WHAT DID LUTHER ACTUALLY SAY IN THE NINETY-FIVE THESES?
THE LUTHER OF 1517 WAS NOT YET THE LUTHER WE REMEMBER
October 31, 1517.
Martin Luther prepared ninety-five propositions concerning indulgences and repentance.
Today, that event is often pictured as the moment:
PROTESTANTISM BEGAN.
But that can mislead us.
The Luther who wrote the Ninety-Five Theses was still a Roman Catholic priest.
He had not announced a new church.
He had not rejected everything Catholic.
He had not yet reached all the conclusions for which he would later become famous.
So instead of reading the later Reformation backward into 1517, let’s ask:
WHAT DID LUTHER ACTUALLY SAY?
1. HE BEGAN WITH REPENTANCE
His first thesis may be the most important.
Luther referred to Jesus’ command to repent and argued that Christ intended the whole life of a Christian to be a life of repentance.
That immediately shifted attention away from buying an indulgence.
Repentance was not a financial transaction.
It was not something that could be reduced to a church document.
Jesus preached:
“Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
— Matthew 4:17, KJV
Peter said:
“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.”
— Acts 2:38, KJV
Luther was asking whether the indulgence system was distracting people from genuine repentance.
That question would remain important throughout the controversy.
2. LUTHER DID NOT YET REJECT THE CATHOLIC SYSTEM
Read the early theses carefully, and you find Luther still speaking within the world of medieval Catholic Christianity.
He speaks about:
PRIESTS.
CONFESSION.
PENANCE.
PURGATORY.
THE POPE.
CHURCH PENALTIES.
He had not yet rejected the entire system.
In fact, Thesis 7 still speaks of the sinner being subject to the priest.
So if we imagine the Luther of 1517 standing outside Catholicism and attacking it, we have moved too quickly.
He was still:
INSIDE THE SYSTEM.
He was questioning what was happening within it.
3. HIS FIRST MAJOR QUESTION WAS ABOUT THE POPE’S POWER
Luther asked:
WHAT CAN THE POPE ACTUALLY REMIT?
In Thesis 5, he argued that the pope could remit penalties imposed by papal authority or by church law.
But what about guilt before God?
Luther distinguished God’s forgiveness from the pope’s authority concerning ecclesiastical penalties.
He did not yet deny the pope’s role in declaring forgiveness or administering the church’s penitential system.
That distinction matters.
Luther was beginning to ask:
WHERE DOES PAPAL AUTHORITY BEGIN?
AND WHERE DOES IT END?
Those questions would eventually become much larger.
4. WHAT ABOUT PURGATORY?
Here we need to be especially careful.
The Luther of 1517 did not simply write:
“THERE IS NO PURGATORY.”
Instead, he questioned claims being made about it.
In Thesis 18, he said it had not been proved by reason or Scripture that souls in purgatory could no longer grow in love.
In Thesis 19, he questioned whether all souls there were certain of their salvation.
Whatever we think about those arguments, notice what Luther was doing.
He was asking:
HAS THIS ACTUALLY BEEN PROVED?
And one of the standards he mentioned was:
SCRIPTURE.
That question would become increasingly important.
5. THEN LUTHER ATTACKED A DANGEROUS MESSAGE
One of the most famous sections concerns the preaching associated with indulgences.
Luther objected to the claim that when money entered the collection chest, a soul immediately escaped purgatory.
In Theses 27–28, he challenged the connection being made between a financial payment and the release of a soul.
Money entering the chest could increase greed.
But what happened to a soul remained in God’s hands.
Luther was attacking the idea that spiritual security could be purchased.
He was not claiming that the church officially taught people could buy forgiveness for sins they intended to commit.
His immediate target was the way indulgences were being preached and the confidence people were placing in them.
6. THE REAL ISSUE WAS FALSE ASSURANCE
This may be more important than the money itself.
Luther feared people would think:
“I HAVE THE INDULGENCE. THEREFORE EVERYTHING IS SETTLED.”
In Thesis 32, he warned against people who believed indulgence letters guaranteed their salvation.
Why?
Because a piece of paper could become a substitute for:
REPENTANCE.
That takes us back to Thesis 1.
Luther’s argument began with repentance and kept returning to it.
7. HE SAID A TRULY REPENTANT CHRISTIAN ALREADY HAS SOMETHING BETTER
Thesis 36 makes an important claim.
Luther argued that a genuinely repentant Christian receives full remission of penalty and guilt even without an indulgence letter.
