Church Selling Indulgences In The 1600's

The 95 theses are a list of things that is wrong with the Catholic Church. The Ninety-Five theses questioned the Catholic Church’s practice of selling indulgences. Luther argued that Christian were being falsely told that they could obtain absolution for souls by buying indulgences. The 95 Theses, which would later become the foundation of the Protestant Reformation, were written in a remarkably humble and academic tone. Luther criticized the pope, extreme wealth of the church, and indulgences in the 95 theses. Luther realized that only faith, not

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.

A major 16th century movement initially aimed at reforming the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church, the Reformation was begun by a German monk named Martin Luther who challenge the Catholic Church’s doctrine by posting his 95 Theses on a church door. He did this because he was appalled that the church was selling indulgences, which were written letters that assured people’s salvation, in order to build a new Basilica in Rome under Pope Leo X. Martin Luther argued that the Bible, not the pope, was the central means to discern God’s word and was the only thing capable of giving salvation.

The Archbishop then turned to Pope Leo X for advice, in doing so Pope Leo X didn’t want to cause trouble in Wittenburg due to political and other reasons. Pope Leo X sent senior member of the official church to then try and persuade Luther to drop is protests and complaints quitley without fuss, but Luthers next actions brought in various Catholic scholars to join the debate about the sale of indulgences. Luthers actions consisted of the making of pamplets and books. The first inventions of the printing press had a huge impact on the production rates at which Luthers books and pamphlets were being created. Once the increasing numbers of Martin Luthers books and pamphlets were being made this allowed him to distrubute it throughout germany. As the years carried on after the publicised 95 Theses was then followed by Martin Luther making new accusations/criticisms of the Roman Catholic Church. Mainly criticising the curruption of several individual popes. To help enforce and encourage the church reformation Martin Luther called upon local German rulers. The actions of Luther became too much for Pope Leo X and his accompainies causing them to excommunicate Martin Luther giving him only 60 days to apologize for his opinion and also the withdrawl of all his books and pamphlets. Martin Luther refused,

In the early sixteenth century, the Protestant Reformation was started by Martin Luther. Martin Luther was not happy with the Catholic Church and wanted a reformation. What really angered Luther was the selling of indulgences. “Indulgences” was sold whenever a relative of a person died. If the person that died did not live a good life, that meant a relative could go to the church and could pay to have the their relative’s purgatory cut short. Luther was not happy with these practices. Luther strongly believed that one lived a life of humility in order to receive God’s grace. He was so angered that on October 31, 1517, he sent a list of “Ninety - Five Theses” to his church superiors. The Ninety - Five These were statements that were meant to defend and to dispute the abuse of indulgences. Luther hammered his theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg.

On October 31, 1517, when monk Martin Luther nailed The 95 Theses to the door of a cathedral in Wittenberg, Germany, he had no idea that he was sparking the Protestant Reformation (Greengrass 44-45). These 95 theses consisted of Luther’s complaints and disagreements with and regarding the Catholic Church, particularly on the use of indulgences – a “remission of temporal penalties for sin” sold to individuals seeking salvation (Greengrass 6, 44). The indulgences were claimed to lessen the time an individual’s soul spent in purgatory, commissioned by the Pope of the time, Leo X, and in collaboration with various bishops and archbishops (Linder 22). When Luther nailed his theses to the door, they quickly spread, spurning uproar. First, the theses were sent to Archbishop Albrecht, the superior of an indulgence-selling monk that parishioners of Luther had come into contact with. Then, the document (originally published in Latin) was translated to German and spread throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Luther verbalized many common complaints in his theses and became a sort of hero. The ability of the printing press enabled Luther’s theses to widely circulate as he was thrust into public eye and began the path of Reformation (Linder 23-24).

The Ninety-Five Theses were written by Martin Luther in 1517. At the time of writing, Luther had devoted his life to Jesus Christ, and had become a monk. In his Theses, he expressed the idea that someone must be completely willing to commit penance in order for it to be legitimate, and Luther gave several reasons why he was critical of the sale of indulgences. He challenged the authority of the pope and other powerful positions of the church multiple times throughout his writings. Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses writing was very important in igniting the Protestant Reformation.

