There are many issue that divide Lutherans and Romans Catholics, but the doctrine of justification and the role of good works in
salvation is the key issue. Regarding justification, the Lutheran Reformation
taught, based on Scripture (Romans 3:28, 4:5, 5:1; Galatians 2:16, 2:21;
Philippians 3:9), that God
imputes the righteousness of Christ to the
sinner who, by faith receives the benefits. Rome teaches the
infusion of
the righteousness of Christ at Baptism as a deposit that must bring forth good
works that are necessary for salvation. The
Council of Trent (1545-1563), meeting
to deal with the issues of the Reformation, flatly rejected the truth of
justification by faith without the works of the Law and condemned those who
believed it. Canon XI of Trent states: "If any
one saith, that men are justified, either by the sole imputation of the justice
of Christ, or by the sole remission of sins, to the exclusion of the grace and
the charity which is poured forth in their hearts by the Holy Ghost, and is
inherent in them; or even that the grace, whereby we are justified, is only the
favor of God; let him be anathema." (
anathema means one who is
cursed by ecclesiastical authority)
In 1999, the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification made
headlines. The document was created and agreed to by the Catholic Church's Pontifical
Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Lutheran World Federation.
As a result of extensive ecumenical dialogue, the document states that the
churches now share "a common understanding of our justification by God's
grace through faith in Christ.”
Agreement between Rome and Lutherans over the doctrine of
justification, the doctrine by which the church stands or falls, as Luther put
it, is not possible since there are two totally different systems whereby a
sinner becomes righteous before God. While both Lutherans and Catholics will
say that we are “saved by grace through faith,” the terms are defined
differently. For Lutherans, grace is the undeserved favor of God who sent Jesus
into the world to bear our sins in exchange for His perfect righteousness. We
are righteous before God because of the forgiveness of our sins and perfect righteousness
of Christ not because of any inherent righteousness or good works on our part that
gain Divine merit. For Rome, grace is infused (gratia infusa) into the person
at Baptism as an investment which produces good works that merit salvation if
the person remains joined to the church, free of mortal sin, and participates in the Sacraments. Faith
means to trust the merits of Christ, in addition to the merits of the Virgin
Mary and the saint in heaven. The process whereby the person become holy before
a holy God is completed in purgatory.
The primary difficulty that
arises when discussing issues with Romans Catholics is the issue of authority
and the source of truth. No meaningful discussion can take place if each party
begins with a different understanding of the source of truth. Lutherans teach all truth is derived from
Scripture Alone. Rome teaches that Scripture plus sacred
tradition, church councils, and Pope are the source of truth. The Catechism
of the Catholic Church #88 states: "The Church's Magisterium exercises
the authority it holds from Christ to the fullest extent when it defines
dogmas, that is, when it proposes, in a form obliging the Christian people to
an irrevocable adherence of faith, truths contained in divine Revelation or
also when it proposes, in a definitive way, truths having a necessary
connection with these."
To prove their point, Romans Catholics quote 1 Timothy 3:15: “But if I
am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in
the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground
of the truth.” By “church” they mean the Church’s Magisterium (Pope, Councils,
etc.) while the Apostle Paul is referring to the fellowship of God’s people (Gk:
ekklesia – the called out people of God) who gather around the Word of
God which is the “ground of truth.” For Rome, the “Church” is the priests, cardinal
and Pope which exists apart from the people. Luther taught the “priesthood of
all believers” and defined the Church as the people gathering around Word and
Sacrament.
Within Romans Catholicism there is a development of dogma, that which
must be believed. Lutherans believe revelation ceased with the Scripture and
there are no new truths that will emerge and must be believed. According to a
Wikipedia article regarding Rome: "However, new dogmata can be declared
through the ages. For instance, the 20th century witnessed the introduction of
the dogma of Assumption of Mary by Pope Pius XII in 1950. However, these
beliefs were already held in some form or another within the Church before
their elevation to the dogmatic level. And a movement to declare a fifth Marian
dogma for Mediatrix and Co-Redemptrix is underway." Dogma cannot be
changed and that is a DOGMA. Therefore, Rome does not nor cannot change.
Is the Pope the Anti-Christ? Luther stated::
"It is eminently true that all who preach human doctrine make a human
being into a light, lead the people away from this light to themselves, and put
themselves in the place of this true light, as the pope and his followers have
done. For this reason, he is also the “Anti-Christ”; he is against this true
light.” Luther, M. (1999, c1974). Luther's Works,
Sermons II (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Luther's
Works (Vol. 52, Page 69). Philadelphia: Fortress Press. By these words, Luther is referring to the Office of the Papacy.
Rome teaches a Marian Theology (theology regarding Mary, the
mother of Jesus) that is not based upon Scripture.
1) Mother of God: Mary is the theotokos
or “God-bearer.” Lutherans also acknowledge that Mary is the Mother
of God because she gave birth to the Son of God according to both His human and
divine natures which cannot be divided.
