Similarities
Five Solas of the Reformation. Luther and Calvin shared an absolute commitment to the Scriptures above all other sources of authority. While both respected church tradition and the need for creeds and councils, Scripture alone was their final authority in everything. They shared an identical biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ alone through grace alone, to the glory of God alone.
Predestination and the Bondage of the Will. Luther on his deathbed claimed that the most influential work he ever wrote was The Bondage of the Will, a book which clearly teaches the same doctrines Calvin did on the total depravity of man's will and the total grace of God to predestine His people to salvation in Christ. Both Luther and Calvin were drawing upon the biblical reflections of Augustine from centuries earlier, and all three of these were drawing upon the Apostle Paul's words in Holy Scripture.
Didn't Want to Be a Reformer. Another similarity is that neither man wanted to be a reformer. They did not apply for the job, and even tried to run from it. Luther's 95 Theses were an attempt to unify and reform the Church to the Scriptures, not to break from it and form a new organization. Recall also Calvin's famous encounter in Geneva with the pastor Guillaume Farel during Calvin's one-night stay (or so he thought). Farel's threat that God would curse Calvin if he did not stay in Geneva and help the Church in her time of need was used to convict this quiet scholar to leave the life he wanted for the sake of God's will, not his own. Once the Pope and his church made it clear that the reformation of doctrine sought by the Protestants was in no way acceptable, Luther and Calvin were forced to be part of a continuing church of Christ which hailed back to the early church and Holy Scriptures, even though the Protestants were now excommunicated from the visible church organization in their day-the Roman Catholic Church.
Sought Unity of the Holy Catholic Church. Calvin would also seek to stay the course which Luther began, rather than return to the errors for which so many had lost so much (even their lives!). The unity of the Christian church is real, taught Calvin, but is founded only upon the unity of all true believers with God Himself, and the truth He has revealed.
Emperor Charles V in Germany was trying desperately to heal the division in the Church between the Roman Catholics and Protestants. Philip Melancthon, the ‘successor' to Luther, along with Martin Bucer, tried to work toward a unity between the Protestants and the Roman Catholics at Regensburg. They wanted to write a document which didn't deny any Protestant doctrines, but would allow the Roman Catholic faith to co-exist in hopes that one day they would come along to interpret the words of this new document as Protestants would. What was Calvin's view? He was very willing to be flexible on issues of church unity whenever possible (note how he accepted the 1541 church order which Geneva adopted, even though it revised some of Calvin's proposals). Yet when foundational gospel truths were at stake, Calvin was like Luther-no compromise. "Here I stand, I can do no other." Calvin wrote of his Protestant friends' failed attempt at compromise with the Roman Catholic Church, "if we could be content with only a half Christ, we might easily come to understand one another."
Worship is Not a Spectator Sport. The fact that you and I have our favorite hymns and psalms to sing in worship is a direct result of men like Luther and Calvin who restored singing in worship to the congregation, rather than it remaining an activity for choirs and professional musicians. Luther focused on hymns, while Calvin focused on the Psalms.
Education. Both Luther and Calvin took seriously Christ's great commission to teaching God's people to observe all that He has commanded. Both Luther and Calvin wrote catechisms for training youth and all converts. Both preached sermons and lectured several days a week for years (often ten times a week in Calvin's case). Both were professors at universities/seminaries, although Calvin's influence in education would be stronger as he was able to establish a new academy in Geneva.
Active Concern for the Poor. Both knew that Christian faith must be put into action. Calvin taught and defended the existence of the office of deacon as a vital handmaiden to the gospel ministry. Many refugees from around the world flocked to Geneva, and were in great need of basic food, clothing, and shelter.
Differences
Difference in Style and Temperament. Luther is well known for exaggerating to make his point. This was common to writers of that age (one thinks of the Roman Catholic Erasmus who criticized some of the abuses of his church in The Praise of Folly). Luther was often crass with his humor and sarcastic in his debates. John Calvin, on the other hand, made it his life's purpose in all his writing to display ‘lucid brevity.' His commentaries are indeed remarkable in what he does not say or elaborate upon, compared to the commentaries of later generations. They serve as gems of clear biblical explanation and practical application, even five centuries later. Calvin can certainly be verbose and knew how to use a good illustration, yet his writing and personality form a more lasting model for Christians today than the unique stresses of Luther.
