Angie Fernandez
November 27, 2012
The
95 Theses of Martin Luther
Although in the 1700s
the Catholic Church was very powerful in Europe, and had many followers; Martin
Luther did not hesitate when he wrote his 95 theses against the selling of
indulgences. In his theses, Martin stated three main points. One was that
selling indulgences to finance St. Peter’s basilica was wrong. His second point
was that the pope did not have power over purgatory. And last but not least,
Martin Luther stated that the selling of indulgences gave the people a false
sense of security and endangered their salvation. Martin Luther was risking his
believes when he wrote the 95 theses, nevertheless it was a necessary event to
happen in human history.
Martin Luther was born
in Germany on November ten of 1483, and died on February nineteen of 1546. He
was a monk, priest, theologian, and after he wrote the 95 theses, he became a
major figure of the protestant reformation. He wrote the 95 theses in the year
1517, when he opposed salesman Johann Tetzel. After his theses reached Pope
Leo, the Catholic Church decided to excommunicate Martin Luther and the emperor
outlawed him.
Martin Luther thought
that many Germans would never be able to attend St. Peter’s basilica, since it
was built in Vatican City. Not everyone had the means to travel; therefore they
should not be giving their own money for such project. Everybody knew that the
Catholic Church was economically stable, since they were always using gold and
precious gems “under the name of God”. Even Martin Luther stated on his point
number 86 that if the Pope really wanted that basilica he should be the one
paying for its expenses, since he was rich.
The Pope could not
write God’s laws, because then this would be human laws and not God’s.
Therefore, the Pope could not decide by any means who went to heaven and who
did not. And not to mention sell people’s way to heaven. If he was really to
decide who goes to purgatory and who doesn’t, and since he was the divine figure
to represent God, the greatest good. Then why wouldn’t the Pope just release
all souls from purgatory, or even eliminate the significance and existence of
it to all souls be freed. In Martin Luther’s twenty-six point, he states that
if the Pope intervenes to save an individual, this will only be by the will of
God. Meaning, that it is God and only God the one deciding who goes to
purgatory and who goes to heaven.
In his point number nineteen Luther stated
that there is absolutely no proof that by buying an indulgence the person is
free from sin. We are all humans, and we cannot know for sure what God wants
from the words of a priest, we only know God’s rules by the word of the holy
bible. People could not simply buy their salvation. Indulgences were nonsense.
And, this idea of buying their own forgiveness incited people to be sinners and
endanger their true salvation. People would sin, commit crimes and even murder;
but they did not care about going to purgatory, because they falsely knew that
if they had the money to buy an indulgence they will be forgiven by God. It gave
people a sense of security of going to heaven, but this was false. And Martin
Luther saw the wrong in this; he knew that it would not matter if a person
bought a million indulgences from the Pope, it would not take that person to
heaven. In his argument number thirty-eight, Luther said that it is not the
Pope’s forgiveness that people needed because his forgiveness was not the most
important, God’s was.
The result of the 95
theses was, first personally to Martin Luther, he got excommunicated from the
Catholic Church by the Pope. And then he was outlawed by the emperor. Socially,
the 95 theses gave a start to Protestants, and then started to appear different
religious branches.
I believe that Martin
Luther 95 theses were an important and necessary critique to the Catholic
Church. Because the Vatican was taking advantage of people, the church knew
that they had high prestige and power among many countries in Europe, gained
over the years. And not everybody was actually aware of the bible’s teachings.
They made their own social rules, instead of obeying God. After Luther came up
with his ideas, people started to question the church, and they made different
Christian denominations. I also think that, nowadays there are some people that
became atheist because of the church ways of ruling and teachings. There are
still some countries that Catholicism is the dominant religion, and it becomes
difficult or even discriminatory to practice a different religion or
denomination. Martin Luther 95 theses
were necessary so the people could “awake” and realize this hypocritical act.
Work cited
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<http://www.uncommon-travel-germany.com/95-theses.html>.
Vargas, Edwin. "Responses to Martin Luther's 95
Theses." Suite101.com.
N.p., 08 Oct. 2009. Web. 27 Nov. 2012.
<http://suite101.com/article/responses-to-martin-luthers-95-theses-a151999>.
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<http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/RomanCatholic-Church-in-1500.htm>.
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