2) Perpetual Virginity: While it is true
that Martin Luther believed in the perpetual virginity of Mary and some
Lutherans hold to that view, yet Scripture indicates that Jesus had brothers
and sisters, Matthew 1:24-25: “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” Matthew 13:55-56: “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” James, the head of the Church at Jerusalem is referred to as the “brother of our Lord.” (Galatians 1:19)
3) Immaculate Conception: Pope Pius IX issued his Apostolic constitution, Ineffabilis Deus, in which the Immaculate Conception of Mary in the womb of her mother Anne was defined as a dogma on December 8, 1854. On December 8th, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is celebrated. Many Romans Catholics will mistakenly apply the immaculate conception to Jesus rather than to Mary. Jesus was not immaculately conceived. He was incarnated, meaning “the Word became flesh.”
4) Bodily Assumption: On November 1,
1950, Pope Pius XII solemnly declared in his Apostolic Constitution titled Munificentissimus Deus
(Most Bountiful God): "By the authority
of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our
own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed
dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having
completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into
heavenly glory.”
Lutherans respond to the Immaculate Conception and Bodily
Assumption by accurately stating that these “truths” are not found in the
Bible. For Rome, this makes no difference. The Pope has the authority to define
dogma that must be believed.
5) There are popular Marian teachings that are presently taught as traditions such as Mary is the Co-Redemptrix. She participated with Jesus in the redemption of the world. In time, this distortion of the Gospel will become a dogma of Rome.
The Romans Catholic Sacrifice of the Mass, or Sacerdotalism, claims that sacrifices for sin requires the intervention of a priest. The Council of Trent taught that the Mass is the same as Calvary, "only the manner of offering being changed" from bloody to unbloody. On the altar, Jesus is again sacrificed for the sins of the world. Luther wrote: “The Mass in the papacy must be regarded as the greatest and most horrible abomination because it runs into direct and violent conflict with this fundamental article. Yet, above and beyond all others, it has been the supreme and most precious of the papal idolatries, for it is held that this sacrifice or work of the Mass (even when offered by an evil scoundrel) delivers men from their sins, both here in this life and yonder in purgatory, although in reality this can and must be done by the Lamb of God alone.” Tappert, T. G. (2000, c1959). The Book of Concord (The Smalcald Articles: 2, II, 1). Philadelphia: Fortress Press.
Purgatory is a necessary dogma for Rome. It is the state or place of purification or temporary punishment by which those who die with non-mortal sins and so in the state of grace are made ready for the Beatifici Vision in heaven. By rejecting justification by faith and believing that one must be purified before entering heaven, purgatory is a
necessary addition to Rome’s understanding of the basis of salvation. Those who
fail to attain purified righteousness here on earth, are doomed to purgatory. Luther
wrote: “Consequently purgatory and all the pomp, services, and business
transactions associated with it are to be regarded as nothing else than
illusions of the devil, for purgatory, too, is contrary to the fundamental
article that Christ alone, and not the work of man, can help souls. Besides,
nothing has been commanded or enjoined upon us with reference to the dead. All
this may consequently be discarded, apart entirely from the fact that it is
error and idolatry.” Tappert, T. G. (2000, c1959). The Book
of Concord (The Smalcald Articles: 2, II, 12). Philadelphia: Fortress
Press.
In Rome,
sainthood is reserved for those who have entered heaven. There is a process
leading to canonization or sainthood. Step one is to wait five years after the
death of the potential saint. The individual must be defined as a “servant of
God” or Venerable and his life must show proof of “heroic virtue.” Finally, two verified miracles must be shown because
of praying to the potential saint.
In 2019, Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801 – 1890) an English
theologian and Cardinal was
canonized. Two miracles were ascribed to him. In
2001, Jack Sullivan, an American deacon from Marshfield in Massachusetts,
attributed his recovery from a spinal cord disorder to the intercession of
Newman. The miracle was accepted by Rome. The approval of a further miracle at
the intercession of Newman was reported in November 2018: the healing of a
pregnant woman from a grave illness. Thus, Newman was declared a saint, because
he must be in heaven and thereby able to intercede for those on earth who pray
to him. Luther responds to this definition of a saint by saying, “Scripture calls us holy while we are still living here on earth, if we believe. The papists have taken this name away from us and say: ‘We should not be holy; only the saints in heaven are holy.’ Therefore, we must get the noble name back. You
must be holy. But you must be prepared not to think that you are holy of
yourself or on the strength of your merit. No, you must be holy because you
have the Word of God, because heaven is yours, and because you have become
truly pious and holy through Christ. This you must avow if you want to be a
Christian. For it would be the greatest slander and blasphemy of the name of
Christ if we refused to honor Christ’s blood for washing away our sin or
refused to believe that this blood makes us holy. Hence you must believe and
confess that you are holy, but by this blood and not by reason of your own
piety. Therefore, you must be willing to surrender life and all possessions for
this and to face whatever may be your lot on this account.” Luther, M. (1999, c1967). Vol. 30: Luther's Works: The Catholic
Epistles (1 Pe 1:3 (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann, Ed.). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.
