The Martin Luther’s 95 theses are often seen as a charter and a daring assertion of the independence of the Protestant church (95 Theses – Luther par 1). He wrote close to a hundred points of this in Latin and that simply invited his fellow academics to a thesis title that went officially by the name “Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences" (95 Theses – Luther par 1). The debate did not take place because the templates translated to German had been widely distributed, hence creating an uproar among the people.
In the thesis, Martin tries to familiarize Christians with the world indulgence. Martin explained on the Sacrament of Penance and Christian confession sins and the absolution that was associated with those acts. He further explains the process of penance that involved satisfaction, that included an individual’s penalty for the sins that was temporal (Martin Luther | German Religious Leader par 3). In other circumstances a person could repent but could only receive partial remission of the temporal punishment by purchasing a letter of indulgence. Luther however, did not attack the act of indulgence that was practiced but pointed out that the pope thundered against those who contrived harm to the sale of indulgences (95 Theses – Luther par 2). He did not, however, object to the abuse of indulgence, but he knocked down the pillars supporting the medieval Christianity, unknowingly.
How do the issues Luther presented for debate illustrate problems in the church of this day?
The issues of indulgence affect the church to this very day, Christianity has turned away from its initial purpose of continuing Christ Purpose in the church, but has indulged in sinful acts such as using the name of the church to milk money from the poor and the weak(95 Theses – Luther par 2). The actual meaning of Christian forgiveness is the complete forgiveness of sins without letters of indulgence. Indulgences are not the practice of the Catholic church only, but even the Protestant churches have taken it to a whole new level. Christians have forgotten their role in helping the poor part of the resources they have, but instead, they decide to use it for indulgence to have their prayers answered. They are lured by preachers to commit a certain amount of money for the indulgence so that their prayers can be answered (Martin Luther | German Religious Leader par 3). Long after Luther has gone, this is still a common practice, and it has gained deeper roots with the expansion of the capitalistic society.
Martin said in one of his theses that Christians need to be taught that forgiveness of sin could happen even without letters of indulgence to avoid being exploited by preachers who take advantage of their desperations (95 Theses – Luther par 3). Martin Luther using his thesis was trying to convince the lost Christians that repentance and forgiveness of sins could only happen through a divine grace and not a joint force between God and man. One does not have to please God so that He can forgive sin. It is purely His grace that helps us Christians to get divine salvation. In the Church today, people are doing good deed, not out of their hearts beat out of pleasing God so that he can fulfill their Wishes. The Preachers have used this weakness to exploit these innocent Christians.
Martin was not against the acts of the pope, but he posed a question on the reasons why the pope would not utilize the wealth they have in Rome to build their cathedrals such as St. Peter, but instead use the money from the poor believers? It is the same issue we are facing today (Martin Luther | German Religious Leader par 4). Churches have accumulated wealth, yet the wealth benefits the few who have ranks. Why don’t they use that money to support initiatives such as setting up nursing homes and Children’s Homes? Instead, they ask their congregations to contribute even the little coins left to support those efforts (95 Theses – Luther par 2). It is a high time; the church recognizes the true meaning of repentance and salvation and the full purpose of indulgence.
Works Cited
"95 Theses - Luther". Iclnet.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 3 May 2016.
"Martin Luther | German Religious Leader". Encyclopedia Britannica. N.p., 2016. Web. 3 May 2016.
