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= **Welcome to the Wiki Page of ** = = **Timothy A. Sims ** = = **Topic: **The Positive and Negative impact of the 95 Theses =

** The following video gives more insight and background behind Martin Luther's 95 Theses. Enjoy!! ** media type="youtube" key="aTnrtOJLRFk?fs=1" height="385" width="480" align="center"

Click the link below to view the 95 Theses:

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 * Argument:**

Martin Luther's decision to write and post the Ninety Five Theses on the door of the Castle Church at Wittenberg, Germany in 1517 had positive and negative impacts on the people of the community, the church, and mainly the Protestant Reformation. From a positive prospective in favor of the Protestant Reformation it caused people to raise questions of validity as it relates to the practices of the Roman Catholic Church at that time and caused many to focus and even refocus back to Christ as the center of their Christianity and the biblical way for their sins to be forgiven. From a negative prospective unfortunately for all, it caused division to arise between people of the community, division against each other and the Pope relating to indulgences and many other practices of the Roman Catholic Church. I would like to argue that the impact of the Ninety Five Theses as it relates to the Protestant Reformation had a more positive effect than negative in ways that benefited devout Christians and newly converted Christians birthing in them to become a believer and part of the Protestant Reformation.

According to Lindberg, Luther’s posting of the Ninety Five Theses rocked Europe. (Lindberg Pg.1) In regards to this statement, the question that I pose in response is, “how so?” Was this rocking of Europe a positive or negative impact? I believe that it was more of a positive impact although it had negative implications. To case my point we must began with the question of what is an indulgence and what was Luther’s problem with it. The idea that Luther had in mind as a result of writing and posting of the Ninety Five Theses was positive but the implications it caused from the Roman Catholic Church were negative. An indulgence, which is according to Lindberg the way that the Roman Catholic Church gave remission of the temporal penalty due after the forgiveness of their sin, was an issue that caused Martin Luther to write the Ninety Five Theses to address, among other clerical abuse issues, the validity of offering indulgences. (Lindberg pg. 401) For Luther the idea of an indulgence was contradictory to what he believed from the infallible word of God, which is the bible. W. J. Kooiman states in his book, “By Faith Alone: The Life of Martin Luther,” that the fact of indulgence, no less than its abuse, showed the serious extent to which the Roman Catholic church had become secularized. (Kooiman pg. 50) Kooiman also writes that indulgences had gotten so out of hand that the church began to distribute letters of indulgence as if they were letters of credit; and every father-confessor was obliged to remit pains of purgatory, which was the place in which penitent souls are purified after death according to the Roman Catholic Church, to every penitent who showed him one of these letters of indulgence. Letters could even be bought for the benefit of the dead who were already suffering in purgatory; a fact which shows more clearly than anything else that these “means of grace” had become mechanical and automatic. (Kooiman pg. 51) So because of this type of disposition that the Roman Catholic Church had taken regarding Indulgences Luther was inspired to address this matter. Years before he took up a more definite attitude in a more public fashion, he often preached sermons which made his hostility clear against the issue of indulgences.

According to W.J. Kooiman, Luther’s intention in writing the Ninety Five Theses was so that the theologians could hold an academic debate on the propositions, or theses, which he had propounded, and so come to a clear understanding on the problems solved. (Kooiman pg.54) After the posting of the theses to the church door, the first positive effect that takes place is the deep stirring in the mind and heart of all those who read or heard them. Those who were friends of Luther’s knew how true the words were and how he introduced them out of love and concern for the truth. What I noticed first about the theses is that Luther doesn’t rely on his opinion or feelings about the abuse of indulgences but he solely relies and uses biblical doctrine and scripture to support his case. Kooiman also argues that it was the simple truth to say that he was driven to this act by his love for Christ.

Luther began by stating, “When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said, Repent, He called for the entire life of believers to be one of penitence.” The impact of Luther’s approach on addressing the indulgence issue from scripture and biblical doctrine caused a stirring of the spirit in many to question the Roman Catholic Church. According to Richard Friedenthal in his book entitled, “Luther: His Life and Times, he argues that the indulgences were an issue that had formulated many complaints by people of the community and church and they raised questions about them. The Ninety Five Theses addressed many of those questions and complaints causing people to join the Protest Reformation. Luther’s actions against the Roman Catholic Church has had a log lasting impact on Protest Churches in that even today they still celebrate the posting of the theses. The message that Luther was sending as a result of the Ninety Five Theses being accessed by many was that true penitence, according to Luther, is not something that one can evade by an agreement with the church; it is a process of cleansing the soul, and goes throughout our life. Luther believed that if a person really Loves God, he will not attempt, with an eye to personal advantage, to pay money to avoid punishment for his sin but his aim would be that God should absolve his guilt and if need be the case, he should gladly undergo any punishment that he deserves. (Kooiman pg.55)

As a positive, the result of Luther speaking against the issue of indulgences gave people of the community and church another view other than what the Roman Catholic Church believed. As a positive, the posting of the Ninety Five Theses caused people to read the bible for themselves to assess the truth in which Luther conveyed in the Ninety Five Theses. As a Positive, it caused the people who were unsure about joining the Protest Reformation sure and caused people who practiced Catholicism to convert to Protestant. Let’s take a look at the negative impact. In the difficult and trying economic times that already existed throughout Europe, Luther's actions of revealing the Theses caused a division to arise between the Catholic Church and its parishioners as well as the people in the community.

