Differences between Catholics and Lutherans.
The Catholic Church is a sacramental Church and always have been. There are seven Sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church; Baptism, Reconciliation, Communion, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders, Sacrament of the Sick. The Lutheran Church is also sacramental and observes Baptism and Holy Communion as sacraments and the others as "sacramental in nature." Confession/Absolution (or Reconciliation) is sometimes referred to as the "third sacrament" in the Lutheran Church.


The Catholic Church believes in Transubstantiation. That is when a priest consecrates the bread and wine changing them into the actual Body and Blood of Christ while they remain under the appearance of bread and wine. This is a mystery of faith and follows Christs command "Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will not have life within you." Catholics do not believe it is symbolic. They believe this because when Christ revealed this teaching (see all of John 6) His audience took it as literal and many of His own disciples left Him, yet Christ did not qualify this teaching. Instead , He left the literal interpretation to stand and only sought that His listeners have faith in Him as to how it was to be done.


Lutherans believe in that the body and blood are truly present in the Eucharist, but avoid trying to explain the mystery. Lutherans also reject a symbolic view of the sacrament. A Lutheran, when asked, would answer: Is it body and blood? -Yes. Is it bread and wine? -Yes. How? -It is a mystery. Why? -Because Jesus said, "This bread is my body. This wine is my blood."


The Catholic Church understands itself as the one, holy, and apostolic Church. The Lutheran Church follows the same creed and understands that one holy and apostolic church to be only known by God across denominational lines. The true Church is wherever "the word is rightly proclaimed and the sacraments rightly administered" according to official Lutheran doctrine. A famous Lutheran once answered the question, do you believe you have the one, true religion? "Yes, but we are not the only ones who have it."

If the person posting doesn't know, why are they wanting to change? Sounds a bit like "I want to buy are truck because you have a truck" to me. Perhaps if they read up about what the Catholic church believes and why it believes it, they would not wish to change to Lutheran.

der aint no difference. u still havin imaginary friends.

Catholics kneel more.

Fewer boys are molested by Lutheran ministers.

The Catholic Church was founded by Christ on the Apostles. Christ only promised to protect this Church from error.Mt 16:18

The Lutheran Church was founded by a zealous catholic monk who chose to belligerantly attack the church rather than work within it like others before him did. While some of Luther's issues with the church were valid, he did not handle making the change well. Catholics applaud him for his passion, but not for his style. Today's Lutheran Church bares little to no resemblance of Luther.

Stay Catholic by educating yourself on what we really believe and know that only one church was founded by JEsus Christ and only one Church has Christ authority. The Catholic Church is the one True Church. www.catholic.com

Isabella, I'm not sure why you want to become a Lutheran as opposed to a Catholic. I believe at sometime in your life, either you or your parents introduced you to the Catholic faith. Maybe you grew up in that faith and maybe now you have become dishearted or you feel that your spiritual needs are not being met. Maybe you spoke to someone that is a Lutheran or you visited a Lutheran Church and you feel more comfortable there or maybe the people are more pleasant to be around. Whatever the reason Isabella, I hope that deep down in your heart you are searching for the Lord Jesus Christ and the peace that He alone can give with Eternal Life. If you want to leave one for the other for any other reason or reasons you will never find Him nor the peace that you're looking for.

I searched for 40 years and never found Him; He found me one cold dreary night in Anchorage, Alaska. That was one of the most painful yet the happiest day of my life because that night I surrendered my heart to the Lord Jesus. He healed me that night and that night I promised to serve Him for the rest of my life. I am still serving Him the best that I can. It was December 13, 1985 that I gave my heart to Him.

