96 thesis

Search a pre-defined list

The Whole Bible The Old Testament The New Testament ────────────── Pentateuch Historical Books Poetical Books Wisdom Literature Prophets Major Prophets Minor Prophets ────────────── The Gospels Luke-Acts Pauline Epistles General Epistles Johannine Writings ────────────── Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Songs Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Hebrews James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation

OR Select a range of biblical books

Select a Beginning Point Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Songs Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Hebrews James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation

Select an Ending Point Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings 1 Chronicles 2 Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Songs Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Hebrews James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation

OR Custom Selection:

Use semicolons to separate groups: 'Gen;Jdg;Psa-Mal' or 'Rom 3-12;Mat 1:15;Mat 5:12-22'

Click to Change

Return to Top

Martin Luther :: Ninety-Five Theses on the Power of Indulgences

Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences

In 1517, Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk posted upon the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg (in the manner common to those issuing bulletin of an upcoming event or debate) the Ninety-Five Theses on the Power of Indulgences , what has commonly become known as The Ninety-Five Theses . The contents of his posting challenged the current teaching of the Church on penance and indulgences, questioning as well the authority of the pope. Reaction to Luther's Theses was immediate and strong, leading to his excommunication from the Roman Church and the eventual birth of the Protestant Reformation. Luther's historically important defense of the gospel is noted and celebrated annually on 31 October, Reformation Day. The following is the translated text of the Ninety-Five Theses .

Out of love and concern for the truth, and with the object of eliciting it, the following heads will be the subject of a public discussion at Wittenberg under the presidency of the reverend father, Martin Luther, Augustinian, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology, and duly appointed Lecturer on these subjects in that place. He requests that whoever cannot be present personally to debate the matter orally will do so in absence in writing.

