In 1517, an unknown Augustinian monk, informed by his growing belief that salvation is by faith alone, published and distributed a stark criticism of papal abuses in the Catholic Church. In doing so, Martin Luther lit the spark for what would become the Protestant Reformation. What became known as the "95 Theses" was a series of statements expressing concern with corruption within the church, primarily the selling of "indulgences" to the people as a means of releasing them from acts of penitence. For the five hundredth anniversary of Luther's revolutionary writing, This volume combines each thesis with an excerpt from one of his later works to provide a convenient way to understand the ideas and concepts that became the seeds of the Protestant Reformation.

Author Biography

Martin Luther (1483-1546) was a German monk, priest, professor of theology, and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the sale of indulgences, the church's practice of selling pieces of paper that guaranteed freedom from God's punishment for sin. In 1517, Luther directly confronted this and other papal abuses by publishing his "95 Theses." In 1534, Luther published a complete translation of the Bible into German.