Differences between the Catholics and Pentecostals - Essay Example

Introduction Christianity is the most popular religion in the world with more than 70% of people claiming attachment to it. It began around two thousand years ago through Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and was sent by God to offer sacrifice for the sins that humankind had committed against Him. For a long time, Christianity was directly associated with Roman Catholic until 1700s when a revolutionary, Martin Luther, broke from the mainstream Catholic to form a section of Christian church which ended up being the current Pentecostal church. There are numerous differences and similarities between the Catholics and Pentecostals. Some are complicated and others are simple. In this paper, we are going to try to simplify those that are complicated for the sake of the understanding of those who have no Christian background. To begin with, we will look at the differences between the two Christian denominations (Peterson, para1). The first difference is that the Catholic Church (the Roman Catholic), the most popular catholic church in the world, apply the infallibility and the leadership of the Pope as their link with God. The Pope is the voice of God to the congregation. However, in the case of Pentecostals they do not have a specific person they look upon as their voice from God. Instead each group has a pastor as a spiritual leader and every member of the small group can be used as a voice of God to the rest of the members (Edwards, para4-6). The Catholics teach salvation through works and faith and they occasionally have to make confession to the priest who advices them on what to do to obtain mercy and forgiveness from God. None of Pentecostal groups requires its members to make any sort of confession, though some require confession of some kinds of sins before the congregation. In addition, Pentecostals do not believe that works are part of salvation but to them, salvation is through grace (Emberson, para1). Furthermore, Catholic worship style is very formal and highly structured. Nevertheless, for Pentecostals, worshipping is usually informal with a lot of dancing in the spirit, shouting, clapping of hands and various forms of enthusiastic displays. Another difference lies in the partaking of the Holy Communion. Roman Catholics believe in transubstantiation, whereby the elements of the unleavened bread and the wine miraculously become the body and blood of Jesus Christ and only the priest takes the cup. In the case of Pentecostals, they believe that bread and vine tree juice are the symbols of the body and blood of Jesus (Peterson, p118). Catholics have seven sacraments (holy moments) applicable in the life of a believer, namely Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Marriage, Ordination, Reconciliation/Confession and Anointing of the Sick. Pentecostals on the other hand have only two sacraments – these are Baptism and Eucharist. In Catholicism, the saints are very noble people in their faith and they deserve great honor and respect for their service to Christ. There is a misconception that Catholics pray to saints, but they ask them to pray for them just the way any Christian would ask another to pray for him/her. Even if the saint is dead, they believe that the saint is spiritually alive. Pentecostals do not believe that the saints can pray for them. They believe that only Christ can intercede for them to God the father. Catholics accord Mary, Mother of Jesus the greatest saint status. They believe that she was full of love for God and she did not commit sin (Immaculate Conception). Protestants on the other hand respect Mary as the mother of Jesus, but they believe that she sinned like any other person. In Catholic faith, there is a belief that immediately after Mary’s death, the resurrected body was taken to heaven (the Assumption). In most Pentecostals’ faith, Marys body was buried like the other people. Catholics believe in Purgatory as an experience and to them, heaven is for those who are fully open to God. If a person dies, God purges his/her sins that are left inside the body (Purgatory). Protestants do not accept this doctrine of purgation but believe that once one dies, his or her soul immediately goes to either heaven or hell (Emberson, para2). Catholics also believe that God does not speak to His people through Sacred Scripture alone, but that he also speaks through tradition: the daily life of the Church over a long period and he can never contradict Scripture. Pentecostals believe in sola scriptura- Scripture alone, although some of them (e.g. Anglicans) do value tradition. Catholics believe that the pope can make mistakes, but when he formally speaks about dogma and morals in the name of the whole Church, he is guided by the Holy Spirit and he cannot make mistakes. This has happened twice. Pentecostals do not accept infallibility of anyone and no one can speak for the church. In addition, to them, everyone is a sinner and he/she needs the grace of God for the forgiveness of sins. The above are the major doctrinal distinction between the Catholics and Pentecostals. There are other more differences, but these are related to human law, are not divine and may change. For example, Catholic priests of the Latin Rite may not be married and thy have the responsibility of choosing Church leaders and how the Church is governed The similarities of the two denominations are also many and they tend to revolve around their core foundation of faith in Jesus Christ as the son God and the power of the Holy Spirit. All believe that Jesus is the son of God and was sent by God to come on earth and die for the sins of human race. Both agree that Jesus was born of Virgin Mary and that he lived among men representing God in his teachings (Peterson, p154). The belief in life after death is common to both Catholics and Pentecostals. Both believe that they shall live again after death depending on their relationship with God when alive. Through Jesus Christ, there is forgiveness of sins and no one can enter with sins. Both also believe in the Bible as the Holy Book. They use this book as their guide in their Christianity life. The Bible has 66 chapters although the Catholics have extra chapters in their Bible. They hold this book as perfect and as having being God-inspired. Furthermore, both believe in both the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Trinity is another similar concept that the two share. They belief that God manifest himself in three forms but he is one: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit (Venter, p87) Both also teach that marriage is an unbreakable contract between a man and a woman. They highly discourage divorce and only permit it under unavoidable human weakness such as unfaithfulness or immorality. In some situations they permit remarriage. Conclusion Although the differences between the Catholics and Pentecostals outweigh the similarities, they both believe in the supremacy of God, the creator of earth and heaven. Most of the differences arise from their interpretation of the Holy Book. While Catholics tend to be more conservative and formal, Pentecostals tend to be more liberal. As Venter points out, their similarities revolve around Jesus Christ, the foundation of their faith, and their social lifestyle. Works cited Edwards L. (2006). Differences between the Pentecostals and Catholics. Retrieved 25 April 2010 from: http://misslink.org/chapel/askaminister/religion/catholic2.html Emberson, I. (2007). Five views of Eucharist. Retrieved 25 April 2010 from: http://christianityinview.com/comparison.html Peterson, A. et al. (2001). Christianity, Social Change and Globalization in the Americas. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. Thompson, D. (2005).Waiting For Antichrist: Charisma and Apocalypse in Pentecostal Church. London: Oxford University Press Venter, D. (2004). Engaging Modernity: Methods and Cases for Studying African Independent Churches in South Africa. Westport, England: Greenwood Publishing Group. Read More