The main difference is where each one looks for authority. Churches of Christ take the Bible alone as the complete and final word on what a Christian believes and does. The Catholic Church looks to the Bible together with sacred tradition and the teaching authority of the Pope and bishops. That single difference shapes nearly everything else, including who leads the church, how people worship, and how salvation is described.
Both groups love Jesus and take faith seriously. This is a comparison, not an attack, and we’ll do our best to state the Catholic position fairly before explaining where we differ.
Where does the authority come from?
Catholicism recognizes three sources of authority working together: Scripture, tradition handed down through the church, and the official teaching office called the magisterium. When the Pope or a council speaks on doctrine, that word carries binding weight.
Churches of Christ hold that Scripture alone is enough. Paul told Timothy that “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (). If the Bible can make a person “complete, equipped for every good work,” then that’s where we look for our pattern, and we add no other authority to it.
Who is the head of the church?
For Catholics, the Pope is the visible head of the church on earth, the successor of Peter, with the bishops sharing in that leadership.
The New Testament gives that role to Christ and keeps it with Him. “And He is the head of the body, the church” (). Each congregation is led by its own bishops who oversee only the local church to which they preside. Their care for only one local flock and not multiple ones is a mandate from God (). There is no earthly headquarters over them and no single man over the whole church, because that place belongs to Jesus.
Catholics bind the practice of “asceticism”; those in the church of Christ do not legislate any law as to how personal deprivation is carried out.
For Catholics many are denied the ability to have a spouse (if they are a “so-called priest”). Even many foods are regarded as items that must be abstained from in the attempt to gain one’s achievement as an internal personal victory that leads to higher spirituality. For members of the church of Christ; , says differently: “false teachers…command people to abstain from marriage… and command people to abstain from certain foods that God created to be enjoyed with thankfulness”. Both Catholics and members of the church of Christ teach against gluttony; but, the one {Catholic} demands “how to” abstain; while the other {church of Christ} permits individuals the free-will to discover how to utilize the self-control needed in one’s activities.
The Catholic Church calls the preacher “Father Jim or Father Joe”; yet the church of Christ only calls people by their given name or “brother”. Why is this done?
We don’t use religious titles that set a man in that role; Jesus said, “call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven” ().
The Catholic Church has “clergy” and “laity”. The church of Christ does not.
It is certainly true that catholicism contains so-called “lay preaching” that is spoken by speeches of a spiritual nature being given by laity who are not yet or not classified as ‘priestly’. But one can only go so far “up” in the Catholic ranks, before one will have to be in the “priestly” or “clergy” status before one can be regarded as speaking in the capacity as “actual church official and positional recognized official capacity”. In this, we witness a host of sinful points that would not be the correct interpretation from the Bible. Let’s just discuss two of them. (; )
One, the church of Christ makes “no distinction between clergy and laity”. There are no classifications of who are the specific Christian men that are going to be doing the preaching. As long as a man is faithful, saying what’s true, and proclaiming God’s word: he may speak under the direction of the invitation of the local elders of a local church. (; ,)
Two, there are no “high churchmen” and “low church men”. Christians are a kingdom of priests, not a group subdivided by elitism and second-class or lower class: regarding knowledge. In fact, the local church members are charged to be alert for false teaching. The awareness of fallacy can be spotted and corrected and mentioned by any member. (; )
One will also very quickly discover that nowhere in the New Testament can the words “clergy” nor “laity” be found. Members of the Lord’s church are either “brothers” or “sisters” in Christ.
The Catholic Church teaches about sacraments; where the church of Christ teaches obedience to God without a sacramental framework.
Both groups speak of grace, faith, and baptism, but the framework differs. Catholicism teaches salvation through grace received in a system of seven sacraments, including infant baptism. We, however, teach that a person responds to the gospel by hearing, believing, repenting, confessing Christ, and being baptized for the forgiveness of sins, then living faithfully. Peter told the crowd, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (). Because that response calls for personal faith and repentance, baptism is for those old enough to believe, and it is immersion, picturing a burial and rising with Christ (). Many of the things that are “sacramental” are agreed to by members of the church of Christ. For example both teach baptism as essential for salvation. Yet, a member of the church of Christ will readily deny any need to baptize an infant, because an infant is void of sin (Ezekiel 18; John 3; Romans 6, etc.).
