Okla-homey
10/31/2007, 07:09 AM
Oct 31, 1517: Martin Luther posts 95 theses
http://aycu23.webshots.com/image/33622/2003589909870795855_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003589909870795855)
490 years ago on this day in 1517, the priest and scholar Martin Luther approaches the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, and nails a piece of paper to it containing the 95 revolutionary opinions that would begin the Protestant Reformation.
In his theses, Luther condemned the excesses and corruption of the Roman Catholic Church, especially the papal practice of asking payment--called "indulgences"--for the forgiveness of sins. At the time, a Dominican priest named Johann Tetzel, commissioned by the Archbishop of Mainz and Pope Leo X, was in the midst of a major fundraising campaign in Germany to finance the renovation of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
http://aycu37.webshots.com/image/32596/2003512428326570853_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003512428326570853)
Fr. Johann Tetzel..."step right up ladies and gentlemen and buy your ticket to Heaven!"
Tetzel was a born salesman. He set up his table in the Mainz town square, had lovely banners all around, and even distributed announcements complete with a little jingle to make it memorable:
"Another penny in the coffer rings, another soul to Heaven springs." -- Fr. Johann Tetzel
In theory, the person purchasing the indulgence was to repent his or her sins prior to the purchase, so that it was clear that God was doing the forgiving of the sin while the Church was merely remitting the punishment that went with it. But Tetzel did not demand repentance. You paid your money and you got your indulgence and good day to you.
http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/29375/2003544864382959237_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003544864382959237)
Copy of an authentic indulgence. Papal seal plus Fr. Tetzel's signature made it bona fide
In short, purchase of one these "sin tickets" meant you could do a sinful thing, and the Church officially waived any requirement for confession or penance. IOW, you got a "free pass." The indulgences were sold with varying levels of sin remission. One could even purchase a special indulgence which covered all sins the rest the puchaser's life which guarenteed entrance to Heaven on death. These cost more and only the wealthy could afford these.
http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/33375/2003567460092801223_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003567460092801223)
Pope Leo X presided over the scheme. Hey, the guy was just trying to renovate the Vatican and indulgences were easier to sell than baked goods or magazine subscriptions.;)
Since proceeds went to the Vatican to rebuild St. Peter's, the magnificent edifice that forms the centerpiece of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome, was indirectly responsible for the church split.
Though Prince Frederick III the Wise had banned the sale of indulgences in Wittenberg, many church members traveled to Mainz to purchase them because they were so popular.
http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/32819/2003588202574071096_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003588202574071096)
Prince Frederick III the Wise...no indulgences in my town!
When they returned from Mainz, people who traveled to purchase the indulgences showed the sin tickets they had bought to Luther, claiming they no longer had to repent for their sins. Your correspondent has no idea if they added a "nanner, nanner, poo-poo" when they flashed their indulgences to the very disgusted Martin Luther.
Luther's frustration with this practice led him to write the 95 Theses, which were quickly snapped up, translated from Latin into German and distributed widely. A copy made its way to Rome, and efforts began to convince Luther to change his tune.
He refused to keep silent, however, and in 1521 Pope Leo X formally excommunicated Luther from the Catholic Church. That same year, Luther again refused to recant his writings before the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V of Germany.
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/31285/2003517550261592801_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003517550261592801)
Luther testifying at his hearing at Worms, presided over by cardinals and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Here, Luther is depicted at the moment he refused to recant his 95 Theses and declared to the court salvation was not for sale.
Charles V didn't buy it and at the close of the hearings, issued the famous Edict of Worms declaring Luther an outlaw and a heretic and giving permission for anyone to kill him without consequence. In many ways, it was similar to a modern "fatwa" issued by a mullah marking a person for death. Protected by Prince Frederick, Luther began working on a German translation of the Bible, a task that took 10 years to complete.
http://aycu34.webshots.com/image/31793/2003529876738558466_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003529876738558466)
Luther burning the Edict which declared him a dead man walking.
http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/31840/2003581665030068096_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003581665030068096)
Luther working on his translation of the Bible. That German language Bible was later printed by a German printer named Gutenburg. Many scholars believe giving folks a copy of the Bible, published in their native language actually fueled the Reformation because when people can read the scriptures themselves, they are less inclined to blindly accept what is preached in church as the authoritative word.
The term "Protestant" first appeared in 1529, when Holy Roman Emperor Charles V revoked a provision that allowed the ruler of each German state to choose whether they would enforce the Edict of Worms. A number of princes and other supporters of Luther issued a protest, declaring that their allegiance to God trumped their allegiance to the emperor. This edict also led to the Thirty Years War you may recall reading about in an earlier Good Morning posting this month.
http://aycu37.webshots.com/image/30196/2001671864235423114_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001671864235423114)
Luther painted in life in 1533, sixteen years after he rocked the world.
They became known to their opponents as Protestants; gradually this name came to apply to all who believed the Church should be reformed, even those outside Germany. By the time Luther died, of natural causes, in 1546, his revolutionary beliefs had formed the basis for the Protestant Reformation, which would over the next three centuries revolutionize Western civilization.
