This is taken from Bavinck’s chapter on Reformed Dogmatics in the section The History and Literature of Dogmatic Theology. While appreciating the overlap which existed between early Reformed and Lutheran theology, he makes sure to note the differences in each respective system, focusing specifically on the different starting points for both.
“The difference seems to be conveyed best by saying that the Reformed Christian thinks theologically, the Lutheran anthropologically. The Reformed person is not content with an exclusively historical stance but raises his sights to the idea, the eternal decree of God. By contrast, the Lutheran takes his position in the midst of the history of redemption and feels no need to enter more deeply into the counsel of God. For the Reformed, therefore, election is the heart of the church; for Lutherans, justification is the article by which the church stands or falls. Among the former the primary question is: How is the glory of God advanced? Among the latter it is: How does a human get saved? The struggle of the former is above all paganism- idolatry; that of the latter against Judaism- works righteousness. The Reformed person does not rest until he has traced all things retrospectively to the divine decree, tracking down the ‘wherefore’ of things, and has prospectively made all things subservient to the glory of God; the Lutheran is content with the ‘that ‘and enjoys the salvation in which he is, by faith, a participant. From this difference in principle, the dogmatic controversies between them (with respect to the image of God, original sin, the person of Christ, the order of salvation, the sacraments, church government, ethics, etc.) can be easily explained.”
-Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics Vol. 1: Prolegomena, p. 177
