Religion, like the family and the economy, is a universal and insidious phenomenon that is part of the cultural system because it is assumed to meet some basic need of human beings. Religion is an incorporated part of human experience and shows astonishing continuity through time. Even in modern secularized societies in the West, religion has persisted and still exerts great influence on people’s lives. Almost all known peoples in all places and times have some set of specific cultural prototypes made up of beliefs and codes of conduct traced with emotional views. An explanation or justification for human behavior and social organization regarding the distribution of power between leaders and the governed, moral code, distribution of wealth, or success/failure may be found within religion.
Religious beliefs and practices have been debated by various religious sectors, including the Lutheran and Calvinist reformations. The intention of this essay is to compare and contrast the doctrines and beliefs of these two reformations between 1500 and 1700.
[1]
II. Discussion
Calvinism is a branch of Protestantism that follows the teachings of John Calvin. Its beliefs include the sovereignty of God, predestination, and the total depravity of human nature. Calvinists believe that salvation is only possible through faith in Jesus Christ and that good works are a result of this faith, not a means to earn salvation. They also emphasize the importance of studying and interpreting scripture for oneself.
Calvinism is a system of church practices and mysticism founded on the teachings of protestant Reformation leader John Calvin. It is a doctrine of Presbyterian and Reformed churches, which is also part of the heritage of Baptists, Congregationalists, and various Christian groups. Calvin’s complete thought can be found in his Institute of the Christian Religion (1536). Other significant documents related to Calvinism are the Canons of Dort (1619), which serve as the doctrinal basis for reformed churches, and the Westminster Confession (1646), which is considered as the traditional Presbyterian creed.
The fundamental foundation of early Calvinism was based on belief in God’s absolute sovereign will over human affairs. According to this belief system, doing God’s will was man’s first duty because Adam -the first man created by God- was created pure and did God’s will. However, Adam’s sin resulted in man’s fall from this state of purity leaving all mankind infected with a total degeneracy,” making them free to sin but not to do well. As a result, all were rightfully damned (R. Po-Chia Hsia & Henk Van Nierop, 2002). [2]
The strict Calvinist doctrine of limited atonement held that Christ’s death atoned for the sins of a restricted few, but not all mankind. The limited few, called the elect, were thus saved by receiving salvation. According to predestination, which is Calvin’s most widely known doctrine, God decreed eternal life for the elect and eternal damnation or reprobation for those who did not receive salvation. According to the idea known as irresistible grace, individuals elected by God to be saved by His grace could not choose to resist it but had to accept it according to the doctrines of the church.
Calvinists, like most other early Protestants, emphasized the doctrine of justification, which deals with the condition of man’s salvation. According to this doctrine, a saved individual is made righteous by God’s grace and God’s judgment is declared just or acceptable to everyone. An individual’s good deeds cannot achieve their salvation or justification; they must live by faith alone. However, their faith should be expressed outwardly in strict moral and righteous conduct as well as good works. To a Calvinist, the ability to base one’s life in faith was probable evidence that one was saved from sin and numbered among the elect (Kingdon, 2006).
In Calvinism, Scripture and scripture reading became the supreme authority in faith and life. Calvinists believed that the Bible designated only two sacraments: the sacrament of Baptism and the sacrament of Holy Communion. Calvin’s notion of church government, in which the church elects elders or presbyters to preside over its affairs, came from the Bible and was adopted by Presbyterian and Reformed Churches. This idea of representational church government was an important influence on the development of modern democracy.
In the 17th century, some Dutch theologians and English Puritans added covenant theology to Calvinism. The covenant was a contractual relationship between Christians and God, with sacraments given as seals of the covenant. They believed that God made two covenants with man: the covenant of Works, made with Adam in the Garden of Eden, and the covenant of Grace, made in Jesus Christ when He died on the cross and resurrected (Van Bruaene, 2004). Covenant theology became central to Puritanism in England and America, mitigating predestination by recognizing human cooperation in accomplishing salvation.
B. Lutheran Beliefs
Lutherans are Protestant Christians who follow the teachings of Martin Luther, the leader of the German Reformation. They form the largest group of Protestants worldwide, especially in Germany. In addition, they occupy more than 95 percent of the population in Scandinavian countries and have strong minorities in many other countries. In the United States, Lutherans number about 8,460,000 and are the nation’s fourth-largest religious group.