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/31204/2003582567266086905_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003582567266086905)
http://aycu23.webshots.com/image/33622/2003589909870795855_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003589909870795855)
490 years ago on this day in 1517, the priest and scholar Martin Luther approaches the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, and nails a piece of paper to it containing the 95 revolutionary opinions that would begin the Protestant Reformation.
In his theses, Luther condemned the excesses and corruption of the Roman Catholic Church, especially the papal practice of asking payment--called "indulgences"--for the forgiveness of sins. At the time, a Dominican priest named Johann Tetzel, commissioned by the Archbishop of Mainz and Pope Leo X, was in the midst of a major fundraising campaign in Germany to finance the renovation of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
http://aycu37.webshots.com/image/32596/2003512428326570853_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003512428326570853)
Fr. Johann Tetzel..."step right up ladies and gentlemen and buy your ticket to Heaven!"
Tetzel was a born salesman. He set up his table in the Mainz town square, had lovely banners all around, and even distributed announcements complete with a little jingle to make it memorable:
"Another penny in the coffer rings, another soul to Heaven springs." -- Fr. Johann Tetzel
In theory, the person purchasing the indulgence was to repent his or her sins prior to the purchase, so that it was clear that God was doing the forgiving of the sin while the Church was merely remitting the punishment that went with it. But Tetzel did not demand repentance. You paid your money and you got your indulgence and good day to you.
http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/29375/2003544864382959237_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003544864382959237)
Copy of an authentic indulgence. Papal seal plus Fr. Tetzel's signature made it bona fide
In short, purchase of one these "sin tickets" meant you could do a sinful thing, and the Church officially waived any requirement for confession or penance. IOW, you got a "free pass." The indulgences were sold with varying levels of sin remission. One could even purchase a special indulgence which covered all sins the rest the puchaser's life which guarenteed entrance to Heaven on death. These cost more and only the wealthy could afford these.
http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/33375/2003567460092801223_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003567460092801223)
Pope Leo X presided over the scheme. Hey, the guy was just trying to renovate the Vatican and indulgences were easier to sell than baked goods or magazine subscriptions.;)
Since proceeds went to the Vatican to rebuild St. Peter's, the magnificent edifice that forms the centerpiece of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome, was indirectly responsible for the church split.
Though Prince Frederick III the Wise had banned the sale of indulgences in Wittenberg, many church members traveled to Mainz to purchase them because they were so popular.
http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/32819/2003588202574071096_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003588202574071096)
Prince Frederick III the Wise...no indulgences in my town!
When they returned from Mainz, people who traveled to purchase the indulgences showed the sin tickets they had bought to Luther, claiming they no longer had to repent for their sins. Your correspondent has no idea if they added a "nanner, nanner, poo-poo" when they flashed their indulgences to the very disgusted Martin Luther.
Luther's frustration with this practice led him to write the 95 Theses, which were quickly snapped up, translated from Latin into German and distributed widely. A copy made its way to Rome, and efforts began to convince Luther to change his tune.
He refused to keep silent, however, and in 1521 Pope Leo X formally excommunicated Luther from the Catholic Church. That same year, Luther again refused to recant his writings before the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V of Germany.
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/31285/2003517550261592801_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003517550261592801)
Luther testifying at his hearing at Worms, presided over by cardinals and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Here, Luther is depicted at the moment he refused to recant his 95 Theses and declared to the court salvation was not for sale.
Charles V didn't buy it and at the close of the hearings, issued the famous Edict of Worms declaring Luther an outlaw and a heretic and giving permission for anyone to kill him without consequence. In many ways, it was similar to a modern "fatwa" issued by a mullah marking a person for death. Protected by Prince Frederick, Luther began working on a German translation of the Bible, a task that took 10 years to complete.
http://aycu34.webshots.com/image/31793/2003529876738558466_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003529876738558466)
Luther burning the Edict which declared him a dead man walking.
http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/31840/2003581665030068096_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003581665030068096)
Luther working on his translation of the Bible. That German language Bible was later printed by a German printer named Gutenburg. Many scholars believe giving folks a copy of the Bible, published in their native language actually fueled the Reformation because when people can read the scriptures themselves, they are less inclined to blindly accept what is preached in church as the authoritative word.
The term "Protestant" first appeared in 1529, when Holy Roman Emperor Charles V revoked a provision that allowed the ruler of each German state to choose whether they would enforce the Edict of Worms. A number of princes and other supporters of Luther issued a protest, declaring that their allegiance to God trumped their allegiance to the emperor. This edict also led to the Thirty Years War you may recall reading about in an earlier Good Morning posting this month.
http://aycu37.webshots.com/image/30196/2001671864235423114_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001671864235423114)
Luther painted in life in 1533, sixteen years after he rocked the world.
They became known to their opponents as Protestants; gradually this name came to apply to all who believed the Church should be reformed, even those outside Germany. By the time Luther died, of natural causes, in 1546, his revolutionary beliefs had formed the basis for the Protestant Reformation, which would over the next three centuries revolutionize Western civilization.
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/31204/2003582567266086905_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003582567266086905)