The 95 Theses in a Sermon

Welcome back to another episode of 5 Minutes in Church History. On this episode, we are revisiting one of our favorite figures and one of our hands-down favorite moments in all of Church history: Martin Luther and the posting of the Ninety-Five Theses. The Ninety-Five Theses were intended by Luther for debate. He wrote them in Latin. Now, they were quickly translated into the German, and thanks to the rather new invention of the printing press, they spread quickly across the German lands. But nevertheless, Luther wrote out the Ninety-Five Theses for debate, for debate in the quarters of the university and among the learned in the Church. But we might also recall that the Ninety-Five Theses that document that started it all, that started the Reformation, that started Protestantism, it was driven by a deep theological and pastoral crisis. Luther recognized that the average churchgoer was being led astray by the very institution that was supposed to shepherd them to the truth. There was darkness for them, not light. And so, Luther wrote out his Ninety-Five Theses to bring these problems, these errors, to light in the Church, but he also cared for the laity.

So, in 1518, he preached a sermon in St. Mary’s Church. There were two Churches in Wittenberg. There’s the Castle Church at the end of town where Luther, on those famous doors, posted his Ninety-Five Theses. And then literally, right outside the doorstep of the Black Cloister, Luther’s home, was St. Mary’s Church, and that’s where Luther preached the most. And there in St. Mary’s Church in March of 1518, Luther preached the sermon entitled, “A Sermon on Indulgences and Grace.” It was published in April, and over the course of the next two years, it was reprinted twenty-four times. In its own day, this sermon was far more popular than the Ninety-Five Theses themselves. This sermon, more than anything else Luther wrote, contributed to him being made a household name.

Well, let’s dig into it. It doesn’t have ninety-five points. That would be a very long sermon, indeed. It has twenty points. Now, most of these twenty points are given just a paragraph or so treatment of Luther. Occasionally, a few of them get a few more, but he’s pretty concise in his arguments and the points he’s trying to make. Let’s look at just a select few of them. First, Luther begins by saying, “First, you should know that some new teachers such as the master of Sentences,” well that’s the medieval figure Peter Lombard, “St. Thomas Aquinas, and their disciples divide the sacrament of penance into three parts: contrition, confession, and satisfaction.” Luther goes on to say, “This distinction and opinion of theirs is scarcely or not at all to be found based in Holy Scripture.” Here, Luther is introducing right off the bat to his congregation that crucial Reformation principle of Sola Scriptura.

This doctrine of penance has been developed into these three parts of contrition, confession, and satisfaction. And Luther says there’s no basis for this in Scripture. And then on top of that theological construct, we have this indulgence sale, which Luther says is not only out of bounds with Scripture, it’s even out of bounds with the Church’s tradition. So, he’s challenging at the very core center and foundation this practice of penance and indulgences as practiced in the Church at the time. Oh, we see the colorful Luther in this sermon as well. At one point, Luther says, “My will, my desire, my plea, and counsel are that no one buy an indulgence. Let the lazy and sleepy Christians buy indulgences, you run from them.” Luther is showing us his pastoral concerns here for this theological error that has crept into the Church. And he’s aware that all around the Churches of Wittenberg, there are those Germans that are purchasing these indulgences and thinking that they and the eternal state of their loved ones are safe. And Luther knows that those indulgences, which promised deliverance, only mask bondage. And so, he pleads with his congregation to not purchase an indulgence, to not be a lazy and sleepy Christian. Well, there it is. Not only do we have the Ninety-Five Theses, but we have the sermon on the Ninety-Five Theses, the “Sermon on Indulgences and Grace.” And I’m Steve Nichols and thanks for joining us for 5 Minutes in Church History.