Reformation Day: Martin Luther's 95 Theses

Today is not only Halloween or All Hallows Eve, it is also Reformation Day. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his "95 theses" on the church door of Wittenburg. The Book Of Concord: The Confessions of the Lutheran Church notes,

The Ninety-Five Theses, composed originally in Latin, were posted by Martin Luther on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517. The Castle Church was used by the university as its "campus church" and as such the door served as a sort of public bulletin board for the academic community. The theses were a proposal for a discussion about the practice of indulgences. October 31, 1517, the day before All Saints Day, was chosen because the Castle Church was also home to one of the largest collection of relics in all of Western Christendom, owned by the Saxon Elector Frederick the Wise. Indulgences were granted to the faithful for viewing the many relics that were put on display on All Saints Day.


The thesis statements include:

41. Papal indulgences must be preached with caution, lest people erroneously think that they are preferable to other good works of love.

43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better deed than he who buys indulgences.

52. 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.

86. `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?
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The entire 95 Theses can be read here.