The Ninety-five Theses: The Ninety-five Theses
()
About this ebook
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (1483–1546) was a German theologian and one of the most influential figures in the Protestant Reformation. Some of Luther’s best-known works are the Ninety-Five Theses, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” and his translation of the Bible into German.
Read more from Martin Luther
Faith Alone: A Daily Devotional Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMartin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses and Selected Sermons Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMartin Luther's Commentary on Galatians Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Luther's Commentary on Genesis: Critical and Devotional Remarks on the Creation, the Sin and the Flood Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Bondage of the Will Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Works of Martin Luther Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Freedom of the Christian Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Commentary on Genesis (Complete Edition) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSelections from the Table Talk of Martin Luther Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On Christian Liberty Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Babylonian Captivity of the Church Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings95 Theses Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Martin Luther's Small Catechism, translated by R. Smith Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Commentary on Galatians Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEpistle Sermons of Martin Luther: Epiphany, Easter and Pentecost Lectures & Sermons from Trinity Sunday to Advent Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Small and Large Catechisms of Martin Luther Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Treatise on Christian Liberty: On the Freedom of a Christian Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 95 Theses: Or Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCommentary on Genesis, Vol. II Luther on Sin and the Flood Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ninety-Five Theses: Disputation on the Power of Indulgences Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Works of Martin Luther With Introductions and Notes (Volume II) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Bondage of the Will Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWorks of Martin Luther With Introductions and Notes (Volume I) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHarvard Classics: All 71 Volumes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Ninety-five Theses
Related ebooks
A Treatise on Christian Liberty Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Treatise on Christian Liberty: On the Freedom of a Christian Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Disputation on the Power of Indulgences: The Ninety-five Theses Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ultimate Luther Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Collected Works of Martin Luther Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Revolutionary Spirit Preceding the French Revolution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsConcerning Christian Liberty: And The Ninety-five Theses Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Emancipation of Massachusetts (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Medieval Heresy and the Inquisition: How the Vatican Got Away with the Murders of Millions of Innocent People Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cambridge Medieval History - Book XIII: Learning and Literature in the Early Middle Ages Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHeresy, Crusade, and Inquisition in Southern France, 1100 - 1250 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5English Conferences of Ernest Renan: Rome and Christianity. Marcus Aurelius Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAddress to the Greeks: and Other Fragments Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSaint Francis of Assisi, Social Reformer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Power Of The Popes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLuther Examined and Reexamined A Review of Catholic Criticism and a Plea for Revaluation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Henry of Navarre Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Medieval Inquisition. A Study in Religious Persecution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFirst Principles of the Reformation (95 Theses and Other Works) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRenaissance & Reformation: Book I: The Renaissance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe medieval Inquisition: A study in religious persecution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Church and the Empire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHenry of Navarre and the Huguenots in France Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Holy See and the Wandering of the Nations, from St. Leo I to St. Gregory I Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Bondage of the Will Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leo XIII., the Great Leader Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMediæval Heresy & the Inquisition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Christianity For You
Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'll Start Again Monday: Break the Cycle of Unhealthy Eating Habits with Lasting Spiritual Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Screwtape Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Present Over Perfect: Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mere Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Boundaries and Goodbyes: Loving Others Without Losing the Best of Who You Are Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Workbook: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wild at Heart Expanded Edition: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Less Fret, More Faith: An 11-Week Action Plan to Overcome Anxiety Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Enoch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Changes That Heal: Four Practical Steps to a Happier, Healthier You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Law of Connection: Lesson 10 from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5NIV, Holy Bible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading and Understanding the Entire Bible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Good Girl's Guide to Great Sex: Creating a Marriage That's Both Holy and Hot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Undistracted: Capture Your Purpose. Rediscover Your Joy. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for The Ninety-five Theses
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Ninety-five Theses - Martin Luther
Luther
by John Acton
Table of Contents
During the latter part of the Middle Ages, the desire for reform of the Church was constant. It was strongest and most apparent among laymen, for a famous monastic writer of the fourteenth century testified that the laity led better lives than the clergy. To the bulk of ordinary Christians reform meant morality in the priesthood. It became intolerable to them to see the Sacrament administered habitually by sacrilegious hands, or to let their daughters go to confession to an unclean priest. The discontent was deepest where men were best. They felt that the organisation provided for the salvation of souls was serving for their destruction, and that the more people sought the means of grace in the manner provided, the greater risk they incurred of imbibing corruption. In the days when celibacy was imposed under Gregory VII, it was argued that the validity of orders depended on conduct; and that idea of forfeiture by sin, essentially fatal to the whole hierarchical system, was not yet extinct. People learnt to think of virtue apart from the institutions of the Church, and the way was paved for a change which should reduce the part of the clergy in men's lives, and give them families of their own. The hope that a stricter discipline would be enforced by authority from within died away. When Eugenius IV. directed Cesarini to dissolve the Council of Bâle, the Cardinal replied that if he obeyed they would be thought to be mocking God and men, and to have abandoned the notion of reform, and the laity would have some reason to believe that it was a good deed to destroy, or at least to plunder, the clergy.
