This excerpt is a list of several points taken from the Ninety-Five Theses by Martin Luther. Martin Luther was a German friar, priest, and monk who dedicated his himself to a strict life style that included frequent fasting and prayer, pilgrimage, and religious studies. The Ninety-Five Theses listed criticisms of the Catholic Church regarding its fundamental method of worship and the validity of its practices involving indulgences, remission of punishment due to sin. Luther points out that the Catholic Church had become corrupted in selling indulgences and argues it was an extreme violation of the very purpose of an indulgence. He continues to claim that the Pope does not actually have any power over Purgatory, a place or state before heaven where the soul atones for its sins, and warns that buying indulgences will bring about a false sense of security and endanger salvation.
This list, fully named The Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, was written in 1517. At the time the Church was viewed as an absolute power; the Pope had the same if not more power over the people than the king. Pope Leo X was
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The Protestant Reformation was a religious, political, and intellectual upheaval that attacked the Catholic Church. Protestantism leaned toward a more personal relationship with God rather than the communal worship the Catholic Church emphasized. It also deemphasized the power of the Pope and religious authorities. As Protestantism grew, the Catholic Reformation began. The Catholic Church tried to regain control of the populace by tightening clerical discipline and establishing the Council of Trent, which helped the organization of the Catholic Church by releasing doctrines and statements, which declared what was deemed