The Difference Between Catholicism and Lutheranism Essays

The Difference Between Catholicism and Lutheranism Essays The Difference Between Catholicism and Lutheranism Essay The Difference Between Catholicism and Lutheranism Essay Christianity. Most people on earth have heard of it. As a matter of fact, more people believe in or practice Christianity than any other religion on the planet. What many people do not understand is that there are different denominations of Christianity. Catholicism and Lutheranism are excellent examples of the similarities and differences within Christianity. In fact, Lutheranism stemmed from Catholicism. In the sixteenth century, a friar name Martin Luther wanted to reform the Catholic Church (Hillerbrand and Marty). When his ideas were stonewalled and he was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church, he began to launch a Protestant Reformation movement for those not happy with the Catholic way of life. These factions are similar in many ways because they stem from the same place; however, there are several small differences which set them apart from each other. Though Catholics and Lutherans generally believe in the same major parts in their religions, the first major difference is in numbers alone. There are 2.4 billion people in the world practicing Christianity. Of those people, 1.14 billion believe in Catholicism and only 72.3 million who keep their beliefs in Lutheranism (Muanda). These figures show that the Catholic religion is much more widespread across the world. Lutheranism is practiced all over the globe except in Northwest Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and most of Asia. Catholicism has reached out and been successful in a great majority of countries. It has a worldwide arm span bringing new members into the fold everywhere except Saudi Arabia (Roman Catholics). Both of these religious sects are monotheistic. They believe in one God. In fact, they believe in the very same God as each other. Catholics and Lutherans also believe in Jesus Christ as the son of that God. â€Å"They both believe that God sent his son Jesus Christ to be the savior of mankind† (Markey). Both Catholics and Lutherans believe that Jesus Christ