Regarding the invocation of the Saints or trusting in the
merits of the saints for salvation, Luther wrote: “Our opponents teach
that we should put our trust in the invocation of the saints, though they have
neither a Word of God nor an example from Scripture for this. They apply the
merits of the saints in the same way as the merits of Christ and thus transfer
to the saints the honor that belongs to Christ. Therefore, we cannot accept
either their ideas about venerating the saints or their practice of praying to
them. We know that we must put our trust in the intercession of Christ because
only this has God’s promise. We know that the merits of Christ are our only
propitiation. Because of them we are accounted righteous when we believe in
him, as the text says (Rom. 9:33), “He who believes in him will not be put to
shame.” We must not believe that we are accounted righteous by the merits of
the blessed Virgin or of the other saints. Tappert, T. G.
(2000, c1959). The Book of Concord: (Apology of the Augsburg Confession:
1, IX, 31). Philadelphia: Fortress Press.Luther:
The Sacraments:
What is a Sacrament? The word
“sacrament” is not in the Bible. It means an action or practice that has sacred
and mysterious significance. Jesus mandated two such rites or practices that
impart the forgiveness of sins and are defined as means of grace: Baptism
and the Lord’s Supper. In each case, there are physical elements involved:
water and bread and wine.
Rome identifies Seven Sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Confession,
Communion, Marriage, Ordination, Last Rites (Sacrament of the Sick).
There is a major difference between Roman Catholic and Lutheran
theology regarding the efficacy of the Sacrament, particularly the Lord’s
Supper. Roman Catholics believe the Sacraments are effective regardless of the
condition of the recipients. This is defined in Latin as Ex Opere Operato (for the sake of the work performed.)
Lutheran theologian C.F.W. Walther writes regarding a worthy
recipient of the Lord’s Supper: "He, therefore, who would receive the Lord’s Supper worthily and
for his benefit must previously have come to repentance and faith, must
previously have obtained grace and have become a true Christian. Partaking of
the Lord’s Supper is in and by itself not beneficial; rather the benefit
depends on how one partakes. It does not work ex opere operato. It is
not like a medicine which one need merely swallow to have the benefit. It is
rather like a treasure house whose treasures can be taken, grasped and held
only with the hand of faith." CFW Walther,
Pastoral Theology, as quoted in Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics,
III: p.382,
Rome teaches that in Baptism original sin is removed but concupiscence,
the tendency to sin, remains. Lutherans teach that after Baptism original sin
remains but a new life in Christ has been imparted so that the Christian is simul
justus et peccator (at the same time, a saint and a sinner). In the Council
of Trent, Rome rejected this position since the righteousness acceptable
before God is a personal and inherent righteousness, not the alien
righteousness of Christ. The Lutheran significance of Baptism is that old
sinful nature is daily put to death so that the new life in Christ is manifest.
From the perspective of the Apostle Paul, his sinful nature remained even after
Baptism. He wrote: “If, then, I do what I will not to do, I
agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it,
but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing
good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I
do not find.” (Romans 7:16-18)
Regarding the Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion, Sacrament of the Altar,
Eucharist) Rome teaches transubstantiation, the substance of bread
changes into the Body of Christ and the substance of wine changes into the
Blood of Christ. This leads to the “adoration
of the Sacrament.” The bread is actually the body of Christ and is to be adored
as such. Lutherans teach Real Presence, that in, with and under the
bread and wine the Body and Blood of Christ is present in the eating and
drinking. In 1 Corinthians 10:16 the Apostle Paul indicates that the cup remains
the cup and the bread remains the bread. “The cup of blessing that we bless, is
it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it
not a participation in the body of Christ?”
Summary:
The differences between Lutherans and Roman Catholics are not merely
cosmetic or of minor significance. While we believe that Roman Catholics who are
informed by Scripture and believe in Jesus are Christians and may be surprised
after death when they find themselves in heaven rather than in purgatory, the
system of Roman Catholicism is opposed to and of a different nature than the
theology that emerged in the sixteenth-century Reformation. The tragedy of
Roman Catholicism is that the millions of adherents are ignorant of the Word of
God, especially the Good News of the Gospel, and are trusting their membership
and participation in “mother church” as the basis for their salvation.
Lutheran Christians should know and understand the distortions taught
by the Romans Catholic Church and be willing and able to engage their Roman
Catholic neighbors in friendly discussion.
I recall some years ago teaching an adult information class for prospective
members of the congregation. After presenting a session on the significance of
the Gospel with a specific emphasis on justification by grace through faith, I
noticed that a woman in the back of the room was crying. Speaking with her after
the session, she was relieved to hear the Good News of the Gospel since she had
never been certain of her eternal salvation.
This is a typical response when Romans Catholics are confronted with
the Good News of what Jesus accomplished for them through His shed blood and
perfect righteousness.
