History of Christianity
In Catholic theology, one is made righteous by a progressive infusion of grace accepted through faith and cooperated with through good works.  Luther's doctrine of justification was different.  He said justification meant "the declaring of one to be righteous", where God imputes the merits of Christ upon one who remains without inherent merit.  In this process, good works are more of an unessential byproduct that contribute nothing to one's own state of righteousness.  Conflict between Luther and leading theologians lead to his gradual rejection of authority of the Church hierarchy.  In 1520, he was condemned for heresy by the papal bull Exsurge Domine, which he burned at Wittenburg along with books of canon law.