What is the difference between Protestant and Lutheran?

Answer 1

Protestant and LutheranThe word 'Protestant' Comes from the Latin term 'protestari' which means to publicly declare or to protest against. It is a term that is given to those Christians that are members of Christian denominations that broke away from Roman Catholicism during the 16th century 'Protestant Reformation'. Thus, most Christians that are members of churches that are not Catholic are considered Protestant. The exception to this are Orthodox Christians, since the Orthodox Christian faith developed simultanously to Catholicism. This exception also applies to Anglican (Episcopalian) Christians. Since The Anglican Church, or The Church of England declared it's independence from the Pope over politics rather than theology, it retained its Catholicisity which includes the Eucharist, the Sacraments, the priesthood and episcopate and most other basic catholic theology and tradition. Additionally, the English Reformation was completely separate from the Protestant Reformation, despite that it occured semi-simultanously.

The Major Reformers of the Protestant Reformation were John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, John Knox, and of course Martin Luther. There were several 'reformers' decades and even centuries prior to the Protestant Reformation. Some of the more prominent ones being a former Catholic priest and teacher Jan Hus, as well as an English theologian John Wyckliffe. The descendants of Jan Hus became known as Hussites, and later became known as the Moravians.

Lutherans are recognized by most as being the 'first Protestants' since the Protestant Reformation began primarily due to the German priest Martin Luther, who 'protested' against the corruption within the Roman Catholic Church. Luther posted his 95 theses, or 95 arguments against the Roman church on the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg Germany on October 31st 1517. This marks the anniversary of the start of the Protestant Reformation. Luther's intent was never to leave the church, but to change the church from within, however, before having the chance to, he was excommunicated by the Pope, for what at the time he deemed 'heresy.' Luther's followers became known as Lutherans. The Lutheran Church, since it was founded by a former Roman Catholic priest, is very similar in structure, liturgy and theology to Catholicism. The main branches of Lutheranism are the Swedish Lutheran Church, The German Lutheran Church the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod being based primarily in the mid-west United States.) Each mainline Lutheran branch is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, which is a loose federation of Lutheran Churches around the world that share a common heritage and theological perspective.

Answer 2

A Lutheran is a Protestant, but not all Protestants are Lutheran. Protestants are non-Catholic Christians, such as Lutherans. However, Lutherans aren't the only non-Catholic Christians. There are many other non-Catholic Christians such as Baptist, Methodist, Anglican, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and Mennonites.