Luther reflected the humanism of the sixteenth century. This new approach is not to be confused with the secular humanism of our own day. Humanism expressed the Renaissance spirit emphasizing a return to Greek and Roman cultures. It was, in many ways, a reactionary movement against the Medieval traditions. That approach, called scholasticism, underscored the later Latin fathers and Aristotle's thought. Scholasticism emphasized the Medieval commentaries on Aristotle—and even on the commentaries on the commentaries—rather than on Aristotle's writings primarily. Like scaffolding around a building, these commentaries blocked a direct line to the sources themselves. Humanism proposed moving beyond the scaffolding with the battlecry, "Ad Fontes," to the fount, or to the source. And in this spirit, Luther went beyond the scaffolding that obstructed the Bible and went straight to the biblical text.

—Stephen J. Nichols, Martin Luther: A guided tour of his life and thought