languages. Neither Macarius the Great, nor Sysoi the Great, nor Athanasius the Great, nor Arseny the Great — did not speak languages \u200b\u200bat all. Is this the gift of the Holy Spirit? This is only one of the small gifts that was essential in the first century for the formation and approval of the Church and its preaching. Further we do not see this.

Therefore, to reduce the gifts of the Holy Spirit to speaking with tongues is so primitive that it is simply hard to imagine. Is this the gift of the Holy Spirit? Gifts of the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul lists: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, mercy, faith, meekness, temperance.” This is what the fruits of the Spirit are! There is not even a word about speaking with tongues. This is a practical thing that was purely historical in nature.

And second: how is the gift of the Holy Spirit acquired? This is completely forgotten. Wisdom will not enter into evil souls and will not dwell in a body enslaved by sin. The acquisition of the gift of the Holy Spirit is possible only on the basis of a proper Christian life, and a correct Christian life leads to the fact that a person is convinced that he is not at all what he should be. Moreover, he is convinced, I emphasize, that he is not worthy of a single gift of God, not a single one.

Therefore, what do we meet in the lives of the saints? They even begged to take away the gifts that God gave them. Hear, begged even to take away these external gifts. For example, the gifts of miracles. How they hid these gifts! Reached even to what? Everyone knew that he was a miracle worker, but he was categorically: I am the same as everyone. Literally, such a godly deception. They bring a dead baby, they ask: Father, pray over him, he is seriously ill. He prayed and he gets up. But the saint did not know that he was dead. How to hide!

I will tell you a striking thing - every true virtue is always deeply chaste. It is clear what is - chaste? Hiding himself. How is a chaste woman dressed? Every Christian virtue hides itself deeply, chastely.

Christ resurrects the daughter of Jairus and what does he say? Do not tell anyone. Blind-born - don't tell anyone. Leper - be silent, do not tell anyone. Just think, it seems that he came for this, but He, as in humanity and in truth, was All-Righteous, and it was natural.

True virtue hides itself, false - screams and makes noise. I have a gift, now I will speak foreign languages, only you will not understand anything that I will say, but you will see that I am in the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is all chastity. They, poor ones, have forgotten the very foundations of a proper spiritual life. There is no spirituality where there is no humility, where there is no awareness of one's unworthiness.

Once again I remind Sisoy the Great, whose face was enlightened so that they could not look at him, and he begged God to give him time to repent. That is what holiness means. When a person approaches a true shrine, he begins to see all the abomination, all his unworthiness. Here is an example of how dangerous it is to break away from what we call the Church, from what we call Holy Tradition, i.e. the teachings of the fathers.

The worst thing that exists in a person, and that forever and ever will not allow a person to be saved, is his opinion about himself: I am good. Is it clear to you? I'm good, everyone is bad, and I'm good. Once again, I repeat the great words of Theophan the Recluse: "he is rubbish himself rubbish, but he repeats everything: bring like other people." Here, indeed, spiritual death.

September 1, 2018

In this article, you will learn how Catholics differ from Protestants? Are there any differences between them at all? Why don't Catholics recognize Protestants as Christians, and Protestants do not recognize Catholics as Christians?

How it all started

It all started long before the advent of Catholics and Protestants. In Judea, the first communities of believers were formed in Yehoshua ha-Mashiach (Jesus Christ). This community consisted exclusively of Jews. The first pagan who converted to the Messianic faith was Cornelius with his family, studying the Torah and keeping its commandments. He was sent the grace of salvation for his good works and prayers:

1 In Caesarea there was a certain husband named Cornelius, a centurion from a regiment called Italian

2 pious and fearing God with all his house, who did a lot of alms to the people and always prayed to God.

3 He saw clearly in the vision at about nine in the afternoon the angel of God, who came in to him and said to him: Cornelius!

4 But he, looking at him and frightened, said: What, Lord? The angel answered him: your prayers and your alms have been remembered before God.

5 So send the people to Joppa and call Simon, called Peter.

(Acts 10: 1-5)

Subsequently, the pagans who accepted the Messianic teaching became more and more and they already many times exceeded the number of Jewish communities.

Roman community

In Rome there was a mixed community, where there were always conflicts between pagans and Jews. This is well seen in Romans. Jews were proud of their Jewish origin, pagans were proud that God had mercy on them, and rejected the Jews. On this occasion, the apostle Paul had to write an intelligible letter for both sides.

However, as the Jews became more and more in the Roman community, they subsequently took control in their own hands. At that time, Paul was no longer alive and the community, in fact, no one controlled, except the authorities of Rome.

The Roman community was distinguished by its creed from the teachings of the Roman religious communities, who worshiped various gods, led by Zeus. Therefore, the Roman community was oppressed in every way for believing in the Jewish Scriptures and in the Jewish God. At that time, there was already a doctrine of the divinity of Jesus Christ and of the Virgin Mary, who gave birth to God Jesus.

