Martin Luther’s “Prefaces to the Romans”
The Reformation opens as Martin Luther (1522) announces his “Preface to the Epistle to the Romans.” He introduces the core beliefs of the movement by documenting that only Scripture and justification by faith are needed for salvation, despite the Roman Catholic Church’s corrupt expectations from the current people (Luther, 1522). His detailed account of the book of Acts, written by Paul to the Romans, reveals convicting qualities of the spiritual law. Luther notes, “But such a heart is given only by God’s Spirit...so that he acquires a desire for the law in his heart, and henceforth does nothing out of fear and compulsion, but everything out of a willing heart” (Luther, 1522, p. 449). From Luther’s
The Reformation opens as Martin Luther (1522) announces his “Preface to the Epistle to the Romans.” He introduces the core beliefs of the movement by documenting that only Scripture and justification by faith are needed for salvation, despite the Roman Catholic Church’s corrupt expectations from the current people (Luther, 1522). His detailed account of the book of Acts, written by Paul to the Romans, reveals convicting qualities of the spiritual law. Luther notes, “But such a heart is given only by God’s Spirit...so that he acquires a desire for the law in his heart, and henceforth does nothing out of fear and compulsion, but everything out of a willing heart” (Luther, 1522, p. 449). From Luther’s