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[[Johann von Staupitz]]{{ref|Staupitz}}, Luther's superior, concluded the young man needed more work to distract him from excessive [[rumination]]. He ordered the monk to pursue an academic career. In [[1507]] Luther was ordained to the priesthood. In [[1508]] he began teaching [[theology]] at the [[University of Wittenberg]]. Luther received his Bachelor's degree in Biblical Studies on [[March 9]], [[1508]], and a Bachelor's degree in the ''[[Sentences]]'' by [[Peter Lombard]] (the main textbook of theology in the [[Middle Ages]]), in [[1509]]{{ref|Brecht_93}}. On [[October 19]], [[1512]], Martin Luther received the degree [[Doctor of Theology]] and on [[October 21]], [[1512]], he was "received into the senate of the theological faculty" and called to the position of ''Doctor in Biblia''{{ref|Brecht_126}}.

The demanding discipline of earning academic and theological degrees and preparing lectures drove Martin Luther to study the Scriptures in depth. Influenced by [[Humanism]]'s call ''ad fontes'' ("to the sources"), he immersed himself in the study of the Bible and the early Church. Soon terms like [[penance]] and [[righteousness]] took on new meaning for Luther, and he became convinced that the Church had lost sight of several of the central truths of Christianity taught in Scripture—the most important of them being the doctrine of [[justification]] by faith alone. Luther began to teach that [[salvation]] is completely a gift of God's [[Divine grace|grace]] through [[Christ]] received by [[faith]].