Luther Vs Calvin

#0245160

History of Christianity

2-28-13

Essay #2

Europe is warm with the beliefs of salvation presented by the Catholic Church. There is hope in the streets of life after death and a way that individuals can save not only themselves, but their ancestors from damnation. Now seen as two of the most influential theologians in history, Luther and Calvin, who fully understood the ramifications of their actions, stepped out on the streets of a hopeful Catholic Europe. They placed false hope by the way side and blew the whistle on what they saw as fundamental errors the church had grown to accept. Though similar in the rejection of corruption, where the theologies of Calvin and Luther agree and disagree are important topics to note. Among these are their beliefs of how salvation is attained, how one should look at and interpret scripture, and most importantly the concepts behind the sacrament.

As the Catholic Church and all of Europe were ravaged with the selling of indulgences and ways to buy oneself into heaven Luther decided he had seen enough. Paying for a piece of paper with a Holy Signature on it seemed to Luther as not the message or the salvation that his God wanted His people to know. By founding principles on the fact that faith alone could get one into heaven, Luther single handedly bankrupt John Tetzel and his indulgence escapades to fund St. Peters Basilica and bring money to the church in general. He attacked the fragile heart of the Catholic Church and a tradition they had put over justified theology. Calvin on the other hand believed in a very different way one gets someone to heaven. Interestingly enough Calvin believed strongly in the idea known as predestination and that there was nothing that one could do to change their fate. For Calvin the lives of all people were already scripted out and they could do nothing to change their place in the books of heaven.

The most fundamental difference between the theologies of Calvin and Luther stem from an interpretation of the Holy Scriptures. The two theologians looked at the scripture as a set of guidelines, but their interpretations of these guidelines are the basis of another rone of their differences of theological thinking. Luther looked at the scripture as “if it does not say don’t do it, than it is ok”, while Calvin fine-tuned the idea to be “If the scripture does not say to do it, than you should not do it.” Although very similar, one can see the ideals of the humanist and the existentialist come through in the lens of which they viewed the bible.

The most important difference in the two theologies was presented in their beliefs of the sacrament service. Traditional Catholic theology taught the idea of transubstantiation, which meant that the bread and wine literally transformed into the physical blood and body of Jesus at the time of mass. Luther did not hold onto this belief but

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