| Number of Members | 300,000 | 210,000,000[1] |
|---|
| How does one get saved? | Sola fide: Repent of your sins and believe in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection alone to save you.[2][3] | Repent of your sins, believe in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection, and be baptized.[4] |
|---|
| Who gets saved? | Anyone who chooses by his own free will to believe and accept God's gift of grace will be saved.[5][6] | Anyone who chooses by his own free will to believe and accept God's gift of grace will be saved. |
|---|
| Can one lose his salvation? | Eternal security: No, once a Christian is saved, he is always saved.[7] | Yes, a Christian can lose his salvation by apostasy. |
|---|
| Who gets baptized and why? | Saved people get baptized as a public demonstration of their new lives.[8] | The unsaved, typically as infants, get baptized as the first sacrament of Christian initiation, cleansing them of all sins. |
|---|
| How should baptism be done? | Baptism should be by immersion.[8] | Baptism should be by triple immersion. |
|---|
| When does one receive the Holy Spirit? | The Holy Spirit is received at the moment of salvation.[2][3] | The Holy Spirit is received at chrismation, generally immediately after baptism. |
|---|
| What is the trinity? | The Trinity is God existing as one god in three equal, eternal, cosubstantial persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit.[2][3] | The Trinity is God existing as one god in three equal, eternal, cosubstantial persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. |
|---|
| What is the human nature? | Total depravity: Human nature is corrupt, naturally inclined to evil, and incapable of choosing God on his own.[9] | Human nature is intrinsically good but is wounded and incapable of choosing God in our fallen environment.[10][11] |
|---|
| Are we guilty of Adam's original sin? | | No, we are not guilty of Adam's sin, nor did we inherit a sinful nature from him, but we did inherit the consequences.[12] |
|---|
| Are Christians required to keep the Old Testament ceremonial laws? | No, the ceremonial laws of Judaism were fulfilled and done away with by Jesus. | No, the ceremonial laws of Judaism were fulfilled and done away with by Jesus. |
|---|
| Can Christians become sinless in this earthly life? | No, although Christians can and should sin less, they can never become sinless in this life.[13] | Yes, Christian perfection is possible. |
|---|
| Do the elements of communion become the body and blood of Christ? | No, the elements merely symbolically represent the body and blood of Christ. | Metousiosis: Yes, the bread and the wine change in essence into the body and blood of Christ. |
|---|
| Can one be baptized of behalf of someone who has died? | No, the dead cannot be baptized. | No, the dead cannot be baptized. |
|---|
| What happens if a saved person dies without being perfect? | Once Christians leave their sinful bodies, nothing else is needed to receive glorified, sinless bodies.[14][15] | There is no purgatory, but Christians will continue in theosis after death.[16] |
|---|
| Did Mary ever sin? | Yes, Mary sinned like all other humans except Jesus. | Mary was prone to sin like anyone else, but no, through her own free will she still never did. |
|---|
| What spiritual gifts are available today? | Continuationism: All spiritual gifts are still available to believers.[17] | Continuationism: All spiritual gifts are still available to believers. |
|---|
| What framework has God used in dealing with man? | Dispensationalism: God acts differently with humanity in seven different periods of history. | |
|---|
| What is the gift of tongues? | Speaking in tongues is sometimes unintelligible and sometimes foreign human languages.[18] | Speaking in tongues is sometimes unintelligible and sometimes foreign human languages.[19][20] |
|---|
| What are the requirements for clergy? | | Priests must be men over 30 ordained by bishops. |
|---|
| How many church ordinances/sacraments are there? | The church has two ordinances: Baptism and Holy Communion. | The church has seven sacraments: Baptism, Chrism, Holy Eucharist, Confession, Ordination, Marriage, and Holy Unction.[21] |
|---|
| To whom do Christians need to confess their sins? | Confession should be made directly to God, but confession to another believer is beneficial for some sins.[22] | Confession should be made to God before a priest.[23] |
|---|
| How should a church be structured? | | Episcopal: Churches should be governed by the bishop in that episcopacy, who in turn is governed by a patriarch of an autocephalous church. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is first among equals. |
|---|
| What day of the week should Christians worship? | Christians worship on Sunday. | Christians worship on Sunday. |
|---|
| How does God's revelation come to us today? | Sola scriptura: The Bible is the only infallible source of God's revelation, sufficient for all faith and practice.[24] | Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition have equal authority and comprise one finished deposit of faith. |
|---|
| How was the Bible written? | Verbal plenary inspiration: The Bible was written by men who had every word supernaturaly inspired by God.[25][26][2][3] | |
|---|
| How many books are in the Bible? | There are 66 canonical books of the Bible: 39 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books. | There are 76 canonical books of the Bible: 39 protocanonical books, 10 deuterocanonical books, and 27 New Testament books. |
|---|
| Is the Bible inerrant? | Yes, the Bible was written without any error.[25][26][2][3] | |
|---|
| Who can speak with God's authority today? | Nobody today can speak for God. | The church as a whole speaks with God's authority at ecumenical councils. |
|---|
| What is marriage? | Marriage is a covenant before God between one man and one woman.[27][28] | Marriage is a covenant before God between one man and one woman. |
|---|
| Is sex permissible outside marriage? | No, sex outside of marriage is not permissible.[29] | No, sex outside of marriage is not permissible. |
|---|
| When is divorce permissible? | Divorce is permissible for adultery or desertion.[30][28] | Divorce is permissible for adultery, abuse, or abandonment.[31][32] |
|---|
| May a Christian remarry while his former spouse is still alive? | Yes, a Christian may freely remarry after divorce.[28] | Yes, a Christian may remarry a second or third time for human weakness.[32] |
|---|
| When does a fetus become human? | Humanity begins at conception.[33] | Humanity begins at conception.[34] |
|---|
| Is contraception permissible? | Yes, contraceptives are permissible.[35] | Most believe that yes, contraceptives are permissible.[36][37] |
|---|
| Should women cover their heads? | No, head coverings are no longer required due to cultural changes.[38][39] | Varies widely |
|---|
| Should Christians drink alcohol? | Yes, drinking alcohol is fine as long as one does not get drunk.[40][41] | Yes, drinking alcohol is fine as long as one does not get drunk. |
|---|
| Should Christians fight in wars? | | Yes, Christians can fight in just wars.[42][43][44] |
|---|
| Whom does the Holy Spirit come from? | | The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father alone. |
|---|
| Do icons glorify God? | | Yes, icons are holy and should be venerated.[45] |
|---|
| Where does a Christian's soul go after death? | | After death, souls sit conscious in an Intermediate State, with a foretaste of heaven for Christians.[46] |
|---|