The Lutheran doctrine establishes that salvation of the soul is a gift of God´s grace and it can be achieved only through faith. It is expressed by the Latin words "Sola Fides, Sola Gratia"and they mean "only Faith, only Grace." This belief stands in open contradiction with the Catholic practice of the time (first half of the 16th century) of buying salvation and forgiveness of sins through the payment for papal bulls and indulgences, an act Luther saw as immoral and scandalous.
The <u>Protestant Reformation</u> was not simply an affront to Catholicism, in fact Martin Luther had ideas much deeper than that. Lutheran doctrines were not only meant to modernize the Church, Lutheranism represented a new interpretation of the Bible, a humanistic interpretation of the Scriptures.
Martin Luther's ideas about salvation were that it could only be achieved through faith, without any kind of intermediary and the only source of valid religious knowledge was what was written in the Bible.
Unlike Catholicism, Martin Luther's ideas about salvation did not appeal to "intermediaries" in relations with the creator; and therefore there was no support from the cult of saints and material figures.
