Martin Luther 95 Theses Analysis

Martin Luther’s Stamp on History

In the time leading up to the posting of Martin Luther’s “95 Theses” in 1517, the Roman Catholic Church was being described as corrupt by many because of their selling of indulgences. An indulgence in the Church is defined as a partial remission of the temporal punishment that is still due for a sin or sins after absolution (EWTN). There is much controversy as to whether or not that is true. There are also different interpretations of the matter. Martin Luther was the first to openly oppose the church about this topic and many others that he disagreed with. He did this with the writing and posting of the “95 Theses.” He began what we call today, the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther’s writing of “The 95 Theses” started a revolution of questioning and denying religious authority that caused new sects of the Christian faith and opened up many new ideas for discussion.

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Martin Luther’s point of view was that if you have faith, that faith alone can save you and take you to heaven. Out of all the points he makes in his writings, this doctrine is the most important in respects to how critical its use was in the Protestant Reformation as a whole. Another important piece of the document is the eighty-fourth section. It states, “Again, ‘What is this new piety of God and the pope that for a consideration of money they permit a man who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God and do not rather, because of the need of that pious and beloved soul, free it for pure love's sake?’” This adds on to the issues pertaining to indulgences. It is telling us that it is not fair that a rich man can buy his way to heaven when a poor man cannot, according to their beliefs. Trueman describes this section by stating, “Evil men must not buy their salvation when a poor man, who is a friend of God,