A Comparative Study of Faith in the View of Luther and Aquinas with Emphasis on the Role of Man

Salvation is a fundamental issue in Christianity. Due to original sin, man has lost his relationship with God and has descended from Heaven. Restoring this relationship leads to saving man from a state of descent. The way of salvation in Christianity is explained in different ways. In Paul's writings, free grace by Christ saves man. In the theology of the fathers, including Augustine, grace replaces the human will, which by his descent has lost the power of right bias, and calls him to salvation. Martin Luther, as the Augustinian theologian, sees man as essentially a corrupt and sinful being who is saved only by grace and faith, not by doing good deeds. Therefore, he can enjoy the righteousness of Christ in faith only by trusting in divine promises. Aquinas, on the other hand, sees man as a rational and good-natured being who progresses towards faith with an innate tendency to virtue. Faith is a rational trust in which man has an active presence by believing in propositions and participating in grace. This article examines Luther and Aquinas' views on salvation and the role of man in it through a descriptive-analytical method and concludes that different understandings of human ontological status are directly related to their approach to the issue of salvation and faith. Luther considers man to be in a passive state whose salvation is communion with Christ. Aquinas, in contrast, gives man an active role that his good deeds along with grace can be effective in the process of salvation.