Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences

Commonly known as the 95 Theses by Dr. Martin Luther.

I just finished reading it and here are my thoughts:

"36. Any Christian whatsoever, who is truly repentant, enjoys plenary remission from penalty and guilt, and this is given him without letters of indulgence"

"37. Any true Christian whatsoever, living or dead, participates in all the benefits of Christ and the Church; and this participation is granted to him by God without letters of indulgence."

He's basically saying 'those letters of indulgence the pope gives you are worthless'

Although, there is "38. Yet the pope's remission and dispensation are in no way to be despised, for as already said, they proclaim the divine remission."

'Remission' means 'pardon' or 'forgiveness'.

So he didn't quite say they were worthless, but just about. And I can imagine the church officials were plenty mad.


"86. Again: since the pope's income to-day is larger than that of the wealthiest of wealthy men, why does he not build this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of indigent believers?"

'Indigent' means 'impoverished'.

That had to hurt, he's kinda implying the pope is greedy.


"89. What the pope seeks by indulgences is not money, but rather the salvation of souls; why then does he not suspend the letters and indulgences formerly conceded, and still as efficacious as ever?"

'Conceded' means 'acknowledged'.

'Efficacious' means 'Producing or capable of producing a desired effect'.

I'm not exactly sure what this one means. But it struck me, before I knew what those two words meant, as saying the pope should do away with the letters and indulgences since they weren't achieving the means the pope wished.


"90. These questions are serious matters of conscience to the laity. To suppress them by force alone, and not to refute them by giving reasons, is to expose the church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies, and to make Christian people unhappy."

That leaves no option but for the church officials to answer the questions.



The truth is, you should just go and read the whole thing. it's only about four one-sided 8 1/2 by 11 pages. It's really good, and there's alot more in them that struck me. But there's just too much, and I have a hard time wording my thoughts, so I only gave a few.