Lutheran and Catholic: What Do They Believe Differently?

Lutheran-Catholic comparison takes us directly to the heart of the Reformation.

Yet beginning in 1517 can distort the investigation.

A better approach is to ask:

What did Christianity look like before the controversy began?

A Note About This Page

This page is an invitation to investigate, not an accusation against Christians who inherited this tradition. Catholic teaching recognizes baptized Christians who believe in Christ as Christians and acknowledges real gifts of Scripture, faith, grace and Christian life outside full Catholic communion.

The question here is narrower:

If we trace this tradition backward through Christian history, what came before it --- and what might that history ask us to reconsider?

What Lutherans and Catholics Share

Depending on the Lutheran body, important common ground can include:

• Trinitarian faith;
• ancient Christian creeds;
• infant Baptism;
• a strong theology of grace;
• liturgical worship;
• serious belief concerning Christ's presence in Communion;
• respect for the early Church.

That makes the differences especially worth understanding precisely.

Major Differences

Central questions include:

• justification and sola fide;
• Scripture and sola Scriptura;
• the nature of the Eucharistic change/presence;
• sacramental priesthood;
• confession and absolution;
• number and definition of sacraments;
• papal authority;
• Tradition;
• invocation of saints;
• Marian doctrines;
• purgatory.

Start One Day Before Luther

Imagine Western Christianity on October 30, 1517.

Mass, bishops, priests, Eucharistic worship, confession, infant Baptism, monasteries, saints and communion with Rome already existed.

This does not prove every Catholic claim.

It changes the question from:

"Why did Catholics invent these things after Luther?"

to:

"How old were these beliefs before Luther objected to them?"

What Did Christianity Look Like Before the Reformation? →

Justification Deserves Precision

Catholics and Lutherans should not caricature one another.

The question is not whether grace is necessary. Both traditions affirm grace.

Investigate what Scripture and early Christians mean by justification, faith, transformation and good works.

Did Early Christians Believe in Faith Alone? →

Go Earlier Than the Reformation

The decisive experiment is simple:

Read Christianity from AD 100 forward before reading it backward from AD 1517.

Meet the Early Christians →

Begin the LOOK BACKWARD Journey →