The Ninety-five Theses or Disputation on the Power of Indulgences are a list of propositions for an academic disputation written in 1517 by Martin Luther, professor of moral theology at the University of Wittenberg, Germany, that started the Reformation, a schism in the Catholic Church which profoundly changed Europe. They advance Luther's positions against what he saw as the abuse of the practice of clergy selling plenary indulgences, which were certificates believed to reduce the temporal punishment for sins committed by the purchasers or their loved ones in purgatory. In the Theses, Luther claimed that the repentance required by Christ in order for sins to be forgiven involves inner spiritual repentance rather than merely external sacramental confession. He argued that indulgences led Christians to avoid true repentance and sorrow for sin, believing that they could forgo it by purchasing an indulgence.
Did Martin Luther wield his hammer on the Wittenberg church door on October 31, 1517? Did he even post the Ninety-five Theses at all? This collection of documents sheds light on the debate surrounding Luther's actions and the timing of his writing and his request for a disputation on the indulgence issue. The primary documents in this book include the theses, their companion sermon ("A Sermon on Indulgence and Grace", 1518), a chronoloical arrangement of letters pertinent to the theses, and selections from Luther's Table Talk that address the Ninety-five Theses. A final section contains Luther's recollections, which offer today's reader the reformer's own views of the Reformation and the Ninety-five Theses.
On the five-hundredth anniversary of the 1519 debate between Martin Luther and John Eck at Leipzig, Luther at Leipzig offers an extensive treatment of this pivotal Reformation event in its historical and theological context. The Leipzig Debate not only revealed growing differences between Luther and his opponents, but also resulted in further splintering among the Reformation parties, which continues to the present day. The essays in this volume provide an essential background to the complex theological, political, ecclesiastical, and intellectual issues precipitating the debate. They also sketch out the relevance of the Leipzig Debate for the course of the Reformation, the interpretation and development of Luther, and the ongoing divisions between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism.
This eBook edition of "The Ninety-five Theses" has been formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. The Ninety-five Theses or Disputation on the Power of Indulgences are a list of propositions for an academic disputation written in 1517 by Martin Luther, professor of moral theology at the University of Wittenberg, Germany, that started the Reformation, a schism in the Catholic Church which profoundly changed Europe. They advance Luther's positions against what he saw as the abuse of the practice of clergy selling plenary indulgences, which were certificates believed to reduce the temporal punishment for sins committed by the purchasers or their loved ones in purgatory. In the Theses, Luther claimed that the repentance required by Christ in order for sins to be forgiven involves inner spiritual repentance rather than merely external sacramental confession. He argued that indulgences led Christians to avoid true repentance and sorrow for sin, believing that they could forgo it by purchasing an indulgence.
Gerhard Forde examines the nature of the "theology of the cross, noting what makes it different from other kinds of theology. His starting point is a thorough analysis of Luther's Heidelberg Disputation of 1518, the classic text of the theology of the cross.
Luther’s 95 Theses (or Dr. Martin Luther's Debate to Clarify the Value of Indulgences) was a kind of manifesto that criticized Catholic theology. In his Theses, Luther argued that the prevailing religious doctrine of the day destroyed faith. The hammering of this 1517 document to the door of the Wittenberg church marks the start of the Reformation and the history of Protestantism. Due to the conflicts surrounding the ideas presented in his Theses, a wave of religious wars broke out in Western Europe.
This exclusive English-language translation of the Manual on Indulgences explains what indulgences are and provides the many devotional prayers associated with them.