The plot of the Virgin Mary itself is borrowed from legends in which supposedly the gods descended to the earth to beautiful women, mated with them and they gave birth to man-gods. So, for example, Europe - the lover of Zeus, was abducted by him and he did violence to her, after which she conceived and gave birth to Zeus two sons. The husband of Europe was grateful to Zeus and made sacrifices to him, because his wife, Europe, was barren. Zeus impregnated her. It is for this reason that European states are called Europe, since they are the mistress of Zeus. Modern Europe is the favorite of Zeus and other gods who help Zeus.

Emperor Constantine

When Emperor Constantine came to power, he saw that the teaching professed by the Roman community was more important than the teaching of Zeus. From a political point of view, he saw that with the help of this religion, which was becoming increasingly popular, the masses could be controlled. And if you make it a state religion, then all captured territories will automatically worship God-Christ. The more land occupied, the wider the activity of the new religion becomes, and the more solid the power of Rome on earth becomes. After some deliberation, Emperor Constantine makes Christianity the official religion of Rome, and the Roman Church makes the center of the universe. Therefore, it was called the Catholicus (Ecumenical).

Subsequently, Rome captured all European tribes and made them Christian states. Thus, Jesus Christ became the god of all Europeans.

First Nicaea Cathedral

The First Council of Nicaea - the Council of the Church convened by Emperor Constantine I; Held in June 325 in the city of Nicaea (now Iznik, Turkey); lasted more than two months and became the first Ecumenical (Catholic) Council in the history of Christianity.

At the cathedral, the Nicene Creed was adopted, the Arian and other heresies were condemned, separation from Judaism was finally proclaimed, Sunday instead of Saturday was recognized as a day off, the time for celebrating Easter by the Christian church was determined, twenty canons were worked out.

(Wikipedia)

All subsequent Councils were also organized by the Roman kings to identify the enemies in Europe, which were Jews and dissenters. This was done to strengthen the Roman Empire.

The appearance of the pope

The Catholic (Ecumenical) Church, the first Pope considers the Apostle Peter, who handed over the keys of the church to his successor St. Pins (Vl - Vll), who became the first official Pope. From this time the era of the Papacy began.

Who are the Catholics

So, having glanced in history, we see that Catholics are the doctrine of Christianity, established by the emperor Constantine himself to strengthen the Roman Empire, so that people are united and worship only one God-Christ. As mentioned above, the teaching of Christianity has been formed for centuries, where the main component was political goals. For the same reason, a Bible was published in which Jewish texts, including the texts of the apostles, were edited in favor of the Roman Empire, where everything was focused on Christ-centeredness - Christ God in the flesh, leader of Roman Christianity.

The emergence of Protestants

Protestant, comes from the word protest. The first Protestant to protest the unrest in the churches was Martin Luther, whom everyone has heard a lot about. What was Luther dissatisfied with? He was unhappy that the priests were not fulfilling their duties towards the flock.

Many believe that Luther was against the Pope, his power, against the teachings of the Catholic Church. This is not true. If you read carefully, you will see that Luther was and remains to the core of the Catholic Catholic. He was not going to create any new movement or doctrine. His actions can be compared to a fighter for justice. He wanted to put things in order. He still recognized the Pope as the supreme body of Christianity, and priests as authorized by the Pope. In addition, he did not reject indulgences, but was against the fact that indulgences became a formality that, through the fault of priests, did not bring any benefit in the transformation of the flock. Indulgences were intended to change a person’s consciousness so that he would stop sinning. But the priests did the wrong - profited from indulgences. And it annoyed Luther. And in jealousy for the purity of the Catholic Church, he wrote his legendary 95 theses.

What is the difference between Catholics and Protestants

The difference between Catholics and Protestants lies precisely in the theses written by Luther. In fact, Luther was a revolutionary fighting for justice in his church. He could not even imagine that besides the Catholic Church, some other kind could exist. Luther found many supporters who supported his reform.

What is the Reformation

Reformation lies at the heart of the difference between Catholics and Protestants. Reformation comes from the word Reformation.

Reform (lat.reformo) - a change of rules in the field of human life that does not affect the functional basis, or legislative transformation. In particular, the process of state transformation, initiated by the authorities as necessary. The ultimate goal of any reform is to strengthen and update state foundations, which, however, does not always entail an improvement in living standards, a reduction in government spending, and vice versa - an increase in income.

(Wikipedia)

Luther did not intend to change the Catholic creed. What purpose did Luther pursue in his Catholic Church Reform? The answer is unequivocal - strengthening and updating the Catholic foundations.

Who are the Protestants

So we see that the Protestants, led by Luther, remained Catholic to the core. After they accepted Luther's theses as the basis of the Reformation of the Catholic Church, Protestants intended to improve the spiritual condition of their church. However, the Pope did not recognize the Luther Reformation, as a way to improve the spiritual condition of the church declared Luther and his associates troublemakers. But, the Reformation gained such weight that the Pope became afraid, as if the army of Protestants, did not go to war in Rome.

Papa luther

Meanwhile, Luther, rejected by the Pope, continued to fight zealously for the purity of the Catholic Church and founded his own communities in cities under Protestant rule. Thus, Luther became the Pope of Protestants. Subsequently, he had his own powerful army, with which he suppressed the uprising of the peasants, executing 8,000 prisoners. He also executed the leader of the uprising - Thomas Münzer.

