Luther’s 95 Theses
- When our Lord and Master
Jesus Christ said, ``Repent'' (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of
believers to be one of repentance. (Luther in his first teaches Christ demands a life of
repentance and penitence managed by confession and paying the demands of a
member of the clergy to receive forgiveness – This was similarly taught by
Calvin – This must be contemplated with speaking of Luther’s doctrine of
justification by faith – because what Luther taught in that regard was
eternal security – and is no way shape or form of what the apostle Paul
spoke of )
- This
word cannot be understood as referring to the sacrament of penance,
that is, confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy. (Luther does not do away with this but
keeps it)
- Yet
it does not mean solely inner repentance; such inner repentance is
worthless unless it produces various outward mortification of the flesh. (This is morbid Calvinism)
- The
penalty of sin remains as long as the hatred of self, namely till our entrance
into the kingdom of heaven. (This
is the monk stuff of hair shirts and self abuse in order to make one feel
holy—Luther upholds all this as obtaining forgiveness, living in a
repentant state and walking in holiness )
- The
pope neither desires nor is able to remit any penalties except those
imposed by his own authority or that of the canons. (Luther here upholds the position of
the pope and the ability of the church to write is own laws and rules over
the people that they are forced to obey)
- The pope cannot remit any
guilt, except by declaring and showing that it has been remitted by God;
or, to be sure, by remitting guilt in cases reserved to his judgment. If
his right to grant remission in these cases were disregarded, the guilt
would certainly remain unforgiving.
- God remits guilt to no one unless at the
same time he humbles him in all things and makes him submissive to the
vicar, the priest. (Luther
here says there can be no forgiveness without humbling and submission to
one’s vicar or priest and he is not speaking of Christ)
- The penitential canons (The
cannons of church laws and traditions) are
imposed only on the living, and, according to the canons themselves,
nothing should be imposed on the dying. (Luther here affirms the church has an absolute rulership over
people on the earth – which is contrary to the words of Christ)
- Therefore the Holy Spirit
through the pope is kind to us insofar as the pope in his decrees always
makes exception of the article of death and of necessity.
- (In the following section on purgatory
and the use of paying indulgences for the release of those souls, Luther
clearly believes in heaven hell and purgatory, Luther clearly believes
that the Pope alone has the ability
to forgive men’s sins apart from the work of Christ on Calvary – as he is
so empowered by canonical law, Luther does not altogether not believe in
indulgences he does not specifically believe they can pull souls from
purgatory and that the poor should not pay and that if you see the poor or
sick you should give your indulgence money to them first and if anything
is left over then drop it in the box. Luther does not believe that one’s
earthly sins are carried with people when they enter into purgatory)Those
priests act ignorantly and wickedly who, in the case of the dying, reserve
canonical penalties for purgatory.
- Those tares of changing the
canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory were evidently sown while
the bishops slept (Mt 13:25).
- In former times canonical
penalties were imposed, not after, but before absolution, as tests of true
contrition.
- The dying are freed by death
from all penalties, are already dead as far as the canon laws are
concerned, and have a right to be released from them.
- Imperfect piety or love on
the part of the dying person necessarily brings with it great fear; and
the smaller the love, the greater the fear.
- This fear or horror is
sufficient in itself, to say nothing of other things, to constitute the
penalty of purgatory, since it is very near to the horror of despair.
- Hell, purgatory, and heaven
seem to differ the same as despair, fear, and
assurance of salvation.
- It seems as though for the
souls in purgatory fear should necessarily decrease and love increase.
- Furthermore, it does not seem
proved, either by reason or by Scripture, that
souls in purgatory are outside the state of merit, that is, unable to grow
in love.
- Nor does it seem proved that
souls in purgatory, at least not all of them, are certain and assured of
their own salvation, even if we ourselves may be entirely certain of it.
- Therefore the pope, when he
uses the words ``plenary remission of all penalties,'' does not actually
mean ``all penalties,'' but only those imposed by himself.
- Thus those indulgence
preachers are in error who say that a man is
absolved from every penalty and saved by papal indulgences.
- As a matter of fact, the pope
remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to canon law,
they should have paid in this life.
- If remission of all penalties
whatsoever could be granted to anyone at all, certainly it would be
granted only to the most perfect, that is, to very few.
- For this reason most people
are necessarily deceived by that indiscriminate and high-sounding promise
of release from penalty.
- That power which the pope has
in general over purgatory corresponds to the power which any bishop or
curate has in a particular way in his own diocese and parish.
- The pope does very well when
he grants remission to souls in purgatory, not by the power of the keys,
which he does not have, but by way of intercession for them.
