The Catholic Church, Indulgences, Martin Luther, and the 95 Theses

1. The Catholic Church, Indulgences, Martin Luther, and the 95 Theses

2. During the Middle Ages the Roman Catholic Church had grown to incredible power. Basically everyone in Europe was Catholic, therefore the Church had religious control over everyone. This led to widespread corruption. Since many priests had come from wealthy families and didn’t really have a “calling to be priests, they were only in it for the lifestyle. Part of that lifestyle for them, was getting money.

3. This desire for money by some priests led to the practice of granting “indulgences”. An indulgence was not exactly the forgiveness of sin, but it was a way to not get punished for committing sins while on earth. In other words, it was similar to being convicted of a crime, but not having to serve any time or receive a fine. The problem with indulgences was that priests began to ask for payment in exchange for granting an indulgence. In other words, “if you give me $100, I will talk to God for you and get him to not punish you.

4. If the sale of indulgences was not bad enough, many Catholic priests also began to sell icons. Icons were items that supposedly had very significant religious meaning. Icons that were up for sale included vials of breast milk from the Virgin Mary, straws from the Bethlehem manger in which the baby Jesus first slept, pieces of wood or nails from the Cross, pieces of clothing, thorns from Jesus crown of thorns, and many others. Believers were told that if they bought these items from the Church, they would be protected from danger on earth and from punishment in the afterlife.

5. Because most people were incapable of reading, and therefore had no clue as to what the Bible actually said, they simply believed the priests and bought their indulgences and icons. The people were safe from punishment and the Church was rolling in money. With this money the Church could build newer, larger cathedrals and decorate them with the greatest artwork of the time.

6. Eventually a German monk, named Martin Luther found out about these activities and was troubled. On Halloween morning of 1517, Martin Luther walked to the door of the castle church building in the city of Wittenberg, Germany and nailed his 95 Theses to the front door. The 95 Theses was a list of 95 things that Luther thought the Church was doing wrong. High on the list was the sale of indulgences and icons.

7. Thanks to Gutenberg’s printing press, the 95 Thesis was not only known in Wittenberg. Within two weeks the document was spread throughout Germany and within two months it was spread throughout Europe. Obviously Catholics all over were disturbed. Many were outraged that they had been taken advantage of by the Church, while many others were outraged at Luther because he was obviously an agent of the devil sent to lead people astray.

8. When Pope Leo X received a copy of the 95 Theses he was clearly enraged. How dare Luther speak out against the Church and Leo himself in public. Indulgences were a necessary thing if the Church was going to continue building cathedrals to serve the masses in. Leo put Luther on trial and excommunicated him from the Church. Luther was threatened with death but somehow avoided that.

9. Because Luther began to show light on the corruption of the Church, Christianity began to split began Catholics and Protestants. Catholics continued to have their typical mass and continued to have priests hear confession and serve as go betweens between God and people. In the Protestant churches, their was no go between and no confessional booth. People were expected to pray to God themselves and religion was seen as more of a personal relationship than a relationship that needed a representative to speak for you.

10. This division of Christianity would soon lead to anger, fights over who should be king or queen in countries, and eventually outright war and murder.