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Summary
- Evangelicals and Catholics share the faith of the creeds, but “Catholic” names one church led by the Pope, while “evangelical” names a movement that runs through many Protestant denominations. In 2023–24, Pew found that 23% of American adults were evangelical Protestants and 19% were Catholic.
- Evangelicals teach that a person is born again by repentance and faith in Christ; the Catholic Church teaches that the new birth is given in baptism, and so it baptizes infants as well as adults.
- Southern Baptists baptize only believers, by immersion, and require it for membership; the Catholic Church does not rebaptize an evangelical who becomes Catholic unless there is serious doubt about the first baptism.
- Many evangelical churches teach that believers can be assured of salvation now; the Council of Trent taught that no one can know “with a certainty of faith” that he has obtained God’s grace.
- Both call every believer to spread the gospel: Pope Paul VI wrote in 1975 that the Church “exists in order to evangelize.”
- In 1994 evangelical and Catholic leaders signed “Evangelicals and Catholics Together,” calling each other “brothers and sisters in Christ” while naming the differences they could not settle. John MacArthur objected that it put Catholics “off limits for evangelism,” and a 1997 follow-up, “The Gift of Salvation,” took up justification.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version, via Bible Gateway (the passages from John, Titus, Romans, Matthew and 1 John quoted in the article). https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%203%3A3-5%3BTitus%203%3A5%3BRomans%2010%3A9%3BMatthew%2028%3A19-20%3B1%20John%205%3A13&version=ESV
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 133 (Scripture). https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__PS.HTM
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1214–1216 (names of Baptism). https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3H.HTM
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1250–1255 (infant Baptism). https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3K.HTM
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1271 (Baptism and the unity of Christians). https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3N.HTM
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- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1989 (justification). https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P6Y.HTM
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- Code of Canon Law, canons 844 and 869. https://www.vatican.va/archive/cod-iuris-canonici/eng/documents/cic_lib4-cann834-878_en.html
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- Council of Trent, Session VI, Decree on Justification (1547), chapters IX and XIV. https://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/trent/sixth-session.htm
- Paul VI. Evangelii Nuntiandi (1975), 14. https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_p-vi_exh_19751208_evangelii-nuntiandi.html
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- Southern Baptist Convention. The Baptist Faith and Message (2000), Articles IV, V, VII and XI. https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/
- Assemblies of God. “The Assurance of Salvation,” position paper adopted by the General Presbytery, August 2017. https://ag.org/-/media/AGORG/Beliefs/Position-Papers/Assurance-of-Salvation.pdf
- Westminster Confession of Faith, chapters 28.4 and 29.7. Orthodox Presbyterian Church edition. https://www.opc.org/wcf.html
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- Lifeway Research. Survey of Lord’s Supper practices in Southern Baptist churches, September 17, 2012. https://research.lifeway.com/2012/09/17/lifeway-surveys-lords-supper-practices-of-sbc-churches/
- Pew Research Center. “Religious Landscape Study: Religious Identity,” February 26, 2025. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/religious-landscape-study-religious-identity/
- Pew Research Center. “Religion in Latin America,” November 13, 2014. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2014/11/13/religion-in-latin-america/
- “Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium.” First Things, May 1994. https://www.firstthings.com/article/1994/05/evangelicals-catholics-together-the-christian-mission-in-the-third-millennium
- “The Gift of Salvation.” First Things, January 1998 (agreed October 6–7, 1997). https://www.firstthings.com/article/1998/01/001-the-gift-of-salvation
- John MacArthur. “Evangelicals and Catholics Together.” Grace to You, adapted from The Master’s Seminary Journal, volume 6. https://www.gty.org/articles/A149/evangelicals-and-catholics-together
- Jeff Mirus. “Evangelical Catholicism: George Weigel’s Vision of Catholic Reform.” CatholicCulture.org, March 20, 2013. https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/evangelical-catholicism-george-weigels-vision-catholic-reform/
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