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Letter To Luther's 95 Theses Essay

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Letter to the Archbishop of Mainz – This letter accompanies a copy of Luther’s 95 Theses, which is addressed to Albert of Mainz. This letter serves as Luther’s explanation of what he is trying to address in the theses, along with his plea for the archbishop’s assistance. After humbly acknowledging his own state of “unworthiness and insignificance” Luther enlightens the archbishop to his primary purpose for writing, which is stating his reasons in protesting the selling of indulgences. He even mentions the actions of Johann Tetzel by name. He appears to show polite confusion as to why the church would allow or even encourage the selling of indulgences in order to achieve salvation, since that action is said nowhere in Scripture. Luther …show more content…

The first kind of righteousness is that of Christ. Most Protestants liken this righteousness to justification in that Christians are justified and automatically made righteous by faith in Jesus Christ. This righteousness is a result of the faith, which is alongside other blessings such as the remittance of all sins and it comes about after one is baptized and has a truly repentant heart. The second kind of righteousness is what Luther calls “our proper righteousness” which can be described as the manifestation of the first kind of righteousness in the form of good works. This proper righteousness comes from the concern of trying to imitate Christ and become more like Him as the Christian matures. Christians are only truly successful in functioning in proper righteousness when they are utterly unconcerned for their own glory and comfort and instead care for those who are in need. Servant leadership and ministry comes into play here, especially. As for those who say that someone needs to be concerned with the discipline of those who practice lawlessness, Luther says that it is better to conduct oneself in a forgiving and gracious manner (like Christ

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His major objection about his church are the indulgences because he knew that they were false. “Indulgences were payments to the Roman Catholic Church in return for pardons for one’s sins and grants of salvation in the afterlife.” Martin Luther stated that he didn’t approve of indulgences because they were false as well as expensive, so he didn’t want people to buy meaningless pieces of papers. Luther believed that getting rid of your sins with paper was not the right thing to be doing and that the church had been receiving money for lying. He said that the people who buy these indulgences will be “eternally damned” with those who taught them.

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The sale of indulgences was the Church saying that if the people paid the Church the pope and God would forgive their sins and they would be able to go to heaven. John Tetzel was the main man who was in charge of the sales. In document 2 Excerpt from Sermon, John Tetzel said that people are sinners and the only way they could get into heaven was if they bought these indulgences and salvation. This was an investment for the Church and used as persuasion to get the people to pay them more money. Martin Luther on the other hand did not agree with the sale of indulgences, so he protested the Church and spread his ideas of what the Church should be.

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Theses, posted in 1517, criticized the sale of indulgences and called for a debate on issues of faith and authority within the Church. He emphasized the doctrine of justification by faith, rejecting the Catholic Church's teaching on the necessity of good works for salvation. Luther also advocated for the priesthood of all believers, asserting that all believers have direct access to God and the ability to interpret the Bible for

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A large portion of this pertained to the Catholic church selling indulgences which were, as described by the Church, a full or partial pardoning of sin that could be used to free anyone of transgression, especially late friends and family. One reading explains that a huge problem in Luther’s eyes was that people no longer felt that they had to go any further for forgiveness once an indulgence was purchased because they saw it as a “catch-all” system. People could pay for salvation instead of relying on faith. Luther believed sola fida, that Christ’s salvation should be achieved through faith alone, and not by giving the church money (moodle reading April

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Martin Luther writes a letter specifically to Pope Leo X to address the 'evils" within the Roman Catholic Church (96). Luther states various reasons to challenge the church and Pope Leo X. One of his reasons to challenge the authority of Pope Leo X is because he feels that the pope has cheated "the people of Christ" and feels the responsibility of a "debtor" to restore the good (98). He claims that the pope and his cardinals have taken no actions to stop the overflow of "worst things" into Rome. Martin states his discontent with the pope and his people because according to him they have not done their duty to "apply a remedy to these evils" (98). Luther's other reason to challenge the pope is "not from any desire to teach, but as a duty" (104).

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I think Martin Luther purpose of writing the theses and letters was to promote peace among believer and criticized the selling of indulgences. He wanted to improve tolerance and cease the violence acts from the Roman Churches. Luther theses challenged every bad act to be forbearances and make sure the authority of the pope obey the equal laws like everyone. He questioned Churches about the selling of indulgences to reduce punishment for sins and discussed that faith can lead people to better solutions. Martin Luther realized that the key to divine redemption was not to fear God, but to believe that faith alone would bring reclamation and peaceful way of living.

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He makes a mention about how the Romanists are the sole interpreters of the bible. He strongly disagrees with this saying that “it is a wicked base invention, for which they cannot adduce title of evidence in support”. This clearly shows Luther’s view on this. He believes that interpreting the bible should be for everyone rather than for a select few who could be infected with the devil. It also gives the impression that the clergy are interpreting the bible in a way that benefits themselves and the church rather than focusing on the spiritual needs of the greater

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An indulgence was a donation to the church that came with a promise from the pope to reduce a sinner’s time in purgatory. Seeing his parishioners handing over money they did not have, did not sit well with Luther. All for a paper that he believed to be pointless. So he replied with the 95 Theses against indulgences and then placed them to the church door for all to see on October 31, 1517. This led to a number of debates with other men of the strong opinion, during this time Luther 's positions became increasingly harsh.

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The focal regulation of the Congregation that Luther was conflicting with was the teaching of salvation by works. This regulation held that salvation was accomplished through benevolent acts and that justifying salvation through one's own efforts was conceivable. This was rather than Luther's situation, which was that salvation is an unconditional gift from God, not something that can be procured through human activities. Luther contended that confidence in the effortlessness and leniency of God was the main way to salvation.

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On one hand, Luther stresses the absolute sovereignty of God extends over all things and that human beings are unable to save themselves. On the other hand , Luther believed that humans are responsible for their own choices and actions , and that they should strive to live according to God’s will. “...no one can deliver himself from sin, or attain righteousness by means of works, any more than he can prevent his own physical birth.” No act of good that any human does is divine enough to “earn” a spot in heaven in Luther's eyes. It is all about where your heart lies and your true intentions that people can’t see or

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