Luther's 95 Theses...Part II
If they're important enough to lead hundreds of millions out of the Church Jesus built, people should actually read them
It is generally claimed that the Protestant Revolt began on October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. This event led to hundreds of millions of souls being led out of the Church that Jesus built, and have separated them from God and the Body of Christ. So it’s a horrific spiritual crime that has ruptured mankind and fractured the entire Western world. Many people, especially Protestants, believe that in these Theses were the first declarations of the doctrines of Sola Fide (Faith Alone) and Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone). So let’s take a look at these 95 Theses and see why they are so important.
This will be Part II. The text of the 95 Theses is in italics, and my commentary will be in normal font. Links to three different sources for translations of the text are at the bottom of this post.
We start here with Theses 33-64. Here is a link to Part I with Theses 1-32 and Part III with Theses 65-95
33. Beware well of those who say, the Pope's pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to God.
This objection from Luther really boils down to what he means by his objection. If a person said the pardon comes from God and through the authority of the Pope (authority given to him by God), that would be in line with Christian belief. If a person were to say the pardon came from the Pope based on his own authority, that would be incorrect. It is interesting to note in all of this, Luther still does not object to the Pope having authority but only argues about the limits of that authority.
34. For the forgiveness contained in these pardons has reference only to the penalties of sacramental atonement which were appointed by men.
Again, it really boils down to what is meant here. Priests really and truly do forgive sins through the power of God and the authority vested in them through the sacrament of Holy Orders. This is a far greater authority compared to the authority over indulgences which do not forgive sin. Luther seems to be complaining about the Pope having authority to declare conditions for indulgences, which remit only temporal punishment rather than eternal punishment that is forgiven in Confession.
Yet again we can see that Luther has trouble with using reason and logic.
35. He preaches like a heathen who teaches that those who will deliver souls out of Purgatory or buy indulgences do not need repentance and contrition.
This one is odd in that repentance and contrition is a required condition for an indulgence. If priests actually were telling people they didn’t need to repent for an indulgence, then those priests were in error. Luther is correct on this one and he is in line with exactly what the Church teaches. Repentance and contrition are necessary.
What is funny is that this specific item will really upset many Protestants who claim that repentance and contrition are a one-time thing and once a believer is saved, they no longer need to repent. (Yes these types of Protestants do exist, believe it or not.)
36. Every Christian who feels sincere repentance and woe on account of his sins, has perfect remission of pain and guilt even without letters of indulgence.
Luther is just wish-casting here. How exactly do we measure “sincere” repentance and woe? This is Luther’s guilty conscience wanting to avoid any punishment for sins he has committed. To truly repent in perfect contrition is not something easy to do. It takes a long time of prayer and penance to conform our will to the will of God. We must align ourselves with Him and this usually takes great effort. A true believer in Christ will wake up every day and look for their cross to pick up and carry. There’s no shortcuts. The path to salvation is narrow and hard.
Luther here wants cheap and easy grace.
37. Every true Christian, be he still alive or already dead, partaketh in all benefits of Christ and of the Church given him by God, even without letters of indulgence.
This just isn’t logical at all. Our Lady, who has no stain of sin on her soul ever and who cooperated with God’s grace all her life, shares in the same amount and level of benefits of Christ and His Church as a degenerate sinner who makes a deathbed conversion? That’s not even remotely possible.
Jesus Himself tells the parable of talents, where the one who has ten talents is given ten more, while the one with 3 talents is given 3 more. The more prayer, penance, fasting, contrition and charity we perform, the more we increase our ability to receive God’s graces. Think of it as a glass. If your glass is very small, God can fill your glass but you still have very little. If you work to make your glass much bigger, you can receive and retain more of God’s grace. Prayer, penance, fasting, contrition and charity are the methods that we work to cooperate with God to make ourselves larger containers of God’s graces.
38. Yet is the Pope's absolution and dispensation by no means to be contemned, since it is, as I have said, a declaration of the Divine Absolution.
This one will certainly hurt many Protestants, since here Luther explicitly says that the office of the papacy and its authority is directly from God. Bet you didn’t know that this was in the 95 Theses, did you?
39. It is exceedingly difficult, even for the most subtle theologists, to praise at the same time before the people the great wealth of indulgence and the truth of utter contrition.
It’s not difficult at all. The more that the people of God conform themselves to God’s will and do acts of charity and penance, the more they will store up in the treasury of the Church the merits of those good works done through God’s grace. The soul who completely conforms themselves to God’s will and has complete separation from even an attachment of sin is the soul which can perform increasingly mighty acts of charity worthy of many graces from God.
The prayers of the righteous are powerful.
40. True repentance and contrition seek and love punishment; while rich indulgence absolves from it, and causes men to hate it, or at least gives them occasion to do so.