Now to try an answer your question. Forgive me for taking so long, but I believe you deserve the best answer that I can give. With the Lord's help I may be able to shed a little light on the subject. I hope you have a little time to read my answer. I want you to fully understand what I'm about to write and believe in your heart that these words are true. Unbias history will support this. The major difference between Catholicism or being a Catholic and being a Luthern is that the Lutherns, as a denomination, is one and the first step away from Catholicism in the direction of the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

Martin Luther took that daring step during his lifetime and led many that were once shackled by the teachings and doctrines of Catholicism. There are many, many good people that are Catholics, as well as many, many good people that are Lutherns. Martin Luther was extremely blessed by God to be chosen amoung his brethren to be the one that is credited with opening the eyes of millions that have been persecuted, tormented, lied to and deceived by the many teachings of Catholicsm. The only "Light" that the Lord gave him to lead millions of His children to Him was "the just shall live by faith". That was enough because it was the Word of God. If you are looking for Eternal Life and is tired of the emptiness that has prevailed thus far, look to Jesus Christ only. No church, no denomination, no man-made program will give it to you. Only Jesus will give you peace and Eternal Life.

But let me ask you this. Why would you settle for a denomination when you can have Him and all that He is? I hope this has helped you in some way. There is so much more that can be said. I'd be more than happy to share it with you. May God bless you and give you what you are looking for.

Lutherism is the avowed studies of Martin Luther (monk) and his 95 Thesis nailed to the church in europe showing his disdain for the CHURCH at that time. The above replies simply get too tech for Xians sake. Luther wanted to get PAST the inquisition times.

Unfortunately for the Catholics, they honestly believe (through their bastardization of the New Testament) that Jesus meant for Peter to be THE rock. Not so, Peter is a representative of all disciples as Peter himself clearly states in his own NT writings. Fortunately for the rest of the Christian followers Luther fought the Indulgences with his 95 Theses in Whittenburg. Indulgences were nothing more than a way for the Pope to collect money to build his empire. They told people that if they gave money they would be given a piece of paper stating their ancestors would be freed from purgatory and finally sent to Heaven. In fact there is no purgatory as we can see from Jesus death on the cross when he told the dying thief hanging next to Him that "today you will be with me in Heaven". And thanks to Luther's love of Christ for all people, he created a NT that all could read. Before that, the Catholics allowed only Priests & Bishops to read the Latin version, then relay their own "version" of the Bible to the masses. Which of course, the Pope paniced over since he had begun to lose control of the Christians. Thank God we can all receive forgiveness of our sins by confessing directly to Christ and not to some Pope. So read the Bible, study the Bible, learn from and love others as the Bible states. Know then in your heart that Christ is with you always, and carry the Holy Spirit of God in your soul. Then share your experiences with others but do not judge, nor attempt to alter the meaning of what is sacred.

Too bad the Anonymous User of 8/27/2009 has little to no clue of which he/she writes. Today's Lutherans bare GREAT resemblance to Martin Luther's teachings of the Scriptures. And when he/she writes "The Catholic Church is the one True Church", they are again doing what Pope Leo and all Popes before and since have done - attempt to force feed you their bastardized corruption of Christianity and the Scriptures. Listen not to them, for they are upset they have lost control of their once proud cult following. Read any Bible version, then read the St. Joseph Edition by the Catholic Book Publishing Company and you will clearly see they've tried to control the Christians for their own possessive gain. Break away and join the Protestant movement that Luther started. Know that God is the Father & Creator, Jesus is the Christ and Redemer, and the Holy Spirit is the Santifier. Then confess your sins directly to Christ Jesus and pray for His forgiveness. You surely don't need the forgiveness of those that pray to Saints and Popes.

Isn't funny how Catholics are still complaining about this? What does that tell you? They are more than willing to go out of their way to slam the Lutherans and other Protestants. Sounds like somebody is still mad they didn't get the last cookie in the jar......

If you follow the news on religion, you will notice Catholicism is evolving more toward Lutheranism. It's simple: People just don't want to be held under a Pope anymore and watch him parade around with his big crown and jewels and golden chairs. Jesus had none of these things.

Don't live your God given life according to your will or the will of the world. Live only by the Will of God and follow Jesus to His Kingdom.