eli5 how Catholics and Lutherans view the Eucharist differently?

Question

I’m still so confused after reading the original sources. I think both Catholics and Lutherans take communion seriously as the real presence of Christ. But then how do they differ? Why do Catholics do adoration but Lutherans don’t?

In: Other

Answer 1

Here’s a [really long document](http://faculty.cord.edu/steinwan/nv13_decock.htm), with a lot of terrible formatting, if you want to read it. And if you read it, you will find that it says that there are many points of agreement between Catholic and Lutheran theology. And it says the matter boils down to this as the core point of disagreement:

Catholics believe that the Eucharist is a sacrament, a good work, *that we do* for God and for ourselves and for our relationship with God. It is considered a sacrificial act that earns us forgiveness from God; this is in accordance with their general belief in salvation through good works.

Lutherans believe that the Eucharistic mystery is *something that God does*, for us, and for our relationship with him. This is what makes it a mystery; we do not know how God can perform miracles. This is in accordance with our belief, like [the song we sing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6ULNZM0-0A): “For by grace, you have been saved, and even faith is not your own; it’s the gift of God for you, and not the works that you have done.”

This is a very old and fundamental difference between Catholic and Lutheran theology; arguably it is the single point of contention that sparked the entire rest of the Reformation.

—

As for Eucharistic Adoration, I assume you’re referring to the thing where some churches keep a little bit of the Eucharist, and put it on public display after the sacrament.

The general context here is that five hundred and six years ago, *we were thrown out* of the Catholic Church. Moreover, we were thrown out as a minority within Christendom, and our homelands soon became the main battlegrounds for the European Wars of Religion.

It was very important to us that we could practice our faith *simply*. [For the first thousand years](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucharistic_adoration#Catholics), nobody in the West did Eucharistic Adoration. So we stopped, and we have never resumed.