Back in the fifteenth century to question the Catholic Church’s authority and correctness on the Gospel was to rebel against God. Yet, that is what Martin Luther did; he set out to challenge the belief of the Catholic Church at the time. He made a bold decision to declare the Church was wrong and was ostracized from the Church. After struggling with the idea of righteousness, he came to the belief that justification and salvation comes from God’s gift of grace, which alone must be accepted through faith. This is an essential issue for the Lutheran doctrine and higher education. Although justification by faith only seems to concern Luther and Lutherans, understanding this concept is crucial in understanding the difference between Lutheranism and Catholicism. Luther’s belief on …show more content…
Augustine’s understanding of grace and a deep study of the bible” (36). Luther went directly to the study the Bible (which also led him to translate the Bible to German for everyone to read); moreover, this allowed him to develop his beliefs straight from the Bible, and he was not just following the Catholic Church. Also, Luther studied the works of St. Augustine, and many of his views on justification were shaped by Augustine’s writing. St. Augustine lived in early 400 A.D. and wrote much of what became the beliefs of the early church. Thus, Luther drew upon the writing of Augustine and the early church for his support of justification. Luther did not just make up his views when he rebelled against the Catholic Church; instead, he based much of his beliefs on years of studying that convinced him that the Catholic Church was wrong. Likewise, the Lutheran Church was founded based on the beliefs and study of the early