Protestants and Catholics
share many of the same beliefs. Most believe in The Trinity, souls, the possibility of salvation, the holiness of Scripture, and God’s saving grace. Similarly, both groups tend to believe Christ’s birth, crucifixion, and Resurrection. Similar ideas about the prophets having miraculously predicted Christ’s arrival among us are shared by both Protestants and Catholics.
Catholics, and most Protestants who study Scripture, believe that Peter was appointed head of The Church. Catholics go beyond that, and believe that Peter was given the authority to choose those who would appoint successors to him.
Those who protest that are in the various Protestant denominations. We can visualize those denominations as being in the circles around a stone that has splashed into a pond. Those in the innermost circle are Catholics, believing fully in the doctrine that there is a Pope and all that legitimate successors to Peter have legitimately added to what has become the Catholic faith.
In the second ring are those who do not believe they owe any obedience to the Pope, but who do believe in the inerrancy of Holy Scripture and in The Trinity. As we progress outward, from ring to ring, the dividing waves are shallower, finally blending into the undefined flatness of the water beyond.
