Martin Luther
First Protestant Reformer
Early Life
Major Teachings
In the beginning Luther just pointed out wrongs that the Catholic Church was doing, such as selling Indulgences. He posted the 95 Theses, which attacked the selling of indulgences, on the door of the church at Wittenberg. Luther believed in Justification through faith. Through this idea he developed four major theological principals which were Scripture alone, faith alone, grace alone, and Christ alone. The Scripture alone principal rejected tradition's role in its close link with the scriptures, the authority of the councils and the pope, and the idea that the Holy Spirit continues to dwell and teach through the Church. The faith alone principal dismissed the value of corporal and spiritual works of mercy as a means to attaining righteousness. The grace alone principal held that every good action is a direct result of God's saving grace since it is beyond human capacity to do good. The Christ alone principal says that Christ must be the sole content of the scriptures, the mediator of grace, and the subject of faith. He also believed in Consubstantiation, the belief that the body and blood of Christ is present in the Eucharist with the bread and the wine, instead of Transubstantiation, which is the belief that the bread and wine are transformed into Jesus' body and blood.