95 Indulgences Research Paper

Peter’s Basilica. Then on October 31, 1517 it is speculated that Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses on the front doors of a university door. The reason for the massive spreading of the 95 Theses is because of the printing press. The printing press quickly spread the document throughout Germany. This was the start of what is known as the German Reformation. Martin Luther was eventually excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. Luther would always refuse to take back what he has said in his documents against the Roman Catholic Church. At the Edict of Worms, Martin Luther was declared a heretic and made him a wanted man. Martin Luther is one of the most important figures of the medieval Europe. This may be another reason the 95 Theses and other doctrines spread so well throughout Europe. The Roman Catholic Church was ringing Martin Luther’s names all throughout the public’s ears. The old saying “any publicity is good publicity” applies in this situation. People could see that Martin Luther was onto something. The 95 Theses were put into vernacular so that anyone could read them for their selves. He gave a voice to many people that would never have a voice and spoke out against the corruptions of the Roman Catholic Church. He gave way to reform throughout the church. Martin Luther and the 95 Theses also gave way to his own form of religion called Lutheranism.

Martin Luther's "The Freedom of a Christian" discusses an in-depth look into the Christian faith, God's work in each individual. Refusing to believe in the established doctrine, Luther wrote this reforming treatise in response to Pope Leo's criticisms and to further explain the theological and ideological core of his thinking. Nevertheless, Luther centered his ideas around the concept that the joys and freedoms of a Christian were that in faith; humans, as sinners, should not look at ourselves, but instead at God's goodness. He goes on to elaborate that through the justification by faith, humans grasp the meaning of a whole Christian life. Throughout "The Freedom of a Christian", Luther expands on the threefold power of faith: faith frees

Prior to his new understanding of God’s righteousness Luther hated God because he did not know the love of God, he only knew the judging angry God. Luther did not understand how an angry God could be righteous. Consequently, Luther had been taught that, “God is righteous and punishes the unrighteous sinner”. As a result, he believed there was no way for sinners to be justified by God. Luther felt crushed by the Mosaic Law and threatened with God’s righteousness and wrath by the gospel. However, through his studies and meditations Luther came to understand the true meaning of the phrase “righteousness of God”. He described his new understanding to be “the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith.” In other words, the righteousness of God is a gift from God to those who live by faith. Accordingly, Luther felt born again. He found a new relationship with God and the Scriptures. In the light of his new views, Luther was conflicted by the Roman Catholic Church teachings on penance and righteousness. As a result, Luther developed his own doctrine of justification based on

The selling of indulgences and relics were an important factor for religious Catholic leaders. At first these indulgences were a form of salvation and pardon for one's sins. But after they noticed it could be made into a financial gain, greed took over them . Pardoners were not doing their job with a good motive, but out of greed. They knew how ignorant the commoners were and they took advantage of them. The commoners believed in the Pardoner's word because he was from the church. The Pardoner's would sell these indulgences in an intelligent manner. He first spoke a sermon, then pulled out relics telling the commoners how they had pardoning power and guaranteed salvation.(Chaucer 34)

In 1095, Pope Urban II helped terminate all punishments on people who participated in the crusades and those who confessed any sins. This began the idea of indulgences in the Catholic Church. Then the selling of indulgences was permitted to those whom couldn’t participate in the crusades and offered cash to the effort instead. In the early 1200s, the Church became as powerful as Western Europe and claimed it had a “treasury of indulgences”. This of course led to increase the power of the Church and gave the Pope more authority. 1

Martin Luther was a German professor in theology and was an important person in the Protestant Reformation. He didn’t agree with the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Most of all, he didn’t believe in the selling of indulgences (“a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins” as the Catholic Church put it). As a response to this, Martin Luther wrote the 95 Theses as a protest against the selling of indulgences.

There are three powers or virtues of faith that Martin Luther describes. Firstly, justification through faith alone, which means we are free from the law and works as regards our justification and salvation. Secondly, unity of man and Christ like bride to bridegroom which means faith unites the soul to Christ, and lastly, the ability to "ascribe to [God] truthfulness, righteousness, and whatever else should be ascribed to one who is trusted." (Luther, The Freedom of a Christian, p. 103)

At the time Luther wrote the “95 Theses on the Power of Indulgences” he presumed that reforms could still be made by the Pope and the church's hierarchy; however, after Luther received the papal bull excommunicating him, Luther’s ideology became diametrically opposed to the pope and the whole Roman Catholic structure (shilling 142). This break was a defining time

