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Woodcut of an indulgence-seller in a church from a 1521 pamphlet Johann Tetzel's coffer, now on display at St. Nicholaus church in Jüterbog, Germany. Martin Luther, professor of moral theology at the University of Wittenberg and town preacher, [3] wrote the Ninety-five Theses against the contemporary practice of the church with respect to indulgences.
Indulgences grant a degree of expiation of the punishments of purgatory due to sin. However, the misuse of indulgences within the Church largely contributed to Martin Luther writing his Ninety-five Theses. The main usage of the indulgences by Tetzel was to help fund and build the new St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
The faithful asked that indulgences be given for saying their favourite prayers, doing acts of devotion, attending places of worship, and going on pilgrimage; confraternities wanted indulgences for putting on performances and processions; associations demanded that their meetings be rewarded with indulgences.
The Catholic Church had technically banned the practice of selling indulgences as long ago as 1567. As the Times points out, a monetary donation wouldn't go amiss toward earning an indulgence.
One often cited example, and perhaps Luther's chief concern, was a condemnation of the selling of indulgences; another prominent point within the 95 theses is Luther's disagreement both with the way in which the higher clergy, especially the pope, used and abused power, and with the very idea of the pope.
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The exploitation of people and corruption of religious principles linked to the practice of selling indulgences quickly became the key stimulus for the onset of the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther's 95 Theses , otherwise entitled "Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences", was posted on a Church door in Wittenberg, Germany in ...
Martin Luther's Sermon on Indulgences and Grace (German: Eynn Sermon von dem Ablasz und Gnade) is a pamphlet written in Wittenberg in the latter part of March, 1518 and published in April of that year. [1] The sermon itself was written as Luther directly addressing his audience.