95 Theses

Martin Luther's "Ninety-Five Theses" is a list of grievances regarding the sale of indulgences to the faithful. Luther offers Biblical support for his argument, in which he states that the sale of indulgences in exchange for a)penance for present and future sins or b)penance for the dead's sins is a practice which goes against the foundations of the church's doctrine on eternal salvation or damnation. At the time, Pope Leo X was employing …

…looking for reform within the church. Initially, he had no intention of leading the second permanent schism in Christendom. Although Luther did not start out with the hopes of leading what became the Protestant Reformation, his suggestions to the pope began a series of events that made it somewhat inevitable. The consequent split in the church began generations of religious discrimination by adding many new sects of Christianity, each just as intolerant as the next.