The religious influence of the Church was brought low by its record of failure. The scheme for governing the world by the hierarchy, pursued for three centuries, had terminated in disaster. For a whole generation no man knew whether the Papacy was in Italy or in France. The attempt to effect improvement through the Councils had been abandoned after many experiments, and the failure to reconcile the Greeks had established the Ottoman Empire in Europe. With the decline of the Church the State rose in power and prerogative, and exercised rights which for centuries had been claimed by the hierarchy. All this did not suggest Lutheranism to Luther, but it prepared the world for it.
Amidst the abuses and excesses of that epoch of lax discipline and indistinct theology, the point of breaking was supplied by a practice of very recent growth. Indulgences had long existed, and after a time they were applied to souls in purgatory. When, at last, plenary indulgences, that is, total remissions of penalty, were transferred to the dead, it meant that they were straightway released from purgatory and received into heaven. Five churches in Rome enjoyed the privilege that a soul was released as often as mass was said at one of the altars, technically known as privileged altars, or as often as certain prayers were said by persons visiting them. There were privileged altars at St. Peter's, at St Prassede, at Santa Pudentiana, at the Scala Santa. At one, five masses were required; at another, thirty. In the crypt of St. Sebastian one visit was enough. A particular prayer repeated during forty days remitted one-seventh of the punishment, and on the fortieth day the dead man would appear to his benefactor, to thank him. All the benefits available to a pilgrim visiting Rome could be enjoyed at a distance by the purchase of an indulgence from the friars sent round to sell them. Such an indulgence, published by Julius II. for the construction of St. Peter's, was revived by Leo X. in 1517, half the proceeds to go to the Archbishop of Mintz, that he might pay back a loan to Fugger of Augsburg. The banker's agent went round with the appointed preacher and kept the strong box. Tetzel, a Dominican, preached the indulgence in Saxony, though not in the territory of the elector, and he employed to the utmost the arguments authorised by the custom of the day. Speaking of him and of his colleagues, Benedict XIV. said that they were the cause of all the trouble that followed.
Many people thought the indulgences, as then practised, a mischief, because people took them as equivalent to absolution; and the general of the Augustinians spoke of them as an encouragement to sin. But the extreme point was the theory that payment of a few pence would rescue a soul from purgatory. Therefore, when Luther raised a protest against such propositions, he said no more than what many other people were saying, and less than some. And he had no idea that he was not speaking in thorough harmony with the entire Church, or that the ground he occupied was new. The Dominicans stood by Tetzel and made his cause their own. They were able to say of him that he had only uttered current doctrine, though it had not the sanction of former ages. Three hundred of them were present when he received a degree at Frankfort on the Oder, and the Dominicans at Rome defended even the most extreme and grotesque of the sayings attributed to him.
Leo committed the whole business to Silvester Prierias, Master of the Sacred Palace and official theologian of the Holy See. Prierias was not a