Christian Pure

Lutheran vs Catholic: Faith Alone, the Pope and Communion Compared

Christian Pure Team

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Summary

  • Lutherans and Catholics share the creeds, infant baptism, much of the old Western liturgy and belief that Christ’s body and blood are truly present in Communion.
  • They divided in the 1500s over justification and authority: Lutherans teach salvation by grace through faith alone and Scripture as the only rule; Catholics teach Scripture and Tradition interpreted by the pope and bishops.
  • The 1999 Joint Declaration signed by the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church found a consensus in basic truths of justification; the Missouri Synod did not sign and still lists justification as a major difference.
  • Catholics count seven sacraments and teach transubstantiation; Lutherans count two or three and teach that Christ’s body and blood are present in, with and under the unchanged bread and wine.
  • Catholic law says a Catholic should not receive Communion at a Lutheran church; the ELCA welcomes all baptized visitors, while the LCMS and WELS practise close communion.
  • Lutheran pastors may marry, and the ELCA ordains women; Latin-rite Catholic priests are normally celibate men, and the LCMS and WELS do not ordain women.

Lutherans and Catholics share the creeds, infant baptism, a liturgy descended from the medieval Mass, and belief that Christ’s body and blood are truly present in the bread and wine. They split in the 1500s over how a sinner is made right with God and over authority: Scripture alone, or Scripture and Tradition as taught by the pope and bishops. Lutherans are Protestants, and their church bodies do not all agree. The Lutheran World Federation, which includes the Evangelical Lutheran…

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Bibliography (Click to show)
  • Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version (Romans 3:28; James 2:24; Matthew 16:18; Matthew 26:26), BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+3%3A28%3BJames+2%3A24%3BMatthew+16%3A18%3BMatthew+26%3A26&version=ESV
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 80–86 (Scripture and Tradition). https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__PL.HTM and https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__PM.HTM
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 120 (the canon of Scripture). https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__PR.HTM
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 424 (the rock of Peter’s faith). https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1D.HTM
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 881, 882 and 891 (the pope). https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P2A.HTM
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 956 (the intercession of the saints). https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P2B.HTM
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  • Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1030–1032 (purgatory). https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P2N.HTM
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1113 (the seven sacraments). https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P2Z.HTM
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1376–1379 (transubstantiation and adoration) and 1400. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P41.HTM and https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P42.HTM
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1577–1580 (ordination and celibacy). https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P4X.HTM
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  • The Lutheran World Federation, “Who We Are.” https://lutheranworld.org/who-we-are
  • Lutheran–Roman Catholic Commission on Unity, From Conflict to Communion (2013). https://lutheranworld.org/resources/publication-conflict-communion-lutheran-catholic-common-commemoration-reformation-2017
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, The Use of the Means of Grace (1997), principle 49. https://cdn.elca.org/cdn/wp-content/uploads/The_Use_Of_The_Means_Of_Grace.pdf
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  • The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, “CPH publishes first Lutheran English edition of ‘Apocrypha’,” Reporter (2012). https://reporter.lcms.org/2012/cph-publishes-first-lutheran-english-edition-of-apocrypha/
  • Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, “Open Communion.” https://wels.net/faq/open-communion/
  • Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, “Why no women pastors?” https://wels.net/faq/why-no-women-pastors/
  • Jessica Crist, “‘We are Determined:’ Suffrage, Ordination, and Coeducation,” Journal of Lutheran Ethics (ELCA), November 2020. https://learn.elca.org/jle/we-are-determined-suffrage-ordination-and-coeducation/

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