How does catholicism differ from lutheranism

A Catholic participation in the Eucharist is never simply a matter of believing in the real presence. Through it Christ unites them to all the faithful in one body—the church. Communion implies union with the whole church, and the effects of disunity brought about through the Reformation an event caused by both Catholics and Protestants are still among us.

In this sense, Catholics should mourn the fact that Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists and Catholics themselves are not receiving at the eucharistic altar. In light of the serious agreements and disagreements that remain among Catholics and Lutherans relative to intercommunion, if I had been in the position of Pope Francis and had been asked this question, I would have acknowledged the very real sorrow that should be felt that such a couple cannot commune together at the table of the eucharistic Lord.

Yet, because of this noncommunion, the couple serves to the entire world as a eucharistic sign of a unity that is not yet here. There is a ministry that this couple offers in their baptized and married priesthood to the churches. We cannot remain complacent in our desire for the totality of unity that would make possible intercommunion.

The couple invites the churches to conversion of heart, to see possibilities for communion where seemingly there are none. Through baptism they recognize each other mutually as Christians. Though we cannot eat the body and blood of the Lord together, we must pray psalms of lament and praise together. We must represent to the world in deeds of justice and mutual love the eucharistic consequences of our particular communions, bringing all of humanity into the love of Christ.

We must manifest the unity that we do share. He was encountering this particular Lutheran woman, who was longing for union with her husband in the eucharistic banquet. He was not providing a catechesis on the Eucharist but expressing sympathy for her longing. It is the work of theologians to understand what is necessary for eucharistic intercommunion.

But it is the pastoral requirement of all of us to take seriously the questions asked by our interlocutors. That, to me, is a fine way to start our common commemoration of the Reformation. Timothy P. Your source for jobs, books, retreats, and much more. July , issue. O'Malley July 07, O'Malley Timothy P. Show Comments 8. Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication.

See our comments policy for more. We all know and believe that Christ said "This is my Body This is my Blood" When did the church actually ordain it or make it dogmatic that priests or the clergy could actually perform this miracle? I know there was adoration of the eucharist as a symbol during Augustine's time but I do not find where it was believed to be the actual body and blood of Christ at that time.

I value direction and assistance in clarifying this with many catholics who like me want to know. Patrick Murtha. There are zealots like you among Lutherans, too. The conservative Lutheran Church Missouri Synod LC-MS was disinvited to the 10th round of the aforementioned talks after having been present for all nine earlier rounds because it could simply not reconcile its rigid and repressive understanding of such notions as faith, sin, grace, the eucharist, etc.

But we digress, yet again. The bottom line is that the article in chief to which these are comments grossly misstates the differences between Roman Catholocism and Lutheranism, and needs to be rewritten. Even my commentary, here, is too slanted… in my case, toward Lutheranism. Newspaper reporters writing hard news stories also have beliefs and opinions.

The article in chief on this page should have been written that way. That was my complaint, and I stand by it. All the rest of this is irreconcilable, and is, therefore, just a waste of time. He is an arrogant, condescending…. Something else!!! Then again, maybe someone should put him in his place.

He is very rude. Not everyone is a blog nerd, and knows not to type in all CAPS. This guy is just looking for a fight with people. As believers, we should all be above petty arguing and name-calling. We are called to love others, even when they say something that annoys or irritates us.

We should say what we say with love, respect, and kindness. In a really bid to point out the flaws of other people you have sadly became guilty of really un-christian like behaviour which I for one find quite disturbing and extremely unappealing. Jesus Christ said that I will build my church upon this rock. He did not say I will build 30, different variations of churches. There are so many variations in the protestant religion, each splintered off because of some disbelief from the other.

The Rock is God through the whole Bible. Jesus ,being God, is our Rock. All the Mary adoration and rosary are not in the Bible. That is the main difference between ancient Christian teaching and Catholic teaching. So if you have a point, then please now re- make it, in upper-and-lower-case letters, like normal people….

My church, if I ever form it, will be decidedly at the left end, with nothing at any other end or even very much toward the middle. Worth the search. I could not more agree with what that pastor told you; and I have often heard that kind of rhetoric used to explain why Lutheran is not just another protestant denomination.

Anyway, one evening a final-year seminarian from LSTC was invited to come and talk with our group. He had done his first… I think three years… or so… at a Roman Catholic seminary, studying for the priesthood.

A professor during the first semester of his either second or third year at the Catholic seminary gave him what the professor dismissed as the simple assignment of spending a bunch of time in the library perusing through The Complete Works of Martin Luther, and then writing a paper on why Luther was wrong. The seminarian said that he did the assignment with enthusiasm, confident that all the ways that Luther was misguided would become painfully self-evident.

But he found it a bigger challenge than he thought…. Godasmywitness: True story. Of course, there was more to his presentation that evening than just that. He went on to specify the precise things which tipped it in for him.

But it really made a huge impression on me. I bet he records himself speaking and plays it back for a special thrill. Bottom line is , the Roman Catholic church may have been perverted by man along the road to its present place in society and history but it still retains its primacy as the original church of Jesus Christ.

Thank You! But just could not handle it anymore! He is obviously educated, OR educating himself in The Bible, since he tends to reference MANY scriptures…But then again, all us Christians know we have books on our shelves that can give us a list of scriptures relating to every topic…….

You are NOT God….. So, please stop judging. Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? I was a Lutheran and the reason I became Catholic is because all i was ever told about Catholics was false. The two pillars of the Lutherans are Sola Fide and Sola Scriptura, We are saved by faith alone and the bible is the sole authority. Good story about what turned out to be, the term paper!

