I. THE FOUNDATION. The fundamental ele ment of the Reformation was the spiritual change of regeneration, out of which sprang the con ception of justification. This was `by faith' be cause it had come in the midst of an experience of real and living contact with God. The Nicene foundation was retained because of the experi ence of the saving work of Jesus Christ, whose divine nature was thus made certain. The Augustinian anthropology was retained because it most accorded with the sense of helplessness in sin, and with the experience of divine deliver ance. The preaching of Luther may be summed up as a preaching of Christ as a living Redeemer by one who knew by personal experience what he proclaimed. Alelanchthon began the process of teaching and formulating the new theology at an early date (1520). By the year 1530 a mature and well-balanced sketch of the reformed doc trine could be prepared for presentation to the Diet of Augsburg. This 'Confession' ex plicitly rejects those features of the Roman system which Protestantism (q.v.) has united in regarding as errors, and briefly gives its assent to the doctrines which are the common basis, of all Christian churches. It is distin
guished by the following doctrines: justification by faith, which is 'imputed for righteousness'; obedience to God's law, not required as a condi tion of 'meriting justification,' but springing out of faith' because God desires it; the Church, `the congregation of saints and true believers'; two sacraments; prevenient grace; the guilt and personal origination of sin. The personal atti tude of Luther toward the Scriptures was quite free. The canonicity of any book was deter mined by its relation to Christ. The authority of the Scriptures he rested upon the testimony of the Spirit. His views of the bondage of the will were extreme, and his doctrine of predesti nation absolute. By the time when the Formula of Concord was written (1576), predestination was identified with election to life alone. Thus the tendency of this theology was from life to doctrine.