95 The Ideas That Birthed The Reformation

In 1517, an unknown Augustinian monk, informed by his growing belief that salvation is by faith alone, published and distributed a stark criticism of papal abuses in the Catholic Church. In doing so, Martin Luther lit the spark for what would become the Protestant Reformation.

What became known as the “95 Theses” was a series of statements expressing concern with corruption within the Church, primarily the selling of “indulgences” to the people as a means covering them from their sins.

For the 500th anniversary of Luther’s revolutionary writing, Whitaker House is combining each thesis with an excerpt from one of his later works to provide a convenient way to understand the ideas and concepts that became the seeds of the Protestant Reformation.