From Luther's day to the present. October 31. 1517 has been considered the birthday of the Reformation. At noon on this Eve of all Saint' Day. Luther nailed on the Castle Church door, which served as a bulletin board for faculty and students of the Un...
From Luther's day to the present. October 31. 1517 has been considered the birthday of the Reformation. At noon on this Eve of all Saint' Day. Luther nailed on the Castle Church door, which served as a bulletin board for faculty and students of the University of Wittenberg, his ninety-five theses, as his disputation on the power and Efficacy of Indulgences has commonly been called.
In the Ninety-five these Luther applied his evangelical theology to indulgences. He hoped thereby to find an answer to a practical problem which had disturbed him and other sincere Christian for a long time. As a pastor he hat noted the bad effects of indulgences upon the members of his own congregation, many of whom were going to nearly Ju¨ter beg and Zerbst in Brandenburg to buy indulgence slips from Johan Tetzel. This practical question raised for him a deeper one, the question of their efficacy.
He did not as yet deny the validity of indulgences or the sacrament of penance out of which they had grown. He did not even mention justification by faith in these theses, although the implications of that doctrine are present and were not lost upon his enemies. But be due to his ninety five theses, the Reformation came into the world.
The important points of the ninety-five theses are three point. One is the repentance and the salvaton. thesis 1. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, 'Repent'(Matt. 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to he one of repentance, thesis 36. Any truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without indulgence letters, thesis 37. Any true Christian, whether living as dead, participates in all the blessings of Christ and the Church : and this is granted him by God, even indulgence letters. Other is the pope's authority or that of the canon. thesis 5. The pope neither desire nor is able to remit any penalties except those imposed by his authority or that of the canon. thesis 6. The pope can not remit any guilt, except by declaring and showing that it has been remitted by God: or to he sure, by remitting guilt in cases reserved to his judgement. If his right to grant remission in these case were disregarded, the guilt would certaintly remain unforgiven. thesis 22. As of matter of fact, the pope remits soul is purgatory no penalty which, according to canon law, they should have paid in his life.
The third is the indulgence. thesis 53. They are enemies of Chirst and the pope who forbid altogether the preaching of the Word of God in some churches in order that indulgences may be preached in others. thesis 54. Injury is done the word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or larger amount of time is devoted to indulgences than to the Word. theses 62. The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.
Since M. Luter's Reformation, the protestant Churches have been reformed, also Korean churches have been reformed during one hundred and ten years. Now Korean churches have to reformed. I expect that this treatise will be contribute toward the reformation of Korean Churches.