Within limits this is true. Those who are truly repentant do not turn away from God’s punishments because they know those punishments are meant for their good. They know those punishments are the act of a loving Heavenly Father who wants us to be with Him in holiness.
This is why fasting, abstinence and even some mortification are important for us all (within reason). It makes us use our will to subdue the passions of our bodies and exercise control over our wants and desires.
41. The Pope's indulgence ought to be proclaimed with all precaution, lest the people should mistakenly believe it of more value than all other works of charity.
There could be some merit to this point. If a person is hyper focused on obtaining indulgences that they miss or ignore other acts of charity right in front of them, then there is a problem. This one is true within limits.
42. Christians should be taught, it is not the Pope's opinion that the buying of indulgence is in any way comparable to works of charity.
Here is where Luther, rather than listen to those in authority over him, starts to argue against something the Church does not teach. Giving alms or a donation can certainly be a very noble and charitable act. But there was much confusion from many that they thought they could actually buy an indulgence. This is not and never has been true. Indulgences cannot be bought, even if some people thought they could be.
This is why the Church now forbids setting up or giving money for charity or a good cause as one of the conditions for certain indulgences, because too many people were confused by this.
43. Christians should be taught, he who gives to the poor, or lends to a needy man, does better than buying indulgence.
As noted above, you cannot and never could buy and indulgence. Luther is arguing about something that the Church would agree with him on.
44. For, by the exercise of charity, charity increases and man grows better, while by means of indulgence, he does not become better, but only freer from punishment.
Here is another error from Luther. To obtain an indulgence, a person must perform several acts including praying certain prayers, going to Confession, receiving the Eucharist and doing some good act specified by the specific requirements of the indulgence. Indulgences are means of the faithful living out the Christian faith to conform themselves to God’s will. Performing the requirements of an indulgence is several acts of charity which increases charity in the one doing them.
Luther shows he really doesn’t understand indulgences very well at all.
45. Christians should be taught, he who sees his neighbor in distress, and, nevertheless, buys indulgence, is not partaking in the Pope's pardons, but in the anger of God.
As noted above, you cannot buy an indulgence. If there were priests who said you could, they should have been punished and forbidden from telling the faithful you could.
46. Christians should be taught, unless they are rich enough, it is their duty to keep what is necessary for the use of their households, and by no means to throw it away on indulgences.
This is true and it is true as well for giving alms or donating money to charity. As Scripture even teaches, the Christian must exercise careful stewardship of his goods so that he can care for his family and household.
1 Tim 5:8 And whoever does not provide for relatives, and especially for family members, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
47. Christians should be taught, the buying of indulgences is optional and not commanded.
Indulgences cannot be bought, and indulgences are optional. They are not commanded nor mandatory.
48. Christians should be taught, the Pope, in selling pardons, has more want and more desire of a devout prayer for himself than of the money.
The Pope was never selling pardons. Again, Luther refused to listen to others so he gets upset about something that the Church agreed with him on.
49. Christians should be taught, the Pope's pardons are useful as far as one does not put confidence in them, but on the contrary most dangerous, if through them one loses the fear of God.
The faithful should be taught correctly on indulgences. Indulgences do not forgive sins and they do not save us. They are merits we can obtain from God for doing acts of love and charity for Him. They can be applied to ourselves or others. But they do not save us or forgive sins.
50. Christians should be taught, if the Pope knew the ways and doings of the preachers of indulgences, he would prefer that St. Peter's Minster should be burnt to ashes, rather than that it should be built up of the skin, flesh, and bones of his lambs.
This is true that the Pope would not want funds for building St. Peter’s if it came from those who could not afford it. If there were priests who were encouraging the poor to donate funds they could not afford, then those priests should have been punished.
51. Christians should be taught, the Pope, as it is his bounden duty to do, is indeed also willing to give of his own money - and should St. Peter's be sold thereto - to those from whom the preachers of indulgences do most extort money.
Isn’t it interesting how authoritative Luther becomes? He starts giving commands and makes demands of everyone including bishops and the Pope. He fancies himself as the highest authority in the Christian faith. This usurpation of authority is the foundation of all of Protestantism. A great saying that perfectly encapsulates this is: Protestantism did not get rid of the Papacy, but it made very Protestant his own Pope.
52. It is a vain and false thing to hope to be saved through indulgences, though the commissary - nay, the Pope himself - was to pledge his own soul therefore.
Luther yet again shows his error in understanding indulgences. Indulgences do not save us and they do not forgive sins.
53. Those who, on account of a sermon concerning indulgences in one church, condemn the word of God to silence in the others, are enemies of Christ and of the Pope.
It is interesting that Luther here notes the connection to Christ and the papacy….
54. Wrong is done to the word of God if one in the same sermon spends as much or more time on indulgences as on the word of the Gospel.