Then Thesis 37 says that every true Christian shares in the blessings of Christ and the church without purchasing such a letter.
Think about the direction of the argument.
The indulgence letter was becoming less important.
The Christian’s relationship with Christ was becoming more important.
That emphasis would continue as Luther’s thinking developed.
But we should not assume that Thesis 36 already contains his complete later teaching about justification.
It does not.
8. BUT LUTHER STILL DID NOT REJECT PAPAL INDULGENCES COMPLETELY
This is where reading the actual document protects us from rewriting history.
Immediately after those strong statements, Luther says papal remission should not simply be despised.
In Thesis 38, he still speaks positively of papal remission when properly understood.
And Thesis 71 condemns those who speak against the legitimate truth of apostolic indulgences.
That does not sound like a complete rejection of the Catholic penitential system.
Because it was not.
THIS IS LUTHER IN 1517.
His thinking was still developing.
9. THEN LUTHER TALKED ABOUT THE POOR
This part deserves more attention than it usually receives.
In Thesis 43, Luther argued that giving to the poor or lending to someone in need was better than buying an indulgence.
In Thesis 45, he warned that someone who sees a needy person, ignores him, and spends the money on an indulgence has misunderstood Christian responsibility.
Now compare that with James:
“If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,”
— James 2:15, KJV
James continues by asking what good it does to speak kindly to them without providing what they need.
And John wrote:
“My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”
— 1 John 3:18, KJV
Luther was asking whether spending money on an indulgence was competing with something Scripture clearly taught:
CARE FOR YOUR NEIGHBOR.
10. WHAT IF A FAMILY NEEDED THE MONEY?
Luther went further.
In Thesis 46, he argued that Christians should provide for their households before spending money on indulgences.
Compare that with Paul:
“But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith.”
— 1 Timothy 5:8, KJV
Imagine an ordinary family with very little money.
They fear punishment after death.
They fear for deceased relatives.
Then an indulgence preacher offers spiritual benefit connected with a financial contribution.
Luther saw the danger.
Fear could move money away from:
THE POOR.
THE FAMILY.
And toward:
THE INDULGENCE CAMPAIGN.
His concern was not merely about an improper fundraising method.
It was also about what Christians were being taught to value.
11. THEN HE ASKED A QUESTION ABOUT LOVE
Luther eventually raised a question that became famous.
If the pope had power to release souls from purgatory, why did he not release them out of love?
Why should money be involved?
That question appears in Thesis 82.
Notice that Luther presented it as a question people were asking, rather than as a fully developed statement of his later theology.
But it exposed a tension in the way indulgences were being promoted.
If releasing suffering souls was possible, why connect that benefit with financial contributions?
Why not do it freely?
That was a difficult question for defenders of the indulgence campaign to answer.
12. AND THEN HE MENTIONED ST. PETER’S BASILICA
Money from the indulgence campaign was connected with the rebuilding of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
In Thesis 86, Luther asked why the pope, with his considerable wealth, did not build St. Peter’s with his own money rather than with the money of poor Christians.
Earlier, in Thesis 50, Luther had argued that if the pope knew how indulgence preachers were extracting money from people, he would rather see St. Peter’s reduced to ashes than have it built from the suffering of his flock.
Notice something important.
Luther was still giving the pope the benefit of the doubt.
His argument assumed that the pope would oppose such exploitation if he understood what was happening.
That is very different from Luther’s later attitude toward the papacy.
We should not read his later conclusions back into these early statements.
13. WHAT DID LUTHER CALL THE TRUE TREASURE OF THE CHURCH?
This may be the most memorable statement in all ninety-five theses.
Thesis 62 identifies the church’s true treasure as the gospel of the glory and grace of God.
Now compare that with Paul:
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.”
— Romans 1:16, KJV
And:
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”
— Ephesians 2:8, KJV
The church’s greatest treasure was not money.
Not buildings.
Not indulgences.
Not accumulated institutional power.
THE GOSPEL.
Luther’s statement placed the church’s message at the center of his criticism of indulgence preaching.
But we should still allow his later writings to show us how his understanding of the gospel developed.
14. BUT DON’T MAKE LUTHER A MODERN PROTESTANT YET
We need to keep reminding ourselves of this.
The Ninety-Five Theses do not present a complete Protestant theology.
Luther does not yet clearly teach everything later associated with:
SOLA SCRIPTURA.
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
REJECTION OF PAPAL AUTHORITY.
A DIFFERENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE SACRAMENTS.
A SEPARATE PROTESTANT CHURCH.
Those developments came as the controversy continued.
