[One Sip of a Book] How Catholicism and Protestantism Differ

Some sentences encapsulate the entire content of the book itself, while others instantly reach the reader's heart, creating a point of connection with the book. We introduce such meaningful sentences excerpted from the book. - Editor's note

This book explores the shared faith heritage and differing traditions between Catholicism and Protestantism in a Q&A format. The book is composed of 4 parts and 70 questions. It addresses aspects that believers might be curious about, focusing on the external differences between Catholicism and Protestantism, differences in Scripture, doctrine, liturgy, and lifestyle, the background and history of the Reformation, introductions to Protestant denominations, and the necessity of the Christian unity movement.

At funeral halls, there are moments when Catholic and Protestant believers feel awkward around each other. This is because Catholic believers naturally bow in front of the portrait of the deceased at the funeral site, while Protestant believers do not bow but instead lower their heads and offer a brief prayer toward the deceased. Unlike the Catholic position, which permits bowing as a continuation of Korea’s unique funeral culture and as an expression of respect for the deceased, Protestants believe that bowing to the portrait of the deceased can be perceived as idol worship. (p. 38)

Catholics and Protestants use the same Bible, but the number of books in the Old Testament differs. Catholics recognize a total of 73 canonical books, including 46 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament. In contrast, Protestants accept only 39 books of the Old Testament written in Hebrew out of the 46 books, recognizing a total of 66 canonical books. (p. 56)

The Journey of Christian Unity | Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea | 200 pages | 6000 KRW