Catholic
Catholic is an adjective derived from the Greek adjective 魏偽胃慰位喂魏ός,meaning "universal".In the context of Christian ecclesiology,it has a rich history and several usages.For Roman Catholics,the term "Catholic Church" refers to the Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome,including both the Western particular Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches.Protestants sometimes use the term "catholic church" to refer to the entire body of believers in Jesus Christ across the world,and across the ages.Eastern Orthodox,Anglican,Lutheran,and some Methodist Christians hold that their churches are catholic in the sense that they are in continuity with the original catholic (universal) church founded by the apostles.In "Catholic Christendom" (including the Anglican Communion),bishops are considered the highest order of ministers within the Christian Church,as shepherds of unity in communion with the whole church and one another.Catholicity is considered one of Four Marks of the Church,the others being unity,sanctity,and apostolicity.According to the Nicene Creed of 381:"I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church."
Orthodox
The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian communion in the world,estimated to number between 225-300 million total members.It is considered by its adherents to be the One,Holy,Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles nearly 2000 years ago.The Church is composed of numerous self-governing ecclesial bodies,each geographically and nationally distinct but theologically and sacramentally unified.Each self-governing (or autocephalous) body is shepherded by a Synod of independent bishops whose duty is,among other things,to preserve and teach the Apostolic and patristic traditions and related Church practices.All Eastern Orthodox bishops trace their lineage back to one of the twelve Apostles through the process of Apostolic Succession.
Eastern Orthodoxy traces its history back to the Hellenized eastern portion of the Roman Empire,especially Constantinople or New Rome (now Istanbul).It shares the first ecumenical councils,concerning the Trinity and the Nicene Creed,with nearly all other Christians.After the Western Roman Empire fell,East and West slowly grew more separate.Meanwhile,internal schisms and the advance of Islam reduced Eastern Orthodox territory,but the faith spread to the Slavs to the north (including the Russians).Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism split in 1054 over theological issues concerning Western additions to the creed (the filioque clause) as well as the issue of Roman primacy.Later in 1204 Constantinople was sacked by crusaders enlarging the rift between the two.Reunification was attempted during two councils but they were rejected by the Eastern Orthodox people,being considered "robber councils".After Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453,the Russian Orthodox Church became more powerful.
Efforts are under way to heal the division that since the Council of Chalcedon (451) exists between them and Oriental Orthodoxy in connection with the proper way to speak of the two natures (one human and one divine) of Christ.They use the Nicene Creed as endorsed at the First Council of Constantinople (381),and reject the Western addition to it of "Filioque",and the many additions used by the Armenian Apostolic Church in the East.They celebrate the same sacraments (called sacred mysteries) as in the other ancient Christian Churches,but have some differences in theology and many differences in practice.They teach the doctrine of theosis (deification),by which Christ makes it possible to partake of the divine,a teaching less prominent in the Western Church.Their Bible is close to that of the Roman Catholic Church:it includes the Deuterocanonical Books,which are generally rejected by Protestants,and a few texts that are not in the Western canon.Eastern Orthodox icons also reflect an ancient opposition to statuary.Most Eastern Orthodox Churches are members of the World Council of Churches,which includes most Protestants,but not Roman Catholics.
Protestantism
Protestantism is a movement within Christianity that originated in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation.It is considered to be one of the four principal traditions within Christianity,together with Roman Catholicism,Anglicanism and Orthodoxy.
Protestantism is associated with the belief that the Bible (rather than church tradition or ecclesiastical interpretations of the Bible)is the final source of authority for all believers,by the grace of God.
Protestantism has both conservative and liberal theological strands within it.Its style of public worship tends to be simpler and less elaborate than that of Roman Catholic,Anglican and Orthodox Christians,sometimes radically so,though there are exceptions to this tendency.
Examples of denominations within Protestantism include the Lutheran,Methodist,and Baptist churches.