The 95 Theses
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The Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, known as the 95 Theses, (from 31 October 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.
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[edit] Background
Protestant Reformation |
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See also Template:Protestant |
The background for Luther's Theses centers on particular disputes with the Roman Catholic Church and its satellites, dealing with the offering of indulgences — the granting of penance for sin. In short, the practice of giving indulgences became somewhat commoditised (with relics) and then commercialised (with the sale of indulgences), contributing to what Luther felt was an offense to Holy salvation among Christians who felt they could find absolution through purchase rather than merit or grace.
The Castle Church in Wittenberg Germany held one of Europe's largest collections of relics — religious artifacts — accumulated by Frederick III. 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 [of Jesus], and the body of one of the innocents massacred by King Herod."[1]
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.[1]
As part of a fund-raising campaign commissioned by the Archbishop of Mainz and Pope Leo X to finance the renovation of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, Johann Tetzel a Dominican priest began selling of indulgences. Even though Luther's prince, Frederick III, 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.
[edit] Nailed or mailed?
According to a report written by Philipp Melanchthon in 1546, Luther 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, besides paintings, no contemporaneous evidence exists for it.[2]
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.[3] Church doors at the time functioned very much as 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.[4]
Most recently, in February 2007, the media reported that a handwritten note by Luther's secretary Georg Rörer, found in the university library at Jena, appeared to confirm the traditional account of Luther nailing the theses to the door. This new find has yet to be assessed by scholars.[5]
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.)
[edit] Reaction to the 95 Theses
Pope Leo X wished for Martin Luther to recant 41 purported errors, some from the 95 Theses and others from other writings and saying attributed to Luther, which he famously refused to do before the Diet of Worms in 1521, thus symbolically initiating the Protestant Reformation.[6]
[edit] Bibliography
- Erwin Iserloh The Theses Were Not Posted: Luther Between Reform and Reformation. trans. by Jared Wicks, S.J.. Boston: Beacon Press, 1968.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Martin Treu, Martin Luther in Wittenberg: A Biographical Tour (Wittenberg: Saxon-Anhalt Luther Memorial Foundation, 2003), 15.
- ^ Erwin Iserloh. The Theses Were Not Posted: Luther Between Reform and Reformation. trans. by Jared Wicks, S.J.. Boston: Beacon Press, 1968.
- ^ Helmar Junghans, "Luther's Wittenberg," in The Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther, ed. Donald K. McKim (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 26
- ^ Junghans, 26.
- ^ E.g., "Neuer Beleg für Luthers Thesenanschlag", SPIEGEL Online, 1 February 2007. (German)
- ^ Schaff, Philip, History of the Christian Church, Vol VII, Ch III.
