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Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Luther's 95 Theses

Compare this to the Tetzel document. Why is this so radical? Pick out your favorite thesis and comment on it. What are the major themes?

Due: MIDNIGHT, Tuesday, Sept. 5

posted by RJS at 7:07 AM

7 Comments:

  • Martin Luther was not the first to sense the great paradoxes that were indulgences, but his 95 Theses really embodied how un-Christian the indulgences were. Because Martin Luther was a monk, his point of view was from someone who had seen the corruption and decay that had happened within the church. To him, the selling of indulgences must've seemed like the very paragon of how secular ideas and monetary concerns had creeped into the church. Throughout the 95 Theses, Luther asks the question, wouldn't it a far better use of the money to go to the poor or helping those in need or suffering rather than buying indulgences? That if one is so concerned over the condition of one's soul, why not repent via good deeds and humility rather than buying bits of paper? The central theme seems to be that putting so much importance in a piece of paper drastically undermines the importance of Christ and the entire idea of peneance. I think my favorite idea that Luther expressed is in the theses that say buying a sheet of paper may absolve you, but to undergo true peneance teaches a person to love and be loved. The reason why the 95 Theses were so radical is because they give the idea of 'justification by faith.' It does so by stating that you must truly believe to be saved; a sheet of paper in the corporeal world can not buy you a faithful soul.

    By Blogger laura, at Tuesday, September 05, 2006 4:52:00 PM  

  • I didn't especially think that all 95 Theses would basically be on indulgences, I thought his other, later complaints against the church were in there too. This makes this somewhat repetitive, though Luther says things in a better way towards the end. This was very radical because it questioned the church, which had remained unquestioned (except by "heretics" who never got enough power for anyone to trust) for 1000 years. It was an obviously morally wrong thing, but was still questioning something the Pope certainly knew about and had not stopped, though Luther pretends somewhat that he thinks the Pope might not allow this.

    My favorite thesis, at least to represent all of them, was probably "49. Christians are to be taught that the pope's pardons are useful, if they do not put their trust in them; but altogether harmful, if through them they lose their fear of God." This thesis shows that Luther is not at this point openly rebellious against the church, but thinks he can reform it on this one issue. He just wants the Pope to show he's at least a little bit humble and willing to step down from certain responsibilities that a God should be able to handle on his own. Generally, Luther just wants to reform this one aspect of the church and get rid of the swindler priests, as well as start to focus on a more literal following of the Bible by actually giving to the poor if you are not poor yourself and generally being nice to those less fortunate, rather than one of the most fortunate men on Earth, who happens to control one fourth of the world's population (not quite as much then, I suppose).

    By Blogger Unknown, at Tuesday, September 05, 2006 7:37:00 PM  

  • A debate between Tetzel and Martin Luther would be fantastic, one being a theologian scholar and the other being a hitman of religious doubt; the subject of the selling of indulgences would make for an interesting conflict of view points indeed. Luther is obviously more learned and prepared for conflict, trained by his education, religious practices and internal as well as external conflicts, whereas Tetzel had been hired for the sole purpose of glorifying what he wanted to sell and doing it well enough so that he could sway the masses away from their money and, as Luther put forth, the word of Christ and the Bible. The whole idea of Martin Luther challenging the church as he did was radical, but his confidence and logic turned him into a bonafide threat, as the combination of the two are prone to gaining a following, especially when it comes to religious reform, as was becoming common knowledge during the Reformation period. My favorites out of the theses are the last two, which sum up the piece:
    "94. Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hell;

    95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace."
    This states that it is better for a good christian to learn morality through punishment and suffering, rather than to aviod the penalties of sin and remain immoral. The buying of indulgences will not change the ways of a sinner who relies on them to erase the consequences of his actions rather than to live up to them and endure them before Christ. A reward such as heaven's salvation should be worked for rather than bought cheaply, and lessons should be learned on the journey to such salvation rather than be turned away from in the face of an easy fix. I thought them to be brilliant theses which sum up the most basic of Christian fundamentals which had been seemingly easily forgotten at the time of their writing.

    By Blogger Victoria, at Tuesday, September 05, 2006 8:20:00 PM  

  • I do not mean to proffer excuses, but let me first say that to offer everything I could say about the 95 theses would take several weeks (or at least days) of in-depth study, pages of writing, numbers of biblical references, numbers of references to the catechism, and still more pages of reasoning. As is, I have to portion my time. I comment such as I can.
    Luther has my sympathy and agreement with the vast majority of his Theses. Though some contain a hint of his later split from the church ("This unbridled preaching of pardons makes it no easy matter, even for learned men, to rescue the reverence due to the pope from slander, or even from the shrewd questionings of the laity.") Nonetheless, Luther's point seems to be that the church needs to clean up its act, cease the blasphemous selling of indulgences, and stop squabbling in politics- NOT that the Catholic church needs to completely alter its structure. Unless I missed it somewhere in the 95, I did not see a these(is that the singular) that denied five of the sacraments and forced justification by faith onto the church. Granted, I can see where one can very easily pull these beliefs from the theses, but perhaps if the church had reacted differently Luther would not have enacted his dramatic split. Luther writes this as a monk seeking a return to holiness, not as a radical seeking to split the church. I remember Erasmus' piece having much the same connotation.
    I rather like these 48- "Christians are to be taught tha the pope, in granting pardons, needs, and therefore desires, their devout prayer for him more than the money they bring." Reform, not schism.
    Regardless, I can see how many people would have reacted negatively- after all, the Catholic church was employing men like Tetzel for the sole purpose (ha ha, that's pretty clever, sole purpose, soul purpo... righto. ahem.) of exploitation. Here Luther is contradicting the church on what many would regard as the sanctity of the pope ( and thence springs justification by faith and his attack on the sacraments).
    Nobody has said anything too different or shocking. I guess we've all been careful and tolerant. Odd. I never fancied myself as either. Good night, everyone.

