Several existing problems led to the Christian reformation in 1517. The religious body of Europe was the Roman Catholic church and it controlled the different rulers of Europe. Furthermore, money was lost as it went into the Roman Catholic treasury in Rome and people were unhappy. The scholars then who studied humanities were unhappy with the moral corruption in the Roman Catholic church. There were also Christians who contended that salvation was obtained by grace and not through sacraments as administered by the Roman Catholic church. One of the main disagreements was regarding the indulgence system of the Roman Catholic church. This was the main cause of the Christian Reformation in 1517. Cairns writes about the Roman Catholic beliefs:
After one repented of sin and had confessed it, one was assured of absolution by the priest, provided satisfaction was made. It was thought that the guilt of sin and eternal punishment for sin were forgiven by God but that there was a temporal satisfaction that the repentant sinner must fulfill either in this life or in purgatory [according to Roman Catholicism, a temporary hell]. This satisfaction might be a pilgrimage to a shrine, a payment of money to a church, or some meritorious deed. The indulgence was a document that could be bought for a sum of money and that would free one from the temporal penalty of sin. It was believed that Christ and the saints had achieved so much merit during their earthly lives that the excess merit was laid up in a heavenly treasure of merit on which the pope could draw on behalf of the living faithful” (Earle E. Cairns, Christianity through the Centuries [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1954], p. 252).
A Dominican monk, Johann Tetzel, “used high pressure sales methods to step up sales and promised remission of temporal punishment for the gravest of sins if the sinner would only buy an indulgence” (Cairns, 283). This erroneous teaching contradicts the clear teaching of the Bible: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph 2:8-9). We are saved solely by God’s mercy and grace. Our or anyone’s good works cannot save us in anyway or bring us to heaven.
The above historical factors, especially the abuse of indulgences, led Martin Luther to write his 95 theses against the Roman Catholic church. He pinned his theses on the door of the church of Wittenberg on 31st October, 1517. This protest not only pointed out the errors of the Roman Catholic church in Europe. More importantly, it exposed the errors that veiled people from hearing the pure gospel of Jesus Christ. In this way, people could once again know correctly Jesus Christ and receive salvation, eternal life and heaven, which comes only by the grace of God. We are grateful to God for raising people like Martin Luther who contended for the Christian faith.