Compare
LutheranismandReformed and Presbyterian Churches
At a glance
- Common groundIn full: Common ground
- The Magisterial Reformation: Scripture and justification by grace through faith.
3 sources
- The Augsburg Confession (1530), Art. IVSource verified
- The Westminster Confession of FaithSource verified
- Christianity: The First Three Thousand YearsIdentified, not independently read
Provisional: broadly supported, but awaiting fuller checking.
- The Magisterial Reformation: Scripture and justification by grace through faith.
- What distinguishes themIn full: What distinguishes them
- The Lord's Supper: Christ's body and blood truly present (Lutheran); received spiritually by faith (Reformed).
2 sources
- The Augsburg Confession (1530), Art. XSource verified
- The Westminster Confession of Faith, 29.7Source verified
- The Lord's Supper: Christ's body and blood truly present (Lutheran); received spiritually by faith (Reformed).
- How their histories connectIn full: How their histories connect
- Two churches of the Reformation that organised separately after failing to agree at Marburg (1529).
Source
- The Marburg Colloquy: The Marburg Articles (1529)Source verified
- Common inheritance · 1529–1973 · A gradual processTwo churches of the ReformationRead the account in Reformed and Presbyterian Churches
- Two churches of the Reformation that organised separately after failing to agree at Marburg (1529).
- Connected today?In full: their relationship today
Varies by church or regionas of October 2026
Full fellowship in Europe under the Leuenberg Agreement (1973); elsewhere relations differ.
Source
- History of the Community of Protestant Churches in EuropeSource verified
A summary of the researched comparison below; each point links to its evidence.
Researched comparison. Written for this pair from sourced research; each statement links to its evidence.
3 sources
- Christianity: The First Three Thousand YearsIdentified, not independently read
- The Augsburg Confession (1530), Art. IVSource verified
- The Westminster Confession of Faith, 1.10Source verified
Provisional: broadly supported, but awaiting fuller checking.
Where they differ
- The Lord's Supper. Lutherans teach that Christ's body and blood are 'truly present' in a sacramental union with the bread and wine; the Westminster Confession teaches that believers 'spiritually receive and feed upon Christ crucified'.
3 sources
- The Augsburg Confession (1530), Art. XSource verified
- Formula of Concord Study: Article VIISource verified
- The Westminster Confession of Faith, 29.7Source verified
Different emphases, not necessarily opposed (1)
Salvation and grace
Characteristic emphasis
- Lutheranism
- Justification by grace, for Christ's sake, through faith and not by works
- Reformed and Presbyterian Churches
- Justification by grace, for Christ's sake, through faith and not by works; God's sovereign election (predestination)
Where teaching varies within a tradition (2)
Sacraments and ordinances
How the rites are understood and counted
- Lutheranism
- Lutheran confessions usually speak of Baptism and the Lord's Supper; some also count absolution. No fixed number is recorded here.
- Reformed and Presbyterian Churches
- Two sacraments ordained by Christ: Baptism and the Lord's SupperWestminster Confession.
Church and ministry
Church government
- Lutheranism
- Episcopal in some churches, synodical or congregational in others.
- Reformed and Presbyterian Churches
- Elders and ministers in graded courts and synodsWestminster Confession. Congregational and some United churches are governed differently.
Not yet comparable (6)
No sourced position is recorded for one side, so the Atlas does not say whether they agree:
- Creeds and councils (the nicene creed): not recorded for Reformed and Presbyterian Churches
- Creeds and councils (the filioque): not recorded for Reformed and Presbyterian Churches
- Creeds and councils (councils received): not recorded for Lutheranism
- Sacraments and ordinances (how christ's presence is explained): not recorded for Reformed and Presbyterian Churches
- Church and ministry (ministry): not recorded for Reformed and Presbyterian Churches
- Mary and the saints (asking the saints to pray): not recorded for Reformed and Presbyterian Churches
How their histories relate
2 sources
- The Marburg Colloquy: The Marburg Articles (1529)Source verified
- Christianity: The First Three Thousand YearsIdentified, not independently read
Source
- History of the Community of Protestant Churches in EuropeSource verified
Common inheritance · 1529–1973A gradual process
Two churches of the Reformation
Traditions with a shared heritage and no single act of separation between them.
Both come from the Magisterial Reformation and share its emphasis on Scripture and justification by faith, but divided early over the Lord's Supper: Luther and Zwingli failed to agree at Marburg in 1529.Read in Reformed and Presbyterian Churches history4 sources
- The Marburg Colloquy: The Marburg Articles (1529)Source verified
- The Augsburg Confession (1530), Art. IVSource verified
- The Westminster Confession of Faith, 11.1Source verified
- Christianity: The First Three Thousand YearsIdentified, not independently read
Their relationship today
Varies by church or regionas of October 2026
Source
- History of the Community of Protestant Churches in EuropeSource verified
Based on Two churches of the Reformation
Developments towards reconciliation
1973
Lutheran, Reformed and United churches in Europe (now the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe)
Mutual recognition as churches, with pulpit and table fellowship: a Lutheran pastor may preach in a Reformed church and a Reformed Christian receive communion at a Lutheran service.Source
- History of the Community of Protestant Churches in EuropeSource verified
Adopted in 1973; 96 Protestant churches now belong to the communion on its basis. It is a European agreement, not one between all Lutheran and Reformed churches.Source
- History of the Community of Protestant Churches in EuropeSource verified
31 October 1999Several communions
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification
Lutheran World Federation and Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, signed at Augsburg; later joined by the World Methodist Council (2006), the Anglican Consultative Council (2016) and the World Communion of Reformed Churches (2017)
The signatories state 'a consensus in basic truths of the doctrine of justification'; the remaining differences of language, theological elaboration and emphasis are said to be acceptable.Source
- Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, §40Source verified
Still open: The declaration lists open questions, including the relationship between the Word of God and church doctrine, ecclesiology, authority, church unity, ministry, the sacraments and social ethics.
Signed in 1999 and confirmed by an Official Common Statement; the Methodist, Anglican and Reformed world communions later associated themselves with it. The Atlas has not checked reception by each member church.3 sources
- Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ)Source verified
- Letter of Cardinal Kasper and Dr Noko on the fifth anniversary of the Joint DeclarationSource verified
- Official Common Statement and Annex to the Joint DeclarationIdentified, not independently read
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Lutheranism
All citations link to the Atlas’s single source register.