Catholic vs Protestant comparison?

Question

How many sacraments are there?

What are they?

Does the bible support the sacraments, if so, what are those passages?

Answer 1

This is like saying man made religion vs the word of God!

Answer 2

Actually, the sacraments predate the Bible, as does Sacred Tradition.  There are 7 sacraments.

Baptism

Holy Communion

Reconciliation (confession)

Confirmation

Matrimony

Holy Oders

Annointing of the Sick

Scripture verses for each of the sacraments are listed here:

http://www.scripturecatholic.com/

Evangelical Protestants of the "low church" or non-denominational variety especially, oftentimes exhibit an antipathy to matter as a conveyor of grace (or "blessing"). In other words, they tend to deny the sacramental principle. This hearkens back to the Docetic heresy, with traces of Nestorianism and Donatism. Non-Catholic and non-Orthodox Christians frequently express the notion that matter is a step down, a "reduction" of Christ's Atonement: Matter vs. Spirit. Catholics (and Orthodox and many Anglicans and Lutherans) believe that the truth is quite the contrary, both prima facie and when examined in scriptural and reasoned depth.

The Incarnation, which made the Atonement possible, is the Event in salvation history which has raised matter to previously unknown heights. God took on human flesh! Given that all created matter was "good" in God's opinion from the start (Gen 1:25), and now is "glorified" further by the wonder of the Incarnation, why is it that such beliefs are still held? What is the scriptural basis? Most non-sacramental Protestants wouldn't deny the goodness of matter per se, but then their beliefs regarding sacraments are all the more puzzling.

Ritual and "physicality" were not abolished by the coming of Christ. Nor was the Atonement purely "spiritual." Quite the contrary! It was as physical as it could be, as well as obviously spiritual. Protestants speak much (or used to, anyway) of "the Blood," and rightly so (see Rev 5:9, Eph 1:7, Col 1:14, Heb 9:12, 1 Pet 1:2, 1 Jn 1:7, etc.). It was the very suffering of Jesus in the flesh, and the voluntary shedding of His own blood, which constituted the crucial, if not essential aspect of the Propitiatory Atonement. One can't avoid this. "By his bruises we are healed" (Is 53:5).

So it is curious that most Protestants appear to possess a distinct and pronounced presuppositional hostility to the sacramental idea of the Real Presence, flowing as it does so straightforwardly from the Incarnation and Crucifixion itself. To me, this smacks of an analogy to the Jewish and Muslim disdain for the Incarnation as an unthinkable (impossible?) task for God to undertake. They view the Incarnation in the same way as the majority of Protestants regard the Eucharist. For them God wouldn't or couldn't or shouldn't become a man. For evangelicals God wouldn't or couldn't or shouldn't become substantially, sacramentally present under the outward forms of bread and wine. I think the dynamic is the same. And I think that if any bias must be present going into a study of the Eucharist, it ought to be in favor of a material, Real Presence standpoint, for the following scriptural reasons:

http://socrates58.blogspot.com/2006/12/s...

Answer 3

Catholics believe the 7 sacraments (baptism, confirmation, confession, communion, matrimony, holy orders, and anointment of the sick) are requisite for salvation, while protestants believe only repentance and faith in Jesus are necessary.

While I'm sure Catholics have scriptures on hand to support the practice of the Sacraments, there is NOTHING in the Bible that says they are required to be accepted into God's Kingdom.

Answer 4

As a Protestant about to become a Catholic I say there are seven sacraments just like all the other early Churches have (not just Catholics but Orthodox, Coptic, Armentian, Nestorian). Protestants are not one body and would have varying answers to that, some closer and some further from the original answer 7. The Bible does support these sacraments. But so does Tradition which came before the Bible and actually is what decided what would be in the Bible. Sacrament just means a vessel for Grace. There are seven institutionalized Sacraments in the Church but Grace can flow from other things as well. Marriage is a unity between two people and is blessed by God's Spirit, Communion is a unity with God described at the last supper, Baptism is described, Annointing of the Sick is described in the Bible, Confession is described various times, Priestly orders is described in the letters, Confirmation is a tradition that goes back before the Bible so I don't think it matters that it wasn't mentioned. Maybe it was but I don't know.

Answer 5

7 Catholic sacraments:

Eucharist, Baptism, Confirmation, Matrimony, Holy Orders, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick.

