For Lutherans, though, the doctrine of justification is the "chief article" upon the church stands or falls. Justification is the material principal of theology - that is the substantive content - to which the formal principal, the Word of God, testifies...every other teaching of Lutheranism - the Sacraments, Scripture, worship, vocation, the two kingdoms, prayer, the Christian life - has as its keystone our justification by Christ.
From "Authentic Christianity," Veith Jr. and Sutton, page 98, published by CPH