A Catholic calls the seven sacraments 1. Holy orders, 2. Matrimony, 3. Anointing of the Sick, 4. Confession, 5. Baptism, 6. Eucharist, 7. Confirmation.
7. Confirmation is not Biblical. () Living right before God is a daily walk.
6. There is a “giving of thanks” when we partake of the Lord’s Supper; to that both Catholic and members of the church of Christ, agree. Yet, it is quite highly unlikely for a member of the church of Christ to partake of the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week and call it “the Eucharist”. The bread and the fruit of the vine are partaken by all Christian members of the church of Christ on the first day of the week and not just some of the elements while the “priest” takes other elements. says the day was Sunday that the breaking of bread (e.g. the Lord’s Supper took place. It is not unheard of for a “Catholic” to serve the “host” {word for bread} in the Lord’s Supper to a Catholic on a Tuesday, at a wedding. That is so denigrating to the memorial service the Lord’s Communion was intended to be. , clarifies it is to be taken 52 times a year on every 1st day of the week. Never is there any pattern in the Bible where apostles partook of it on any other day.
5. Baptism (was discussed previously).
4. Confession is when one leans on another to find support and faithful solace from one’s occasional sins committed once a Christian. (1 John 1-2) To a Catholic, it is often a private hush hushed counseling type of demanded interaction with a priest. To the member of the church of Christ, there is no scripture for prayer partners, nor confessing to a priest one’s private sins, nor censure when one is really aiming to do well and yet feel they have to report to duty to a priest some grave sins their committing when all things considered their trying to live life right.
Private sins are between you and God. Public sins are to be publicly repented of (Acts 8, note Simon the Samaritan).
3. Anointing the sick, only apostles and 1st century prophets could do this. Catholics misinterpret James 1-3 here. The elders can pray on behalf of the ill, but there is no miraculous vested power in any member of the church. Catholics affirm however that man or woman can “draw the power of God” to enact the miraculous. Yet, miracles have ceased (1 Corinthians 13).
2. Matrimony: Marriage is sacred and binding. Yet, no member of the church of Christ demands a service by a preacher of a holy “order” to confirm the wedding ceremony. Many preachers in the church of Christ are married men who married their wife by going to the “Justice of the Peace” of a local civil jurisdiction. Others have large weddings officiated by a notary or even a preacher or a church member. Yet marriages are civil matters not church matters. It is true that marriage is to be regarded as the right thing to do. If you are living with a significant other and you are engaging in fornication, God finds this to be sin. Both a Catholic and a member of the church of Christ would say, “if you’ve never been married before, and you are living together you need to either break up or get married”. () Yet, marriage is not a “church sacrament”. There are many cultures that accept legal marriages in non-church related ways.
1. Holy Orders (this is essentially the ‘clergy laity’ discussion mentioned earlier). God shows “no partiality” in His dealings with people making “decent” and “in order” religious proclamations. (1 Corinthians 14).
What does the worship look like in the church?
A Catholic Mass centers on the Eucharist and follows a set liturgy, often with instrumental music, incense, and images.
Worship in a church of Christ is simpler and follows the pattern seen in the New Testament: singing without instruments, prayer, the Lord’s Supper on the first day of every week, preaching from the Bible, and giving. The singing is a cappella because the New Testament calls for both the heart and the voice: “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” ().
We Wish to be Kind Here, too.
None of this is meant to belittle Catholic friends and family, many of whom are sincere and devout. The point of a comparison is clarity, not contempt. Where we differ, we differ because we read the New Testament as the sole and sufficient guide, and we invite anyone to test both positions against it.
Compare It for Yourself
The best way to weigh any two churches is to open the New Testament and compare what you read there with what each one teaches and does. Take your time, look up the passages, and ask honest questions. If you’ve been feeling like something’s missing, the Church of Christ at South Bumby would be glad to walk through it with you and help you find your place.
Plan your visit — you’ll be welcomed, not put on the spot.
To see what the Bible says about becoming a Christian, start here.
When we meet:
- Sunday: Bible Class 9:30 am, Worship 10:30 am
- Wednesday: Bible Class 7:00 pm