The shocking ‘95 Theses’ were found on the door of Wittenberg Castle church. On these theses were questions asking for a debate. They were written by Martin Luther and he seems to be against the indulgences the church is selling. Because of his protest many protestants are fighting stronger. Many want him to be condemned for going against the Catholic teachings. Pope Leo X is planning on excommunicating him around January. The possibility of him being condemned is very high seeing as though he went against the Pope and the Catholic church. We were actually able to find Martin Luther and get a few answers. “Are you afraid of getting in trouble?”. “No, I have shown my defiance and I won't stop until the greed of the church is recognized.” Well,

A long history of corruption caused people to view the Catholic Church as a for-profit organization rather than God’s voice on Earth. By the Renaissance, the Catholic Church had already lost much of its power over secular rulers but still held leverage over the masses. This authority naturally paved the way for corruption. The most outrageous form of corruption practiced by the Church was the sale of indulgences. An indulgence is the remission of temporal punishment still due for a sin that has been sacramentally absolved. One of the ways the Church would generate income was by selling them. The notion started off innocently enough; it stemmed from the idea that punishment for crimes could be converted to payments of money, in essence, a fine (Simon 35). However, it soon spiraled out of control as the Church used indulgences simply to gain money, as when Pope Leo X needed money for the construction of St. Peter’s basilica (Duiker and Spielvogel 429). People began to view salvation as something that could be bought; they could go out and sin on Saturday night, then simply pay for it monetarily Sunday morning. To encourage people to buy more indulgences, the Church even claimed that indulgences could be bought on behalf of those already dead and in purgatory (Sporre 378). This blatant victimization was what spurred Martin Luther to write his Ninety-Five Theses,

One of the Catholic Church's foundation is confessing to a priest one's sins in order for God to pardon the sins. The Church had been known for their questionable methods of pardoning sins, such as Pope Urban II's speech in 1095 stating how individuals would be pardoned for their sins if they took part in the Crusades. During the 16th century, reformers began to complain for the selling of indulgences, which were pardoners selling pardons in order for individuals to not go to purgatory. At times the indulgences were not sold for the buyer, but for a relative of a buyer in order for the relative's time in purgatory to be minimized. One example is Pope Leo X and how he commissioned Johann Tetzel to sell indulgences. The Church not only committed corrupted acts, but also, according to Martin Luther, demanded an excessive amount of services from their

Martin Luther – Faith Alone! According to Martin Luther in his works called, “Freedom of a Christian” one is saved by faith alone and no works that occurred before one had faith accounts for anything in their salvation. He begins by denouncing works and severs the connection between faith and works. Later in the document Luther tries to bring them back together in requiring works to sustain ones faith.

Martin Luther was responsible for the start of the Reformation. He was against many of the Catholic Church’s teachings and beliefs, especially the sale of indulgences. He believed the Roman Catholic Church was corrupt and should be reformed. His beliefs were based on three principles: Sola Fide, Sola scriptura and Sola gratia. He believed that salvation should come from faith rather than from doing good deeds and that religious truth could be obtained by reading the Bible. He believed that humans are able to educate themselves and gain knowledge. At the time, the sale of indulgences was a common practice. On the 31st of October 1517, Martin Luther nailed a document,

Small indulgence is another trend I saw while watching the video. The definition of small indulgence that Popcorn gave is that stressed- out consumers want to indulge in affordable luxuries and seek ways to reward themselves. Instead of pigging out a couple of chocolate bars having a few small indulgences can go a long way. “I worked hard today and I deserved that”. Treating yourself to a small expensive chocolate bar or even getting a blizzard from DQ or going to have a fun night out are examples of small indulgences. Not all indulgence involve food, you could treat yourself by purchasing a pair of new sunglasses or a new wardrobe or even going to amusement park. During the advertainment there are a couple of small indulgences that were featured

Luther believes that faith is the most important thing when it comes to living a true Christian life. He believes that as long as you have a real belief in God, that a person will begin to spread the Word of God. Luther says, “Faith redeems, corrects, and preserves our consciences so that we know the righteousness does not consist in works, although works neither can nor ought to be wanting” (Luther pg. 24). This helps explain what Luther really thought about faith, he believed that once you have true faith, then one will begin to do what comes along with living a Christian life. Martin Luther helps explain faith to other Christians around the world by using his Three power of faiths. The first power of faith talks about how the relationship goes with God, and it means that God only has promises and commandments. The second power faith means that when one has true faith one will begin to put more trust