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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 across many Protestant denominations; in 2023–24, 23% of American adults were evangelical Protestants and 19% Catholic (Pew).
- 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, which it gives to infants as well as adults.
- Southern Baptists baptize only believers, by immersion, and require it for membership; the Catholic Church does not rebaptize evangelicals who become Catholic unless there is serious doubt about their 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 listing unresolved differences; John MacArthur objected that it put Catholics “off limits for evangelism,” and a 1997 follow-up, “The Gift of Salvation,” addressed 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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- 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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- Westminster Confession of Faith, chapters 28.4 and 29.7. Orthodox Presbyterian Church edition. https://www.opc.org/wcf.html
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- 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/