To quote a famous commentor, WOW! Gregg, this is the internet and was meant for fun. Just saying. And I thought the internet was a tool of the Illuminati? I came to this site as a Christian who is neither Catholic nor Lutheran, seeking to understand the major differences between the two faiths. In the original article, I found very little that was useful to understanding the two faiths, and after reading a few responses, found nothing really useful there either.

I think there was a comment about a book or article or something that could help you … and remember you heard it here first! Are you two serious! Give each other a break. Find something more positive to do with your time. The defense of any religious organization gets in the way of a true defense of Christ. Hope you all got past that. Fonts and letter spacing are a work of comprehension speed and ability and not just pretty ways to form letters.

Unless your in advertising, then all that counts is whats hidden in and under and in-between the words. No caps and missing punctuation can make long and difficult sentences harder to understand but at least are easier on the animal part of the brain.

Well, I did read all those caps. I can pound out a few sentences myself.. Marcus Arileus, famous defender of Rome wrote much. In typical internet fashion, if you read all the way to the end, a lovely bouquet of flowers will be delived to your door overnight. Probably COD. Papal abuse opened the floodgates. Gospel truth or Pauls letters, whichever you call gospel mearly gave people hope to resist. An apostles example would be Paul calling every claim to understanding and authority he had before meeting Jesus, as just a pile of garbage.

For some reason, God likes a servant heart. Not usually found in throne contenders. To be sure, servants can be found anywhere and I do pray that this is the heart of every papal contender…or at least the one that gets the right smoke.

Remember also, God gave the Israelites Jeraboam, with a promise he could keep the kingdom.. What job? Are you refering to the Holy Spirits job?

Did he quit? This is the New Testament example enshrined by the apostles. Actually, never did. Solomon confessed it is so.

So we know you never found God then, if you stopped looking at the church with the biggerst claims on earth.. Apparently so, or he would have left us without clear and concise doctrines of how to build with bricks and purple robes. Perhaps he just wants to see how we get along without him.

Does Scott Hahn also suggest that ascension to the court should be by the laying on of hands, or birthright or??? Or does he keep that separate? Perhaps Jesus is trying to keep Peter from becoming Muslim, not putting him above other apostles… which you through your somewhat blind acceptance of Church of Rome doctrine clearly believe to be biblical.

Clearly, the only authority is God and his bi-partisan son and his Holy Spirit. Evry human endevour, whether sanctioned by God or not, needs leaders. We have other leaders now. Peter had to be corrected to accept Gentiles… by the Spirit of the Living God no less, and even then he seemed to struggle with it.

Hard to break with tradition. Um… Really? Even the Muslim heads of authority will let the Pope come and see the head of John the Baptist. If I was to set foot in a Catholic church, would I learn that there?

Ok, that was a bit cheeky of me. Lutherans believe in showing love and faith to Jesus Christ brings them salvation. They are considered to be the foremost Christians. The advancement of the Christian community which was formed by the Twelve Apostles is the Catholic Church. Jesus Christ appointed St. Peter to be the head of the Church initially in the first century AD.

So, the appointed Pope is the sole successor of St. Catholics have a very strong belief in Baptism. The belief of every human born in the world is born with sin and only baptism can remove it.

The church is the one true church for the Catholics. Bible is deeply worshipped as the inspired word of God. The Catholic Church in Rome has protected the original scriptures of Bible for so many years. Mother Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ is worshipped as the first among all the saints. Mother Mary is also considered to be the mother of Church. But they reject the perspicuity the clarity or know-ability of the Scriptures, and insist that to rightly understand the Scriptures an official interpreter — the magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church — is required.

Church traditions such as counsels and formal creeds carry a weight and authority equal to that of the Scriptures. Further, the Pope, when speaking officially ex-cathedra carries the same authority as the Scriptures and as tradition. Thus, for the Catholic there are three sources of infallible, divine truth: the Scriptures, the Church and tradition.

The Lutherans reject the infallibility of both the church the Pope and tradition, and insist upon the Scriptures as the final authority for life and practice. At the center of Catholic worship is the Mass or the Eucharist. During this ceremony, the actual presence of Christ is manifest mystically in elements. When the elements are blessed they transubstantiate into the actual body and blood of Christ.

Thus, the worshipper consumes the actual flesh and blood of Christ, even though the elements remain on the outside the form of bread and wine. This brings the sacrifice of Christ into the present for the worshipper to enjoy afresh. This process has saving affect for the worshipper.

Lutherans reject that the elements become the actual body and blood, though Lutherans do believe in the real presence of Christ during the Eucharist. In the language of Luther, Christ is in, above, behind and beside the elements. Thus, Christians enjoy the presence of Christ without bringing his sacrifice into the presence for renewal. This is not only distinct from Roman Catholicism; this view is also distinct from many Protestant traditions. Catholics believe that the earthly head of the church is the Bishop of Rome, the Pope.

The Pope enjoys an apostolic succession that is traced, supposedly, to the Apostle Peter. The keys of the kingdom are handed down and possessed by the Pope. Thus all Catholics view the Pope as their highest ecclesiastical authority.

Are Lutherans saved? Since Lutherans traditionally and formally confess faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, many faithful Lutherans are true believers in Christ and are therefore Saved. Some Lutheran denominations have moved away from what Lutherans have traditionally believed and have therefore drifted from the Scriptures.

While others have remained true. Many other Protestant traditions take issue mostly with the Lutheran view of baptism, and its salvific effect. Is Smoking Marijuana Sinful?