Luther, Controversy About The Value Of Indulgences

Luther, controversy about the value of indulgences

The text to be treated is a selection of questioning to the power and efficacy of indulgences, better known as the ninety -five thesis, by Martin Luther, published in 1517. And, in this case, collected by Teófanes Egido. Luther’s original work is public, critical and argumentative character. In them, initially, he tries to open an academic debate about the abuses and deficiencies of the Catholic ecclesiastical institution.

Luther (1483-1546) Born in Eisleben and, against the will of his parents, he becomes a monk belonging to the order of the Augustinians. It grows in Germany, which becomes the center of economic life after the great prosperity of the thirteenth century. However, in the fifteenth and sixteenth century, mainly political tensions, the absence of imperial authority, the fragmentation of Germany (with its princes), wars, social discontent, the discrediting of ecclesiastical life, the loss of loss ofCatholic customs and superstition boom, as well as the arrival of epidemics and economic depression created a dark climate throughout Europe.

The Church faces problems in its hierarchy;But also to problems related to faith, as mysticism and superstitions expand. There is a great fear of the final judgment and a great concern for salvation. It was considered that the human being was born with the original sin. In that sense, the ecclesiastical institution became. This system served to finance, among other things, the construction of the Basilica of San Pedro.

Luther’s ninety -five thesis, of which the chosen text speaks, are a critical response, mainly for that sale of indulgences;although also towards other aspects related to faith and church. This Teophanes selection has a numbered list structure (1-95) with intermediate jumps. Among Luther’s ideas stand out:

• The need to do penance throughout life
• The disability of indulgences
• The criticism of the Pope, doubting his ability to grant these indulgences and questioning their moral by not granting them of good will, of being true.
• Salvation through true repentance and faith.

Luther observes an institution with inconsistencies and problems at all levels of it and, also, in the spiritual, doctrinal field. These criticisms are the reflection of a discontent with a long career, in fact, Luther is inspired by characters prior to him that call into question the abuses of the Catholic Church. Before the Lutheran reform there are other reform attempts with figures such as Geert Groot, John Wycliff, Jan Hus or Girolamo Savonarola. However, unlike them, Luther’s success comes from his literary capacity, expansion through printing, the use of Latin and German, and, above all, the civil support that receives, interestingly, byThe German princes.

Initially, he publishes his work with the sole intention of opening an academic debate;But the expansion of his ideas make him the protagonist of an authentic Protestant movement against Catholic hierarchy and doctrine. His reform was a simplification of religious practice and belief. It expanded both by the most popular classes and by the upper classes, with a great draft. The Church tried to retract on several occasions, until Leo X, head of the Church at that time, demands through the Bula Exurge Domine (1520) that he backed down in his statements;But, not doing so, he is excommunicated. A year later, in the Worms diet (1521) he is declared outlawed by Emperor Carlos V;But he is protected by the Elector Duke of Saxony until his death.

The expansion of the Lutheran movement brought with it a series of consequences, mainly social and political. There were rebellions and social conflicts such as "the wars of religion" in France, although in many of these wars between Protestants and Catholics, political-economic pretexts were hidden. Another consequence was the call for the Council of Trent and the development of the counter -reform, by the Catholic Church, with the aim of defining its doctrinal principles and taking disciplinary measures. In addition, it was a movement that inspired other Protestants such as Calvinism or Anglicanism;although they stumbled upon the monarchical resistance of great powers such as France or Spain.

Therefore, Luther was a character who finished turning on the fuse, which many others had helped lightAn agreement, triggering the division of Christianity in Protestants (in favor of reform) and Catholics (protagonists of the “counterreform). Its great influence had a large impact of Europe and subsequent more or less radical movements. An example of this was the subsequent Calvinist movement of great draft in Europe.