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The Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, known as the 95 Theses, (1517) challenged the teachings of the Church on the nature of penance, the authority of the pope and the usefulness of indulgences. They sparked a theological debate that would result in the Reformation and the birth of the Lutheran, Reformed, and Anabaptist traditions within Christianity.

Background

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Part of a series on the
Reformation
Ninety-five Theses, written by Martin Luther in 1517
Precursors Peter Waldo and Waldensians John Wycliffe and Lollardy Jan Hus and Hussites Girolamo Savonarola and Piagnoni Arnold of Brescia and Arnoldists Gottschalk of Orbais Ratramnus Claudius of Turin Berengar of Tours and Berengarians Wessel Gansfort Johann Ruchrat von Wesel Johannes von Goch Friends of God Pataria
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Protestantism
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The Castle Church located in Wittenberg Germany was the site of one of Europe's largest collections of relics, accumulated by Elector Frederick the Wise. At that time viewing relics was purported to allow the viewer to receive relief from temporal punishment for sins in purgatory. By 1509 Frederick had over 5,000 relics, including vials of the milk of the Virgin Mary, straw from the manger , and the body of one of the innocents massacred by King Herod. The relics were kept in reliquaries and exhibited once a year for the faithful to venerate. In 1509, each devout visitor who donated toward the preservation of the Castle Church received an indulgence of one hundred days per relic. By 1520 Frederick had over 19,000 relics, allowing pilgrims viewing them to receive an indulgence that would reduce their time in purgatory by 5,209 years.

Luther's actions, however, were in large part a response to the selling of indulgences by Johann Tetzel, a Dominican priest, commissioned by the Archbishop of Mainz and Pope Leo X. The purpose of this fund-raising campaign was to finance the renovation of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Even though Luther's prince, Frederick the Wise, and the prince of the neighboring territory, George, Duke of Saxony, forbade the sale in their lands, Luther's parishioners traveled to purchase them. When these people came to confession, they presented their plenary indulgences, claiming they no longer had to repent of their sins, since the document promised to forgive all their sins.

Nailed or mailed?

Luther is said to have posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, October 31, 1517. Some scholars have questioned the accuracy of this account, noting that no contemporaneous evidence exists for it. Others have countered that no such evidence is necessary, because this action was the customary way of advertising an event on a university campus of Luther's day. Church doors at the time functioned very much as modern bulletin boards. Still others suggest the posting may well have happened sometime in November 1517. Most agree that, at the very least, Luther mailed the theses to the Archbishop of Mainz, the pope, friends and other universities on that date. Regardless, the Theses were soon printed and had been widely read in Europe by 1518. (Fire destroyed the doors of the Castle Church in 1760.)

The Theses

 1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ in saying, "Penitentiam agite" meant that the whole life of the faithful should be repentance.
 2. And these words can not refer to penance - that is confession and satisfaction.
 5. The Pope does not wish, nor is he able, to remit any penalty except what he or the Canon Law has imposed.
 6. The Pope is not able to remit guilt except by declaring it forgiven by God - or in cases reserved to himself.
11. The erroneous opinion that canonical penance and punishment in purgatory are the same assuredly seems to be a tare sown while the bishops were asleep.
28. It is certain that avarice is fostered by the money clinking in the chest, but to answer the prayers of the church is in the power of God alone.
29. Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory want to be freed?

Reaction to the 95 Theses

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Lutheranism
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Key figuresMissionaries John Campanius Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg Hans Egede Johann Heinrich Callenberg Johann Phillip Fabricius Paul Henkel John Christian Frederick Heyer Karl Graul Martti Rautanen Wilhelm Sihler F. C. D. Wyneken Hans Paludan Smith Schreuder Lars Olsen Skrefsrud Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen Onesimos Nesib Paul Olaf Bodding Johann Flierl Christian Keyser Jens Christensen Bible Translators Martin Luther Casiodoro de Reina Kjell Magne Yri Onesimos Nesib Aster Ganno Kristian Osvald Viderø Jákup Dahl Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg Johann Phillip Fabricius William Tyndale John Rogers George Constantine Jozef Roháček Johannes Avetaranian Guðbrandur Þorláksson Ludvig Olsen Fossum Hans Egede / Paul Egede Otto Fabricius Nils Vibe Stockfleth Olaus Petri / Laurentius Petri Martti Rautanen Primož Trubar Jurij Dalmatin Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen Sebastian Krelj Mikael Agricola Norwegian Bible Society Swedish Bible Society Samuel Ludwik Zasadius Stanislovas Rapolionis Laurentius Andreae Hans Tausen Olaf M. Norlie Jonas Bretkūnas Hans Paludan Smith Schreuder Antonio Brucioli Mikołaj Jakubica Matthias Bel Johann Ernst Glück William F. Beck Theologians Martin Luther / Katharina von Bora Philip Melanchthon Johannes Bugenhagen Johannes Brenz Justus Jonas Hans Tausen Laurentius Petri Olaus Petri Mikael Agricola Matthias Flacius Martin Chemnitz Johann Gerhard Abraham Calovius Johannes Andreas Quenstedt Johann Wilhelm Baier Philipp Spener David Hollaz August Hermann Francke Henry Muhlenberg Lars Levi Laestadius Charles Porterfield Krauth C. F. W. Walther Søren Kierkegaard Albrecht Ritschl Wilhelm Herrmann F. W. Stellhorn Rudolf Otto Ernst Troeltsch Rudolf Bultmann Paul Tillich Hermann Sasse Dietrich Bonhoeffer Wolfhart Pannenberg Robert Jenson
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Pope Leo X wished for Martin Luther to recant 41 of these theses, which Luther famously refused to do before the Diet of Worms in 1521, thus symbolically initiating the Protestant reformation.

Notes

1. Martin Treu, Martin Luther in Wittenberg: A Biographical Tour (Wittenberg: Saxon-Anhalt Luther Memorial Foundation, 2003), 15.
2. Treu, 15.
3. Erwin Iserloh. The Theses Were Not Posted: Luther Between Reform and Reformation. trans. by Jared Wicks, S.J.. Boston: Beacon Press, 1968.
4. Helmar Junghans, "Luther's Wittenberg," in The Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther, ed. Donald K. McKim (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 26
5. Junghans, 26.
6. Schaff, Philip, History of the Christian Church, Vol VII, Ch III

Bibliography

• Erwin Iserloh. The Theses Were Not Posted: Luther Between Reform and Reformation. trans. by Jared Wicks, S.J.. Boston: Beacon Press, 1968.

External links

• Project Wittenberg: 95 Theses by Dr. Martin Luther (1517)

• 1517
• Lutheranism
• Martin Luther
• Reformation