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N0KFQ > TODAY 01.11.14 05:13l 55 Lines 2527 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Oct 31
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Oct 31, 1517:
Martin Luther posts 95 theses
On this day in 1517, the priest and scholar Martin Luther
approaches the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany,
and nails a piece of paper to it containing the 95 revolutionary
opinions that would begin the Protestant Reformation.
In his theses, Luther condemned the excesses and corruption of
the Roman Catholic Church, especially the papal practice of
asking payment_called "indulgences"_for the forgiveness of sins.
At the time, a Dominican priest named Johann Tetzel, commissioned
by the Archbishop of Mainz and Pope Leo X, was in the midst of a
major fundraising campaign in Germany to finance the renovation
of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Though Prince Frederick III the
Wise had banned the sale of indulgences in Wittenberg, many
church members traveled to purchase them. When they returned,
they showed the pardons they had bought to Luther, claiming they
no longer had to repent for their sins.
Luther's frustration with this practice led him to write the 95
Theses, which were quickly snapped up, translated from Latin into
German and distributed widely. A copy made its way to Rome, and
efforts began to convince Luther to change his tune. He refused
to keep silent, however, and in 1521 Pope Leo X formally
excommunicated Luther from the Catholic Church. That same year,
Luther again refused to recant his writings before the Holy Roman
Emperor Charles V of Germany, who issued the famous Edict of
Worms declaring Luther an outlaw and a heretic and giving
permission for anyone to kill him without consequence. Protected
by Prince Frederick, Luther began working on a German translation
of the Bible, a task that took 10 years to complete.
The term "Protestant" first appeared in 1529, when Charles V
revoked a provision that allowed the ruler of each German state
to choose whether they would enforce the Edict of Worms. A number
of princes and other supporters of Luther issued a protest,
declaring that their allegiance to God trumped their allegiance
to the emperor. They became known to their opponents as
Protestants; gradually this name came to apply to all who
believed the Church should be reformed, even those outside
Germany. By the time Luther died, of natural causes, in 1546, his
revolutionary beliefs had formed the basis for the Protestant
Reformation, which would over the next three centuries
revolutionize Western civilization.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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