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What Catholics and Protestants confess together

Before the arguments: how much of the faith do the two sides hold in common?

The passage it turns on

Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.

1 Corinthians 15:1-8In context. Paul reminding the Corinthians of the gospel he received and handed on: Christ died for our sins, was buried, rose on the third day, and appeared to Peter, the Twelve, five hundred, James, the apostles and Paul.

Paul hands on what he received: the gospel comes as a tradition delivered and held, within a church that stands in it. Catholics hear here the pattern of the whole faith, Scripture and Tradition together.

The content Paul hands on is the death, burial and rising of Christ “according to the Scriptures”, and he says that is what saves. Protestants hear here the gospel itself, first in importance, judged by the Scriptures.

Press a reading to put the lamp behind the words that side leans on. The passage does not change.

Why this page comes first

Most of what a Catholic and a Protestant believe, they believe together: one God in three persons, the Son made flesh of a virgin, his death for sins and his rising on the third day, his coming again, the same 27 books of the New Testament, the same Ten Commandments, one baptism in the one Name. They say the same creed on Sunday. The pages that follow are about the rest.

This page also records what each side says about the other: whether a Catholic can be a Christian, whether a Protestant can be saved, and what the two churches have signed together since 1994.

The points people make

The Nicene Creed

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it. There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light. The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name: who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:1-14In context. John’s opening: the Word was with God and was God, all things were made through him, and ‘the Word became flesh, and lived among us’.

Scripture states it. John says the Word was God and became flesh. Both sides confess it in the same creed, and every dispute on the other pages is between people who say this together.

How both read it

Catholics, Orthodox, Lutherans, Anglicans, Reformed, Methodists and most Baptists confess the creed of Nicaea and Constantinople (381): one God, Father almighty; one Lord Jesus Christ, true God from true God, incarnate of the virgin Mary, crucified, risen, ascended, coming again; the Holy Spirit, Lord and giver of life; one baptism for the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the dead. The one disputed clause, that the Spirit proceeds from the Father “and the Son”, divides East from West, not Catholic from Protestant.

“I believe in one God,”

The Nicene Creed as Catholics say it at Mass, USCCB

The death and rising of Christ

Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:5-11In context. Paul’s hymn: Christ, existing in God’s form, emptied himself, became a servant, died on a cross, and was exalted so that every tongue will confess Jesus Christ is Lord.

Scripture states it. Paul’s hymn says Christ, equal with God, emptied himself, died on a cross and is exalted as Lord. Both sides sing it.

How both read it

That Christ died for our sins, was buried, rose bodily on the third day and was seen is the gospel Paul calls of first importance, and no Catholic or Protestant confession denies a word of it. The same is true of the virgin birth, the ascension, the second coming and the judgment. In 1994 a group of evangelical and Catholic leaders put their names to a joint statement of what they hold in common.

“We affirm together that we are justified by grace through faith because of Christ.”

Evangelicals and Catholics Together, First Things, 1994

What was signed in 1999

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and humility, with patience, bearing with one another in love; being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all.

Ephesians 4:1-6In context. Paul to the Ephesians on walking worthily: one body, one Spirit, one hope, ‘one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all’.

Not a question Scripture answers. Scripture says there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Whether the two churches mean the same by every word they signed in 1999 is a question about documents, taken up on the faith and works page.

How both read it

On 31 October 1999 the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation signed a Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification; the World Methodist Council joined it in 2006 and the World Communion of Reformed Churches in 2017. It says that by grace alone, in faith, and not because of any merit, we are accepted by God, and that the sixteenth-century condemnations do not apply to the partner’s teaching as set out there. It also says that questions of church, authority, ministry and sacraments remain open. Some Protestants and some Catholics think it settled less than it says; the faith and works page carries both views.

“By grace alone, in faith in Christ’s saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit”

Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, paragraph 15, 1999

One baptism

Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Matthew 28:18-20In context. The risen Jesus on a mountain in Galilee: all authority is his; make disciples of all nations, baptising in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he is with them to the end of the age.

Scripture states it. Jesus commands baptism in the one Name of Father, Son and Spirit. Each side recognises the other’s baptism even where it recognises little else.

How both read it

The Catholic Church recognises a Protestant baptism in water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as a true baptism and never repeats it; nearly every Protestant church says the same of a Catholic baptism. The Catechism calls baptism the foundation of communion among all Christians, and Vatican II called Protestants “separated brethren”, in real though imperfect communion.

“men who believe in Christ and have been truly baptized are in communion with the Catholic Church”

Vatican II, Unitatis Redintegratio 3, 1964

What each side says about the other

Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me. The glory which you have given me, I have given to them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me, and loved them, even as you loved me.

John 17:20-23In context. Jesus praying the night before he died, for those who will believe through the apostles: ‘that they may all be one’, as he and the Father are one, so the world may believe.

Scripture is silent on it. Jesus prayed that those who believe would be one, so the world would believe. Scripture gives the test of a Christian (“confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead”, Romans 10:9), curses any “good news” other than the one first preached (Galatians 1:8-9), and says “The Lord knows those who are his” (2 Timothy 2:19). It is silent on churches that did not yet exist; each side applies those texts to the other, and both read Jesus’ prayer as a rebuke to the division.

The Catholic reading

The Catechism says that those born into Protestant communities today cannot be charged with the sin of the separation, that the Church accepts them as brothers, and that their communities hold many elements of sanctification and truth. It also says the one Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church, and that full communion is still lacking.

“one cannot charge with the sin of the separation those who at present are born into these communities”

Catechism of the Catholic Church 818

The Protestant reading

Protestants are not of one mind. Gavin Ortlund answers “are Catholics Christians?” with a yes; John Piper says there are genuine, inconsistent Christians in the Catholic Church; R. C. Sproul held that Rome as a church denied the gospel at Trent and that the Reformation is not over. Most hold both halves at once: the system is in error, and many inside it trust Christ.

“Are Roman Catholics Christians? My answer to that is yes.”

Gavin Ortlund, Truth Unites, in a third-party transcript, 2024

Where they stand together against the age

He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does the LORD require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8In context. The prophet answers what God wants more than sacrifices: to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

Scripture states it. Micah says what the LORD requires: to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God. Both sides read the command the same way.

How both read it

On the sanctity of unborn life, the meaning of marriage, the dignity of the poor, the resurrection of the body and the moral law, Catholics and evangelical Protestants have stood together for fifty years, often more closely with each other than with liberal members of their own traditions. The 1994 statement named these first among the things to be done together.

“That the unborn child has a right to protection, including the protection of law, is a moral statement”

Evangelicals and Catholics Together, First Things, 1994

Watch

One talk from each side, chosen for making its own case well. Each loads from YouTube only when you press play.

Matt Fradd. 142 min. Matt Fradd, a Catholic, and Gavin Ortlund, a Protestant, on what the two can say together about why Christianity is true. Open on YouTube
Gavin Ortlund. 15 min. Gavin Ortlund on whether Protestants can call Catholics fellow Christians, and why he says yes. Open on YouTube

Sources on this page

Every quotation above, with the page it comes from and the day it was read. Primary documents first where a side has one.