WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -For the Lutheran tradition, the doctrine of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone is the material principle upon which all other teachings rest. Luther came to understand justification as being entirely the work of God.

Detailed explanation-2: -Luther’s central claim is that faith alone justifies (that is, makes a person righteous in the eyes of God) the one who believes in Christ as a result of hearing the gospel. This faith affects the imputation of Christ’s righteousness that covers the sins of the believer.

Detailed explanation-3: -Faith is not a human act but rather (a) an act of God-that is, the power or action of God as a “divine work in us”; and (b) relation before God (coram Deo), or more precisely, a passive relation and responsorial action (vita passiva).

Detailed explanation-4: -For Luther, as for Calvin, God is the great sovereign power. For Calvin, as for Luther, justification by faith is the heart of the Christian faith. In other particulars, the affinity between the two Reformers is so close that it would be difficult to detect differences of any kind.

Detailed explanation-5: -The doctrine of justification by faith connects faith to soteriological justification: faith is thought to justify one before God and thereby secure one’s salvation. In this article, I try to connect faith to another kind of justification, epistemic justification.