Thanks to his army, Luther retained territories belonging to the Protestants. The army of the Pope was not able to fight the army of Luther. Subsequently, when Protestant Catholics already held Europe in their hands, they conquered America, Africa and Australia. They enslaved the natives on these continents, plundered resources.

Bottom line - the difference between Catholics and Protestants

From all the above, it can be stated that the difference between Catholics and Protestants is only in the official status of the Pope. By their own creed, Protestants are reformed Catholics, or, in simple terms, more advanced, more spiritual Catholics who fought for the purity of the church. For this, they used 98 theses of Luther.

If we talk about the dogma of the Protestants, then their dogma is completely based on the dogma of the Catholic Church. And the dogma of the Catholic Church is the decree of the Ecumenical Councils. Protestants fully recognize the authority of the decrees of Ecumenical Councils and follow this creed. Even an illiterate person in religion will notice that Catholics and Protestants (European) have all church holidays on the same day. In Russian Protestantism, church holidays are celebrated twice - once in Catholic, another time in Orthodox. On the basis of this, they have a lot of disagreements, but still the authority of the Catholic dogma is more influential than the authority of Orthodoxy. The dogma of Russian Protestants is the same as that of European ones, because Russian Protestants appeared on the basis of the missionary activity of European Protestants. Accordingly, they fully support their dogma.

The Luther Thesis Myth

Justification by faith - this is what lies at the heart of Protestantism. But, excuse me, the same statement is made by Catholics and Messianic Jews. Why? because it is written in the Bible.

Luther did not pursue the goal of proving to one of his co-religionists that justification by faith is not recognized in Catholicism. All Catholics have known this truth and know it. Once again, it should be emphasized that with careful and focused reading, you will not see what modern Protestants are talking about.

Subsequently, when in Europe the Protestant power exceeded the power of the Pope, the Protestant politicians painted the image of Luther and his appeal, which was beneficial for the Protestant movement. What was this for? To destroy the authority of the Pope. The less authority the Pope has, the more the movement of Protestant Catholics will gain new supporters. And to this day, in the minds of Protestants, Luther is a man of kind soul. However, as history shows, Luther was a cruel dictator and tyrant. But the Protestant politicians hide this, so that Luther would be an ideal in the minds of every Protestant, because Luther is the father of the Reformation. Well, what is the reformation, we already understand - this is an improvement on existing ones. And the difference between Catholics and Protestants is the lack of official status of the Pope and the adoption of Luther’s teachings as set out in his theses.

What is the difference between the Catholic faith and the Protestant

Protestantism is one of the three main Christian religions. Separating the main features of a developed religion, i.e. Believing in God, the immortality of the soul, the supernatural and afterlife, supernatural revelation, etc., Protestants, like Catholics and Orthodox, imagine God as a triune god-father, god-son and god-holy spirit. They identify Jesus Christ with the second person of this Trinity. All Protestants believe in the inspiration of the Bible.
Distinctive features of Protestantism.
However, Protestantism has its own characteristics that distinguish it from Orthodoxy and Catholicism. The most important of these features are salvation by personal faith, the priesthood of all believers, and the exclusive authority of Scripture. Scripture is the sole and exclusive source of creed. The Bible must be translated into local languages. The independent reading and interpretation of the Bible is the responsibility of every believer. The authority of Tradition in matters of faith is denied.
In contrast to Catholicism and Orthodoxy, Protestantism believes that the uncanny ability to communicate with God is inherent not only to the clergy, but also to all Christians, regardless of whether they are lay or priests. From this follows the Protestant principle of the priesthood of all believers. And people owe this supernatural ability only to their personal, inner faith in Christ and in his atoning mission. From this follows another Protestant principle, closely associated with the first - the principle of salvation by personal faith. The Protestants broke with the Catholic sacred tradition - the totality of the decrees of church councils and Roman high priests (popes) - and returned to Scripture.
From these main features of Protestantism follow all its other features. The uniform hierarchical structure of the church and the supreme authority of the pope, i.e. in Protestantism there is no church hierarchy. The democratic structure of the church is built from bottom to top on the foundation of the general meeting of all church members, where everyone can take part in the discussion of both material and theological issues. Communities, or congregations, of believers are autonomous in decision-making and activity, they are governed by consistories elected by the general meeting for a certain period of time (pastor, deacon and lay elders (elders)). The provincial consistories send delegates to the regularly convened provincial synod. Protestantism equalizes all people before God: everyone is equally sinful before him. The difference between them is only that some have more, and others less ability to blind faith. This ability is not directly dependent on their position on the church stairs. Therefore, the Protestants do not recognize the pope as an advantage in matters of faith over the ordinary Catholic and believe that a good Catholic layman is better than a bad pope.

Confessional features of Catholicism.Throughout the first millennium, the main Christian denominations had a common history. The most prominent theologians of that era, called the fathers of the church (Vasily the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Gregory of Nyssa, John Chrysostom, Ambrose the Mediolansky, Jerome, Augustin, Leo the Great and others), preached in Rome, Constantinople and Jerusalem. However, approximately in the IV century. Serious differences appeared between the Christianity of the West and the East, which eventually led to the separation of churches.