Lutherans place a strong emphasis on doctrine, avowing that the Bible is the sole rule of faith and accepting all traditional Protestant Christian doctrines. Distinctive Lutheran beliefs are defined in Luther’s two catechisms, the Augsburg Confession, the Schmalkaldic Articles, and the Formula of Concord (Anderson, 2001).
The chief ideology of Lutheranism is justification by faith alone. Unlike in Calvinism, where salvation comes through good works, Lutheran salvation comes from the faith of believers that God has forgiven their sins through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. By God’s grace, believers have become righteous.
The Lutherans have two sacraments: baptism and the Lord’s Supper, also known as Holy Communion. During Holy Communion, Lutherans believe that there is no physical change in the bread and wine. However, they do believe that Christ is truly present to forgive sins and renew the spiritual life of believers.
Lutheran churches utilize liturgy more extensively than most Protestant churches. However, there are variations in the forms of public worship among Lutheran bodies (Braaten, 2004), particularly in church administration. In Europe, Lutheran churches have bishops, while in the United States, the local congregation is the primary unit of church organization and authority. During the 15th century, congregations merged into synods or regional groupings (Arnold, 2002). After 1500, many synods joined together to form national denominations. Some synods serve as advisory bodies while others possess a significant amount of authority.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was formed by a merger of the American Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Church in America, and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches. The denomination has over 5.3 million members. Two of the denominations that make up the church were born out of mergers, while one – the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches – was a group that seceded from the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (Braaten, 2004).[4]
The Missouri Synod is another denomination which believes in strict devotion to the Bible and all Lutheran confessions. This denomination originated from Germany and was founded by Rev. Cal F.W. Walther. The Missouri Synod currently has around 2.6 million members.
The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod is one of the largest conservative Lutheran bodies in the United States, with over 2 million members. It has many congregations in Canada (Rogness, 2000).
The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod is another conservative Lutheran body that holds without hesitation to the Lutheran confessions and the infallibility of the Bible. The church was organized in Milwaukee and has congregations in most states of the Union, with over 400,000 members (Nelson, 2002).
There are also several smaller Lutheran denominations in America:
- The Apostolic Lutheran Church of America has over 6,000 members
- The Association of Free Lutheran Congregations has over 19,000 members
- The Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America has over 12,000 members
- The Church of the Lutheran Confession has over 9,000 members
- The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church has over 7,000 members
- The Evangelical Lutheran Synod has over 20,000 members
- The Latvian Evangelical Luthernan Chruch in America with over14.00 memebers
- The Protestant Conference (Lutheran), Inc. with only about a thousand memberes
(Nelson,2002)
III. Conclusion
Most of the doctrines of Calvinism from the 15th to the 17th centuries are no longer practiced by churches characterized as Calvinist. Doctrines such as predestination, election, and irresistible grace have been either drastically modified or discarded to give man a free will to determine his salvation. Additionally, there was much rivalry between Lutherans and the Reformed Church founded by John Calvin. The Reformed faith gained considerable support in some German states, and later on, Lutheran and Reformed groups formed union churches in many states. Reform continues even after the 17th century as Christians seek better ways to know God and serve Him faithfully for salvation.
Reference:
- Anderson, C.S. Faith and Freedom: The Christian Faith According to the Lutheran Confession (Augsburg, 2001).
- Arnold, D.W. The Way, the Truth, and the Life: an Introduction to Lutheran Christianity (Baker Book House, 2002).
- Braaten, C.E., editor. The New Church Debate: Issues Facing American Lutheranism (Fortress Press, 2004).
- Kingdon, Robert M. The Disciplinary Revolution: Calvinism and the Rise of the State in Early Modern Europe. Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 59 (2006).
- Nelson, E.C. The Rise of World Lutheranism (Fortress Press, 2002).
R. Po-Chia Hsia and Henk Van Nierop’s Calvinism and Religious Toleration in the Dutch Golden Age (Cambridge University Press, 2002). - Kingdon’s article on The Disciplinary Revolution” is cited three times.
- Note:The sources are listed in alphabetical order by author last name.
- Sources:
- [1] Kingdon’s article on “The Disciplinary Revolution”
- [2]
- [3] Kingdon’s article on “The Disciplinary Revolution”
