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The Ninety
Five Theses
1. When our Lord and Master
Jesus Christ said, "Repent" (Mt 4:17), hewilled
the entire life of believers to be one of
repentance.
2. This word cannot be understood as referring
to the sacrament of penance,that is, confession
and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy.
3. Yet it does not mean solely inner repentance;
such inner repentance isworthless unless it
produces various outward mortification of the
flesh.
4. The penalty of sin remains as long as the
hatred of self (that is, trueinner repentance),
namely till our entrance into the kingdom of
heaven.
5. The pope neither desires nor is able to remit
any penalties except thoseimposed by his own
authority or that of the canons.
6. The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by
declaring and showing thatit has been remitted
by God; or, to be sure, by remitting guilt in
casesreserved to his judgment. If his right to
grant remission in these caseswere disregarded,
the guilt would certainly remain unforgiven.
7. God remits guilt to no one unless at the same
time he humbles him in allthings and makes him
submissive to the vicar, the priest.
8. The penitential canons are imposed only on
the living, and, accordingto the canons
themselves, nothing should be imposed on the
dying.
9. Therefore the Holy Spirit through the pope is
kind to us insofar as thepope in his decrees
always makes exception of the article of death
and ofnecessity.
10. Those priests act ignorantly and wickedly
who, in the case of the dying,reserve canonical
penalties for purgatory.
11. Those tares of changing the canonical
penalty to the penalty of purgatorywere
evidently sown while the bishops slept (Mt
13:25).
12. In former times canonical penalties were
imposed, not after, but beforeabsolution, as
tests of true contrition.
13. The dying are freed by death from all
penalties, are already dead asfar as the canon
laws are concerned, and have a right to be
released fromthem.
14. Imperfect piety or love on the part of the
dying person necessarily bringswith it great
fear; and the smaller the love, the greater the
fear.
15. This fear or horror is sufficient in itself,
to say nothing of otherthings, to constitute the
penalty of purgatory, since it is very near
tothe horror of despair.
16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ
the same as despair, fear,and assurance of
salvation.
17. It seems as though for the souls in
purgatory fear should necessarilydecrease and
love increase.
18. Furthermore, it does not seem proved, either
by reason or by Scripture,that souls in
purgatory are outside the state of merit, that
is, unable togrow in love.
19. Nor does it seem proved that souls in
purgatory, at least not all ofthem, are certain
and assured of their own salvation, even if we
ourselvesmay be entirely certain of it.
20. Therefore the pope, when he uses the words
"plenary remission of allpenalties," does not
actually mean "all penalties," but only those
imposedby himself.
21. Thus those indulgence preachers are in error
who say that a man is absolvedfrom every penalty
and saved by papal indulgences.
22. As a matter of fact, the pope remits to
souls in purgatory no penaltywhich, according to
canon law, they should have paid in this life.
23. If remission of all penalties whatsoever
could be granted to anyone atall, certainly it
would be granted only to the most perfect, that
is, tovery few.
24. For this reason most people are necessarily
deceived by that indiscriminateand high-sounding
promise of release from penalty.
25. That power which the pope has in general
over purgatory corresponds tothe power which any
bishop or curate has in a particular way in his
own dioceseand parish.
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 intercessionfor them.
27. They preach only human doctrines who say
that as soon as the money clinksinto the money
chest, the soul flies out of purgatory.
28. It is certain that when money clinks in the
money chest, greed and avaricecan be increased;
but when the church intercedes, the result is in
the handsof God alone.
29. Who knows whether all souls in purgatory
wish to be redeemed, since wehave exceptions in
St. Severinus and St. Paschal, as related in a
legend.
30. No one is sure of the integrity of his own
contrition, much less of havingreceived plenary
remission.
31. The man who actually buys indulgences is as
rare as he who is reallypenitent; indeed, he is
exceedingly rare.
32. Those who believe that they can be certain
of their salvation becausethey have indulgence
letters will be eternally damned, together with
theirteachers.
33. Men must especially be on guard against
those who say that the pope'spardons are that
inestimable gift of God by which man is
reconciled to him.
