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During the early years of the Reformation, the doctrine of justification was subjected to considerable scrutiny. It was, of course, one of the major emphases of the Reformers in their protest against late medieval Roman Catholicism. The latter had well- defined positions on many doctrines, such as the Eucharist, which left little or no room to manoeuvre when these doctrines were challenged by the Reformers. It was different with justification. The Reformers presented the doctrine in a new light, posing new and hitherto unanswered questions. This created a problem for their opponents as there was no consensus in the Catholic Church on the doctrine of justification; more importantly, there had been no authoritative pronouncements.