So the Ninety-Five Theses should not be read as though Luther already had the entire Reformation worked out.
He did not.
15. WHAT ABOUT “FAITH ALONE”?
This is especially important.
People often summarize Luther with:
FAITH ALONE.
That would become central to his theology.
But the Ninety-Five Theses are primarily about:
REPENTANCE.
INDULGENCES.
PENALTIES.
PURGATORY.
PAPAL AUTHORITY.
THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL.
The larger controversy over justification was still developing.
We will get there.
But not yet.
16. WHAT ABOUT “SCRIPTURE ALONE”?
The same caution applies.
The Luther of 1517 was questioning whether certain claims had actually been established by Scripture.
But the Ninety-Five Theses are not yet a fully developed declaration of:
SOLA SCRIPTURA.
That issue would become much clearer as Luther’s opponents appealed to papal authority, church tradition, and councils.
Then Luther would have to answer the question:
WHO HAS FINAL AUTHORITY?
But in 1517, that argument was only beginning.
17. LUTHER STILL THOUGHT THE POPE MIGHT AGREE WITH HIM
This is one of the most interesting things about the theses.
Again and again, Luther assumes that abuses were occurring that the pope himself would not approve.
He speaks respectfully of the pope.
He assumes the pope values the gospel.
He assumes the pope would rather help the poor than take their money.
Luther was not yet saying:
“THE POPE IS THE PROBLEM.”
He was closer to saying:
“THE POPE NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT THE PROBLEM.”
That would change.
But it had not changed yet.
18. WHY DIDN’T THIS REMAIN A SMALL ACADEMIC DEBATE?
The Ninety-Five Theses were propositions for discussion.
But they did not remain in a university classroom.
Printing helped them spread.
People read them.
The controversy grew.
And Luther’s opponents began responding.
That led Luther to defend what he had written and to develop his arguments further.
Questions about indulgences became connected with questions about the authority of those who defended them.
If an indulgence preacher was wrong, could a bishop correct him?
What if a bishop defended the preacher?
What if the pope supported the teaching?
Could a pope be wrong?
Could a council be wrong?
WHAT STANDARD COULD CORRECT THEM?
Now we are approaching the heart of the Reformation.
19. HERE IS WHERE OUR METHOD BECOMES ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT
We should not simply say:
“LUTHER CHALLENGED ROME, THEREFORE LUTHER WAS RIGHT.”
That would be exactly the mistake we have been warning against.
Luther is not our final authority.
Neither is Rome.
Neither is Constantinople.
Neither is an early church father.
Neither is our own religious heritage.
Every claim must be examined.
WHAT DOES THE TEXT SAY?
If Luther offers an interpretation, examine the passage he uses.
If Rome offers an interpretation, examine that passage too.
Consider the context.
Consider the reasoning.
Distinguish what the text explicitly states from what someone concludes from it.
That is the same method we used for Rome.
The same method we used for Eastern Orthodoxy.
And eventually:
THE SAME METHOD WE MUST USE ON OURSELVES.
20. SO WHAT DID THE NINETY-FIVE THESES ACTUALLY DO?
They did not create a complete new theology.
They did not establish a Protestant denomination.
They did not reject every Catholic doctrine.
They raised questions about repentance, indulgences, church penalties, and the authority being claimed for them.
What is genuine repentance?
What can the pope actually remit?
What authority does the pope have over purgatory?
Can spiritual security be connected with money?
Why give money for an indulgence while a neighbor is hungry?
Why should poor Christians finance an enormous church building in Rome?
And above all:
HAS WHAT WE ARE TEACHING ACTUALLY BEEN ESTABLISHED?
Those questions were difficult to contain.
21. ONE QUESTION LED TO ANOTHER
Luther had challenged indulgence preaching.
But eventually he would have to defend his challenge.
Church authorities would respond.
Luther would study.
He would write.
He would debate.
And the disagreement would move from:
INDULGENCES
to:
PAPAL AUTHORITY
and toward:
THE AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE ITSELF.
The next stage of the story would make the break much more serious.
The question would no longer simply be:
ARE INDULGENCES BEING ABUSED?
It would become:
CAN A POPE OR CHURCH COUNCIL BE WRONG?
And if the answer is yes:
WHO HAS THE LAST WORD?
That is where we go next.
TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.
RETURN TO MAIN SERIES: ONE CHURCH, SO MANY DIVISIONS—WHAT HAPPENED?
NEXT STUDY: CAN THE POPE AND COUNCILS BE WRONG?