34. For the graces of indulgences are concerned
only with the penalties ofsacramental
satisfaction established by man.
35. They who teach that contrition is not
necessary on the part of thosewho intend to buy
souls out of purgatory or to buy confessional
privilegespreach unchristian doctrine.
36. Any truly repentant Christian has a right to
full remission of penaltyand guilt, even without
indulgence letters.
37. Any true Christian, whether living or dead,
participates in all the blessingsof Christ and
the church; and this is granted him by God, even
without indulgenceletters.
38. Nevertheless, papal remission and blessing
are by no means to be disregarded,for they are,
as I have said (Thesis 6), the proclamation of
the divineremission.
39. It is very difficult, even for the most
learned theologians, at one andthe same time to
commend to the people the bounty of indulgences
and theneed of true contrition.
40. A Christian who is truly contrite seeks and
loves to pay penalties forhis sins; the bounty
of indulgences, however, relaxes penalties and
causesmen to hate them -- at least it furnishes
occasion for hating them.
41. Papal indulgences must be preached with
caution, lest people erroneouslythink that they
are preferable to other good works of love.
42. Christians are to be taught that the pope
does not intend that the buyingof indulgences
should in any way be compared with works of
mercy.
43. Christians are to be taught that he who
gives to the poor or lends tothe needy does a
better deed than he who buys indulgences.
44. Because love grows by works of love, man
thereby becomes better. Mandoes not, however,
become better by means of indulgences but is
merely freedfrom penalties.
45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees
a needy man and passes himby, yet gives his
money for indulgences, does not buy papal
indulgences butGod's wrath.
46. Christians are to be taught that, unless
they have more than they need,they must reserve
enough for their family needs and by no means
squanderit on indulgences.
47. Christians are to be taught that they buying
of indulgences is a matterof free choice, not
commanded.
48 Christians are to be taught that the pope, in
granting indulgences, needsand thus desires
their devout prayer more than their money.
49. Christians are to be taught that papal
indulgences are useful only ifthey do not put
their trust in them, but very harmful if they
lose theirfear of God because of them.
50. Christians are to be taught that if the pope
knew the exactions of theindulgence preachers,
he would rather that the basilica of St. Peter
wereburned to ashes than built up with the skin,
flesh, and bones of his sheep.
51. Christians are to be taught that the pope
would and should wish to giveof his own money,
even though he had to sell the basilica of St.
Peter, tomany of those from whom certain hawkers
of indulgences cajole money.
52. It is vain to trust in salvation by
indulgence letters, even though theindulgence
commissary, or even the pope, were to offer his
soul as security.
53. They are the enemies of Christ and the pope
who forbid altogether thepreaching of the Word
of God in some churches in order that
indulgences maybe preached in others.
54. Injury is done to the Word of God when, in
the same sermon, an equalor larger amount of
time is devoted to indulgences than to the Word.
55. It is certainly the pope's sentiment that if
indulgences, which are avery insignificant
thing, are celebrated with one bell, one
procession, andone ceremony, then the gospel,
which is the very greatest thing, should
bepreached with a hundred bells, a hundred
processions, a hundred ceremonies.
56. The true treasures of the church, out of
which the pope distributesindulgences, are not
sufficiently discussed or known among the people
ofChrist.
57. That indulgences are not temporal treasures
is certainly clear, for manyindulgence sellers
do not distribute them freely but only gather
them.
58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and the
saints, for, even without thepope, the latter
always work grace for the inner man, and the
cross, death,and hell for the outer man.
59. St. Lawrence said that the poor of the
church were the treasures of thechurch, but he
spoke according to the usage of the word in his
own time.
60. Without want of consideration we say that
the keys of the church, givenby the merits of
Christ, are that treasure.
61. For it is clear that the pope's power is of
itself sufficient for theremission of penalties
and cases reserved by himself.
62. The true treasure of the church is the most
holy gospel of the gloryand grace of God.
63. But this treasure is naturally most odious,
for it makes the first tobe last (Mt. 20:16).