The word "Catholic" comes from Greek. "Katholikos" - "comprehensive", "universal", "universal", already in ancient times designated one of the most important attributes of the church of Christ. This is exactly the word “katholikos" understood and translated by Catholic theologians in the Nicene-Constantinople Creed (325-381): "I believe ... in the universal Church." Later, when the distinction between the western and eastern ways of Christianity was realized, the name "Catholicism" was assigned to the western church. Catholicism has a monolithic doctrine, unique to all its followers and set forth in the "Catechism of the Catholic Church."

The Catholic, or Roman Catholic Church, according to the faith of its followers, is a church founded and headed by Jesus Christ, which he intended for all mankind to save him and in which there is all the fullness of the means of salvation (the correct and complete confession of faith, the performance of all church sacraments , priestly ministry according to ordination according to apostolic succession). According to Catholics, Jesus Christ governs the church through the pope and bishops, and ensures the infallibility (infallibility) of the pope. Catholics acknowledge that the Pope is also a man, and therefore can sin, and even acknowledge that some popes behaved inappropriately. The Catholic dogma of infallibility lies in the fact that thanks to the help of God, the Pope of Rome is not mistaken, but only when the final decision proclaims the position of the doctrine of faith and morality.

The Catholic Church takes the beginning of its history to the community of apostles (12 closest disciples of Christ). The successors of the apostles are bishops. The Catholic Church teaches that Jesus Christ entrusted the apostle Peter with a special role - to be the foundation and shepherd of the whole church. Jesus himself said to Peter: "And I tell you: you are Peter, and on this stone I will create My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail over it." St. Peter preached in Rome and suffered martyrdom there in 67 during the persecution of Christians by the emperor Nero. The bishops of Rome (Pope) are considered the successors of the work of the Apostle Peter. After the church split in 1054, the Pope remained the supreme hierarch of the Catholic Church.

The center of the Catholic Church is in Rome. Within the city of Rome, the Vatican is located - the smallest state in the world where the residence of the Pope is located. The Catholic Church is currently the largest Christian denomination. The number of Catholics exceeded one billion, which is more than half of all Christians. The number of Catholic parishes in the world exceeded 200 thousand.

Distributed throughout the world, the Catholic Church is a single global organism, uniting citizens of various states. One of the principles of Catholic morality is loyalty and respect for state power in their country, compliance with its laws, if they do not contradict moral standards, concern for the well-being and development of their people and their country. The Catholic Church has always upheld the highest dignity of man regardless of his economic and social status, nationality, color, religion, gender: all people are created in the image and likeness of God; for each of them Christ gave his life.

The Catholic Church considers abortion to be murder and categorically condemns them, condemns suicide and euthanasia, rejects human cloning as an unacceptable manipulation of human life. Homosexuality is also rejected and traditional family values \u200b\u200bare defended.

The hierarchy of the Catholic Church.   The hierarchy of the Catholic Church dates back to the apostolic times of the ancient church. Three levels of priesthood can be distinguished: bishops, priests, and deacons. Joining the church hierarchy results from the sacrament of the priesthood. However, a special role in governance belongs to the bishop of Rome, the Pope. The official title of the Pope is as follows: bishop of Rome, viceroy of Jesus Christ, successor to the prince of the apostles, high priest (or high pontiff) of the Ecumenical Church, primate of Italy, archbishop and metropolitan of the Roman province, monarch of the Vatican city state. Central to his ministry is the preaching of the word of God. Pope speaks to believers during Sunday services, overseas trips, and every Wednesday, to pilgrims staying in Rome.

In 1978, the Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyła, who took the name John Paul II, was elected pontiff. He made a significant contribution to strengthening peace and expanding dialogue between religions and civilizations. After the death of John Paul II in 2005, German cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who took the name Benedict XVI, was elected to the post of Catholic head.

The Catholic Church consists of local churches, which are dioceses, the borders of which, as a rule, coincide with the borders of countries or administrative units within states. Several dioceses constitute a metropolitanate (church province), headed by a bishop with the rank of metropolitan. There is also a conference of bishops that is authorized to resolve many issues concerning the Catholic Church in a given country. The basis of the local church is the parish, which the priest takes care of - the parish rector, who reports to the bishop. Most often, a parish gathers believers of the same locality. Deacons help bishops and priests, their activity is especially important where there are not enough priests. Members of the church hierarchy make up the clergy (clergy), while simple believers are called laity.

Most Catholics belong to the Latin rite. In addition, the Catholic Church includes eastern Catholic churches with the status of sui iuris (self-government).

Features of the rites in the Catholic Church. The Church performs liturgical actions, the most important of which are the sacraments - visible signs of God's invisible grace. Sacraments are the actions established by Jesus Christ for the benefit and salvation of people. The Catholic Church, like the Orthodox Church, recognizes seven sacraments: baptism, anointing (or confirmation), the Eucharist, repentance (confession), blessing, priesthood and marriage.