Calvin wrote to his friend and fellow reformer Heinrich Bullinger (November 25, 1544) when Luther had harshly attacked Bullinger. Calvin says to defend the Reformed faith, but not in a quarrelsome way. Remember what Luther has accomplished and the debt all Protestantism owes him. Calvin said that even if Luther would "call me a devil, I should still not the less esteem and acknowledge him as an illustrious servant of God." For his part, Luther never met Calvin personally, but had read some of his writings, and commended Calvin highly.
Sacraments and Worship. Both agreed that Christ only instituted two sacraments, not the seven of the Roman church. On Baptism, Calvin would find meaning in the sacrament through its use as a sign and seal of God's ancient covenant. The focus is on what God says to the person being baptized. Baptism declares a promise that confirms the gospel reality. Yet for Luther and Lutheranism, baptism is a practice which creates the gospel reality of faith that wasn't there before.
On the Lord's Supper, both agree that the Bible does not teach the mere memorialist view that Christ is absent from the Supper, and we only remember Him. Both agree that the Lord's Supper is not a sacrifice nor a re-sacrifice of Christ. They differed on the mode of reception. Christ is received by faith for Calvinists, while Christ is received by mouth for Lutherans. For Calvin, Christ was spiritually present, for Luther, Christ was physically present "in, with, and under" the bread and wine.
As far as worship practices, Luther taught that we may worship God in any way that is not forbidden by Scripture, while Calvin taught that we may worship God only in the ways He has commanded.
Theme of Scripture/Christian life. We need to be aware that Luther was an occasional theologian. He never wrote a full systematic theology. He responded to specific issues in the life of the church. Calvin, however, proactively set forth a statement of the Christian faith in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, a text which shapes Protestantism still today.
For Martin Luther, his failed attempts to find peace through the Roman Catholic sacramental system, and his personal conversion experience through the words of Romans 1:17, shaped his entire theology. The forgiveness of sins through God's grace, not works, was the overarching theme of Scripture. For Luther, the focus was on man's salvation. For Calvin, the focus was on God's glory. He loved the gospel of justification by faith. Yet Calvin took that blessing of justification with God a step forward, looking at the grand purpose of the universe: the glory of God. "Because God's purpose in saving me cannot fail, I can and must move forward in His grace to live for His glory. As Romans 8:31 declares, ‘If God be for us, who can be against us?'" Thus for Calvin, Christians have great confidence for their future, in this world and the next. The sovereignty of God motivates our march as soldiers of the cross!
Church Order and Discipline. Geneva was well known in its day as a city full of crime and corruption. In the political system of the High Middle Ages, every citizen was automatically a member of the church in the town where he lived. So this meant there were many unbelievers in the Church, along with usual hypocrisy, rebellion, and struggles with sin which true believers have. A pastor like John Calvin had his work cut out for him if he really wanted to see a church full of people who bring glory to God. While Luther would certainly want his people to bring God glory and repent of sin, history does not record him attempting or accomplishing what Calvin did in this area. Calvin wrote a Reformed Church order for Geneva called the Ecclesiastical Ordinances of 1541. This gave practical instructions to church members and the pastors and elders in Geneva on how to bring glory to God, repent from sin, and cherish the grace and compassion of our Savior.
The faithful practice of biblical church discipline is never popular, and Geneva was a prime example. Calvin had every human reason to give in. But he could not because of his convictions based on the Word of God. When the city authorities of Geneva required Calvin to give communion to a man who was excommunicated and living in public sexual sin, Calvin maintained his focus on the glory of God. The man came forward with his friends (and their swords) and Calvin threw his arms around the Lord's Table and cried out: "These hands you may crush, these arms you may lop off, my life you may take, my blood is yours, you may shed it; but you shall never force me to give holy things to the profaned, and dishonor the table of my God."
