Doctrinal Differences Between Protestant And Roman Catholic Church

While a significant amount of doctrinal agreement exists between the Protestant and Roman Catholic church, several important differences remain, including scripture, justification, the sacraments, infallibility, purgatory, and Mary and the saints. In the following pages I will provide brief explanations, analyses, and insights based on three of these key doctrinal differences: scripture, infallibility, and justification. This is followed by a brief discussion of the key differences in Modern Catholic and Protestant worship as well as possible pastoral concerns for Protestants ministering to former Catholics in the their congregations.

Doctrinal Differences between Catholicism and Protestantism
Doctrine of Scripture One of the core theological
Vatican I pronounced that all faithful Christians must believe that “the Apostolic See and the Roman Pontiff hold primacy over the whole world, and the the Pontiff of Rome himself is the successor of the blessed Peter, chief of the Apostles, and is the true Vicar of Christ and head of the whole church and faith, and teacher of all Christians; and that to him was handed down in blessed Peter, by our Lord Jesus Christ, full power to feed, rule, and guide the universal Church, just as is also contained in the records of the ecumenical councils and in the sacred canons.” The first Vatican Council went on to affirm the infallibility of the Magisterium as well. It is important to note that papal infallibility is limited only to that which the Pope speaks ex cathedra (as official interpreter of faith and morals). This belief is rooted in the Catholic Church’s interpretation of John 21:15-17, Luke 22:31, Matthew 16:18, and John 11:49-52. It also grows out of the gradual ascendency of the Roman See in the early church beginning in the 4th century and increasing rapidly under Gregory the Great (A.D. 590-604). In the Catholic Church to reject this belief is to be excommunicated from the
First, there is a lack of scriptural support for the doctrine. The idea that Christ named Peter as the singular foundation of the church is a dubious interpretation of the passage. It is much more likely that Jesus views all of his Apostles as the foundations of the church and Peter himself referred to Christ as the cornerstone of the church. In addition, while the significance of Peter in the New Testament is clear, it offers no evidence that Peter enjoyed unique authority among the Apostles or in the early church and there is no direct reference to the idea of his infallibility. Finally, there is no evidence in the New Testament that Apostolic authority was passed on to anyone