I have picked Lutheranism and Calvinism Because these two religion looked like they would make an interesting compare and contrast essay. Both Lutheranism and calvinism were important religions. Both of these religions came from the same branch called Protestantism and had many similarities and differences.

Lutheranism was assembled by a man named Luther he was a catholic priest and scholar. Lutheranism had rules on how they thought their children. They would make their children pray before they went to bed and before they eat and if they disobeyed they would not receive any food or drink. (History Alive pg- 359)  Luther would also give his follower rules that him and his family would have to obey. Over time luther would preach less and less out of the bible and would refer to his own beliefs. (History Alive pg- 359)  Unlike any other religion luther said that all you had to do to be saved and go to heaven was to believe in Jesus. (History Alive pg- 358)  Once someone was baptized, they would have to pray take the sacraments, follow rules laid down by the church, and perform good works. (History Alive pg- 358)

Calvinism was brought up by a man named John Calvin who was a French humanist who did most of his work in Switzerland. (History Alive pg- 360)  Calvinism has many similarities in relationship with Lutheranism. Calvinism like Lutheranism believe that the bible is the number one only true source that speak about god. They also agreed with Lutherans that people depended entitled upon god to be saved.(History Alive pg- 360)  But they also had differences. One of the bigger ones was the buildings that they attended church in. They believed in simplicity and made their churches out of wood. (History Alive pg-261)  They also believed that all of life should be lived according to God’s laws. Also Calvinists had many strict rules defining what good behavior was. For example singing, dancing,  playing cards, and wearing fancy clothes were forbidden. (History Alive pg- 360)

In conclusions you can see that the two religions Lutheranism and Calvinism are similar in their own ways and they are both different in their own ways. Even though they are brought up in the same area they both have their own personality.



June 15 2011