Catholicism and Protestantism
Traditions Changed - The Authentic Christian Gospel

According to the Encyclopedia Britanica the difference between Catholic Christianity and Evangelical Christianity (Protestantism) is as follows:

    "Catholicism differs from other Christian churches and denominations in its beliefs about the sacraments, the roles of the Bible and tradition, the importance of the Virgin Mary and the saints, and the papacy."

Even the Encyclopedia Britanica admits that:
    "As a major branch of Christianity, Catholicism can be traced to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ in Roman-occupied Jewish Palestine about 30 CE. According to Catholic teaching, each of the sacraments was instituted by Christ himself. Catholicism also holds that Jesus established his disciple St. Peter as the first pope of the nascent church (Matthew 16:18). Centuries of tradition, theological debates, and the wiles of history have shaped Catholicism into what it is today."

What are Protestant Traditions?
    Evangelical Protestants traditionally criticize the Catholic Church for promoting the Traditions of Men. And even though Catholic doctrines are always backed up by scripture or, at least, can be deduced from Scripture, Protestants always label them as false.

    However, Protestants also have traditions, which were truly instituted by men and have either a very scant scriptural basis, or none at all. Of course, Protestants do not call them traditions, but generally refer to them as doctrines.

Protestant Traditions or Doctrines     Protestants also decided that, on their own authority, they could ignore or change any Christian traditions, no matter how long-held. if they either did not like them or no longer agreed with them.

    Protestant Traditions You Won’t Find in the Bible from Catholic Answers

Traditions changed by Protestants
    The Protestant Reformation?
  • Early in the 16th century, religious rebels calling themselves reformers, led by a Christian Monk Martin Luther, made a sacrilegious claim. They said they had discovered the true doctrine of Jesus Christ that had been suppressed for over One Thousand and Five Hundred Years! Claiming that the will of God Almighty could be surpressed was indeed sacrilegious!

    The Great Apostasy?
        These protesting rebels also made an additional wild claim that it was the Catholic Church which was responsible for this fifteen hundred year suppression of God's Truth since the original Christian faith and tenets had been taken over and replaced by the apostate church at some point in the dark ages.
        Many suppositions and versions of this conspiracy theory were offered over the following years, however no real evidence was ever found or presented to substantiate it. (This is why the claim is wild)

    A novel and reasonable doctrine?
        Luther eventually summed it all up by proposing a new religious doctrine, which he called Sola Fide (Salvation by Faith Alone). (For this we are to accept Luther's word alone)

        Luther's doctrine opposed both the teaching of our Savior also Luke 6:46 and the long-held Christian teaching that faith devoid of Charity 1 Corinthians 13:2 (Love) and good works (1 John 3:17 and James 4:17) is a dead faith.
    It is faith that is referenced, not jusification, What constitutes Faith, is the issue James 2:14-26

    • Luther then decided to create his own translation of the bible into German
  • In his translation of the New Testament into German, Martin Luther added the word "alone" (allein in German) to Romans 3:28. In Luther's translation it read - ("So now we hold, that man is justified without the help of the works of the law, alone through faith.")

    • Martin Luther changed the canon of the Old Testament
  • In his translation of the Old Testament, Martin Luther removed the deuterocanonical books and placed them between the New and Old testaments calling them 'Apocrypha'. Martin Luther said "These books are not held equal to the Scriptures, but are useful and good to read." These editions were performed and authorized by the self-proclaimed authority of Martin Luther alone.

    • Other long-standing Christian Traditions and Doctrines were over-turned.
  • Ignoring both the Apostle Paul's and Jesus Christ's words in the New Testament as recorded in 1 Corinthians 7:10-11 and Matthew 19:3-6, Martin Luther decided that it was morally and lawfully acceptable for married couples to divorce. Since then, nearly all Protestants hold that divorce is acceptable.

    • Luther was eventually joined by others in proposing new and false doctrines
  • John Calvin's doctrine of predestination held that only a relatively few persons would be saved and that it would have been "better for most people if they had never been born" since they are "predestined for damnation". This was opposed to both scripture 1 Timothy 2:3-4 and 2 Peter 3:9 and the position of the Catholic church which holds that "there is always hope as well as faith and love" and that "Salvation is open to every person willing to reach for it."
        St. Augustine, bishop of Hippo Regius stated as early as the 4th Century: "God created us without us: but he did not will to save us without us."     Differences of interpretation as well as what Martin Luther said about it is HERE.

    • King Henry VIII of England also rebelled and prosecuted the Church after being refused a divorce by the Pope
  • In 1541, after his separation from the Catholic Church, King Henry VIII of England issued an edict ordering a "uniform translation of the said Pater Noster", which effectively added the doxology "For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and for ever." to the end of the Lord's Prayer and also at the end of the scriptural verse Matthew 6:9-13 in the Bible. But even after the edict the changes were not universal in England.
        However, during the reign of Elizabeth I (from 1558 to 1603) and a resurgence to rid the Church of England from any Catholic vestiges, the Lord's Prayer was changed to include the doxology.
        Therefore, the Protestant King James in the year 1611 had an English bible version printed which reflected these changes as well as the changes Martin Luther made much earlier to the canon of the Old Testament.

    • The Protestants again amend the canon of the Old Testament
  • The British Foreign Bible Society excised the deuterocanonical books in 1804 that had been included in every King James Version bible edition since the first one in 1611.