Martin Luther poked at the Church practice of the sale of indulgences, which was the full or partial grant of the forgiveness and pardoning of the penalties of sin. He did this with the 95 Theses. The 95 Theses were ideas that Luther posted on the Church doors in Wittenburg, Germany stating that he wanted the Catholic Church to change their current corrupted ways. “To Luther, the sale of indulgences made a mockery of God’s gifts, so he took a stance against the abuses of the Church with his work.” The situation surrounding the theses were the activities of the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Church was highly criticized by Luther in his work because it became too powerful and there was corruption in the system. The Church became less religious and became more of a political entry, making the Church ruthless. Luther believed that the Church should become concerned about the general well-being of the Catholic people and that salvation should be for everybody, not for the people who buy their way in using indulgences. In Concerning Christian Liberty, he discussed the wrongs, like corruption, of the Catholic Church to Pope Leo X. “You see, however, which is called the Court of Rome, and which neither you nor any man can deny to be more corrupt than Babylon or

The 1500’s were a time that had much religious turmoil in the old world and people began to divide themselves into different sects away fro the Roman Catholic Church. The reason for this is because people began to realize how corrupted the Roman Catholic Church actually was and that what the church taught wasn’t in the bible but it was made to benefit the pope and other high level church officials. The two main branches or sects of the R.C.C are the Church of England (Anglicanism) and the Lutheran church (Lutheranism).

Vast ideas generated by people transformed our society to be the way it is today. In the 1500’s God was the center focus of life. Along with this, the pope had all the political power. Most people did not know that the church only cared about its power and money and not about the religion itself. A man named Martin Luther noticed what was happening in the church and decided to act on this problem. Luther created the 95 theses and posted it outside of church doors on October 31, 1517. The 95 theses is a list of rules against the church, showing everyone the truth of the church’s ways. An example of one of the rules was, “Christians are to be taught that they buying of indulgences is a matter of free choice, not commanded.” Indulgences were tickets to heaven sold by church officials. People would pay money to get a piece of paper “granting” them access to heaven. According to Martin Luther's, 95 theses, the indulgences do not have to be bought to go to heaven. Luther is showing that the

On October 31, 1517, a plump, young professor & Augustinian monk named Martin Luther (1483-1546) tacked/nailed a list of 95 complaints about the Catholic Church on the doors of the Wittenberg Cathedral. Written in Latin, the complaints were mostly attacking the doctrine of indulgences. Indulgences were forgiveness of punishment for sins, usually obtained either through good works or prayers along with the payment of an appropriate sum of money. The complaints are mostly known as the 95 theses. This event would trigger the Reformation.

Over the next few years, Martin Luther began to believe that the Catholic Church was being dishonest. This lead Martin Luther to post his ‘95 theses’ against the practice of selling indulgence (Lutheranism). He hoped for a reformation of the church, however once it became obvious to him that a reformation would not occur; he began to share his own views. He continued to inform people on his perspective, regardless of being excommunicated from the church.

These stated the errors of the Roman Catholic Church and the approach that should be taken. This would lead to the rapid spreading of Lutheranism. Like stated previously, Martin Luther was an individual who strived to reform the abusive doings of the church. Being strong in his faith he realized the need for a change that would be much greater than the already standing institution. Martin Luther’s creation of the 95 Theses was the causation of his reformation turning into a revolution. Though his criticisms were based on the church, his writing would be the reason to why Protestantism

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

Luther penned a document attacking the Catholic Church corrupt practice to absolve sin and this is how The 95 Theses was made.The 95 Theses written in 1517 were 95 things Martin Luther didn’t like about the church.The 95 Theses were quickly distributed throughout Germany and then made their way to Rome.The 95 Theses which later became Protestant Reformation were written in a remarkably humble and academic tone,accusing and questioning.