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 one formerlyfished for men of
wealth.
66. The treasures of indulgences are nets with
which one now fishes for thewealth of men.
67. The indulgences which the demagogues acclaim
as the greatest graces areactually understood to
be such only insofar as they promote gain.
68. They are nevertheless in truth the most
insignificant graces when comparedwith the grace
of God and the piety of the cross.
69. Bishops and curates are bound to admit the
commissaries of papal indulgenceswith all
reverence.
70. But they are much more bound to strain their
eyes and ears lest thesemen preach their own
dreams instead of what the pope has
commissioned.
71. Let him who speaks against the truth
concerning papal indulgences beanathema and
accursed.
72. But let him who guards against the lust and
license of the indulgencepreachers be blessed.
73. Just as the pope justly thunders against
those who by any means whatevercontrive harm to
the sale of indulgences.
74. Much more does he intend to thunder against
those who use indulgencesas a pretext to
contrive harm to holy love and truth.
75. To consider papal indulgences so great that
they could absolve a maneven if he had done the
impossible and had violated the mother of God
ismadness.
76. We say on the contrary that papal
indulgences cannot remove the veryleast of
venial sins as far as guilt is concerned.
77. To say that even St. Peter if he were now
pope, could not grant greatergraces is blasphemy
against St. Peter and the pope.
78. We say on the contrary that even the present
pope, or any pope whatsoever,has greater graces
at his disposal, that is, the gospel, spiritual
powers,gifts of healing, etc., as it is written,
1 Co 12[:28].
79. To say that the cross emblazoned with the
papal coat of arms, and setup by the indulgence
preachers is equal in worth to the cross of
Christ isblasphemy.
80. The bishops, curates, and theologians who
permit such talk to be spreadamong the people
will have to answer for this.
81. This unbridled preaching of indulgences
makes it difficult even for learnedmen to rescue
the reverence which is due the pope from slander
or from theshrewd questions of the laity.
82. Such as: "Why does not the pope empty
purgatory for the sake of holylove and the dire
need of the souls that are there if he redeems
an infinitenumber of souls for the sake of
miserable money with which to build a church?The
former reason would be most just; the latter is
most trivial.
83. Again, "Why are funeral and anniversary
masses for the dead continuedand why does he not
return or permit the withdrawal of the
endowments foundedfor them, since it is wrong to
pray for the redeemed?"
84. Again, "What is this new piety of God and
the pope that for a considerationof money they
permit a man who is impious and their enemy to
buy out of purgatorythe pious soul of a friend
of God and do not rather, because of the needof
that pious and beloved soul, free it for pure
love's sake?"
85. Again, "Why are the penitential canons, long
since abrogated and deadin actual fact and
through disuse, now satisfied by the granting of
indulgencesas though they were still alive and
in force?"
86. Again, "Why does not the pope, whose wealth
is today greater than thewealth of the richest
Crassus, build this one basilica of St. Peter
withhis own money rather than with the money of
poor believers?"
87. Again, "What does the pope remit or grant to
those who by perfect contritionalready have a
right to full remission and blessings?"
88. Again, "What greater blessing could come to
the church than if the popewere to bestow these
remissions and blessings on every believer a
hundredtimes a day, as he now does but once?"
89. "Since the pope seeks the salvation of souls
rather than money by hisindulgences, why does he
suspend the indulgences and pardons previously
grantedwhen they have equal efficacy?"
90. To repress these very sharp arguments of the
laity by force alone, andnot to resolve them by
giving reasons, is to expose the church and the
popeto the ridicule of their enemies and to make
Christians unhappy.
91. If, therefore, indulgences were preached
according to the spirit andintention of the
pope, all these doubts would be readily
resolved. Indeed,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! (Jer 6:14)
93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the
people of Christ, "Cross,cross," and there is no
cross!
94. Christians should be exhorted to be diligent
in following Christ, theirHead, through
penalties, death and hell.
95. And thus be confident of entering into
heaven through many tribulationsrather than
through the false security of peace (Acts
14:22).
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