What Still Divides Us: The Differences Between Protestants and Roman Catholics

by Josh Maloney

At Core Christianity, our mission is to help people understand the Bible and the core truths of the Christian faith. Every answer to a caller’s question on our daily radio show, every article we share on corechristianity.com, and every resource we produce are designed to help people gain a clearer understanding of the gospel—the core message of Christianity. Every day, we receive many different questions from people wondering about Roman Catholicism and the gospel. In What Still Divides Us? Josh Maloney explains what divides Catholic and Protestant churches despite their many shared teachings. Above all, this division remains—500 years after the Reformation—because Catholics and Protestants still give different answers to life’s most important “What must I do to be saved?” We hope this booklet will help Catholic and Protestant readers to better understand one another. And we hope it will guide all readers to trust in the one hope of faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. Thanks for being an important part of Core Christianity!

Genres: Theology

81 pages, Paperback

Published September 21, 2023

Reviews

[Jack Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, accessible short book outlining the historic differences across traditions, while not straw manning Catholic doctrine.

“Protestants who trust in the Bible alone can speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15). They can invite their Catholic neighbours to study the Scriptures. With kindness and patience, they can show Catholic friends why they believe in the other “alones” — salvation by grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone. In this way, they can seek unity in the gospel, which is the only unity that matters in the end.”

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful overview of the differences between Roman Catholics and Protestants. I appreciate that Maloney begins by highlighting shared beliefs and common ground while emphasizing that the differences are foundational, cannot be overlooked, and still exist today. Too many people lack the ability to lovingly disagree, but this is an excellent example of gracious dissension.

The booklet hits 4 areas of doctrinal difference: salvation, inspiration, authority, and sacraments; moreover, it notes the interconnected nature of these areas. Maloney frequently quotes from the Catholic Catechism in order to fairly represent Roman Catholic beliefs, and based on what I understood prior to reading, he succeeds at this goal. Not primarily polemical, most of the work focuses on parsing the areas of agreement and disagreement, but a few portions discuss how Catholic teaching undermines the gospel. In summary, this booklet is an accessible introduction to the Catholic-Protestant debate. I do recommend!

[Benjamin · Rating 3 out of 5]

What Still Divides Us: The Differences Between Protestants and Roman Catholics by Josh Maloney is a decent introductory resource to understand some of the main differences between the Protestant and Romanist tradition. Some of the articulations by Maloney on what Protestants believe on the Sacraments were just ok. Nevertheless, a good short resource.

[Brenden Wentworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best intro to the difference between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism that you’ll find!

Very accessible, historically informed, and overall helpful

Read for yourself and then get some copies for friends and family that they would be informed on this crucial topic