Martin Luther And His 95 Theses

Martin Luther And His 95 ThesesNailed to the door of the go Church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517 on the eve of All Saints twenty-four hours (according to Philip Melanchton, Luthers colleague in Wittenberg University), Martin Luthers 95 theses paved the way for the birth of a great spiritual movement called the Protestant Reformation. The Reformation ultimately signaled the conclusion of the Medieval Age and the inauguration of modern periods.What Luther intended to be a located of propositional statements to be debated upon over the abuses associated with the sale of the indulgences very soon became the recognize that unlocked the door towards the long-awaited reformation of the church of the late Medieval Christendom.The sales event of the IndulgencesThe doctrine of indulgences is peculiar to the Roman Catholic Church, unknown to the church fathers, and roughly importantly, to the apostles of Christ. It is basically defined as a certificate of forgiveness granted by a b ishop or an archbishop within his diocese for the remission of the temporal role punishment of sin both on earth and in purgatory, the so-called source of which was the surplus of merit and grace accumulated through the lives of Christ, the gross(a) Mary and the saints of the Church.What most particularly attracted Luthers attention in this regard was the riotous preaching associated with the sale of the indulgences in Germany by a Dominican friar Johann Tetzel. Tetzel was commissioned by Albrecht, Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg, to raise funds for the rebuilding of Saint Peters basilica in Rome. As soon as the coin in the caisson rings, Tetzel proclaimed, the soul from purgatory reflects.Luthers long quest for truth that resulted in his discovery of the scriptural doctrine of justification by faith alone essential view been the reason why he indignantly reacted to much(prenominal) a misleading message that offered false hopes to those who bought the indulgences for them selves and their departed loved ones on account of their ignorance of the dead on target gospel of Christ.The 97 Theses Before the 95 ThesesConvinced that he must challenge the traditional views purported by the Roman Catholic Church for centuries, he published a decorate of 97 theses to be debated in an pedantic setting among his colleagues at Wittenberg University. The theses attacked many of the major tenets of the Church with a consume message in mind that the gospel was entirely different from what had been normally held.Luther expected the theses to cause a stir among the participants which in turn would hold him to divulge his great discovery. To his disappointment, they only mustered little interest.Martin Luther and His 95 ThesesDespite much(prenominal) a cold response to his 97 theses, Luther composed another set of theses which he called The Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of the Indulgences, now popularly known as the 95 theses. Like the 97 theses, this new s et of theses was also meant to provoke academic discussion among his colleagues in the university. They may stir been an afterthought to a letter he sent to Albrecht through which he aired his disagreement on the sale of the indulgences.However, scholars are divided whether the Luther of the 95 theses was still a Roman Catholic clergyman at this time or already a Protestant Reformer. On the one hand, Luther appeared to induce thought Pope Leo X was on his side in this matter. Some scholars even suggest (probably following the church historian Philip Schaff) that he was not protesting against the indulgences, nevertheless only against its abuse.On the other hand, a walking(prenominal) look at the scroll would reveal one thing for certain what Luther was up against was not simply the sale of the indulgences but its theological underpinnings. As Princeton theologian Benjamin Warfield puts it, They constitute, in point of fact, a theological document of the first importance, worki ng out a complete and closely knit stitch argument against, not the abuses of the indulgence traffic, and not even the theory of indulgences, merely, but the whole sacerdotal conception of the saving process an outgrowth and configuration of which indulgences were.While there may be apparent remainders of Roman universality in the theses, they nonetheless assert the evangelical Protestant doctrine of repurchase that refuted the sacerdotal system that was largely built on tradition sooner of the Bible. In summary, the 95 theses proclaimed that indulgences cannot remit guilt as such a work belongs to god alone, that they are unable to make souls spring from the Purgatory, and that the truly repentant sinner has already received the forgiveness of God and is justified by faith alone.SourcesGonzalez, Justo. The Story of Christianity Volume 2. New York, NY HarperCollins Publishers, 1985.Schaff, Phillip. register of the Christian Church Volume VII. Oak Harbor, WA Logos interrogation Systems, Inc., 1997.Warfield, Benjamin Breckenridge. The Ninety-Five Theses in Their Theological Significance. The Princeton Theological Review, xv. 1917, pp. 501-529.Copyright Edwin Vargas. partake the author to obtain permission for republication.