The Ninety-Five Theses Explained($9.99Value)

Description

Few documents in Christian history have stirred up as much fire and interest as Martin Luther’s Ninety-five Theses, his pastoral denunciation of the practice of indulgences that sparked the Protestant Reformation. This document of explanations was composed chiefly for an academic disputation. The theses are bewildering to the modern reader looking for familiar Reformation slogans and broadsides against papal overreach. Indeed, neither the two great principles of what became the Reformation —justification by faith alone and the authority of Scripture alone— are found in these pages, even though both had already begun to influence Luther and underlie several of his concerns in the Theses. Notable throughout the Explanations is Luther’s strong inner conflict, already voiced in his Preface to a German Theology. He writes respectfully of the pope but questions his primacy as bishop of Rome; he quotes the church fathers and canon law but treats the Bible as the primary —but not yet sole— authority in religious matters; he recognizes the ultimate authority of general church councils in matters of faith but opposes the burning of heretics, as was done at the Council of Constance; he still accepts purgatory and “the treasure of the church” but interprets them in an evangelical fashion; he dislikes tumult and disobedience but asks in unmistakable terms for a reformation of the church. This newly edited version with corrections to the translation by Joe Box, translator of De Amore by Andreas Capellanus, is essential for anyone interested in Reformation History, Protestant Theology, and Martin Luther.