Indulgences: The Rise And Fall Of The Roman Catholic Church

In the sixteenth century, the Roman Catholic Church had raised to the most dominant establishment in Western Europe. The majority of lands and rules had Roman Catholicism as their official faith. Heads of States found themselves subservient to the institution of the Church and Bishop of Rome, Leo X. Unfortunately, the Roman Catholic Church in this period was plagued by corruption, at every level of the hierarchy. At the time, both bishops and priests taught parishioner many instructions and while conformity with Roman Catholic Doctrine, these lessons were used to benefit the Church and its hierarchy. The most infamous of them all, Indulgences. If a parishioner purchased an indulgence from the Church, he or she could be wholly cleansed of their

The sales of indulgences were used as a method to expand the overall wealth of the Roman Catholic Church and would often find its way into the possession of the Church and its functionaries. Martin Luther, a Roman Catholic priest and scholar “dedicated himself to the monastic life. His joining of the Augustinian friary at Erfurt, Germany in 1505 would begin a journey that would eventually create the foundation for a new religious movement within Christendom” (Bishop 3). While in Wittenberg, Luther began questioning several of the doctrines followed by the Roman Catholic Church. What specifically attracted Luther’s attention was the brand of preaching associated with the sale of indulgences within Germany, funds that were being raised for the rebuilding of Saint Peters Basilica in Rome. Johann Tetzel was commissioned by Cardinal Albert of Brandenburg, Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg to collect these funds. “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings,” Tetzel proclaimed, “the soul from purgatory springs” (Kramer

For Luther, salvation couldn’t be found in membership within any institution, bought or influenced by the hands of human beings. Rather, he saw it as a spiritual gift given to us from God. As a scholar from the University of Erfurt, Luther received a Master of Arts degree in grammar, rhetoric, logic and metaphysics his understanding as a priest was that grace was a gift that had been bought only on the cross by the death of Jesus of Nazareth. On the 31st day of October 31, 1517 Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses on the church door in Wittenberg, Germany in regard to Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences. The Bishop of Rome, Leo X refuted the theses as dissident and demanded that Luther abjure all instructions which questioned the absolute authorization of the pontificate or be faced with exclusion. Martin Luther refused to do so and accordingly was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. Soon after, Luther was summoned before the Diet of Worms, an imperial assembly which addressed his actions and the effects of the Protestant