Luther's 95 Theses Rhetorical Analysis

Improved Essays
Luther fought back against the Catholic Church and sparked the Protestant Reformation, which freed Christians from Catholic Church control. Luther could no longer keep silent about the corruption in the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church had a great deal of power over Christians and Christian practices. The Catholic Church sold 1. indulgences, which is a payment for the forgiving of a person’s sin. The indulgence were bought for oneself, alive or deceased family members or friends, and even for sins committed in the future. If a person knew they committed a sin or was going to commit one he or she could go to a priest and pay for their sins. Luther wrote in his 95 Theses about how Priest had no control over Purgatory and gave people a false

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    According to the twenty-eighth thesis, “it is certain that when moneyclinks in the money chest, greed and avarice can be increased; but when the Church intercedes,the result is in the hands of God alone” (Wilson 373).Luther was exposing those in the CatholicChurch who told untruths about religious and moral matters to boost their own authority andsqueeze extensive amounts of money out of the rich and the poor. These greed propelled actswould not be forgiven through indulgences, but would be answered for when these corrupt andpowerful members of the Catholic Church faced God himself. This extortion meant that only therich could afford to pay these massive amounts regarding religious matters, while the poor couldbuy them, but would suffer great loss to the comfort and happiness of their families. “Then theyhad to watch the proceeds from the practice build the most extravagant, even profligate ofprojects in Rome” (Sayre 264). One of these extravagant projects included the Basilica of St.Peter under Pope Leo X, which was rebuilt with indulgence monies collected by the Church.…

    • 882 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Sermon number two discusses the “musts” of society. Luther begs the question that even though something be necessary, if it is turned to be a good work, a ticket to heaven, or a sacrifice up on a pedestal, then it must be stopped immediately. The Sacrament itself is not sinful; however, the way in which the Sacrament is executed or who it is officiated by, does not make the person or the sacrament holy in itself. The sacrament needs the Word of God. Just like circumcision, which is not necessary for Salvation, yet another way to show love for God and a way God instilled in His people to set them aside as His chosen people.…

    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    1. In the 2nd thesis, Luther says that, besides God, no priest or anyone working under the church can give salvation. Luther included this in his thesis to describe how God has the true power within the Church, not the pope or clergymen. Before the Reformation period and the Black Death, many people blindly followed the church. After seeing the cruelty of death and splitting of Christianity and Roman Catholics, people began to turn against the church.…

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    1. Transubstantiation Transubstantiation is the Catholic belief that during the Eucharist in Mass, the bread and wine is transformed into the actual body and blood of Christ (Lindberg (L.) 402). This is significant, because during the Reformation in the 16th century, Luther developed the idea of “sola scriptura” or scripture alone (Harris Lecture (H.L.10/14/14). This concept meant that since it did not actually say in the scripture that the bread and body of Christ had been transformed, it hadn’t really happened. Instead, God is present with the bread and wine, but it hasn’t been transformed, a concept known as consubstantiation or “sacramental union” (H.L. 10/28/14).…

    • 2240 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    This drew the Augustinian monk, who later became a priest, Martin Luther to remove himself from the church and practice a new meaning of faith. The Protestant reformation was a religions movement, however there was a lot more than just religion that needed to be reformed during this time. There was a lot of corruption, secularism, and a growing theocracy. These problems became…

    • 1029 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Martin Luther wrote the 95 Theses against the things that were taking place in the Catholic Church. In his early years he was a monk and scholar. He wrote the 95 Theses in paragraph form to complain.…

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It is said that people go to purgatory to work off their sins after they have died so they can still go to heaven. Luther’s ninety-five theses protested the sales of indulgences and claimed that the church was teaching false doctrines. Luther wrote to the Archbishop in hopes that he would “look [on this matter] with the eye of fatherly care, and do away entirely with that treatise.” The courage and bravery that Martin Luther showed in his letter to the Archbishop sparked the protestant reformation and gave the people of Europe a hope to break from the Catholic church.…

