95 Theses on Indulgences, by Martin Luther

This edition of the Ninety-Five Theses, by Martin Luther, is hyperlinked to the proofs of each proposition in his Resolutions on Indulgences (also known as the Explanations of the Ninety-Five Theses), as well as to the first apparently relevant section I could find within this blog’s translation of Luther’s Asterisks to Johann Eck’s Obelisks, which had also discussed the theses, though without referring to them clearly by number. The condemnation of some propositions in the papal bull Exsurge Domine is also added, where available, although the condemnations in the Council of Trent should also be consulted, which have not been linked here.

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Out of love and zeal for clarifying the truth, these matters will be discussed in Wittenberg under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology, and lecturer therein. Therefore, he requests that those who cannot debate with us verbally and in person do so by letter in their absence. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, in saying “Repent,” willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. [Proof] [Obelisks]
2. This word cannot be understood as referring to the sacrament of penance (that is, confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy). [Proof]
3. Yet He does not mean solely inner repentance; inner repentance is worthless unless it produces various outward mortifications of the flesh. [Proof] [Obelisks]
4. Therefore, the penalty of sin remains as long as self-hatred (that is, true inward repentance) remains, that is, until we enter the kingdom of heaven. [Proof] [Obelisks]
5. The pope neither desires nor is able to remit any penalties except those imposed by his own authority or that of the canons. [Proof]
6. The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring and confirming that it has been remitted by God; or at most by remitting cases reserved to his judgment, in which he does not actually remit guilt. [Proof] [Obelisks]
7. God never remits any guilt to anyone without at the same time making him humbly subject to the priest, His vicar. [Proof]
8. The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and according to the canons themselves, nothing should be imposed on the dying. [Proof]
9. Therefore, the Holy Spirit, acting in the pope, does well for us by always making exception in his decrees regarding the article of death and necessity. [Proof]
10. Those priests act ignorantly and wickedly who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penances for purgatory. [Proof] [Obelisks]
11. This changing of the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory seems surely to have been sown while the bishops slept. [Proof]
12. Formerly, canonical penalties were imposed, not after absolution, but before, as tests of true contrition. [Proof] [Obelisks]
13. The dying are freed by death from all penalties; they are already dead to the canons, and rightly have exemption from them. [Proof] [Obelisks]
14. The imperfect health or charity of one about to die necessarily brings with it great fear, and the smaller the charity, the greater the fear. [Proof]
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. [Proof] [Obelisks] [Condemnation in Exsurge Domine, 4]
16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ the same as despair, almost despair, and peace of mind differ. [Proof] [Obelisk]
17. It seems as though for souls in purgatory, fear should necessarily decrease and love increase. [Proof]
18. Nor is it proven by any reasoning or scripture that souls in purgatory are outside the state of merit, that is, of increasing love. [Proof] [Obelisks] [Condemnation in Exsurge Domine, 38]
19. Nor does it seem proven that souls in purgatory, at least not all of them, are certain and assured of their own salvation, even if we may be quite certain of it. [Proof] [Obelisks] [Condemnation in Exsurge Domine, 38]
20. Therefore, by full remission of all penalties, the pope does not mean “all” in every sense, but only those penalties imposed by himself. [Proof] [Obelisks]
21. Thus, those preachers of indulgences are in error who say that by the pope’s indulgences a man is freed from every penalty and saved. [Proof]
22. Indeed, the pope remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to the canons, they should have paid in this life. [Proof]
23. If remission of all penalties whatsoever could be granted to anyone, it is certain that it would be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to very few. [Proof]
24. Therefore, it must be the case that the greater part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and high-sounding promise of release from penalty. [Proof]
25. The same power that the pope has over purgatory in general, a bishop or curate has in a particular way in his own diocese and parish. [Proof] [Obelisks]
26. The pope does very well when he grants remission to souls in purgatory, not by the power of the keys (which he does not have), but by way of intercession. [Proof] [Obelisks]
27. They preach man-made fables who say that as soon as the coin jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out of purgatory. [Proof] [Obelisks]
28. It is certain that when the coin jingles into the money-box, greed and avarice can increase; but the intercession of the Church is in the power of God alone. [Proof] [Obelisks]
29. Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory wish to be redeemed, as is told of St. Severinus and St. Paschal? [Proof] [Obelisks]
30. No one is sure of the integrity of his own contrition, much less of having received plenary remission. [Proof] [Obelisks]
31. Rare as is the true penitent, so rare is the man who truly buys indulgences; that is to say, most rare. [Proof] [Obelisks]
32. Those who believe that they can be certain of their salvation because they have indulgence letters will be eternally damned, along with their teachers. [Proof]
33. Men must be on guard against those who say that the pope’s indulgences are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to Him. [Proof]
34. For the graces of indulgences concern only the penalties of sacramental satisfaction established by man. [Proof]
35. They preach no Christian doctrine who teach that contrition is not necessary for those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessional privileges. [Proof]
36. Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without indulgence letters. [Proof]
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 indulgence letters. [Proof]
38. Nevertheless, the remission and participation granted by the pope must not be despised, for they are, as I have said, the declaration of divine remission. [Proof]
39. It is most difficult, even for the very keenest theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people the bounty of indulgences and the need of true contrition. [Proof] [Obelisks]
40. A Christian who is truly contrite seeks and loves to pay penalties for his sins; the bounty of indulgences, however, relaxes penalties and causes men to hate them—at least it furnishes occasion for hating them. [Proof] [Obelisks]
41. Apostolic indulgences must be preached with caution, lest people falsely think that they are preferable to other good works of love. [Proof]
42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend that the buying of indulgences should in any way be compared with works of mercy. [Proof]
43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better work than buying indulgences. [Proof] [Obelisks]
44. Because love grows by works of love, and man becomes better; but by indulgences man does not become better, only freer from penalty. [Proof]
45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a needy man and passes him by, and yet gives money for indulgences, does not buy papal indulgences but God’s wrath. [Proof] [Obelisks]
46. Christians are to be taught that, unless they have more than they need, they must reserve enough for their own families and by no means squander it on indulgences. [Proof]
47. Christians are to be taught that the buying of indulgences is a matter of free choice, not commanded. [Proof]
48. Christians are to be taught that the pope, when he grants indulgences, needs and thus desires their devout prayers more than their money. [Proof]
49. Christians are to be taught that papal indulgences are useful only if they do not put their trust in them, but are most harmful if they lose their fear of God because of them. [Proof]
50. Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the indulgence preachers, he would rather that the Basilica of St. Peter were burned to ashes than built up with the skin, flesh, and bones of his sheep. [Proof]
51. Christians are to be taught that the pope would and should wish to give of his own money, even though he had to sell the Basilica of St. Peter, to many of those from whom certain hawkers of indulgences cajole money. [Proof]
52. It is vain to trust in salvation by indulgence letters, even though the indulgence commissary, or even the pope himself, were to offer his own soul as security. [Proof]
53. They are enemies of Christ and the pope who forbid altogether the preaching of the Word of God in some churches in order that indulgences may be preached in others. [Proof]
54. Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or a longer time is spent on indulgences than on the Word. [Proof]
55. It is the pope’s duty to wish that if indulgences, which are a very small thing, are celebrated with one bell, one procession, and one ceremony, then the Gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies. [Proof]
56. The “treasures of the Church,” out of which the pope grants indulgences, are not sufficiently spoken of or known among the people of Christ. [Proof] [Obelisks]
57. That they are not temporal treasures is certainly evident, for many of the preachers do not distribute them freely but only gather them. [Proof]
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. [Proof] [Obelisks] [Condemnation in Exsurge Domine, 17]
59. St. Lawrence said that the poor of the Church were the treasures of the Church, but he spoke according to the usage of the word in his own time. [Proof]
