Christianity And Lutheranism

Since the beginning of Lutheranism, there has been great strife and conflict between the Christian church (primarily the Lutherans and Catholics). This strife often gets in the way of the true goal of Christianity (to bring those who do not believe in the gospel message to Christ). The Catholics and the Lutherans are different denominations of the same religion of Christianity. Many people that are not members of either denomination can confuse the two. While both are similar in some ways they also have striking differences that distinguish the two. In fact, there has been so much discrepancy between these two denominations that the world has plunged into war on more than one account because of disagreement between the two denominations. Taking …show more content…
To list a few, probably the largest and most dividing doctrinal differences is the doctrine of faith. The Lutherans believe that salvation is achieved by faith in Jesus Christ alone. The Catholics partially agree, but they argue that salvation is not only attained through faith in Jesus Christ but also accompanied by good works. Another discrepancy concerns the doctrine of communion. While both believe that the Lord’s Supper is a means of grace, they disagree on how it is given to us. The Catholics believe in transubstantiation, which is the belief that the bread and the wine literally turn into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The Lutherans take a conservative notion towards communion and believe in Consubstantiation. Consubstantiation is the belief that the body and blood of Jesus exist in, with, and under the bread and the wine, but the bread and the wine are not literally Jesus’ body and blood. A third disagreement among Catholics and Lutherans concerns the authority of the church. Martin Luther emphasized the term Sola Scriptura (Literally translated Only Scripture) which implies that the Holy Scriptures are the only basis for religious authority within the church. The Catholics do not completely reject the authority of the scriptures, but rather they say that the scriptures hold an equal authority with the traditions of the church. The Lutherans and Catholics do agree in certain customs and holidays such as Christmas and Easter. Both denominations celebrate these two holidays on the same day as each other. The goal of both Catholics and Lutherans is to advance the gospel message to those who do not believe in