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In 16th century Worms, Germany, Martin Luther first published his 95 theses which questioned the authority of the Catholic Church. One of his main points of contention with the Catholic Church was the selling of indulgences; indulgences, the Church promised, would essentially help you buy your way into Heaven by cutting down on your time in Purgatory. Luther contested that this was merely a way for the Church to line its pockets with its people's money and brought his grievance to the public, along with the rest of his publication. Martin Luther's 95 theses would not have spread the way they did throughout Europe without the help of the printing press, which was allowing other writers, thinkers, and even the common folk get their ideas out…

    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    So if you did anything bad, you could just buy a bunch of these and be pardoned, and people even bought indulgences for their deceased friends and family members, in order to shorten their time in purgatory. However, this was very unappealing to Luther, and he voiced his opinion very blatantly in his piece, the 95 Theses. This piece of writing had quite a big impact on this revolution, it “began as a theological debate in a provincial university soon engulfed the Holy Roman Empire. Luther’s earliest supporters included younger Christian humanists and clerics who shared his critical attitude toward the church establishment. None of these Evangelicals, as they called themselves, came from the upper echelons of the church; many were from urban middle-class backgrounds, and most were university trained.” (Hunt, 450)…

    • 1687 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Martin Luther was a Catholic priest who was infamous for attempting to bring down the penitential system of the Catholic Church. He believed the hierarchy of the Catholic Church was corrupted and dishonest. An example of a fraudulence that Luther despised was the act of selling indulgences. Priests sold indulgences to people who had sinned and wanted remission. Indulgences supposedly minimised the time a soul spent in Purgatory.…

    • 1400 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Great Schism Analysis

    • 1564 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Luther was not so much moved by the offering of the penances to the people, as much as he was moved by the church charging people for the forgiveness of their sins by selling certificates of indulgences. Luther thought it was way out of line for the church to be charging people for the forgiveness of sins. The church made these certificates seem necessary for one to be forgiven. This influx of money helped the church be built up and they raised enough money to erect St. Peter’s basilica in Rome. The church was reliving the lives of those who were making profits off of sin offerings at the temple during Jesus’ days on earth.…

    • 1564 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Martin Luther and King Henry VII were two main figures that have helped the Reformation the way it was. Martin Luther played a huge role in the Reformation because he believed the Catholic Church was abusing the power they had, by selling indulgences to make a profit. He helped change that by expressing his opinions through the 95 Theses, informing people that everything the Catholic Church is doing is wrong and what should be done, and moved on to create a new religion based off of Catholicism. King Henry VII also played a huge role in the Reformation. In contrast to Luther, King Henry VII thought the Catholic Church had more power than him, even if he was king, leading him to separate from them.…

    • 1097 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Indulgences

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages

    An indulgence was originally a remission of the priest-imposed penalties of sin- the church had often granted Crusaders such indulgences in the 12th century. By the later middle ages, people widely believed that an indulgence secure total remission of penalties for a sin- on earth or in purgatory-and ensured a swift entry into heaven. Luther was greatly bothered by the sale of indulgences, certain that people who relied on these pieces of paper to assure themselves of salvation were guaranteeing their eternal damnation…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Indulgence Research Paper

    • 748 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The doctrine of indulgences rested on three principles. First, God is merciful and just. Second Christ and the Saints, through their infinite virtue established a “treasury of merits”, on which the church could draw, due to the special relationship with Christ and the Saints. Third, the church had the authority to grant sinners the spiritual benefits of those with merits.[1] An indulgence was a sheet of paper signed by the pope or another church official that substituted a virtuous act from treasury of merits for penance of time in purgatory which was an idea created 12th century by theologians, it was a place where souls on their way to heaven went to make further amends for their earthly sins.…

    • 748 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Renaissance Era challenged the teachings of the church because it made people start to question if they were teaching the truth. The Renaissance Era began after the tragedies of the Black Death and The Crusades left the catholic people questioning why god would bring this to them and also left the Europeans wanting to go back to the glory days of the Roman Empires. The teachings of the church were challenged through the art, catholics inside the church and scientific advancements. The Renaissance inspired a new way of thinking that changed Europe forever. Art in this era was reformed and made to question the church’s teachings.…

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays