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Reformation History
The history of The Reformation started when Western European Catholics opposed what they believed to be false doctrines and ecclesiastic malpractice within the Catholic Church. The movement’s famous leaders include Martin Luther and John Calvin.
1,691 Questions
What helped Martin Luther break away from the Catholic Church?
Neither Martin Luther King, Sr. nor Martin Luther King Jr. ever broke away from the Catholic Church. They were both ever Baptists, and never Catholics. It was correctly the man they had been named after, Martin Luther, who had the controversy with the Catholic Church five hundred years earlier. Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Catholic Church. They turned him away. He did not leave them.
What 5 of martin luthers protets against the catholic church?
Luther openly questioned the teachings of the Roman Catholic church, in particular, the nature of penance, the authority of the pope, papal abuses, the usefulness and sale of "indulgences" and the importance of "works" over "grace".
What criticism did John Wycliffe have of the Catholic Church?
John Wycliffe was a philosopher and theologian from Luterworth, England. He often challenged certain teachings of the church and also criticized members of the clergy for not embracing living in poverty like Jesusâ?? disciples. Additionally, Wycliffe felt the Bible should be translated into English for commoners.
How did Martin Luther's action reform the Church?
Martin Luther did not lead a "reform" against the Catholic Church, although he started out to. What he ended up doing was leading a revolt against the Catholic Church, tearing innumerable people away from Christ's saving sacraments, due entirely to politics of some German princes.
What did Martin Luther think was wrong with the Catholic Church?
That the services were in latin so the people of the church could not understand them and You had to buy indulgences so that you could have your soul cleaned by the priests.
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It was corrupt; priests were having women visitors (i.e. pre-marital sexual intercourses) and the Church was very lavishly decorated, which took money off the poor to spend on gold candles and crucifixes.
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Catholic AnswerMartin Luther had two specific problems with the Catholic Church:
1) The Church has always taught a high Christian morality, which She received from God, and with which Luther did not agreed. Luther repeatedly found himself falling into sin and rather than avail himself of the sacraments of Christ and trying to live a Christian life, he decided that there was no way to change in this life and that Christ's death on the cross was all that God was going to look at. He described being judged as being like a pile of manure that was covered by snow.
2) His second problem was a glaring ignorance of Church teaching and history. This was particularly grave as he, supposedly was an Augustianian priest. Most of his early writings are a travesty as they expose his vast ignorance of not only the Church's actual teaching but even the teachings of St. Augustine, with which one would assume he was familiar. His "95 Theses" are particularly painful as the writer obviously has no idea what Catholic teaching actually was.
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His second problem - ignorance of what the Catholic Church actually teaches, has been muliplied exponentially through the centuries since he lived as evidenced by the answer above. Indulgences have nothing whatsoever to do with forgiving sin, the Mass had been translated into Latin to make it more accessible to the people (it had been in Greek and most of the people spoke Latin at the time it was translated). Although there were problems with individual priests and their sins, the answer is not to join them - as Luther did, the answer is to reform yourself and give up sin.
Who began the Protestant Reformation in 1517?
Martin Luther.
He, because of his extremely scrupulous conscience and false vocation to religious life, decided to reform the Church.He didn't like the selling of indulgences and other corrupt practices. It is important to point out that there were many things that need reform in the Catholic Church, but it was the pope's job, not Martin Luther's.
What made the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Reformation different?
The difference between them is that the Catholic Reformation was the response to the Protestant Reformation. The Protestanst accused the Catholic Church of indulgences (paying for your sins to essentially be erased), being able to pay for your religious post, and to be able to have more than one post at a time, and many other scandals. Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis to the Church door in Wittenberg and from then, the Protestant Reformation started and eventually, the Church held the Council of Trent, whose goal was to purify the Church. The Jesuits were formed from the Catholic Reformation. The Jesuits were formed by St. Ignatius of Loyola and they converted people to Catholicism. They were considered one of the bright lights of the Catholic Reformation.
