Is the Church of England Catholic or Protestant?

[willman]

protestants don't care where they go when they die. catholics inherently do.

[Swan_Vesta]

Thanks to Captain Swing and Timo for the explanation. Yet another of life's mysteries unravelled

[themagicwand]

In response to the original question, I was going to say "Don't they teach anything in schools anymore?".

 

I do, however, realise that I have no idea who the poster is and what schools he may have gone (or indeed be going) to.

 

The difference between the Holy Roman Church and the Church of England is fundemental to the history of this country and it is important for anyone interested in modern society to understand how this came about and the knock-on effects ever since.

 

As the original poster, I would like to point out in my defence that throughout my school life I was taught that the C of E was protestant. However in my later life I later discovered that while Henry 8th formed the C of E, it was Elizabeth 1st who "tagged on" the protestant bit just so the C of E had some values. Up to that point it had only had the common prayer book upon which to base its faith.

 

I'm now married and my father-in-law is a C of E vicar. I was amazed to hear him slagging off Ulster protestants, and calling himself an English catholic. On my rare excursions into his library I have noted weighty tomes with titles such as "The Anglo-Catholic Tradition". Suddenly my confidence that the C of E was protestant was shaken to the core - hence my original posting.

 

Yes, they still do teach things at school (at least they did in the 1970's when I was attending), but judging by the depth and complexity of some of the replies it seems that what is/was taught in schools is not 100% correct. I would deduce that the C of E can be protestant, or it can be catholic, or it can be both depending upon what you want from it. It seems to be a truly broad church. Hence my subsequent posting about supporting either Celtic or Rangers or both.

[Yellowrose]

The Church of England is the catholic church with a small 'c'. The church in England was Catholic until Henry VIII brought about the reformation due to wanting a divorce. The rituals are very similar, but Catholics believe in transubstantiation; that the bread used at communion IS the body of Christ. The c of e see this as a symbolic ritual. The bread symbolises the body of Christ.

 

Some people see the c of e as protestant, but it is less so than other churches such as those of the Lutheran tradition.

[Guderian]

The Church of England is not Catholic. They have renounced the true faith.

[redrobbo]

The C of E is a protestant church. The head of the church is the ruling monarch, who is the defender of the faith, and is not permitted to be a Catholic.

 

The sacraments of the C of E do not permit the worship of the Virgin Mary, and the C of E rejects the notion of transubstantiation.

 

Note: transubstantiation is the belief held by the Roman Catholic Church that the Eucharistic elements of bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Jesus during Consecration.

[RichD]

The C of E is a protestant church. The head of the church is the ruling monarch, who is the defender of the faith, and is not permitted to be a Catholic.

And THAT is the thing that really annoys me.

 

Defender of the Faith. A title bestowed on Henry VIII for his works in defending the Catholic faith, before he decided to split off and run the Church himself just so he could have a divorce. The title was never meant to be passed on to subsequent monarchs.

 

Oh, and if I recall correctly, another difference between the churches is that Catholics are supposed to believe that Mary remained a virgin her whole life - nobody else believes that, and most individual Catholics I know don't either.

[helsbels00]

There are specific differences between Catholic and Protestant, although it does get confusing with High Protestant being similar to Catholic. Some of the many differences in belief (as opposed to the appearance and traditions of a church) are: authority of the Pope - not just a church/state division, the Protestant church believes in a priesthood of all believers i.e. all believers have a personal relationship with God, whereas in Catholic belief priests, led by the Pope, are the go-between to interpret the wishes of God to the rest of the church.

adoration of the saints - the Protestant church does not create saints or pray to them, or to the Virgin Mary wheras the Catholic church prays to and to some extent worships saints.

A 'big' difference is in the Mass / communion - the Catholic church believes that during Communion the bread and wine miraculously transform into the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ. Protestants believe that the bread and wine are representative, they don't become anything other than bread and wine.

Also big difference - Protestants believe that forgiveness and the ability to go to Heaven is a direct result of God's mercy and grace. Catholics believe that they have to earn the right to go to Heaven by confession and repentance through e.g. saying Hail Marys etc and by spending time in Purgatory after death if they haven't done enough in life to get to Heaven by themselves.

Catholics also believe in Limbo- a space between Heaven and Earth where those who have not been baptised go to after death.

There are many others, but I think these are the main ones!

[helsbels00]

Maybe you could say that we did have a Reformation, but then had a Counter-Reformation under Bloody Mary and (later) Archbishop Laud - the relative mildness and compromise of the latter being why the Church has been in such a confused state ever since.

 

But I agree that the C of E is more Catholic than Protestant

 

Most CHurch historians agree that the Reformation wasn't completed under Henry (whose division was almost entirely political) but continued under Edward and was completed under Elizabeth I. The C of E may appear Catholic on the surface but the division between Catholic and Protestant is a doctrinal difference in essence and in doctrine the C of E is most definitely Protestant.

[RichD]

Also big difference - Protestants believe that forgiveness and the ability to go to Heaven is a direct result of God's mercy and grace. Catholics believe that they have to earn the right to go to Heaven by confession and repentance through e.g. saying Hail Marys etc and by spending time in Purgatory after death if they haven't done enough in life to get to Heaven by themselves.

Not strictly true. Catholics believe that God's forgiveness and Jesus' sacrifice pave the way for everyone to enter Heaven. 'Good works' are not necessary as long as you are genuinely sorry for the wrong you do. It is said that "the only sin which cannot be forgiven is to believe that evil is good" - in other words, if you're a mass murderer who thinks he's doing God's work, you ain't getting in.

 

Confession is not an absolute requirement - the Priest conducting it is not the one who forgives your sins, he merely reminds you that your sins are forgiven. It is a symbolic act which encourages you to think about what you have done and how you have behaved, to facilitate efforts to do better in future.

 

Catholics also believe in Limbo- a space between Heaven and Earth where those who have not been baptised go to after death.

I may be wrong here, but I am led to believe that the current Pope has rescinded the decree which states that unbaptised children cannot enter Heaven. As for adults, no idea. It's something that (if I still believed any of what I was brought up with) I would disagree with strongly. It essentially says that non-Catholics cannot be worthy to enter Heaven. Simply an archaic form of population control.