No Other Foundation Summary and Analysis

For Luther, the ultimate problem is that of man's relationship to God. Luther is a man of deep religious conviction. He believes politics and all else are peripheral. Luther states that it is in God that "we live, and move, and have our being." Some feel his preoccupation with religion is alarming. He insists that good words do not constitute any claim on God. He says things which sound contrary to moral thinking. For example, "God can forgive only a lusty sinner." What he means is that a big failure can bring upon humility.

Luther's critics ask if man in the end has no standing with God, why should man make the effort to be good? To which Luther replies that God has to destroy in each person any illusion of righteousness before he can make a...