JbF in the thinking of Martin Luther

• Martin Luther set the Reformation in motion in 1517, attacking the corruption in much of the medieval Catholic Church.
• He set out a simpler religion that was based on scripture and the personal faith of the individual believer.
• He proclaimed the doctrine of sola fide.
• Sola fide

  A Latin term meaning 'by faith alone'. It refers to the belief of Martin Luther and of many Protestants that justification is by faith alone and not by works.
• He taught that the faith of the believer is passive; justification comes by what God achieves through the atoning death of Jesus.
• For Luther, good conduct was the expression of a person's faith, but it had no saving value whatsoever.