Luther’s Ninety-five Theses Spread Through Print

On 31 October 1517, Martin Luther, a professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg, sent a letter to Archbishop Albert of Brandenburg objecting to the preaching of papal indulgences. Luther enclosed a series of propositions titled the Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, better known as the Ninety-five Theses. Under the Catholic system of penance, believers could seek to reduce temporal punishment for sins in purgatory through charitable acts or church-approved remissions. A renewed campaign authorized by Pope Leo X to fund St. Peter's Basilica had produced aggressive sales tactics by preachers such as Johann Tetzel. Parishioners from Wittenberg travelled across territorial borders to purchase these certificates, returning with the impression that they were released from the personal need for genuine repentance.

Drafted as an invitation to an academic debate, the Ninety-five Theses systematically examined church doctrine regarding penance, papal power, and the afterlife. Luther argued that when Jesus called believers to repent, he demanded an inner transformation across an entire lifetime rather than reliance on sacramental transactions. He contended that the pope had authority to remit only punishments imposed by canon law, lacking jurisdiction over souls in purgatory. The text also criticized the doctrine of the treasury of merit and raised vernacular complaints, asking why the pope did not simply empty purgatory out of love rather than requiring monetary offerings to construct an Italian basilica.