Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation

Flashcards covering the life of Martin Luther, the 95 Theses, key theological shifts regarding justification, and the conflict with the Catholic Church.

Ninety-Five Theses

A document written in Latin by Martin Luther and nailed to the church door at the university in Wittenberg on 31 October 1517, intended to invite theological debate.

Indulgences

A practice where the Church sold the remission of punishment or time spent in purgatory, allowing individuals to "buy out" penance through cash contributions.

Diet of Worms

A formal imperial assembly held in 1521 where Martin Luther was summoned before Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and refused to recant his writings.

Purgatory

A doctrine advanced by Pope Gregory in the sixth century regarding a place for purging post-baptismal sins that were not forgiven before death.

Treasury of merits

A 13th-century concept claiming that the excess good works of the saints, the Virgin Mary, and Christ formed an infinite stockpile of merits that the Church could distribute.

Unigenitus

The 1343 papal bull by Pope Clement VI that established official Church doctrine supporting the treasury of merits.

John Tetzel

A Dominican monk and notorious indulgence salesman famous for the slogan: "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs."

Tower experience

An event, possibly in 1515 or 1518, where Luther realized while meditating on Romans 1 that the "righteousness of God" is a gift that saves rather than a standard that condemns.

Impute

To attribute the qualities or characteristics of one person (specifically Christ's righteousness) to another, a key concept in Luther's view of justification.

Impart

To give qualities or characteristics to another so they become an internal state; Luther rejected this view in favor of external, imputed righteousness.

Pelagianism

A heresy opposed by Augustine which held that humans are able to choose the good for themselves and are not born innately sinful.

Desiderius Erasmus

A Dutch Christian humanist scholar who engaged in a famous dispute with Luther over the freedom of the will and published the first complete Greek New Testament in 1516.

The Bondage of the Will

Luther’s 1525 work responding to Erasmus, arguing that human wills are captive to either God or Satan and cannot choose good on their own.

Justification by grace through faith

The foundational Protestant doctrine that people are saved from eternal death solely as a gift of God through faith, not by any works they perform.

Priesthood of all believers

The principle that all believers have direct access to God, removing the need for a privileged class of priests as mediators.