- They preach only human doctrines who say that as soon as the money
clinks into the money chest, the soul flies out of purgatory.
- It is certain that when money clinks in
the money chest, greed and avarice can be increased; (On the part of the priests that receive it) but
when the church intercedes, the result is in the hands of God alone.
- Who knows whether all souls
in purgatory wish to be redeemed, since we have exceptions in St. Severinus and St.
Paschal, as related in a legend. (Neither Luther nor Calvin ever ceased believing in the
saints, praying to saints and praying to Mary)
- No one is sure of the
integrity of his own contrition, much less of having received plenary
remission.
- The man who actually buys
indulgences is as rare as he who is really penitent; indeed, he is
exceedingly rare.
- Those who believe that they can be certain of their salvation
because they have indulgence letters will be eternally damned, together
with their teachers.
- Men must especially be on
guard against those who say that the pope's pardons are that inestimable
gift of God by which man is reconciled to him.
- For the graces of indulgences
are concerned only with the penalties of sacramental satisfaction
established by man.
- They who teach that contrition
is not necessary on the part of those who intend to buy souls out of
purgatory or to buy confessional privileges preach unchristian doctrine.
- Any truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of
penalty and guilt, even without indulgence letters. (We remind
our readers the phrase
“truly repentant” is a loaded term that is filled with all
the things cited above as being repentant, living a repentant life, and
the sacrament of penitence. Luther never believed in the completed work on
Calvary, and he never believed in what is taught today concerning
justification by faith – he taught 6th century Catholicism –aka
Augustinian doctrine)
- Any true Christian, whether
living or dead, participates in all the blessings of Christ and the
church; (These
are the fellowship of the church and the sacraments of the church)
and this is granted him by God, even without indulgence letters.
- Nevertheless, papal remission
and blessing are by no means to be disregarded, for they are, as I have
said (Thesis 6), the proclamation of the divine remission.
- It is very difficult, even
for the most learned theologians, at one and the same time to commend to
the people the bounty of indulgences and the need of true contrition.
- A Christian who is truly
contrite seeks and loves to pay penalties for his sins; the bounty of
indulgences, however, relaxes penalties and causes men to hate them -- at
least it furnishes occasion for hating them.
- Papal indulgences must be preached with caution, lest people
erroneously think that they are preferable to other good works of
love.
- Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend that the
buying of indulgences should in any way be compared with works of mercy.
- Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends
to the needy (This is a quote from an apostolic father) does
a better deed than he who buys indulgences.
- Because love grows by works of love, man thereby becomes better.
Man does not, however, become better by means of indulgences but is merely
freed from penalties.
- Christians are to be taught that he who sees a needy man and
passes him by, yet gives his money for indulgences, does not buy papal
indulgences but God's wrath.
- Christians are to be taught that, unless they have more than they
need, they must reserve enough for their family needs and by no means
squander it on indulgences. (This goes on with the modern indulgences preached as
the tithe –Luther here quotes from the law of
Moses that the tithe was not to come from the poor.)
- Christians are to be taught
that they buying of indulgences is a matter of
free choice, not commanded.
- Christians
are to be taught that the pope, in granting indulgences, needs and thus
desires their devout prayer more than their money. (What
a concept Prayer is more effective than tithes and offerings)
- Christians are to be taught
that papal indulgences are useful only if they do not put their trust in
them, but very harmful if they lose their fear of God because of them.
- Christians are to be taught
that if the pope knew the exactions of the indulgence preachers, he would
rather that the basilica of St. Peter were burned to ashes than built up
with the skin, flesh, and bones of his sheep.
- Christians are to be taught
that the pope would and should wish to give of his own money, even though
he had to sell the basilica of St. Peter, to many of those from whom
certain hawkers of indulgences cajole money.
- It is vain to trust in
salvation by indulgence letters, even though the indulgence commissary, or even the pope, were to offer his soul as
security.
- They are the enemies of
Christ and the pope who forbid altogether the preaching of the Word of God
in some churches in order that indulgences may be preached in others.
- Injury is done to the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an
equal or larger amount of time is devoted to indulgences than to the Word.
- It is certainly the pope's
sentiment that if indulgences, which are a very insignificant thing, are
celebrated with one bell, one procession, and one ceremony, then the
gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a
hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred
ceremonies.
- The true treasures of the
church, out of which the pope distributes indulgences, are not
sufficiently discussed or known among the people of Christ.
- That indulgences are not
temporal treasures is certainly clear, for many indulgence sellers do not
distribute them freely but only gather them.
- Nor are they the merits of
Christ and the saints, for, even without the pope, the latter always work
grace for the inner man, and the cross, death,
and hell for the outer man.