60. Without want of consideration we say that the keys of the Church, given by the merits of Christ, are that treasure. [Proof] [Obelisks]
61. For it is clear that the power of the pope is of itself sufficient for the remission of penalties and cases reserved by his judgment. [Proof]
62. The true treasure of the Church is the most holy Gospel of the glory and grace of God. [Proof] [Obelisks]
63. But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last. [Proof]
64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first. [Proof]
65. Therefore, the treasures of the Gospel are nets with which one formerly fished for men of wealth. [Proof]
66. The treasures of indulgences are nets with which one now fishes for the wealth of men. [Proof]
67. The indulgences which the preachers loudly proclaim to be the greatest graces are indeed understood to be such only insofar as they promote gain. [Proof]
68. They are nevertheless in truth the very smallest graces when compared with the grace of God and the piety of the cross. [Proof]
69. Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of papal indulgences with all reverence. [Proof] [Obelisks]
70. But they are much more bound to strain their eyes and ears lest these men preach their own dreams instead of what the pope has commissioned. [Proof]
71. Let him be anathema and accursed who denies the apostolic character of the indulgences. [Proof]
72. But let him be blessed who guards against the wantonness and license of the indulgence preachers' words. [Proof]
73. Just as the pope justly thunders against those who by any means whatsoever contrive harm to the sale of indulgences, [Proof]
74. Much more does he intend to thunder against those who, under the pretext of indulgences, contrive harm to holy love and truth. [Proof]
75. To think the papal indulgences so great that they could absolve a man even if he had committed an impossible sin and violated the Mother of God is madness. [Proof]
76. We say, on the contrary, that papal indulgences cannot remove the very least of venial sins, as far as guilt is concerned. [Proof]
77. To say that even St. Peter, if he were now pope, could not grant greater graces is blasphemy against St. Peter and the pope. [Obelisks]
78. We say, on the contrary, that even the present pope, and any pope whatsoever, has greater graces at his disposal; namely, the Gospel, powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written in 1 Corinthians 12. [Proof]
79. To say that the cross emblazoned with the papal arms and set up by the indulgence preachers is equal in worth to the cross of Christ is blasphemy. [Proof]
80. Bishops, curates, and theologians who allow such talk to be spread among the people will have to answer for this. [Proof]
81. This unbridled preaching of indulgences makes it difficult even for learned men to rescue the reverence due to the pope from slander, or even from the shrewd questionings of the laity. [Proof] [Obelisks]
82. Such as: “Why does not the pope empty purgatory for the sake of holy love and 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.” [Proof]
83. Again: “Why do funeral and anniversary masses for the dead continue, and why does he not return or permit the benefactions founded for them to be refunded, since it is wrong to pray for those already redeemed?” [Proof]
84. Again: “What is this new piety of God and the pope, that for money they allow a man who is impious and an enemy to redeem a pious soul that loves God, and yet do not redeem the pious soul out of free charity because of its own great need?”
85. Again: “Why are the penitential canons, long since abrogated and dead in actual fact and through disuse, nevertheless still redeemed with money through indulgences, as if they were fully operative?”
86. Again: “Why does not the pope, whose wealth is today greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build this one basilica of St. Peter with his own money rather than with the money of poor believers?” [Proof]
87. Again: “What does the pope remit or grant to those who by perfect contrition already have a right to full remission and blessings?” [Proof]
88. Again: “What greater blessing could come to the Church than if the pope were to bestow these remissions and blessings on every believer a hundred times a day, as he now does but once?” [Proof]
89. “Since the pope seeks the salvation of souls rather than money by his indulgences, why does he suspend the indulgences and pardons previously granted, since these have equal efficacy?” [Proof]
90. To repress these very sharp arguments 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. [Proof] [Obelisks]
91. If, therefore, indulgences were preached according to the spirit and mind of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved; indeed, they would not exist. [Proof]
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, death, and hell;
95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven through many tribulations rather than through the false security of peace. [Obelisks]