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The Ninety-Five Theses on the Power of Indulgences, commonly known as The Ninety-Five Theses, is a list of complaints about the Catholic Church which was written by Martin Luther in the year 1517.[1]
Luther argued that the Church should not sell indulgences. Because many people agreed, Luther became very popular, paving the way for the Protestant Reformation.
On October 31, 1517, Luther approached the church authorities with his pressing call for reform. On this day he presented them with his theses. When the bishops did not respond, Luther circulated his theses privately. The theses spread quickly and were printed in Nuremberg, Leipzig, and Basel.[2]
Most recently, in February 2007, the media reported that a handwritten note by Luther's secretary Georg Rörer, found in the university library at Jena, appeared to confirm the traditional account of Luther's nailing the theses to the door. As of February 2007, this new find has yet to be assessed by scholars.[3]
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- Erwin Iserloh The Theses Were Not Posted: Luther Between Reform and Reformation. trans. by Jared Wicks, S.J.. Boston: Beacon Press, 1968.
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