Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses Analysis

Martin Luther was born in Eisleben, Germany on November 10, 1483, and died on February 18, 1546. He was a German professor of theology, a composer, and an influential figure in the Protestant Reformation. He was also a German monk who wanted to change things about the Catholic Church, and this is the main reason why he wrote the theses. He wrote the Ninety-Five Theses, also known as the Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, to debate a list of questions and propositions. He did not know at the time that his writings would start a revolutionary break. In his writing, he expressed his opinions of how things should be. His writings also started a big split in the Catholic Church, and hence Protestantism was soon emerged. …show more content…
People such as John Tetzel would go around Germany and try to get people to buy indulgences. They would convince they people that they needed God’s forgiveness to go to heaven, and the only way to get that was to pay for an indulgence. They would also say that the family of a deceased person could buy an indulgence so that their family member would be able to go to heaven. Martin was very against this, and that is one of the main reasons that he wrote the Ninety-Five Theses. He said in theses thirty seven, “Any true Christian, whether living or dead, participates in all the blessings of Christ and the church; and this is granted him by God, even without indulgence letters.” He believed God was the only person that could grant forgiveness. He crossed the line and committed a heresie by saying that the Pope and the Church did not have the spiritual authority to grant indulgences. In his writings he also said, “Those priests act ignorantly and wickedly who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penalties for purgatory.” He believed that the dead are freed from all penalties, and they should have the right to be released from them without having to have a family member pay for an