According to the Catholic doctrine, the sacrament is performed by none other than Jesus Christ, it is only carried out through the mediation of an earthly servant ¬ bishop or priest.

Christian worship arose in the first centuries of Christianity from the need for joint prayer. The main worship in the Catholic Church is the Mass. The word "mass" is a slightly modified Latin word missa, originally designating the last moment of service, when a priest lets people go in peace. The Vatican Council II (1962-1965) became the most important event in the renewal of church life. Along with various problems of church life, the issue of worship was also discussed. It was decided that the mass can be served not only in Latin, but also in the native language of the faithful. The text of the service became clear to every parishioner. The role of scripture has grown.

During worship services, the organ usually accompanies the singing of choristers and parishioners. Unlike Orthodoxy, the Catholic Mass is served not only on Sundays and holidays, but also on weekdays. For Catholics, participation in the Mass on Sunday, the day of the Lord, and during solemn services in honor of the Nativity of Christ, Epiphany, Easter and other holiday dates, is considered mandatory.

In the Catholic Church, worship can be performed outside the temple. If necessary, any services are held in an ordinary house, any table is used as an altar. This practice is widespread in places where there are few temples. Today, in many countries, open-air worship is also not uncommon, especially during pilgrimages or if the temple cannot accommodate all worshipers.

Spirituality in Catholicism.   There is monasticism in the Catholic Church. But, as a rule, this name applies to the life of not only individuals, but also to the community. Monasticism originated in Egypt in the 3rd century, and Saint Anthony the Great is considered its founder. The original form of monasticism was hermitism. Monasticism has become an important factor in Christian life and has found numerous followers in the West and in the East.

Now monks, taking vows of chastity, poverty (non-possessiveness) and obedience, play a special role in the Christian life. Monks are united in orders or congregations that are governed by their own charters. The most famous were the following monastic orders: Benedictines (founded in the 5th century by St. Benedict), Franciscans (founded in the 13th century by St. Francis of Assisi), Dominicans (or the Order of Preachers, founded in the 13th century by St. Dominic), Jesuits (or the Society of Jesus , founded in the 16th century by St. Ignatius of Loyola). All of the above orders are still preserved in the Catholic Church. There are both male and female monasteries.

The Catholic Church adopted the dogma of the Assumption and Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. Catholics venerate images of Jesus Christ, the cross, and saints. In this case, only prayer in front of the icon is allowed, and not prayer in the icon. Prayers are accepted for the dead, and there is also faith in the judgment of the dead (preceding the last, the Last Judgment) and in purgatory, where the dead are cleansed of their sins.

The main holidays are Easter (the date changes annually, and rarely coincides with Orthodox Easter, as Catholics use the Gregorian calendar) and Christmas (December 25).

Saints and blessed are venerated, they are prayed to them as intercessors before God. The most revered saints and blessed ones, except the Virgin Mary, include Joseph, Peter and Paul, Luke, Ignatius of Antioch, Agnia, Agatha, Lucius, Francis of Assisi, Monica, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Teresa of Avila, Catherine of Siena, John Bosco, Teresa Malaya as well as Padre Pio, mother Teresa of Calcutta and others.

Starting from the 4th century Pilgrimages, veneration of sacred images (icon veneration), relics (remains of saints), and relics (objects related to the life of Jesus Christ or saints) became common forms of Christian spirituality. One of the most precious and most revered relics of the Catholic Church to this day is the Shroud of Turin, in which the body of the deceased Jesus was wrapped before he was put in the tomb. Believers make pilgrimages to holy places, for example, to Jerusalem, Rome, Lourdes (France), Fatima (Portugal), Santiago de Compostella (Spain), etc.

At all times, the Catholic Church sought not only to transmit the teachings of Christ, but also to apply it to the living issues of our time. In the XIX-XX centuries. the social teaching of the Catholic Church, that is, the official teaching on social life, was developed. The basic principles of this teaching are respect for human dignity and the pursuit of the common good. Labor plays a huge role in human life, but man should not be enslaved by his labor: he must have time for rest, family, cultural, social and religious life.

Of particular importance in the activities of the Catholic Church was the care of the poor, including the sick, wanderers and prisoners. Nowadays, charity is actively developing in the activities of the international organization Caritas. Among the modern ascetics of Catholic charity, the world-famous mother Teresa from Calcutta, who became the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Prerequisites for the reform of the Protestant church.   The third large variety of Christianity, along with Catholicism and Orthodoxy, is Protestantism. Protestant are called churches that arose during the broad religious and social movement of the 16th-17th centuries, known as the Reformation (from the Latin reformatio - transformation, correction).

The Reformation laid the foundation for the formation of dozens of Protestant movements operating in different countries and regions. Today, Protestantism is the most influential religion in the United States, Germany, Britain, Switzerland, Canada, Australia and many other countries.

The origin of Protestantism was the internal processes that took place in the Catholic Church. The Reformation began as a process of correcting the creed and returning to the original ideals of Christianity. Leaders of the movement condemned the immoral behavior and abuse of Catholic priests and called on their followers to restore the principles of the church of the time of Jesus.