What did Henry VIII do to English churches?
he made the priests wear plain robes and took away all decoration and color from the church. there were to be no candles, or even crosses were allowed at services.
Henry also ordered for the stained glass windows to be takendown and destroyed.
Anglican Catholic Answer!
I think you've got the wrong chap, it was Henry's son, Edward VI and his Calvinist friends who ruined the place. Henry supported a theory that went back before the Norman Conquest where authority was held by the Bishops through the Ecumenical Councils, very much as the Orthodox and traditional Anglicans do today! It has been described as Catholic without the pope!
Henry did no more and no less, with the support of the Church, than say that the ancient canons of the Councils tell us quite clearly that no bishop is permitted to interfere in another bishops see? This shocked the pope, his support was in Europe and Henry was first to declare against him!
One invention in particular helped the spread of ideas during the reformation?
The 1440s invention that helped spread the ideas of the renaissance throughout Europe was the movable printing press. It was invented by Johannes Gutenberg.
Who criticized the church for selling indulgences?
Many have condemned the sale of indulgences over the centuries, but the most famous of these is Martin Luther.
Martin Luther (10 November 1483 - 18 February 1546) initiated the Protestant Reformation. As a priest and theology professor, he confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his The Ninety-Five Theses in 1517. Luther strongly disputed their claim that freedom from God's punishment of sin could be purchased with money. His refusal to retract all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the emperor.
Martin Luther taught that salvation is not from good works, but a free gift of God, received only by grace through faith in Jesus as redeemer from sin. His theology challenged the authority of the pope of the Roman Catholic Church by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge and opposed sacerdotalism by considering all baptised Christians to be a holy priesthood. Those who identify with Luther's teachings are called Lutherans.
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Catholic AnswerThis is another, "when did you stop beating your wife?" question. You can't answer it, because the premise is a lie. The Catholic Church never sold indulgences, ever. Nor, for that matter do indulgences have anything to do with forgiving sin. You need to understand the Christian concept of the Body of Christ: we are all members of the Body of Christ by our baptism. When one of us sins, we hurt the entire Body. Our Blessed Lord died on the cross to forgive our sins. We apply that forgiveness to ourselves in various ways, the first of which is baptism which wipes out everything up to that point in our lives. After baptism, Our Blessed Lord provided another Sacrament to remove serious sin (and venial {less serious}), that is confession. When you go to confession you must have contrition for your sins, confess all of them, and resolve to never to them again. Let me see if I can explain this another way:.
To understand indulgences you must first understand sin and its consequences:
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When one sins, one damages the Body of Christ, as, by our Baptism, we are all members of the Body of Christ, and everything we do, for good or ill, affects everyone.
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Say you are in the street in your neighborhood playing softball. You hit one and it goes flying across the street and through Mrs. Neighbor's front window. You put the bat down, walk across the street, knock on the door, and apologize to Mrs. Neighbor. She forgives you, since you were nice, and owned up to your fault. Up until now we have the basic scenario of someone going into confession and confessing their sins.
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But wait, notice that in my example, the window is still broken. You have to go home and confess to your father and mother that you broke the window, they, in turn, take your allowance for the next several years and pay to have the window fixed. The broken window is the example of how we damage the Body of Christ. The allowance that you have to fork over for the next several years is your penance.
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Now, an indulgence is based on the fact that when Jesus was a man living on the earth, his mother, and the other saints down through the centuries, have done more good works than they need to do their penances (in the case of Our Blessed Lord, and His mother, they had no need of penances, so all their good works are surplus), so, the Church, through Her power of the keys, can apply the merits of those good works to your penance. So in the example above, the indulgence is your parents fixing the window for you, and you are still going to get your allowance. You might have to fork over some of it to help, but they are not going to impoverish you for the next several years.
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That is what an indulgence is: it is the application of the good works of the saints to make up for your penances. Please note that they are only applicable to someone in a state of grace who has already been forgiven. They have NOTHING to do with the remission of sin. Without prior remission of sin, there can be no indulgence.
