It was important for him that the Sacrament only be received in faith of God and not through the grace of man, as it were. This is a chief distinction between Lutherans and Methodists; the latter regard the Holy Communion as symbolic of God's grace. Therefore, they perform this sacrament with a significant amount of regularity and frequency that far exceeds that of Lutherans. Lutherans perform the eucharist much more sparingly in order to circumscribe the direct effect that humans have on the chances of salvation and god's divine grace they can bestow upon them.
The specific type of worship that both churches adhere to serves as a key point of commonality and of difference. The Lutheran church is liturgical, and generally follows an established tradition, conservative in nature in how its people worship and commune with God. The Methodist church is not liturgical and is substantially more flexible and liberal in the methods its parishioners employ for the worship of God. It is part of the "free-church tradition" (White), essentially meaning that there is not a lengthy, rigid tradition which its believers have to adhere to in this regard.
What is somewhat ironic about this is that despite the liturgical traditions that Lutherans follow, its forms of worship are actually shared with Methodist followers. For instance, Luther and his followers since him placed a great deal of emphasis on...
Thus there is a focus on music, hymns, and the participation in singing and reciting of group prayers. Method churches may very well invoke these same measures. However, the difference is, that different churches have a greater degree of license as to how and which of these measures they might employee, which is related to the general liberty associated with this church. I was not aware of this degree of liberty in Method churches.
It was also highly revealing to see the way the different factors affecting belief were determined by the historical eras in which the churches existed in. An excellent example of this fact is the tendencies of the Lutheran church during the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was an era of reason and intellectual achievement that focused on man and which actually attempted to distance itself from the church and God. It was interesting to see that the Lutheran Church tried to incorporate principles of reason and logic into its religious practices during this time. Yet during the period after the Enlightenment, it readily abandoned these principles.
Works Cited
White, James. Protestant Worship: Traditions in Transition. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press. 1989. Print.
White, John. "A Protestant Worship Manifesto." Christian Century. 1982. Web. http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1278
