Paul, the Law, and Justification

Martin Luther drew a strong parallel between the religion of medieval Catholicism and the religion of first-century Judaism against which his hero, Paul, contended. Luther asserted that both taught that salvation was earned by works of merit. E.P. Sanders challenged Luther's view of Judaism in his landmark work Paul and Palestinian Judaism (1977). Judaism was not in principle a religion in which salvation was earned through obeying the law: it was a religion based upon God's election and gr...