. Now, any good work can be used to obtain an indulgence in the Church, the classic works of penance are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. The one that causes so much trouble back during the protestant revolt was an indulgence attached to almsgiving. For instance, you can earn a plenary indulgence now if you go to confession, go to Mass, receive Holy Communion, pray for the Holy Father, and do a good work, say a Rosary in front of the Blessed Sacrament, or in a family group. You used to be able to earn a Plenary Indulgence for all the same conditions, but instead of saying the Rosary, you could donate ANY sum of money for some good work the Church was involved with. In this particular case, it was rebuilding St. Peter's Basilica. Because of all the hysterics and false rumors, that is no longer possible. Bottom line? The Church has never sold indulgences, ever.
Catholic monk who broke with the church because he disagreed with its practices?
Martin Luther, who formed Lutheranism and led the Protestant Reformation.
Martin Luther's criticism of the Roman Catholic Church focused on what Church practice?
Martin Luther dreamed up his own religion out of thin air to suit himself, as Christianity was too hard for him to abide, so he made up his own religion which he, himself, said that God would save him no matter how much he sinned because he had made up his mind. I would say that the primary practice that he critized the Church for was its absolute stance to support Our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ's, teaching calling men to repent and lead a moral life. To try and bolster his position, he threw books out of the Old Testament and tried to throw books out of the New Testament as well. In other words, he couldn't abide the Church's teaching, so he based his version of Christianity on the Bible alone, then adjusted the Bible to agree with himself:
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In one incident he translated Romans 8:28 as "We hold that man is justified without works of the law by faith alone." His answer to Emser's exposition of his perversion of the text was: "If your P*pist annoys you with the word [alone], tell him straightway: Dr. Martin Luther will have it so: P*pist and ass are one and the same thing. Whoever will not have my translation, let him give it the go-by: the devil's thanks to him who censures it without my will and knowledge. Luther will have it so, and he is a doctor above all the doctors in Popedom." (Amic. Discussion, 1, 127). {Please note that the WikiAnswers computer will not allow me to quote Martin Luther's word for Catholics, so I have replaced it with P*pist you have to supply the "a" yourself.}
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Other reformers at that time did not agree with him on the New Testament and they put those books back in their Bible. The Council of Trent reaffirmed the Church's constant teaching on the Bible and the books it contains.
Why did the Hundred Years War last so long?
It was a different length for different people. Besides it was a series of wars. And also The Hundred-and-sixteen-years War doesn't have quite the same ring to it so they had to round it down.
Who is credited with starting the Reformation?
The leaders of the Protestant Reformation included Martin Luther and John Calvin. Luther was the author of the Ninety-Five Theses, which is often credited as the document which sparked the reformation.
What was the reformation and what were its causes?
a time period when the church broke into several groups
causes:
1. indulgences
2. popes were wealthy,priests corrupt.
3. nepotism
4. simony, lay investiture
5. pluralism
Roman Catholic AnswerThe word "reformation" when used to refer to the Church usually refers to the protestant reformation: a revolt of some who left the Church due to abuses by some individuals. It was a great tragedy which continues to fragment and lead Christians astray.The actual reformation in the Church is referred to by scholars as the "counter-reformation", see below.
from A Catholic Dictionary, edited by Donald Attwater, Second edition, revised 1957
The Protestant Reformation: the revolt from the Catholic Church in Western Europe begun and carried to its height in the 16th century. It differed from all previous heretical movements in that it was not concerned with one or a few definite points of doctrine but was directed against the whole complex and system of Christianity as then understood; it gave licence to the human self in the spiritual and religious order. Its principal causes were: the excessive temporal power, wealth and privilege which accrued to the higher clergy, the wicked, worldly and careless lives of many of the clergy, secular and regular, and the decay of philosophy and theology (these resulted partly from the Renaissance) with consequent low standard of spiritual life among the people generally; the weakening of the authority of the Holy See, following the Great Schism, increased by the humanistic corruption of the papal court; the parallel insurgence of secular princes. Its principal motives were: desire for the purity of religion and godliness of life which, from the state of the clergy, precipitated a violent and unreasoning anti-clericalism which degenerated into contempt for all spiritual authority; the national ambitions of secular princes which flourished in the break-up of the Catholic integrity of Europe; an appetite for spoil and, as in England, fear of having to give up looted ecclesiastical wealth; in some, a hatred of the Church and Faith which can be attributed only to the direct working of the Devil. The principal results of the Reformation were: the true reform of the Church "in head and members" effected by the Council of Trent and the revivification of Catholicism so thoroughly achieved that it remains vital to this day (The Counter-reformation); the putting of countless souls, notably in Great Britain, Scandinavia and the German parts of the Empire, in enmity to the Church and consequently outside those means provided by Christ for man to know and attain to God; the disappearance of any "higher unity" holding together the diverse peoples and nations of Europe, the inoculation of men with naturalistic and humanitarian (as opposed to theocentric) philosophy which is now the chiefest enemy of Christianity.
from A Catholic Dictionary, edited by Donald Attwater, Second edition, revised 1957The Counter-Reformation is the name given to the Catholic movement of reform and activity which lasted for about one hundred years from the beginning of the Council of Trent (q.v., 1545), and was the belated answer to the threatening confusion and increasing attacks of the previous years. It was the work principally of the Popes St. Pius V and Gregory XIII and the Council itself in the sphere of authority, of SS. Philip Neri and Charles Borromeo in the reform of the clergy and of life, of St. Ignatius and the Jesuits in apostolic activity of St. Francis Xavier in foreign missions, and of St. Teresa in the purely contemplative life which lies behind them all. But these were not the only names nor was it a movement of a few only; the whole Church emerged from the 15th century purified and revivified. On the other hand, it was a reformation rather than a restoration; the unity of western Christendom was destroyed; the Church militant (those still on earth) led by the Company of Jesus adopted offence as the best means of defence and, though she gained as much as she lost in some sense, the Church did not recover the exercise of her former spiritual supremacy in actuality.
from Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J. Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980
A period of Catholic revival from 1522 to about 1648, better know as the Catholic Reform. It was an effort to stem the tide of Protestantism by genuine reform within the Catholic Church. There were political movements pressured by civil rules, and ecclesiastical movements carried out by churchmen in an attempt to restore genuine Catholic life by establishing new religious orders such as the Society of Jesus and restoring old orders to their original observances, such as the Carmelites under St. Teresa of Avila (1515-98). The main factors responsible for the Counter Reformation, however, were the papacy and the council of Trent (1545-63). Among church leaders St. Charles Borromeo (1538-84), Archbishop of Milan, enforced the reforms decreed by the council, and St. Francis de Sales of Geneva (1567-1622) spent his best energies in restoring genuine Catholic doctrine and piety. Among civil rulers sponsoring the needed reform were Philip II of Spain (1527-98) and Mary Tudor (1516-58), his wife, in England. Unfortunately this aspect of the reformation led to embitterment between England and Scotland, England and Spain, Poland and Sweden, and to almost two centuries of religious wars. As a result of the Counter Reformation, the Catholic Church became stronger in her institutional structure, more dedicated to the work of evangelization, and more influential in world affairs.
1. people more educated
2. new religions form
3. missionaries become active
How England became a protestant country?
No because Elizabeth I wanted to find a "middle way" in religion because most of her supporters were Catholic and she was a Protestant. In other words, she let Catholics worship in their own way and she let Protestants worship in their own way so that her supporters wouldn't turn against her. This meant that there were no longer disputes between Catholicism and Protestantism.
Was the cause of the Protestant Reformation primarily economic or religious social and political?
During medieval Europe, the church practically ruled over everyone. Martin Luther was fed up with the secularization of the church and branched off into his own sect, the church called him a traitor but today protestantism is the most attractive branch in Christianity some people say.
Who protests started the Protestant Reformation?
This is generally held to be German Pastor Martin Luther, who nailed his 95 theses, a list of complaints about the activities of the Roman Catholic Church to the door of Wittenburg Cathedral in the year 1517. The main complaint was about the sale of indulgences, forgiveness for sins in exchange for money.