Church and State. The events just described also illustrate that Calvin did not desire for the church to have power over the state. Rather, he taught that God has ordained church and state as separate institutions with their own authority within their own realms, and both fall under the authority of Christ as King over all. A different perspective is found in Luther, who taught that the State holds the power of church discipline; he did not stress the independence of the church from the state. Perhaps Luther's context of being protected by Lutheran princes after the 1521 Diet of Worms encouraged him not to reflect any further on this Scriptural teaching. Yet while Luther lived and worked in relative peace in the Wartburg area for the rest of his life, Calvin was never very safe in Geneva. He lived in constant threat of attack from his own church members and had been exiled by a hostile city council once and almost another time or two as well after returning. Calvin insisted, not because of his experiences, of course, but because of Holy Scripture, that the Church was free to govern its own affairs free of interference from the State.
The great legacy of the ‘separation of Church and State' and religious freedom in Western culture is a result of John Calvin's biblical reflection and example in the city of Geneva. This conclusion is different than that of many who have slandered Calvin and the Calvinists for teaching a domineering and intolerant version of Christianity. The historical evidence and the theological conclusions of Calvin reveal that religious freedom for all to honor and glorify the true God was the order of the day. Calvin and the other pastors were not political officials and thus had no votes in the city council. So, while Calvin's reforms led to great changes in politics and economics for Western civilization, these changes did not come because Calvin focused on such areas. Rather they came because Calvin focused on the glory of God, the spiritual nature of the Church's power, and the need for Christians to bring glory to God by conforming their life to God's Word. These Genevan Christians, and the foreigners who learned there and exported these ideas, applied the Bible to their lives. Since God's Word has something to say about politics, the economy, etc., then Christians who are serious about reforming their lives for God's glory will start to change the world in which they live. We can thank Calvin for reminding us that Christ is King, a king over all, so all to Him we owe.
Christian Involvement in Society. Calvin's theology retired the old sacred/secular distinctions. He taught the sacred character of all of life. Luther stressed that every plowboy and farmhand had direct access to God through Christ, not through Pope and sacraments. Yet, Luther did not seem to extend that spiritual reality to its broadest extent. This is where Calvin's genius shines through, and his legacy has endured for five centuries. People in every vocation can know God, pray, and read the Bible. And further, people in every vocation can give God glory by developing their skills in that vocation itself, as part of God's original mandate at the creation of Adam and Eve. For Luther, involvement in worldly affairs and politics was necessary, but done reluctantly. For Calvin and Calvinism, involvement in politics, economics, education, business, and in every area of life is crucial. We must give glory to God in everything and with everything.
For example, Calvinists in Geneva built a free market economy, so that while in 1536 there were 50 merchants and three printers, in the late 1550s there were 180 merchants and 113 printers. Or think of the Academy of Geneva founded in 1558, five and a half years before Calvin's death. This was a tuition-free academy, one of the forerunners of modern public education (though with a very different theology!). The Academy grew from 280 students in the Liberal Arts curriculum and 162 in the Seminary in 1558 to 1,200 students in the college and 300 in the seminary in 1564.
Christians can be called to politics and selfless duty as politicians. Because of total depravity, Calvin's thought required political systems to have checks and balances, representative government, with elections by the vote of the people, and a limited government. Calvin self-consciously drew upon the principles revealed to Israel under Moses and the elders in Exodus 18 and Deuteronomy 1:14-16, and at the beginning of the monarchy in Israel in 1 Samuel 8.
International Impact. Lutheranism was restricted to Germany and Scandinavia for a long time. It was exported from Germany by Germans. Because of the international character of the independent city-state of Geneva, however, Calvinism immediately spread around the world. People came to Geneva for refuge from Roman Catholic and political persecution, studied and learned the gospel, and then took that gospel back home with them to countries throughout Europe, Great Britain, Scotland, to Brazil and eventually to the United States when it was established years later
Five centuries later, we are eternally grateful for Martin Luther's courageous stand against the doctrinal perversions of his day. God raised him up as the man of the hour. Yet, we can be thankful that God also raised up John Calvin to help guide the church through the initial growing pains of the Great Reformation to the orthodox gospel of Holy Scripture. Luther was God's "bulldozer" to clear away the rubble of false doctrine and reveal the precious foundation of justification by faith alone that had been hidden for centuries. Calvin was God's "builder," who would organize an effective new building upon that precious gospel foundation.
