Part B

The Catholic Church and the Protestant Churches have many similarities and differences. One major difference is; the Catholic Church is based on the Bible, Tradition and good deeds, but Protestantism is only based on the Bible. Another difference is that in a Catholic Church to be baptised you have to be an infant, whereas in a Protestant Church age doesn’t matter necessarily but the important thing is that you are “born again” and understand what baptism symbolizes. Catholics believe that the only way to receive forgiveness is through personal repentance to the Pope or spiritual advisor. Protestantism believes to have forgiveness is to ask God to forgive you for sinning and Romans 10:9 ‘That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.’ Catholics believe that they are saved by grace, but also through the merits we obtain through good works acceptable to God. As in Orthodoxy, salvation should be seen as a process rather than a once only event. Protestants believe that Salvation is the free and unmerited gift of God to man. It is obtained by grace through faith in Christ alone. Through Christ's atoning sacrifice, we are rendered acceptable to God and judged righteous (justified) in his sight. Catholics and Protestants have many differences. Catholics also believe in a place called purgatory, a middle ground before heaven, praying to saints and worshiping the Virgin Mary (http://christianityinview.com/comparison.html).
Some similarities of the Catholic Church and Protestantism are that they both teach about the trinity, God the father, the son and the Holy Spirit. They both believe in Jesus and that he died on the cross and that He rose again. Jesus’ mother was Mary and that she had a virgin birth. Jesus lived a sinless life and is coming back (second coming), Heaven and Hell. The deity of Jesus and the execution brought about atonement (http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_capr.htm).
The two religions follow a different Bible. This is a big difference. The Christian Bible is made up of the Old Testament and the New Testament. There are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament, from Genesis to Revelations. The Catholic Bible is almost the same just that they added some extra books into the Bible.
The Catholic Church is very formal compared to Hillsong. The Catholic service consisted of everyone standing at the start and doing the crossing with your hands saying, “In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen”. The Pope would recite scripture and everyone would say it back. There are two parts to the mass. To receive communion you would have to line up in front of the Pope and put your hands out on top of one another. If you didn’t wish to partake in communion then you crossed your arms and he just blesses you. Lots of prayers were performed and everyone had to stand up lots. Some Hymns where sung. The church is very conservative compared to Hillsong. At Hillsong it seems that you have more freedom and a little less religious and structured.
The Catholic and Protestant Church’s have many differences but only a few similarities.