- St. Lawrence said that the poor of the
church were the treasures of the church, (He
did not preach this but tradition has him quoting this to the Roman’s when
they came to despoil the church of its earthly riches and treasures that
they had already in that day began gathering) but he spoke
according to the usage of the word in his own time.
- Without want of consideration
we say that the keys of the church, given by the merits of Christ, are
that treasure.
- For it is clear that the
pope's power is of itself sufficient for the remission of penalties and
cases reserved by himself.
- The true treasure of the church is the
most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God. (This should
be Christ himself who gave himself for our sins and desires to be the husband of
those that would be his bride.)
- But this treasure is naturally most
odious, for it makes the first to be last (Mt. 20:16).
- On the other hand, the
treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the
last to be first.
- Therefore the treasures of
the gospel are nets with which one formerly fished for men of wealth.
- The
treasures of indulgences are nets with which one now fishes for the wealth
of men. (As does the
prosperity gospel and those that preach tithes and offerings – all of this
is the clergy seeking benefit from the wealthy to support their avarice
and greed.)
- The indulgences which the
demagogues acclaim as the greatest graces are actually understood to be
such only insofar as they promote gain.
- They are nevertheless in
truth the most insignificant graces when compared with the grace of God
and the piety of the cross.
- Bishops and curates are bound
to admit the commissaries of papal indulgences with all reverence.
- But they are much more bound
to strain their eyes and ears lest these men preach their own dreams
instead of what the pope has commissioned.
- Let him who speaks against the truth concerning papal indulgences
be anathema and accursed.
- But let him who guards against the lust and license of the
indulgence preachers be blessed.
- Just as the pope justly
thunders against those who by any means whatever
contrive harm to the sale of indulgences.
- Much more does he intend to
thunder against those who use indulgences as a pretext to contrive harm to
holy love and truth.
- To consider papal indulgences
so great that they could absolve a man even if he had done the impossible
and had violated the mother of God is madness.
- We say on the contrary that
papal indulgences cannot remove the very least of venial sins as far as
guilt is concerned.
- To say that even St. Peter if he were now pope, could not grant
greater graces is blasphemy against St. Peter and the pope.
- We say on the contrary that even the present pope, or any pope
whatsoever, has greater graces at his disposal, that is, the gospel,
spiritual powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written. (1 Co 12[:28])
(Luther
believes it is only the pope that can operate in the greater graces of the
gifts and operations of the spirit)
- To say that the cross
emblazoned with the papal coat of arms, and set up by the indulgence
preachers is equal in worth to the cross of Christ is blasphemy.
- The bishops, curates, and
theologians who permit such talk to be spread among the people will have
to answer for this.
- This unbridled preaching of
indulgences makes it difficult even for learned men to rescue the
reverence which is due the pope from slander or from the shrewd questions
of the laity.
- Such as: ``Why does not
the pope empty purgatory for the sake of holy love and the dire need of
the souls that are there if he redeems an infinite number of
souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a church?'' The
former reason would be most just; the latter is most trivial.
- Again, ``Why are funeral and anniversary masses for
the dead continued and why does he not return or permit the withdrawal of
the endowments founded for them, since it is wrong to pray for
the redeemed?''
- 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, be a use of the need of that pious and beloved
soul, free it for pure love's sake?''
- Again, ``Why are the penitential canons, long since
abrogated and dead in actual fact and through disuse, now satisfied by the
granting of indulgences as though they were still alive and in
force?''
- Again,
``Why does not the pope,
whose wealth is today greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus,
build this one basilica of St. Peter with his own money rather than with
the money of poor believers?''
- Again,
``What
does the pope remit or grant to those who by perfect contrition already
have a right to full remission and blessings?''
- Again, ``What greater
blessing could come to the church than if the pope were to bestow these
remissions and blessings on every believer a hundred times a day, as he
now does but once?''
- ``Since the pope seeks the
salvation of souls rather than money by his indulgences, why does he
suspend the indulgences and pardons previously granted when they have
equal efficacy?''
- To repress these very sharp
arguments of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons,
is to expose the church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies and
to make Christians unhappy.
- If, therefore, indulgences
were preached according to the spirit and intention of the pope, all these
doubts would be readily resolved. Indeed, they would not exist.
- Away, then, with all those
prophets who say to the people of Christ, ``Peace, peace,'' and there is
no peace! (Jer 6:14)
- Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ,
``Cross, cross,'' and there is no cross! (This is weird –one would have to read
some to understand what Luther here is talking about here)
- Christians should be exhorted
to be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, death
and hell.
- And thus be confident of
entering into heaven through many tribulations rather than through the
false security of peace (Acts 14:22).