    By Blogger ThomasBatson, at Tuesday, September 05, 2006 9:18:00 PM  

  • Cleanse
    To get in all the basics:


    Just like any document of it's kind, Luther's 95 Theses are trustworthy in the sense that they are thought provoking to the reader but do not force the reader to believe every word, for the reader may already be aware of the terms of the theses.

    [and]The purpose was to educate and inform [and bash, in some cases *cough*certain clergy members*cough*] the reader.

    The major themes are Luther wanting it to be understood that (1) indulgences in themselves were ridiculous and useless other than to satisfy the pope and free you of guilt and obligation of penance within the church. (2) The people to advertise and support the indulgences were wrong and should be shamed that they do this work not for God or for Grace and that they are so sure of their salvation they no longer have fear of God.

    In its time this would have been considered radical because indulgences were deemed almost necessary by the church and Luther was going completely against it and other parts of the church's standings. In a way both Tetzel and Luther are preaching and condemning but to a difference audience. Tetzel lectures that it is only right and just to buy someone out of purgatory, and you would be committing an act of cruelty and carelessness if you were to leave someone, especially a loved one, in purgatory [funny how they were so certain they were even in purgatory…]. Luther was condemning certain members of the church for not fearing God and for publicizing this.. product to buy your way out of hell when, in Luther's eyes, they had no control or knowledge of the people in hell or elsewhere.

    82. To wit: -- "Why does not the pope empty purgatory, for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a Church? The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial."

    I don't ever want to meet someone who would disagree with this logic. He is stating that the pope isn't "freeing the souls from purgatory" because of some Holy Love or obligation to God, but more for some worldly selfish reason and that if the pope truly wanted to free any souls [if he actually believed he could] he would free all souls because he should have mercy, and God would have mercy.

    By Blogger TeganLove, at Tuesday, September 05, 2006 10:14:00 PM  

  • This is vaguely similar to the Tetzel document in that they are both attempting to gain the faith of a group of people. The differences, obviously, are the views on the church and indulgences. Tetzel spends his whole speech encouraging the buying of indulgences, while Luther spends at least a quarter of his list trashing the buying of indulgences. Tetzel's is much more pleasing to the ears, but it should be since it is a speech and also meant to persuade people. Luther's is merely a list of his ideas. This piece could be considered radical since it goes against the Church so much, and at the time the Church was everything. So when one man says that most of what they're doing is wrong and going against the bible, then that would be considered radical by most.
    The main idea of this writing is the ways in which Luther disagrees with the church and how things are being done. Since Martin Luther was so opposed to the selling of indulgences a lot of the 95 theses are about the lack of morality involved in the selling of indulgences, how the church is taking advantage of the laity and how the laity should rethink buying indulgences.
    My favorite quote is 32. They will be condemned eternally, together with their teachers, who believe themselves sure of their salvation because they have letters of pardon. which says that the buyers of indulgences will not be forgiven, but damned along with the sellers of the indulgences who think that a piece of paper will save them from their sins. Luther's disbelief in the saving power of paper is repeated throughout several of his theses which i agree with. A piece of paper will not change your actions, or make you or anyone else feel differently about your actions.

    By Blogger manxomefoe, at Tuesday, September 05, 2006 10:32:00 PM  

  • Johann Tetzel and Martin Luther have two extremely different beliefs. Tetzel preaches to buy, buy, buy indulgences. Luther states that letters of pardon are useless and "every true Christian has part in all the blessings of Christ and the Church" (Thesis 37). The preachers say indulgences are the "greatest graces" whereas the truth is indulgences have no comparison to the grace of God (Theses 67-68).

    The main idea of Luther's statements is to basically tell the truth to the people who have been lied to by the Church. The Church said indulgences were the way out of pergatory and a way into Heaven. "They preach man who say that so soon as the penny jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out" (Thesis 28). This statement shows how greedy the Church has become.

    Luther's 95 Theses are so radical because they display to everyone "justification by faith". Also, his Theses relate to the Bible in that the Theses state ideas for good Christians. Luther says man becomes better in performing acts of love rather than just giving money. That buying pardons does not even compare to acts of mercy.

    My favorite thesis:
    95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace.

    It says to not be worried about your destination because you are assured peace and pardon. This thesis helped me realize what the Assurance of Pardon, the assurance of forgiveness that I say every week, really is. As long as I remain a true believer, I am assured peace and pardon.

    By Blogger taylor, at Wednesday, September 06, 2006 9:36:00 PM  

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