Many reasons contributed to the change in religious consciousness in Western Europe. In the XVI century. there is a rise in the economy and trade, cities are growing. This contributed to the desire for independence of states that were dependent on papal authority. The rulers of the principalities scattered throughout Europe did not want to give their wealth to Rome and transfer money.

Society has come to a new understanding of man as an individual, free in his actions and judgments. Humanism elevated the person as the highest creation of God, and the spread of literacy contributed to the fact that more and more people received in-depth knowledge about the teachings of Christianity and realized that the ideals and principles of their religion were at variance with reality.

The Catholic Church, according to many, has departed from its teaching on the equality of people. Moreover, religious practice of the era contributed to the disappointment of society in the church. It was no secret to anyone that the clergy was mired in matters that did not meet elementary moral standards. Religious activities became more and more formal. Widely practiced the sale of indulgences - documents of absolution. Church posts were openly sold, the authority of many monasteries and clergymen fell significantly.

Long before the start of the Reformation (back in the XIV-XV centuries), an English theologian John Wycliffe (1320-1384) and rector of the University of Prague in the Czech Republic Jan Hus (1369-1415) came forward with calls to return to true Christian principles.

John Wycliffe condemned the requisitions from the Catholic clergy and opposed the institution of monasticism. He believed that the church should not forgive sins and betray indulgences. He also argued that believers should be given the right to read and interpret the Bible on their own. The Holy See condemned the views of Wycliffe and decided to burn his books.

Similar ideas were expressed by Jan Hus, who condemned the secular power of the papacy and the sale of church posts. He called for the reorganization of the church to be modeled on the communities of the early Christians and to significantly change the sacraments and other rituals. For his ideas, Hus was declared a heretic and excommunicated, then he was burnt alive at the stake.

Although the Catholic Church condemned Wycliffe and Hus, their ideas spread and received support throughout Europe. The centers of the anti-Catholic movement became Germany and Switzerland.

Sermon by Martin Luther. The reformation. The most odious manifestation of the formalization of a religious cult and the desire of the church for enrichment was, according to many believers, the trade in indulgences. The Reformation began with the appearance of the German monk Martin Luther (1483-1546) against the sale of indulgences. On October 31, 1517, Luther hung on the door of the cathedral in Wittenberg his famous 95 theses, which became the first manifesto of the new movement. In the 32nd thesis, Luther wrote: "He who believes that indulgences provide his salvation will be forever condemned with his teachers." He also stated that the Pope did not have the right to remit sins, since he was not given such power. He called the actions of priests a violation of the gospel covenants. The Catholic Church accused the rebellious monk of heresy, but he refused to stand trial, and in 1520 he publicly burned a papal bull that excommunicated him.

In the further development of his teaching, Luther rejected the mediation of the clergy in the work of saving the soul, refusing to recognize the papal authority and all decisions emanating from it. Rejecting Holy Tradition, Luther urged Christians to return to the traditions of the early church and rely only on the authority of Scripture, that is, the Bible.

In the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church allowed only priests to read and comment on the Bible, and its text was published exclusively in Latin. Also in Latin, divine services were performed. Luther translated the Bible into German, and each believer got the opportunity to get acquainted with its text and give its interpretation.

Luther's ideas gained wide popularity throughout Germany. On his side stood the heads of many German principalities. In 1526, the Reichstag gathered in the town of Speer, uniting the monarchs of all Germany, then divided into large and small states. The Reichstag adopted a decree on the right of every prince to choose a religion for himself and his subjects. However, in 1529, the second Speerovsky Reichstag, most of whose members were Catholics, overturned this decree. In response, the 5 princes and 14 imperial cities that supported Luther’s doctrine constituted the so-called “Protest” - a protest against the decision adopted by the majority of the Reichstag. The origin of the term "Protestantism" is connected with this event, which designates all areas of Christianity leading the beginning of its history from the Reformation.

After 1530, the persecution of Protestants by the Catholic Church intensified. Only in 1555, Emperor Charles V (Catholic) signed a peace agreement with the Protestant princes, which proclaimed the principle "whose country, that and the religion." Proceeding from it, the ruler was now free to choose the religion that his subjects should adhere to. As a result, Germany split into two camps - Catholic and Protestant. Lutheranism was supported mainly by the principalities in the north of the country, Catholicism dominated in the south.

Further development of the Reformation.   The Reformation very soon went beyond the borders of Germany. Rallies for the transformation of the church began in Switzerland, France, Poland, the Scandinavian countries. The largest Reformation centers in Switzerland were the cities of Geneva and Zurich. Here theologians Jean Calvin (1509-1564) and Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) spoke in sermons for a radical transformation of the structure of the church. In England, the initiators of the Reformation were the ruling elites who wanted to get rid of the power of the Pope.

Protestantism since its inception has been divided into a number of independent religions. Lutheranism is emerging in Germany, Calvinism in Switzerland, and Anglicanism in England. These trends are called "early or primary Protestantism." Subsequently, a large number of new currents and sects arose, quite different from each other. Some of them, including Baptism, Methodism, Adventism, became quite influential and gained millions of followers. These movements are called "late Protestantism."

