Free Republic

Martin Luther didn’t intend to start the Reformation. In this brief clip, R.C. Sproul explains how Luther’s 95 Theses spread across Germany and sparked a chain of events he never saw coming.

On Oct. 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his now world-famous 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther’s complaints about the Roman Catholic practice of selling indulgences (the forgiving of sins) launched the Protestant Reformation, forever altering the cultural, political, religious and artistic landscape of Europe and the world. As we approach the five-hundredth anniversary of this earth-shaking event, there’s no better place to explore Luther and the Reformation than his native Germany.

1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance. 2. This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance, i.e., confession and satisfaction, which is administered by the priests. 3. Not inward repentance only; nay, there is no inward repentance which does not outwardly work divers mortifications of the flesh. 4. So penalty [of sin] continues while hatred of self continues; this is true inward repentance, & continues 'til our entrance into heaven. 5. Pope does not intend to remit, & can't remit penalties other than what...

Five hundred years ago today, the Augustinian monk Martin Luther famously nailed his 95 Theses to the chapel door of Germany’s University of Wittenberg. And for much of the ensuing half-millennium, the man who begat the Protestant Reformation has been reviled by the Catholic Church. Indeed, the view of Luther among many if not most of today’s Catholics is informed by a polemic written by the not entirely objective Catholic clergyman Henry George Ganss. It was published in the Catholic Encyclopedia all the way back in 1910 and republished on the Internet in 1995. Ganss suggested that Luther was given...

Featured Term (selected at random:SCHISMATIC According to Church law, a schismatic is a person who, after receiving baptism and while keeping the name of Christian, pertinaciously refuses to submit to the Supreme Pontiff or refuses to associate with those who are subject to him. The two factors, submission to the Pope and association with persons subject to him, are to be taken disjunctively. Either resisting papal authority or refusing to participate in Catholic life and worship induces schism, even without further affiliation with another religious body. Like heresy, schism is formal and culpable only when the obligations are fully realized....

In 1517, Martin Luther posted a list of 95 Theses on his church's doors. His actions exposed the corruption of the Catholic Church and started what came to be known as the Protestant Reformation. Between the hours of 9 PM Saturday, February 16 and 9 AM Sunday, February 17, 2013, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and others will post this list of 95 LDS Theses onto the doors of LDS churches around the world. Join the event here - If you don't use Facebook, you can still participate! The purpose of this event is two-fold:...

...Should be a good turnout 300+ confirmed on Facebook, with many more reaching out to me pledging anonymous participation. I have confirmed postings already in Australia, Germany, and Africa.... Also, I'm working to see if the story just got published by a new outlet because as of an hour ago, I've been getting about 4-5 new unique visits per minute. Every person counts! Please support the effort and join us tonight!

It was 494 years today that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg. He wanted to debate the sale of indulgences with his fellow university professors. He wrote in Latin, but a nameless visionary translated the theses into German, carried them to the printing press, and enabled their dispersion far and wide. Luther ended up with more than he bargained for, but he proved to be no coward in defending the discoveries he was making in Scripture. When the Roman church wouldn’t serve him the treat of sufficiently addressing his concerns, he was consigned to...

Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, the public bulletin board of his day. In like manner, we, Athanasius and Chrysostom, post these 95 theses on the door of the internet. Like the original theses, these are debatable, for we believe that it is through vigorous debate that the spirits are tested and truth is revealed. In publishing these theses, we do not intend to foment division, but to expose those who are creating division within the body of Christ. We are not addressing any particular church body or person, but invite...

This week (Oct. 31) in 1517, Martin Luther crossed the religious Rubicon when he posted his 95 theses on the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany. His action led to a schism in the Catholic Church and the subsequent formation of the Protestant sect, and — no small thing — it paved the way for the Reformation. In a nutshell, Luther’s 95 theses proclaimed that the Roman Catholic Church was corrupt, that the pope was abusing his powers and that the church’s practice of selling indulgences (for a price the church would lower a sinner’s punishment in the afterlife)...

THE 95 THESES by Martin Luther 1. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, "Repent" (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.2. This word cannot be understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, that is, confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy.3. Yet it does not mean solely inner repentance; such inner repentance is worthless unless it produces various outward mortification of the flesh.4. The penalty of sin remains as long as the hatred of self (that is, true inner repentance), namely till our entrance into the kingdom of...

The seat of the ReformationBy Kate Connolly in Wittenburg(Filed: 22/10/2004) German archaeologists have discovered the lavatory on which Martin Luther wrote the 95 Theses that launched the Protestant Reformation. Luther frequently alluded to the fact that he suffered from chronic constipation and that he spent much of his time in contemplation on the lavatory. Experts say they have been certain for years that the 16th century religious leader wrote the groundbreaking Ninety-Five Theses while on das klo, as the Germans call it. But they did not know where the object was until they discovered the stone construction after recently stumbling...

It wasn’t a coincidence. When Martin Luther decided to nail his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of Wittenburg Castle Church, he chose Halloween to do it. This Augustinian monk held fiercely to many grievous doctrinal errors, but he did understand one thing: the liturgical year of the Catholic Church. The liturgical year is meant to do two things at once: through it, we cast our eyes back towards Christ’s life on earth and through it we simultaneously cast our eyes forward through the long history of mankind, a history which will be crowned in the Parousia, the Second Coming of...