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Ninety-five Theses
Sign in to saveAlso known as 95 Theses, Ninety-Five Theses on the Power of Indulgences, Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences
disputation by Martin Luther on indulgences
Martin Luther's "Ninety-five Theses" was a list of arguments challenging the Church's practice of selling indulgences—documents that promised forgiveness of sins in exchange for money. Luther posted these theses in 1517 to spark academic debate, but they became a catalyst for the Protestant Reformation by questioning Church authority and ultimately reshaping Western Christianity.
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In the Vinony graph
Within Vinony's link graph, Ninety-five Theses is referenced by 683 other articles, and connects out to Counter-Reformation, Clement VI and indulgence.
It is catalogued under topics including 1517 in Christianity, 1517 in the Holy Roman Empire and 1517 works.
Its subject is documented across 59 Wikipedia language editions.
Wikidata facts
- Read free · Project Gutenberg
- #274
- Subclass of
- Protestant Reformation
- Author
- Martin Luther
- Country of origin
- Electorate of Saxony
- Main subject
- indulgence
- Image
- Luther 95 Thesen.png
Show 13 more facts
- number of parts of this work
- 95
- Commons category
- 95 theses
- publication date
- 1557-00-00
- place of publication
- Lutherstadt Wittenberg
- title
- Disputatio pro declaratione virtutis indulgentiarum
- language of work or name
- Ecclesiastical Latin
- Commons gallery
- 95 theses
- first line
- 1 ¶Dominus et magister nr̄ Ieſus chr̄s dicendo. Penitentiā agite. ⁊c̄. omnē vitam fideliū penitentiam eſſe voluit.
- last line
- 20 ¶Ac ſi magis ꝑ multas tribulatiōes intrare celū: q͞ꝫ ꝑ ſecuritatē pacis confidant.
- subtitle
- Amore et ſtudio elucidande veritatis: hec ſubſcripta diſputabūtur Wittenberge. Preſidente R. P. Martino Lutther: Artiū et S. Theologie Magiſtro: eiuſdemqꝫ ibidem lecto ꝛe Ordinario. Quarepetit: ut qui non poſſunt verbis preſentes nobiſcū diſceptare: agant id literis abſentes. In noīne dn̄i noſtri hieſu chr̄i. Amē.
- copyright status
- public domain
- contributing factor of
- Protestant Reformation
- translator
- Justus Jonas
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
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Encyclopedic overview
The Ninety-five Theses or Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences is a list of propositions for an academic disputation written in 1517 by Martin Luther, then a professor of moral theology at the University of Wittenberg, Germany. The Theses are retrospectively considered to have launched the Protestant Reformation and the birth of Protestantism, despite various quasi- or proto-Protestant groups having existed previously.
The Theses are framed as propositions to be argued in an academic debate rather than necessarily representing Luther's opinions. They aired contemporary theological misgivings about the theory and practice of indulgences and their relation to repentance, penance and papal authority: this was triggered by the scandal of certain Catholic clergy, who were supposedly selling plenary indulgences in Germany, which were certificates supposed to reduce the temporal punishment in purgatory for sins committed by the saved purchasers or their loved ones.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Ninety-five Theses” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.