Question

Read theses 81 and 82 in Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses. Explain thesis 82 in your own words. Use the Internet to research any relevant background information.

Answer 1

In Luther's time, there was a large-scale sale of indulgences in Germany to collect money for the construction of a church in Rome. In thesis 82, Luther points out how the practice of selling indulgences is damaging the credibility of the church and detracting from the dignity of the pope's office. Common people were asking why the pope forgave sins for money (a power that church officials selling indulgences ascribed to the pope), but he did not use his powers to free souls that were in Purgatory (a painful state of purification that souls underwent before they could enter heaven).

Answer 2

The text:
81) This unbridled preaching of indulgences makes it difficult even for learned men to rescue the reverence which is due the pope from slander or from the shrewd questions of the laity. 82) Such as: ``Why does not the pope empty purgatory for the sake of holy love and the dire need of the souls that are there if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a church?'' The former reason would be most just; the latter is most trivial.

Martin Luther is making the point that grace is a much better reason for saving souls from purgatory than paying money, and that to say otherwise goes against the core tenants of Christianity, which views money as dangerous and corrupting, and grace and mercy as the virtues that everyone should strive for and that define Christ.