Friedenthal writes in regards of the impact of Luther’s Ninety Five Theses that, //“The impact it made came as the greatest surprise to Luther. The scholars to whom it was addressed did not respond; no one came to the disputation. But the people responded and they responded throughout the social scale; from simple folk to citizens, from citizens to intellectual and from intellectuals to artists they all responded. Albrecht Durer in Nuremberg sent a parcel of his woodcuts and engravings as a present to Luther, the devout monk. The Clergy too were stirred by it, princes were interested, each extracting something different from it. Each individual theses appealed to a different social class; the poor pricked up their ears when they heard that the first should be last and the last first. The sheet was not only read, it was nailed up and displayed, and ‘translated’ to the uneducated. Finally, and by no means least people were impressed by the fact that here at last was a man who pleaded his cause without fear.”// (Friedenthal pg. 143) This insert by Friedenthal further displays the positive impact that Luther’s Ninety Five these had on all people. I would even argue that it caused many to change their lives for the better as it related to their Christian walk. I would also argue that it caused many to follow Luther and admire him for his boldness and intellect to speak so profoundly on the scriptures and against a powerful church, the Roman Catholic Church. Even if he did not enjoy the fame that the Ninety five theses brought him, he had to glory in the facts of the impact it caused to the movement of the Protestant Reformation.

=Bibliography= Cowie, L. W. (1969). //Martin Luther: Leader of the Reformation.// New York, New York: Frederick A. Praeger Inc. Friedenthal, R. (1970). //Luther: His Life and Times.// Germany: R. Piper & Co. Verlag. Kooiman, W. (1955). //By Faith Alone: The Life of Martin Luther.// New York: Philisophical Library Inc.

**Cowie, L.W. (1969). Martin Luther: Leader of the Reformation. New York, New York: Frederick Praeger Inc. Pg. (37-51)**
 * Focus:** Chapter 4 of this book which is entitled, The Question of Indulgences, is a chapter that discusses the feelings that Luther had about indulgences and the questions that he raised about them as it relates to the bible. Indulgences were the way that the Roman Catholic Church gave remission of the temporal penalty due after the forgiveness of their sin. It begins by describing the background behind the whole idea of indulgences, how they were used, and also how they were abused.

You could go to God in prayer for forgiveness rather than a priest. || The Roman Catholic Church believed that after a penitent sinner had made private confessions to a priest, he was absolved from the eternal punishment and meted out for every mortal sin. But still, the sinner had to undergo punishment to pay for his sin, either in his life or in purgatory. Since the Pope could grant indulgences, that basically says that he is granting forgiveness of sins according to this practice. (Page 38-39) || Luther’s only intentions from this writing according to Cowie were to capture the attention of the theologians with hopes of it drawing them to hold an academic debate on the propositions, or theses, which he had propounded. || Pope Leo X was very disturbed by Luther’s 95 Theses and felt like he was attacking the Catholic Church. The Theses caused division among many of the catholic Churches parishioners and caused them to question the practice and the use of indulgences according to what Luther posted in his 95 Theses. ||
 * ||  ** What Martin Luther Believed? ** || ** What the Roman Catholic Church Practiced? ** ||
 * ** Sins and forgiveness ** || On Page 37, Cowie states that Luther believed strictly according to the bible regarding this matter of sin and forgiveness. He believed that no one could earn salvation by his own works. Not by prayers, fasting, and penances which he has earnestly occupied himself. He believed that God freely grants forgiveness of sin and eternal life to all who earnestly repent, believe in the message of the Gospel, and have faith in him through Jesus Christ.
 * ** The 95 Theses ** || Luther wrote this piece of work entitled the 95 Theses to address the issues of indulgences and how they were being used by the papacy.
 * Implications:** The questions of indulgences chapter of this book gives more insight to the reader of what many people felt about the indulgences even before Luther posted the 95 Theses and what they felt after the 95 theses surfaced. It displayed both sides including Luther’s as well as Pope Leo X, the Pope of the Roman Church during this time. The implications as a result caused many to change what they believed and caused many to join the Protestant Reformation.

**Kooiman, W.J. (1955). By Faith Alone: The Life of Martin Luther. New York: Philosophical Library Inc.**
 * Focus:** Besides discussing the life of Luther from Birth to death, the section of the book that I want to focus on is the impact that the 95 Theses, a writing by Luther to address the indulgences of the Roman Catholic Church, had on all of Europe.

|| ** Negative Impact **  || All who read the Theses were deeply stirred, and those who were friends of Luther’s knew how true the words with which he introduced them were: “out of the love and concern for the truth and with the object of eliciting it || It caused a negative impact against the Roman Church because Luther’s method of referencing scripture as opposed to his own scripture. ||
 * || ** Positive Impact **
 * ** Luther’s method in writing the 95 theses. ** || Pg 54, states how Luther’s writings of the 95 theses had biblical reference to the word of God.
 * ** The Roman Catholic Church’s response to the 95 Theses. ** || They addressed the matter publicly to its parishioners who wanted answers on how they felt about the 95 Theses. They could have just ignored it and talked negatively about Luther. || Division arose as a result of the Theses being posted and caused people to leave the Roman Church. ||
 * Implications:** As a result of Martin Luther’s 95 theses it caused positive and negative implications for the church and for its people. It caused many to question indulgences and the validity of its purpose. It caused people to question the papacy and its practices as well as the motives of the Pope.

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= **Tim's 3 Scholarly Sources ** =

__Source 1:__ Lindberg, C.(2010) //The European Reformations//. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing

__Source 2:__ [|Review: [untitled]] Steven E. Ozment Reviewed work(s): The Theses Were Not Posted: Luther between Reform and Reformation by Erwin Iserloh [|Church History] Vol. 38, No. 4 (Dec., 1969), pp. 532-533 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Society of Church History Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3163536

__Source 3:__ [|Review: [untitled]] Richard Luman Reviewed work(s): The Life and Letters of Martin Luther by Preserved Smith; Martin Luther [|The Journal of Religion] Vol. 49, No. 1 (Jan., 1969), pp. 96-97 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1201805