Most Protestant denominations only recognize Baptism and Communion.

Yee-Hah!

The Marlboro Man

Answer 6

7

Baptism Becoming part of the body of Christ. "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (cf. Matthew 28:19

Reconciliation: Forgiveness of sins against God. Jn 20:22-23 And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.

2 Corinthians 5: 17-20 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

Eucharist: Accepting the Body and Blood of Christ in remembrance of His sacrifice Matthew 26:-28While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."  Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.  This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

John 6:53 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

Confirmation: Your say in becoming part of the Church. Acts 8:14-17 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who went down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for it had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them and they received the holy Spirit.

Holy Orders: When someone is accepted into the clergy. Bishops: 1Timothy 3:1-7 3:1

    Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.  He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.  He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap.

Titus 1:7-9 1:7

    Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless--not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. (overseer and bishop come from the same Greek word)

Matrimony: MarriageThere's a lot of info with Bible stuff here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_v...

Anointing of the Sick: When you are absolved from all your sins when you are sick. James 5: 14-15 5:14

    Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

Matthew 10:8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

Luke 10:8-9 "When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.'

Mark 6:13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.  

Answer 7

Marriage? IDK...I'm not Catholic.

The Bible doesn't call them sacraments but some of them are supported I think... Like I believe (not sure) some things the Catholics call sacraments are like Marriage (biblically supported), Communion (biblically supported), Baptism (biblically supported but not infant baptism, so this one they messed up a bit), Conformation (not Biblically supported as far as I know), Annointing of the Sick (Biblically supported)... I don't know the rest.

Some of the ways they do these things is very unbiblical but the concepts are biblical. Some of them have no biblical bases.

Answer 8

http://www.acts1711.com/jesus2a.htm

Answer 9

"Sacraments" is an invented word, "ordinances" as given by Jesus Himself, is a much better term.

The Bible supports two "ordinances" only, Baptism (by immersion is the only fully-implied example in the Bible) which was practiced.  Sprinkling was never spoken of in the Bible.

The Lord's Supper is the other.  Of itself, it has no virtue, but is simply a time to remember Jesus' death until He returns (Luke 22:19, 1 Corinthinans 11:24).

Answer 10

Protestants don't believe you need a man made bridge to God (priest) Sacraments are Catholic traditions kind of based on biblical events. Old catholic church there were seven now I think there are only six. (Man made rules change!

Answer 11

You really can't compare Catholicism with Protestants in general.  For instance: The Episcopal church is very much like the Catholic church with a few twists (I was raised Episcopalian), Fundamentalist churches are entirely bible based and not based on tradition, Methodists are also entirely bible based but not the same as fundamentalists, and at the waaaaaay other end of the spectrum from the Episcopal church are the Unitarians.  All protestants are not the same.

Answer 12

The Catholic sacraments are baptism, communion/eucharist, confirmation, anointing of the sick, reconciliation/confession, marriage and holy orders.

Baptism is easy to explain. It's usually done in infancy, or in adults who are coming into the church who have either not been baptized before or have been baptized in the Mormon or Jehovah's Witness churches.

Holy Communion or the Eucharist is a sacrament we are encouraged to take part in at least weekly.

Confirmation is the final step in entering into the church. One makes their profession of faith. We usually do it at 15 or 16.

Reconciliation or confession is just that. We confess our sins to a priest, and the priest absolves us of our sins. We are required to do this once per year, during Lent, though we are encouraged to do so often as possible, and we are not to take communion with a mortal sin on our souls.

The anointing of the sick is done by a priest. He goes and visits the sick person, blesses them with the Oil of the Sick, and gives them communion.

Marriage is just what it is everywhere else, a union of a man and a woman.

Holy orders are not for everybody. They are for those who wish to dedicate their lives to the church. Holy orders ordain men as deacons, priests, bishops, and even the pope takes his own set! Women take holy orders when they enter a convent and become a nun.

There is plenty of Biblical support for the sacraments. Here are some verses.

Juke 23:39-43, Acts 2:38, Matthew 26:26, Mrk 14:24, John 6:53-58, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 16:15, 1 Corinthians 1:16, Matthew 18:18, John 20:23, 2 Corinthians 2:10, Acts 2:38, Matthew 19:12, 1 Corinthians 7:32-35, 38, Galatians 3:28, Luke 2:51