THREE
MAIN POINTS OF MARTIN LUTHER’S THESES
October
31 of this year marks 500 years since Martin Luther began the Protestant
Reformation by nailing 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg. Luther, a
minister and professor in the Catholic Church himself, did not have a complete
revolt in mind when he did this; he merely wanted the church to make the
necessary reforms in executing a genuine Christian faith and in carrying out
the message of the gospel. Nonetheless, Luther’s theses caused perhaps the
largest divide of any religious group in history. If you are an evangelical or
Protestant, your church is likely the result of Luther’s reforms. I do not want
to speculate on whether or not a division was good or bad for the church;
certainly, reforms were necessary, but could they have been made without the
split? Only God knows the answer to that question. In honor of the 500th
anniversary of the Reformation though, I would like to give a summary of what
Luther’s theses said and did for the church. So much good came out of the
Reformation so it is important for us to know what Luther’s ideas were. I would
like to suggest three main points of Luther’s theses; these three points are
borrowed from the Uncommon Travel Germany website.[1]
I.
Selling
indulgences to finance the building of St. Peter’s is wrong
St. Peter’s
Basilica in Rome was largely financed by the Catholic Church’s selling of
indulgences. In fact, it could be said that the selling of indulgences was the
final straw for Martin Luther. Luther criticized the Catholic Church’s approach
in this area, even suggesting that the Pope himself was already wealthy.[2] About the selling of
indulgences, Luther said, “"The revenues of all Christendom are being
sucked into this insatiable basilica. The Germans laugh at calling this the
common treasure of Christendom. Before long, all the churches, palaces, walls
and bridges of Rome will be built out of our money.”[3] Not only was Luther
staunchly against the selling of indulgences, but he saw a further issue in the
corruptness of the practice, i.e. the Catholic Church was using indulgences as
a means for forgiveness of sin, thus forcing the poor and unfortunate to
continue giving their own money and struggle so that their sins were supposedly
forgiven. Luther had enough of this thought so he nailed the theses to the
door, and thanks largely to the printing press, his theses were published far
and wide. One might wonder why he nailed the theses to the church door in
Wittenberg. In short, the church door was utilized as a bulletin board for
events and important items in the town; nailing the theses to the door then
insured that people would read them. Luther made abundantly clear in his theses
that the selling of indulgences is wrong.
II.
The
Pope has no power over Purgatory
The Catholic
Church seemed to imply a special power over Purgatory in the way of forgiving
sins. One of Luther’s significant beliefs was priesthood of the believer. This
was an unpopular belief in the Catholic Church, which is why parishioners
needed to be granted forgiveness by the priest. Luther stated it this way:
“Papal indulgences do not remove guilt. Beware of those who say that
indulgences effect reconciliation with God.”[4] Themes of repentance are
embedded deep within Luther’s theses. Not only should the Christian repent, but
he or she should continue living in repentance. The Pope then has no power to
grant forgiveness, for each believer is responsible for his or her own actions
and repentance. Martin Luther possessed a doctorate in theology so he had a
great knowledge of the Bible; he surely would have been familiar with the
Hebrews proposition that Jesus Christ serves as our great high priest (Heb
4:14). For Luther, Christ’s position as high priest negates the need for human
priests; we no longer need them for matters of eternal forgiveness. While the
Catholic Church continued to present a hierarchy of power to forgive in the
Pope, Luther went against the grain and submitted the true gospel message,
namely that only Christ can forgive. This thought is ever-present in Protestant
congregations today; in Luther’s era, however, it was largely unpopular. Many
reformers were martyred for this belief during the Reformation.
III.
Buying
indulgences gives people a false sense of security and endangers their salvation
Because of the
priesthood of the believer, Martin Luther realized the astonishing truth that
those who rely on the Catholic Church for forgiveness of sin are in danger of
eternal damnation. If salvation is by faith in Christ alone (Eph 2:8-9), each
believer must come to the Father through Christ themselves without relying on
the clergy; salvation includes a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Perhaps Luther saw the problem in parishioners’ lack of biblical understanding.
Mass was carried out solely in Latin while most congregants were
German-speaking. Luther believed in utilizing the vernacular language so that
people could not only participate but also understand and think for themselves.
The Catholic Church, during this time, taught that buying indulgences played a
significant role in one’s forgiveness. 500 years later, we largely realize that
Jesus is the only one who can forgive sins. Posting this thesis, Luther was
eventually excommunicated as a heretic. Taking the difficult path, Luther desired
to preach the truth rather than distort the gospel for his personal gain.
The Many Benefits of the Protestant Reformation
Martin Luther’s
goal was not to start a revolt but for genuine reforms to be made among the
institution God ordained, namely the church. Posting his 95 theses to the
church door in Wittenberg in 1517, an undying fire was started that spread
rapidly. To this day, we are still seeing the effects of the Reformation.
Luther, zealous for the word of God and the church’s identity in Christ alone,
began a good work that we should be thankful for. As we approach 500 years
since the Protestant Reformation began, let us thank God where the gospel is preached
and where lives are changed.
