some basics

Romans 10:9 (NLT)
For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

“Jesus is Lord” means, Jesus is God who died for our sins, raised from the dead, and rules in our lives. Christians are those who trust in these truths. Christians live out that trust by joining with Jesus in the work of reaching others for His Kingdom. Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants; all who trust in Christ, crucified, raised, and ruling now are brothers and sisters in the faith.

There you have the essence of Christianity.

Now, within the community of those who trust, there are many similarities and many differences. My purpose in making observations is not to say one thing is bad or good, it is just to clarify. Christians of the Orthodox traditions, please forgive my not including general obsevations from your perspective. I will post on that for another time. Everyone, I repeat, I am only giving very general views. Here are some basics.

Baptism
Roman Catholics and many Protestants baptize infants and young children as a sign of a family’s connection to the family of God. When these children reach an age of accountability, they declare their trust in Jesus publicly in a rite of affirmation of baptism, or confirmation.

Teenagers and adults who come to trust in Jesus at a later point in their lives are baptized, after a public acknowledgement of their trust.

Many other Protestants baptize a young person when they publicly declare their desire to be baptized. These Protestants would also rebaptize a person who was baptized as an infant, as a sign of faith being declared as their own. This coincides with the Roman Catholics and many Protestants affirmation of baptism or confirmation.

Holy Communion
Jesus left the gift of Holy Communion as a way for him to be present with his people in a visible way, and as a sign of forgiveness of sin. Roman Catholics trust that the bread and wine are miraculously changed into Christ’s body and blood. Many Protestants also trust Jesus is present in the bread and wine in a special way. Other Protestants believe that the bread and wine are reminders of Jesus’ death and resurrection, though it remains bread and wine.

The Bible
Protestants and Roman Catholics trust that the Bible is the Word of God. Roman Catholics interpret the Bible under the teaching authority of the Church. Protestants interpret the Bible under the guidance of leaders, though it can be said that ultimately the authority of the Bible speaks for itself.

For Protestants, the Bible is the 66 books, divided into the Old Testament ("Hebrew scriptures") and the New Testament, recognized early on by Church leaders as the Bible. For Roman Catholics, the Old Testament has seven more books added after the early Church formed the Bible. These books are recognized as helpful for teaching by some Protestants, but not on par with the Bible. These Protestants would call the extra books, “Apocrypha,” or “Intertestamental Writings.” Other Protestants would not recognize these books.