Martin Luther's 95 Theses Summary

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Martin Luther’s 95 Theses are hard to comprehend without first understanding who he was as a person. On November 10, 1483, Luther was born to parents Hans and Margarethe Luther in Eisleben, Germany. Luther attended school in Mansfield, Germany where he focused on rhetoric, grammar, and logic. Once Luther turned seventeen, he enrolled at the University of Erfurt, one of the best colleges in Germany. In 1505, at his father’s urging, Luther entered law school. One day, Luther was caught in a thunderstorm. During the storm, Luther promised to become a monk if God would deliver him from the lightning. After surviving the storm, Luther decided to leave law school and become a monk as he had promised God. Luther became a member of a friary and was…show more content…
The first four points summarize to say that repentance is understood to be a relationship between God and the believer that continues until the entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven, and as such, the priest has no ruling in the matter. The next points summarized are points five through nine; emphasizing the importance of repentance. He declared that only God can remove sin, the pope cannot. In points ten through nineteen Luther addresses the church and financial gains in regard to purgatory. God has the sole control of death and purgatory, and it is not for the Church profit from. The points twenty through thirty-one describes the lack of financial power that the pope has with God. A person cannot pay the pope for forgiveness to get into heaven or to get out of purgatory. According to Luther the pope is not capable of intercession between man and God. Points thirty-two through forty summarize to say that letters of pardon by the Church do not represent true forgiveness of God. Forgiveness is granted only by God. Luther also stated that all the blessings of Christ come from God even without letters of pardon. Points forty through fifty-one can be summarized as the purchasing pardons is no replacement of one’s moral obligations for acts of love and kindness. Being a Christian involves devout prayer and good deeds for others. In points fifty-two through fifty-five Luther expressed the importance of spending time preaching the word, instead of spending time talking about pardons. Points fifty-six through sixty-eight state that it is natural to want riches and the men of the Church had many treasures, but Luther advised the greatest treasure could be found in the Holy Word and in the Grace of God. Again, in points sixty-nine through eight-one Luther warns the people of trusting in the letters of pardon and confusing them with true forgiveness and salvation. Only repentance
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