Features of the creed of Protestantism.Despite all their diversity, the following general principles of dogma are characteristic of Protestant movements.

The only source of creed is the Bible (Scripture). The authority of Holy Tradition (decisions of Ecumenical Councils, documents of popes and other church patriarchs) is rejected. Each believer not only has the right, but is also obliged to independently read the Bible and understand its contents. The Bible can be translated into local languages.

According to the teachings of Protestantism, salvation is achieved only by faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. All other ways to achieve salvation (ceremonies, fasts, charitable deeds, etc.) are considered insignificant.

The mediation of the church in the relationship between man and God is rejected. Based on this, it is recognized that for salvation the church hierarchy and priests are not needed. Thus, in Protestantism there is no division into laity and clergy.

Most Protestants recognize only two sacraments: baptism and communion. Other sacraments are considered simple rites. In reformed churches there is no worship of saints, veneration of icons, sculptural images. Protestantism rejects the Catholic doctrine of purgatory, celibacy (celibacy) of the clergy and the institution of monasticism.

The main directions of Protestantism. Protestantism is a broad religious movement that has brought to life many directions and trends. The process of formation of new Christian churches, which began in the 16th century, continues to this day. Each of the currents formed independent organizational structures; they have quite significant differences in the understanding of dogma. Let us consider in more detail the largest Protestant trends.

Lutheranism.Historically, the term "Protestants" was applied to Lutheranism. The Evangelical (Lutheran) Church was formed during the Reformation under the influence of the ideas of Martin Luther. The foundations of the creed are set forth in the book Augsburg Religion. The main principles of Protestantism found their embodiment in this work: justification by personal faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, achievement of salvation without the mediation of the church, the source of creed - only the Bible, the abolition of monasticism and worship of saints and their relics, etc. The Lutheran Church recognizes all three Ecumenical Articles of Faith (Apostolic, Nikeo-Constantinople, Afanasyevsky).

In Lutheran dogma and cult practice, many elements inherited from Catholicism have been preserved. The followers of Luther recognize two sacraments: baptism and communion, and baptism, like Catholics and Orthodox, infants. The five other sacraments traditional for Catholicism and Orthodoxy are regarded as simple rites: confirmation, marriage, unction, ordination (consecration), and confession are attributed to the clergy. In the Lutheran church there is a clergy whose function is to organize religious life, preach the Holy Scriptures, and perform the sacraments. Bishops and other clergy are distinguished by their special attire. Most often this creed is widespread in Germany, the USA, Austria, Hungary, and the Scandinavian countries.

According to available sources, the first Lutherans appeared in our country as far back as the 19th century. The first communities were created in Aktyubinsk, Petropavlovsk, Akmola. After the Stalinist repressions, the first Lutheran community was registered by official bodies in Kazakhstan in 1955.

Calvinism.   Calvinism, like Lutheranism, is one of the early directions of Protestantism. The decisive role in its formation was played by the concept of Jean Calvin (1509-1564), which he tried to put into practice in Geneva. On the basis of Calvinism formed the Reformed and Presbyterian churches.

Calvinism is considered one of the most radical areas of Protestantism. Of great importance here is the doctrine of predestination, according to which God chose some people to eternal bliss, others - to perdition. Calvin taught that the life of every person should not be understood as pleasure, but as fulfillment of a duty and movement towards a goal set from above.

In Calvinism there is no universally binding creed; the Bible is considered the only source of creed. Such objects of worship as icons, candles, cross are not recognized. Baptism and communion are not understood as sacraments, but only as symbolic rites. Priests (pastors and elders - elders) are elected from among the members of the community.

Calvinism is widespread in Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Germany and the USA.

Anglican Church. In 1534, the English Parliament declared the independence of the church from the Pope and declared the head of the church of King Henry VIII. In England, all the monasteries were closed, and their property was confiscated in favor of the royal power. But at the same time, Catholic rites and dogmas were preserved. In 1571, Parliament adopted a document called “39 Articles,” which became a symbol of faith for the Church of England. On its basis, Anglicanism was formed as an independent current of Protestantism.

Like other Protestant movements, Anglicanism rejects Holy Tradition, and Scripture is considered the primary source of doctrine. The head of the church is the English monarch.

Anglicanism is a kind of compromise doctrine that combines the features of Protestantism and Catholicism. Thus, the provision on salvation by personal faith is valid along with the provision on the salvific role of the church. Priests are considered mediators between man and God, the church hierarchy with the episcopal system is preserved. Divine services in their form are close to Catholic masses.

The spiritual leader of the Anglicans of Great Britain is the Archbishop of Canterbury, appointed by the British monarch. In addition to England, independent Anglican churches exist in Scotland, the USA, Canada, Australia and other countries.

Baptism   The first Baptist communities arose at the beginning of the 17th century. in England and Holland. The name of this teaching is connected with the Greek word “baptizo” - to immerse in water, to baptize. The basis of the doctrine of Baptism is the Bible. Faith in Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice is considered a sufficient basis for salvation. Only the one whom God has chosen believes. A special place among the Baptists is occupied by the doctrine of "spiritual regeneration" that occurs under the influence of the Holy Spirit entering into a person, which means the unity of the spirit of every believer with Jesus Christ.