During this period the king of England also split from the Catholic church because he did not wish to be controlled by them in his marital affair's. The Catholic church was the victim of its own power becoming a murderous and corrupt institution as the result of lack of competition.
Why did reformation spread like wildfire?
luther, calvin and other reformers achieved these when many people joined the movement for different reasons. The princes wanted to acquired church property and consolidate their power, others joined for religious reasons, many for personal gains. The reformation made many gains.
What were Martin Luther's contributions to the reformation?
Martin Luther was a German monk who, on October 31, 1517, nailed the 95 These to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg. The 95 Theses was a document which discusses all of the shortcomings of the Catholic Church including their use of indulgences and their exploitation of their religious followers.
What were John Calvin's basic tenets?
John Calvin did not have a major teaching you could pin down in a few words. Luther emphasized grace, faith, and scripture. Calvin wrote a broad theology. Anyone who tries to summarize Calvinism in a few short words throws out the baby with the bath.
What are the 95 theses of Luther?
DISPUTATION OF DOCTOR MARTIN LUTHER
ON THE POWER AND EFFICACY OF
INDULGENCES
OCTOBER 31, 1517
Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light,
the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg,
under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther,
Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in
Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that
those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us,
may do so by letter.
In the Name our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam
agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be
repentance.
2. This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance,
i.e., confession and satisfaction, which is administered by
the priests.
3. Yet it means not inward repentance only; nay, there is no
inward repentance which does not outwardly work divers
mortifications of the flesh.
4. The penalty [of sin], therefore, continues so long as
hatred of self continues; for this is the true inward
repentance, and continues until our entrance into the kingdom
of heaven.
5. The pope does not intend to remit, and cannot remit any
penalties other than those which he has imposed either by his
own authority or by that of the Canons.
6. The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring that
it has been remitted by God and by assenting to God's
remission; though, to be sure, he may grant remission in cases
reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in
such cases were despised, the guilt would remain entirely
unforgiven.
7. God remits guilt to no one whom He does not, at the same
time, humble in all things and bring into subjection to His
vicar, the priest.
8. The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and,
according to them, nothing should be imposed on the dying.
9. Therefore the Holy Spirit in the pope is kind to us,
because in his decrees he always makes exception of the
article of death and of necessity.
10. Ignorant and wicked are the doings of those priests who,
in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penances for
purgatory.
11. This changing of the canonical penalty to the penalty of
purgatory is quite evidently one of the tares that were sown
while the bishops slept.
12. In former times the canonical penalties were imposed not
after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition.
13. The dying are freed by death from all penalties; they are
already dead to canonical rules, and have a right to be
released from them.
14. The imperfect health [of soul], that is to say, the
imperfect love, of the dying brings with it, of necessity,
great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater is the fear.
15. This fear and horror is sufficient of itself alone (to say
nothing of other things) to constitute the penalty of
purgatory, since it is very near to the horror of despair.
16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ as do despair,
almost-despair, and the assurance of safety.
17. With souls in purgatory it seems necessary that horror
should grow less and love increase.
18. It seems unproved, either by reason or Scripture, that
they are outside the state of merit, that is to say, of
increasing love.
19. Again, it seems unproved that they, or at least that all
of them, are certain or assured of their own blessedness,
though we may be quite certain of it.
20. Therefore by "full remission of all penalties" the pope
means not actually "of all," but only of those imposed by
himself.
21. Therefore those preachers of indulgences are in error, who
say that by the pope's indulgences a man is freed from every
penalty, and saved;
22. Whereas he remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which,
according to the canons, they would have had to pay in this
life.
23. If it is at all possible to grant to any one the remission
of all penalties whatsoever, it is certain that this remission
can be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to the very
fewest.
24. It must needs be, therefore, that the greater part of the
people are deceived by that indiscriminate and highsounding
promise of release from penalty.
25. The power which the pope has, in a general way, over
purgatory, is just like the power which any bishop or curate
has, in a special way, within his own diocese or parish.
26. The pope does well when he grants remission to souls [in
purgatory], not by the power of the keys (which he does not
possess), but by way of intercession.
27. They preach man who say that so soon as the penny jingles
into the money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory].
28. It is certain that when the penny jingles into the
money-box, gain and avarice can be increased, but the result
of the intercession of the Church is in the power of God
alone.
29. Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory wish to be
bought out of it, as in the legend of Sts. Severinus and
Paschal.
30. No one is sure that his own contrition is sincere; much
less that he has attained full remission.
31. Rare as is the man that is truly penitent, so rare is also
the man who truly buys indulgences, i.e., such men are most
rare.
32. They will be condemned eternally, together with their
teachers, who believe themselves sure of their salvation
because they have letters of pardon.
33. Men must be on their guard against those who say that the
pope's pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man
is reconciled to Him;
34. For these "graces of pardon" concern only the penalties of
sacramental satisfaction, and these are appointed by man.
35. They preach no Christian doctrine who teach that
contrition is not necessary in those who intend to buy souls
out of purgatory or to buy confessionalia.
36. Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full
remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of
pardon.
37. Every true Christian, whether living or dead, has part in
all the blessings of Christ and the Church; and this is
granted him by God, even without letters of pardon.
38. Nevertheless, the remission and participation [in the
blessings of the Church] which are granted by the pope are in
no way to be despised, for they are, as I have said, the
declaration of divine remission.
39. It is most difficult, even for the very keenest
theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people
the abundance of pardons and [the need of] true contrition.
40. True contrition seeks and loves penalties, but liberal
pardons only relax penalties and cause them to be hated, or at
least, furnish an occasion [for hating them].
41. Apostolic pardons are to be preached with caution, lest
the people may falsely think them preferable to other good
works of love.
42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend
the buying of pardons to be compared in any way to works of
mercy.
43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor
or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons;
44. Because love grows by works of love, and man becomes
better; but by pardons man does not grow better, only more
free from penalty.
45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a man in
need, and passes him by, and gives [his money] for pardons,
purchases not the indulgences of the pope, but the indignation
of God.
46. Christians are to be taught that unless they have more
than they need, they are bound to keep back what is necessary
for their own families, and by no means to squander it on
pardons.
47. Christians are to be taught that the buying of pardons is
a matter of free will, and not of commandment.
48. Christians are to be taught that the pope, in granting
pardons, needs, and therefore desires, their devout prayer for
him more than the money they bring.
49. Christians are to be taught that the pope's pardons are
useful, if they do not put their trust in them; but altogether
harmful, if through them they lose their fear of God.
50. Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the
exactions of the pardon-preachers, he would rather that St.
Peter's church should go to ashes, than that it should be
built up with the skin, flesh and bones of his sheep.
51. Christians are to be taught that it would be the pope's
wish, as it is his duty, to give of his own money to very many
of those from whom certain hawkers of pardons cajole money,
even though the church of St. Peter might have to be sold.
52. The assurance of salvation by letters of pardon is vain,
even though the commissary, nay, even though the pope himself,
were to stake his soul upon it.
53. They are enemies of Christ and of the pope, who bid the
Word of God be altogether silent in some Churches, in order
that pardons may be preached in others.
54. Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon,
an equal or a longer time is spent on pardons than on this
Word.
55. It must be the intention of the pope that if pardons,
which are a very small thing, are celebrated with one bell,
with single processions and ceremonies, then the Gospel, which
is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred
bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.
56. The "treasures of the Church," out of which the pope.
grants indulgences, are not sufficiently named or known among
the people of Christ.
57. That they are not temporal treasures is certainly evident,
for many of the vendors do not pour out such treasures so
easily, but only gather them.
58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and the Saints, for even
without the pope, these always work grace for the inner man,
and the cross, death, and hell for the outward man.
59. St. Lawrence said that the treasures of the Church were
the Church's poor, but he spoke according to the usage of the
word in his own time.
60. Without rashness we say that the keys of the Church, given
by Christ's merit, are that treasure;
61. For it is clear that for the remission of penalties and of
reserved cases, the power of the pope is of itself sufficient.
62. The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of
the glory and the grace of God.
63. But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes
the first to be last.
64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is
naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first.
65. Therefore the treasures of the Gospel are nets with which
they formerly were wont to fish for men of riches.
66. The treasures of the indulgences are nets with which they
now fish for the riches of men.
67. The indulgences which the preachers cry as the "greatest
graces" are known to be truly such, in so far as they promote
gain.
68. Yet they are in truth the very smallest graces compared
with the grace of God and the piety of the Cross.
69. Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of
apostolic pardons, with all reverence.
70. But still more are they bound to strain all their eyes and
attend with all their ears, lest these men preach their own
dreams instead of the commission of the pope.
71 . He who speaks against the truth of apostolic pardons, let
him be anathema and accursed!
72. But he who guards against the lust and license of the
pardon-preachers, let him be blessed!
73. The pope justly thunders against those who, by any art,
contrive the injury of the traffic in pardons.
74. But much more does he intend to thunder against those who
use the pretext of pardons to contrive the injury of holy love
and truth.
75. To think the papal pardons so great that they could
absolve a man even if he had committed an impossible sin and
violated the Mother of God -- this is madness.
76. We say, on the contrary, that the papal pardons are not
able to remove the very least of venial sins, so far as its
guilt is concerned.
77. It is said that even St. Peter, if he were now Pope, could
not bestow greater graces; this is blasphemy against St. Peter
and against the pope.
78. We say, on the contrary, that even the present pope, and
any pope at all, has greater graces at his disposal; to wit,
the Gospel, powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written
in I. Corinthians xii.
79. To say that the cross, emblazoned with the papal arms,
which is set up [by the preachers of indulgences], is of equal
worth with the Cross of Christ, is blasphemy.
80. The bishops, curates and theologians who allow such talk
to be spread among the people, will have an account to render.
81. This unbridled preaching of pardons makes it no easy
matter, even for learned men, to rescue the reverence due to
the pope from slander, or even from the shrewd questionings of
the laity.
82. To wit: -- "Why does not the pope empty purgatory, for the
sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are
there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake
of miserable money with which to build a Church? The former
reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial."
83. Again: -- "Why are mortuary and anniversary masses for the
dead continued, and why does he not return or permit the
withdrawal of the endowments founded on their behalf, since it
is wrong to pray for the redeemed?"
84. Again: -- "What is this new piety of God and the pope,
that for money they allow a man who is impious and their enemy
to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God, and
do not rather, because of that pious and beloved soul's own
need, free it for pure love's sake?"
85. Again: -- "Why are the penitential canons long since in
actual fact and through disuse abrogated and dead, now
satisfied by the granting of indulgences, as though they were
still alive and in force?"
86. Again: -- "Why does not the pope, whose wealth is to-day
greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one
church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the
money of poor believers?"
87. Again: -- "What is it that the pope remits, and what
participation does he grant to those who, by perfect
contrition, have a right to full remission and participation?"
88. Again: -- "What greater blessing could come to the Church
than if the pope were to do a hundred times a day what he now
does once, and bestow on every believer these remissions and
participations?"
89. "Since the pope, by his pardons, seeks the salvation of
souls rather than money, why does he suspend the indulgences
and pardons granted heretofore, since these have equal
efficacy?"
90. To repress these arguments and scruples of the laity by
force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons, is to
expose the Church and the pope to the ridicule of their
enemies, and to make Christians unhappy.
91. If, therefore, pardons were preached according to the
spirit and mind of the pope, all these doubts would be readily
resolved; nay, they would not exist.
92. Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people
of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace!
93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of
Christ, "Cross, cross," and there is no cross!
94. Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in
following Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and
hell;
95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather
through many tribulations, than through the assurance of
peace. See the links below
Martin Luther initiated what religious movement?
German theologian Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation in the early 16th century. It was an attempt to reform the Catholic Church.
