Twenty questions as people type them, each with the passage to read first and a one-line answer from each side.
Each question starts with the passage to read, linked to where it is quoted in context. Then one line from each side, in its own words, with a link to where it comes from. The Protestant line is mostly from GotQuestions, the largest Protestant answer site, which leans Baptist and evangelical; where Lutherans, Anglicans or Presbyterians would answer differently, the line says so.
Scripture: John 17:20-23, read in context under what each side says about the other.
Yes. The Catechism says the one Church of Christ “subsists in” the Catholic Church, and calls Protestants brothers. Catechism 816 and 818
Divided. GotQuestions says “It depends.” on the person’s trust in Christ; Gavin Ortlund answers “My answer to that is yes.” GotQuestions
Scripture: Mark 3:31-35, read in context under praying to Mary.
No. Devotion to Mary “differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word”. Catechism 971
Agreed in principle, “The Bible is clear that we are to worship God alone”, but GotQuestions holds that Catholic practice crosses the line. GotQuestions
Scripture: 1 Timothy 2:1-6, read in context under asking the saints to pray.
Because the saints in heaven pray for us: “They do not cease to intercede with the Father for us”. Catechism 956
“Praying to Mary and other saints is unbiblical.” Lutherans grant that the saints pray for the Church but still do not pray to them. GotQuestions
Scripture: John 20:19-23, read in context under the passage it turns on.
Because Christ gave his ministers authority to forgive: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.” Catholic Answers, Confession
“The concept of confession of sin to a priest is nowhere taught in Scripture.” Lutherans and Anglicans keep private confession and absolution as an option. GotQuestions
Scripture: Romans 4:1-8, read in context under Paul on faith apart from works.
No. Trent says “we are therefore said to be justified freely”, and in 1999 the Church signed that we are accepted “not because of any merit on our part”. Council of Trent, Session 6
Protestants hold that salvation is by faith alone and read Trent’s canons as adding works to faith as the ground of standing with God. GotQuestions
Scripture: John 16:12-15, read in context under can the pope teach without error.
No. “Only what he solemnly defines is considered to be infallible teaching”, and infallibility does not mean sinless. Catholic Answers, Papal Infallibility
GotQuestions holds that the office itself “is not scriptural”, so the question of its infallibility does not arise. GotQuestions
Scripture: Acts 17:10-12, read in context under which books.
Because the seven disputed Old Testament books “had been regarded as canonical since the beginning of Church history”. Catholic Answers, The Old Testament Canon
The count is right: “46 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament”. Protestants hold the seven were never in the Hebrew canon Jesus used. GotQuestions
Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:14-17, read in context under the passage it turns on.
Yes, and they are urged to: “Easy access to Sacred Scripture should be provided for all the Christian faithful”. Vatican II, Dei Verbum 22
The Protestant point is authority, not access: Scripture alone is the final rule, and no church may bind what Scripture does not. GotQuestions
Scripture: Exodus 20:1-6, read in context under the passage it turns on.
No. “God forbade the worship of statues, but he did not forbid the religious use of statues.” Catholic Answers, Do Catholics Worship Statues?
GotQuestions says yes, “a form of idolatry”; Lutherans and Anglicans allow images and refuse to bow to them; the Reformed allow neither in worship. GotQuestions
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 7:32-35, read in context under is the rule wise.
A rule, not a doctrine: “priestly celibacy is not an unchangeable dogma but a disciplinary rule”. Eastern Catholic priests may be married. Catholic Answers, Celibacy and the Priesthood
“the Bible encourages, but does not demand celibacy of priests / church leaders.” GotQuestions
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, read in context under the passage it turns on.
A final cleansing of the saved: “purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven”. Catechism 1030
“The Bible says nothing about purgatory.” Christ’s work leaves nothing to be purged. GotQuestions
Scripture: 1 Peter 3:18-22, read in context under does baptism save.
Yes, in baptism: “Since all Catholics have been baptized, all Catholics have been born again.” Catholic Answers, Are Catholics Born Again?
“Baptism is not what gives us salvation.” New birth comes through faith; Lutherans and Anglicans tie it to baptism more closely than Baptists do. GotQuestions
Scripture: Acts 16:29-34, read in context under baptising babies.
“The practice of infant Baptism is an immemorial tradition of the Church.” Catechism 1252
Baptists say “The Bible is silent on infant baptism”; Lutherans, Anglicans, Presbyterians and Methodists baptise infants as Catholics do. GotQuestions
Scripture: Hebrews 10:10-18, read in context under is the Mass a sacrifice.
No new death: “The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice”; the Mass “re-presents (makes present)” the cross. Catechism 1366 and 1367
GotQuestions calls it a “re-sacrifice” and answers with Hebrews: “He sacrificed for their sins once for all when He offered Himself.” GotQuestions
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, read in context under one bread, one body.
Ordinarily no: members of churches “not yet fully united are ordinarily not admitted to Holy Communion”. Exceptions need the bishop. US bishops, guidelines for receiving communion
Agreed on the fact, since Protestants do not hold transubstantiation; most Protestant churches welcome any baptised believer to their own table. GotQuestions on transubstantiation
Scripture: Matthew 23:1-12, read in context under call no man father.
Jesus is not forbidding the word for those who are fathers, in the family or in the faith; Paul calls himself the Corinthians’ father. Catholic Answers, Call No Man Father
GotQuestions partly agrees: the saying is “an exhortation to humility”, not a ban on a word. GotQuestions
One man esteems one day as more important. Another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. He who doesn’t eat, to the Lord he doesn’t eat, and gives God thanks.
Romans 14:5-6In context. Paul to the Roman church on disputes between the weak and the strong: one keeps a day as special and another does not; each should be convinced and do it for the Lord.
Because “the first Christians understood this principle and gathered for worship on Sunday”, the day of the resurrection. Catholic Answers, Sabbath or Sunday?
Most Protestants worship on Sunday too; GotQuestions holds that Sabbath-keeping is not required of Christians on either day. GotQuestions
Scripture: John 17:20-23, read in context under what each side says about the other.
No blanket claim: those who “through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ” can be saved, and separated Christians are not charged with the separation. Catechism 847 and 818
GotQuestions notes the old formula “has been softened to a degree” and holds that salvation is in Christ, not in any church. GotQuestions
Scripture: Acts 17:10-12, read in context under which books.
No, the Reformers set books aside “even though these books had been regarded as canonical since the beginning of Church history”. Catholic Answers, The Old Testament Canon
Protestants say the seven were never in the Hebrew Bible and are not Scripture, though many read them: the Church of England reads them “for example of life and instruction of manners; but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine”. Thirty-nine Articles, Article 6
Scripture: Deuteronomy 5:6-10, read in context under did the Church change the Ten Commandments.
No, it numbers them differently: “The division and numbering of the Commandments have varied in the course of history”, following Augustine. Lutherans number them the same way. Catechism 2066
GotQuestions confirms there are still ten, “the tenth commandment is then split in two”; the dispute is over images, which the Orthodox and most Protestants count as a commandment of their own. GotQuestions