Baptism and communion in Baptism are not understood as sacraments, but as symbolic rites of spiritual union with Christ. Baptism is seen as an act of spiritual rebirth of a person. Therefore, this rite has a number of features. Only adults (over 16 years old) who consciously turn to faith can be baptized. Before baptism, a person must undergo a probationary period within a year.

Baptists recognize only those common Christian holidays that are associated with the biography of Jesus Christ: Christmas, Baptism, Resurrection, etc. They also have their own holidays, such as Harvest Festival, Unity Day. Missionary occupies a significant place in religious life: each believer must bring his relatives, friends, colleagues, and neighbors into the community.

Ritual and cult practice in Baptism is modest and simple. The house of prayer is not much different from ordinary secular premises, there are also no objects of worship. Baptists gather for prayer meetings two to three times a week. During the meetings, a sermon is usually sounded, fragments from the Bible are read, religious songs are performed.

Baptism is one of the most common areas of Protestantism in the world, including in Kazakhstan. In our country, there are more than 350 Baptist associations.

Adventism.   The religious movement of Adventists (from the Latin. Adventus - coming) stood out from Baptism in the early 30s. XIX century in the USA. The founder of this church, William Miller, referring to the prophetic books of the Bible, predicted that the second coming of Jesus Christ is expected on March 21, 1843. The prophecy did not come true, and the date was postponed until next year.

In the end, Adventists refused to give the exact date of the second coming, claiming only that it was inevitable and would happen very soon. Miller’s followers believe that the world will soon be destroyed, after which a new earth will appear and the millennial kingdom of Jesus will be established. Unlike other areas of Christianity, Adventists do not consider the human soul to be immortal. According to their ideas, during the Last Judgment only the righteous, that is, the followers of Adventism, will be resurrected in body and soul.

There are several directions in Adventism. The most famous among them was Seventh-day Adventists. The founder of this church was Ellen White (1827-1915), who put forward a number of new conceptual provisions. In particular, she proclaimed the celebration of Saturday instead of Sunday and "sanitary reform." Like the Jews, Adventists consider Saturday the last, seventh day of the week and declare it a holiday, the day of God (hence the name of their direction). Work on Saturday is prohibited. As for the "sanitary reform", it involves caring not only for spiritual, but also for bodily preparation for the near coming of Christ. Therefore, believers are instructed to spend more time in the sun and fresh air, lead an active lifestyle, not eat meat of “unclean animals” (pork), as well as tea, coffee, alcohol, etc. It is forbidden to take many medicines.

Adventists only recognize baptism by adults, but unlike Baptists, adolescents from 12 years old are admitted to this rite. Followers of the community are active in missionary work.

As of January 1, 2013, there were 42 Seventh-day Adventist communities operating in Kazakhstan.

Pentecostalism.   Pentecostalism, which arose in the USA at the end of the 19th century, is another major area of \u200b\u200bProtestantism. According to the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles, which is part of the New Testament, on the fiftieth day after the death of Christ, the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles. As a result, they gained nine gifts: wisdom, knowledge, faith, the gift of healing, the ability to work miracles, prophesy, discern spirits, speak different languages \u200b\u200band interpret them.

Pentecostals believe that believers can gain the ability to prophesy and "speak in other languages." This is achieved with the help of a special cult practice, including long posts, isolation from the world, immersion in a trance. Pentecostal prayer meetings are held in an atmosphere of extreme excitement and religious exaltation. In a state of ecstasy, believers begin to mumble, scream, utter slurred phrases, which is interpreted as “speaking in tongues”. In the opinion of Russian religious scholars V. Ilyin, A. Karmin and N. Nosovich, “non-speaking” is the result of tremendous nervous excitement: this is a special form of hysterical seizure, the manifestation of which is speech activity in the absence of control on the part of consciousness ”.

Among Pentecostals in the early twentieth century. the so-called charismatic movement was born (its representatives are also called Pentecostals or Pentecostal reformists). Representatives of this movement are characterized by very emotional sermons. Any descent here can be understood as any, including uncontrolled manifestation of emotions, for example, loud laughter, tears, screams, etc. With regard to dogma, there are significant differences between the different directions of Pentecostalism.

The rapid rise of the charismatic movement in the West was noted in the 1960s. Thanks to active preaching, various branches of Pentecostal have spread throughout the world, including the United States, Latin America, Europe and the CIS countries.

In Kazakhstan, they have spread over the past two decades. Currently, 189 Pentecostal communities (Gospel Christians in the spirit of the apostles, the Union of Christians of the Evangelical Faith, etc.) and 55 Presbyterian communities operate in all regions of the country.

In addition to those discussed above, many other Protestant currents have formed in the world. Among them are Mennonites, Methodists, Quakers, etc. Some of them are so far away from traditional Christianity that among scholars and theologians there is a doubt whether they can be considered Christian movements. Such assessments relate, for example, to Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons.