The Epistles of St. Peter and St. Jude provide a critical and exegetical commentary on the foundation of faith by Martin Luther. On the great subject of justification by faith alone, Luther is here full and emphatic. The relation of faith to works is clearly and carefully defined, while the subjects presented in the text afford full opportunity for discussing the great questions that concern the relative duties of civil and social life.

Martin Luther (1483-1546) was a German professor of theology, composer, priest, monk, and a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation. Luther came to reject several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. He strongly disputed the Catholic view on indulgences and he proposed an academic discussion of the practice and efficacy of indulgences in his famous Ninety-five Theses of 1517. Luther's refusal to renounce all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V resulted in his excommunication by the Pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the Emperor.