This is Luther’s personal opinion and his anger at those who don’t accept his prudential judgment about the proper topics of a homily and the length of time a priest spends on a topic in the homily. Again, Luther places himself as the authority in all of Christianity.
55. The opinion of the Pope cannot be otherwise than this:- If an indulgence - which is the lowest thing - be celebrated with one bell, one procession and ceremonies, then the Gospel - which is the highest thing - must be celebrated with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, and a hundred ceremonies.
Well aren’t we all glad that Luther is here to tell us all how the Church should operate and how we should set up the liturgy and any ceremonial activities!?!
56. The treasures of the Church, whence the Pope grants his dispensation are neither sufficiently named nor known among the community of Christ.
Luther here says that we should all admit that we don’t know all of the spiritual treasures of the Church that have been merited throughout the millennia. Was anybody actually arguing that we know how much merit God has granted His Church???
57. It is manifest that they are not temporal treasures, for the latter are not lightly spent, but rather gathered by many of the preachers.
Yes it is true that the real treasures of the Church are spiritual rather than temporal. I’m not sure what exactly he means by preachers gathering these spiritual treasures. It’s a weird point to argue about, honestly.
58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and of the saints, for these, without the Pope's aid, work always grace to the inner man, cross, death, and hell to the other man.
Yet again, many Protestants will be aghast to find out that Luther explicitly says that the saints gain merits from God and these merits can be of benefit to others. This is explicitly rejected by many Protestants.
Luther seems to be arguing that the Pope is not connected to the merits of the saints. But exactly how does he think those saints received those merits? They lived out faithful lives of holiness and conformed themselves to God’s will.
59. St. Lawrence called the poor of the community the treasures of the community and of the Church, but he understood the word according to the use in his time.
Don’t know exactly what Luther is objecting to here. Yes St. Lawrence did say this and it is true. God has a special affinity for the poor and those who are poor, as a population and not individually, have a greater love of God than the rich. Lavish lifestyles and comfortable lives are big temptations for mankind to turn away from God. The love of money is the root of all evil as Scripture says.
60. We affirm without pertness that the keys of the Church, bestowed through the merit of Christ, are this treasure.
This does not follow at all. The keys of the Church are authority given by Christ to Peter and the Apostles. These keys are held by the Pope and the bishops. They are not the merits of the Church. The Pope and bishops can authorize indulgences so that people can access the merits of the Church through them, but the keys and the authority of the bishops is not the merits themselves.
61. For it is clear that the Pope's power is sufficient for the remission of penalties and forgiveness in the reserved cases.
Yet again another point from Luther that will make Protestant heads explode in rage. Here he explicitly says the Pope has power and that power can be exercised over penalties and forgiveness.
62. The right and true treasure of the Church is the most Holy Gospel of the glory and grace of God.
It is true that the New Covenant and the Eucharist are the source and summit of the faith. These are separate from the merits in Heaven that are obtained by the faithful through performing acts of charity and good works. The New Covenant and the Eucharist are infinitely and eternally more important and greater than the merits of the Church. Luther fails to understand that the merits of the Church FLOW FROM and are done in accord with the New Covenant.
63. This treasure, however, is deservedly most hateful, for it makes the first to be last.
Again, Luther misunderstands indulgences to a stunning degree. At that time they had indulgences for giving alms or money for a charity (these have been ended). But those indulgences required several acts of prayer and charity as well.
But more importantly, these are NOT the ONLY indulgences available to the faithful. There are far more that never had anything to do with giving money to charity. Most involve some form of special prayers that anyone can perform. The poorest of the poor can perform indulgences.
64. While the treasure of indulgence is deservedly most agreeable, for it makes the last to be first.
Yes, the last will be first in the Kingdom of God. That is why anyone and everyone can perform indulgences. They are open and available to everyone. All the faithful should perform indulgences. In fact, we are about to celebrate the Feast of All Souls on November 2nd. I would challenge everyone reading this to perform this indulgence on either All Saints Day or All Souls Day. Read all the way to the bottom to see all the conditions that must be met for the indulgence. (And for reference sake, the requirement to pray for the intentions of the Holy Father are specific intentions set up for each month. For November it is: “For the Pope - We pray for the Holy Father; as he fulfills his mission, may he continue to accompany the flock entrusted to him, with the help of the Holy Spirit.”)
Plenary Indulgence for All Souls Day
Theses 1-32 are in Part I and 65-95 are in Part III.
https://holyword.church/miscellaneous-resources/martin-luther-and-his-95-theses/#95
https://www.uncommon-travel-germany.com/martin-luther-95-theses.html
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/luther95.txt
The response from the Church was summarized by Pope Leo X in 1520 in his papal bull called Exurge Domine. Take the time to read it. Here also are the decrees and canons from the Council of Trent
Wow! this old revert is learning so much. Bless you 🙏 This work you are doing is so important for us to know and timely for November.