    • What about Bible Only?
        From the above traditions, it has become crystal clear that the Protestant tradition/doctrine of Sola Scriptura has, over the years, become a mere convenience that Protestants can violate whenever it is to their advantage. Martin Luther began by adding a word to scripture when it was convenient for him and then he removed entire books from the Old Testament when that also suited him.
        Then the English monarchs decided they also could alter scripture when they decided it was advantageous for them. Beginning with King Henry VIII, through the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and ending with King James in 1611 they agreed to add words to scripture to suit their whims. Sola Scriptura obviously was no barrier for them any more than it was for Martin Luther. So they conspired to ignore it!

    History Denied!
        Now, to add insult to injury, most Protestants deny these changes were ever made by their leaders. They continue to attempt to change history by claiming that, if anyone changed scripture, it was the Catholic Church when they (The Council of Trent) added the deuterocanonical books to the bible.

        They assert this falsehood with a straight face because they either have no knowledge of the true history of the matter or they simply wish to perpetuate an old lie to make themselves look good. Let us hope it is the former.

        The fact is: that the Christian Bible always contained 73 books instead of only the 66 in the Protestant Bible. It one were to count the number of books in the Gutenberg Bible, the first printed Bible - many years before Luther's birth, they would find 73 books, not 66.

    The timeline of the Canon of the Christian Bible is as follows (in each instance all 73 books were included):
        Council of Rome (Pope Damasus 1.) A.D. 382
        Synod of Hippo A.D. 393
        Synod of Carthage A.D. 397
        Pope Innocent 1. A.D. 405 in a letter to Exsuperius, bishop of Toulouse
        Council of Carthage A.D. 419
        Reaffirmed at the Council of Florence (A.D. 1431-1449)
        Reaffirmed again, this time infallibly, at the Council of Trent (A.D. 1545-1563) To correct and oppose what was claimed by the Protestants.
    In every instance, the identified canon was identical to what the Catholic Bible contains today.

    There's Even More!
  • Breaking with a nearly 1900 year Christian tradition, a woman was ordained as a protestant minister in 1853, opening the floodgates to more and more protestant women being ordained, some even as bishops.
    Related: What the Early Church Believed: Women and the Priesthood

  • Contraception had been considered gravely sinful by all Christian churches until the Church of England's Lambeth Conference of 1930, which broke with Christian tradition by accepting contraception as morally correct.
    Belief in and adherence to these 'exceptions' is not universal in Protestantism. Some agree and some don't, even to the most basic Christian tenants, such as the necessity of Christian Baptism for salvation.

What is the bottom line?
    For all of this and much more, we have Luther's Protestant tradition of Scripture Alone to thank. A non-scriptural doctrine that has effectively separated Christians into opposing (occassionaly warring) camps and divided Christians into thousands of denominations, sects, and belief systems.

The Great Deception
    In the 16th century, Martin Luther claimed that God declares us justified when we accept Jesus as our savior and that we will never lose this justification, therefore we will be saved without any further act on our part. Luther also avowed that Sola Fide is the doctrine on which the church stands or falls.
    "However, Sola Fide is a novel invention of the 16th century. The Christian church did just fine without Sola Fide for 1,500 years. And the Christian church would do just fine if Sola Fide went away tomorrow, because no one in the Christian church ever taught that we were both justified and Once Saved, always Saved by their faith alone before Luther." Joe Heschmeyer

Nothing is Greater than Love
    While it is true that without faith it is impossible to please God Hebrews 11:6, it is also true that whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love 1 John 4:8 and it is also true even if a person has a great faith in God, but does not have love, he is nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:2 and Faith is never alone, it must work through Love (Christian Charity) Galatians 5:6.

The Authentic Christian Gospel
    Since doctrines and/or traditions are no more than man's interpretations of the will of God it must always come down not to what man wants but to what God wants.


     "Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:37-40, Mark 12:30-31 and Luke 10:27

    It is unfortunate that Protestants have one other faulty tradition,
that of self-commendation,
which is a premature and unwarranted anticipation of the Final Judgment,
which our Lord Jesus Christ alone will pass.
1 Corinthians 4:5 and 2 Corinthians 10:18


For more information see:


What we must believe

    The first thing we must believe, as Christians, is that our God, first and foremost, is a logical and rational God who gave us a logical and rational religion, which we call the Gospel (Good News)!

    Our God is the one who is the first cause of all things, who created not only the earth, which He found Good, but the entire universe. This is a universe that runs on logical, rational and beautiful natural laws that He also created, which hold everything together. Everyone who seeks this all-powerful, eternal creator will eventually find Him since He is simply the only One who IS.
    He who does not seek or believe in God must then subscribe to the belief in entropy, that all eventually regresses into essentially NOTHING!

In Addition
    "Catholics believe we are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8) through faith (Romans 3:26) working in love (Galatians 5:6, 1 Corinthians 13) and believe, along with the unanimous testimony of the Church Fathers, that the sacrament of baptism is the way that initial regeneration by "saving grace" comes to the Christian. This is why babies aren't excluded. Salvation is free, though bought at a price.
    From baptism onward, salvation is worked out in fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12) and 'he who endures to the end will be saved' " (Matthew 10:22). (Matt Nelson What Every Protestant Can't Not Know)