History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution — Volume 1 — John Shaqi
History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution — Volume 1MacCaffrey, James
Religion
History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution — Volume 1
MacCaffrey, James
Catholic Church -- History -- Modern period, 1500-
Tetzel preached with considerable success in Halberstadt, Magdeburg
and Leipzig, and in May 1517 he found himself in the neighbourhood of
Wittenberg, whence many people flocked to see him, and to gain the
Indulgence. This was not calculated to please Luther or his patron the
Elector, Frederick of Saxony, and provided Luther with an occasion of
giving vent to his own views on good works, Grace, and Justification.
Years before, both in his sermons attacking the Augustinians of the
strict observance for their over confidence in the merits of good
works and penance, and in his commentaries on the Epistles of St. Paul
to the Romans and to the Galatians, he had indicated already that his
views on man's power to do anything good, and on the means and nature
of justification differed widely from those put forward by Catholic
theologians. At last, after careful consideration, following the bent
of his own inclination and the advice of his friends, he determined to
take the field openly by publishing, on the eve of the festival of All
Saints, 1517, his celebrated seventy theses against Indulgences.[10]
This document was drawn up with great skill and foresight. Some of the
theses were perfectly orthodox and professed great reverence for the
teaching of the Church and the authority of the Pope; others of them
were open to an orthodox as well as to an unorthodox interpretation;
others, still, were opposed clearly and definitely to Catholic
doctrine, and all of them were put forward in a way that was likely to
arrest public attention and to win the support of the masses.[11] They
were affixed to the doors of the university church in Wittenberg, and
copies of them were spread broadcast through Germany. Before a week
had elapsed they were discussed with eagerness in all parts of the
country, and the state of feeling became so intense that Tetzel was
obliged to discontinue his mission, and to retire to Frankfurt, where
under the direction of Wimpina, he set himself to draw up a number of
counter theses which he offered to defend.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account