As he studied and learned the Scriptures he became extremely fearful of God and was quite worried about how he would ever be forgiven for his sins. This weighed on him so much that he became eccentric in his attempts and methods to make amends. He eventually left for Wittenberg and became a professor of theology while studying for his doctorate. It was during this time that his way of thinking began to change. He started reading and interpreting the Scriptures on his own instead of blindly following the message the church preaches about it. One day, while working on a conference, he came across the phrase "the righteous shall live by faith" (Christ pp195) which transformed the way he thought about God and the church's doctrine of good works. He now began to believe that God was just and benevolent and that forgiveness did not depend on his justice. He began to understand that humanity could not be righteous because it was prone to sin from the beginning and that all he had to do was put his faith in Jesus Christ and God would declare him a sinner.