• When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said "Repent", He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.
• The word cannot be properly understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, i.e. confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy.
• Yet its meaning is not restricted to repentance in one's heart; for such repentance is null unless it produces outward signs in various mortifications of the flesh.
• As long as hatred of self abides (i.e. true inward repentance) the penalty of sin abides, viz., until we enter the kingdom of heaven.
• The pope has neither the will nor the power to remit any penalties beyond those imposed either at his own discretion or by canon law.
• The pope himself cannot remit guilt, but only declare and confirm that it has been remitted by God; or, at most, he can remit it in cases reserved to his discretion. Except for these cases, the guilt remains untouched.
• God never remits guilt to anyone without, at the same time, making him humbly submissive to the priest, His representative.
• The penitential canons apply only to men who are still alive, and, according to the canons themselves, none applies to the dead.
• Accordingly, the Holy Spirit, acting in the person of the pope, manifests grace to us, by the fact that the papal regulations always cease to apply at death, or in any hard case.
• It is a wrongful act, due to ignorance, when priests retain the canonical penalties on the dead in purgatory.
• When canonical penalties were changed and made to apply to purgatory, surely it would seem that tares were sown while the bishops were asleep.
• In former days, the canonical penalties were imposed, not after, but before absolution was pronounced; and were intended to be tests of true contrition.
• Death puts an end to all the claims of the Church; even the dying are already dead to the canon laws, and are no longer bound by them.
• Defective piety or love in a dying person is necessarily accompanied by great fear, which is greatest where the piety or love is least.
• This fear or horror is sufficient in itself, whatever else might be said, to constitute the pain of purgatory, since it approaches very closely to the horror of despair.
• There seems to be the same difference between hell, purgatory, and heaven as between despair, uncertainty, and assurance.
• Of a truth, the pains of souls in purgatory ought to be abated, and charity ought to be proportionately increased.
• Moreover, it does not seem proved, on any grounds of reason or Scripture, that these souls are outside the state of merit, or unable to grow in grace.
• Nor does it seem proved to be always the case that they are certain and assured of salvation, even if we are very certain ourselves.
• Therefore the pope, in speaking of the plenary remission of all penalties, does not mean "all" in the strict sense, but only those imposed by himself.
• Hence those who preach indulgences are in error when they say that a man is absolved and saved from every penalty by the pope's indulgences.
• Indeed, he cannot remit to souls in purgatory any penalty which canon law declares should be suffered in the present life.
• If plenary remission could be granted to anyone at all, it would be only in the cases of the most perfect, i.e. to very few.
• It must therefore be the case that the major part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and high-sounding promise of relief from penalty.
• The same power as the pope exercises in general over purgatory is exercised in particular by every single bishop in his bishopric and priest in his parish.
• The pope does excellently when he grants remission to the souls in purgatory on account of intercessions made on their behalf, and not by the power of the keys (which he cannot exercise for them).
• There is no divine authority for preaching that the soul flies out of the purgatory immediately the money clinks in the bottom of the chest.
• It is certainly possible that when the money clinks in the bottom of the chest avarice and greed increase; but when the church offers intercession, all depends in the will of God.
• Who knows whether all souls in purgatory wish to be redeemed in view of what is said of St. Severinus and St. Pascal? (Note: Paschal I, pope 817-24. The legend is that he and Severinus were willing to endure the pains of purgatory for the benefit of the faithful).
• No one is sure of the reality of his own contrition, much less of receiving plenary forgiveness.
• Rare as is the man that is truly penitent, so rare is also the man who truly buys indulgences, i.e., such men are most rare.
• All those who believe themselves certain of their own salvation by means of letters of indulgence, will be eternally damned, together with their teachers.
• We should be most carefully on our guard against those who say that the papal indulgences are an inestimable divine gift, and that a man is reconciled to God by them.
• For the grace conveyed by these indulgences relates simply to the penalties of the sacramental "satisfactions" decreed merely by man.
• It is not in accordance with Christian doctrines to preach and teach that those who buy off souls, or purchase confessional licenses, have no need to repent of their own sins.
• Any Christian whatsoever, who is truly repentant, enjoys plenary remission from penalty and guilt, and this is given him without letters of indulgence.
• Any true Christian whatsoever, living or dead, participates in all the benefits of Christ and the Church; and this participation is granted to him by God without letters of indulgence.
• Yet the pope's remission and dispensation are in no way to be despised, for, as already said, they proclaim the divine remission.
• It is very difficult, even for the most learned theologians, to extol to the people the great bounty contained in the indulgences, while, at the same time, praising contrition as a virtue.
• A truly contrite sinner seeks out, and loves to pay, the penalties of his sins; whereas the very multitude of indulgences dulls men's consciences, and tends to make them hate the penalties.
• Papal indulgences should only be preached with caution, lest people gain a wrong understanding, and think that they are preferable to other good works: those of love.
• Christians should be taught that the pope does not at all intend that the purchase of indulgences should be understood as at all comparable with the works of mercy.
• Christians should be taught that one who gives to the poor, or lends to the needy, does a better action than if he purchases indulgences.
• Because, by works of love, love grows and a man becomes a better man; whereas, by indulgences, he does not become a better man, but only escapes certain penalties.
• Christians should be taught that he who sees a needy person, but passes him by although he gives money for indulgences, gains no benefit from the pope's pardon, but only incurs the wrath of God.
• Christians should be taught that, unless they have more than they need, they are bound to retain what is only necessary for the upkeep of their home, and should in no way squander it on indulgences.
• Christians should be taught that they purchase indulgences voluntarily, and are not under obligation to do so.
• Christians should be taught that, in granting indulgences, the pope has more need, and more desire, for devout prayer on his own behalf than for ready money.
• Christians should be taught that the pope's indulgences are useful only if one does not rely on them, but most harmful if one loses the fear of God through them.
• Christians should be taught that, if the pope knew the exactions of the indulgence-preachers, he would rather the church of St. Peter were reduced to ashes than be built with the skin, flesh, and bones of the sheep.
• Christians should be taught that the pope would be willing, as he ought if necessity should arise, to sell the church of St. Peter, and give, too, his own money to many of those from whom the pardon-merchants conjure money.
• It is vain to rely on salvation by letters of indulgence, even if the commissary, or indeed the pope himself, were to pledge his own soul for their validity.
• Those are enemies of Christ and the pope who forbid the word of God to be preached at all in some churches, in order that indulgences may be preached in others.
• The word of God suffers injury if, in the same sermon, an equal or longer time is devoted to indulgences than to that word.
• The pope cannot help taking the view that if indulgences (very small matters) are celebrated by one bell, one pageant, or one ceremony, the gospel (a very great matter) should be preached to the accompaniment of a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.
• The treasures of the church, out of which the pope dispenses indulgences, are not sufficiently spoken of or known among the people of Christ.
• That these treasures are not temporal are clear from the fact that many of the merchants do not grant them freely, but only collect them.
• Nor are they the merits of Christ and the saints, because, even apart from the pope, these merits are always working grace in the inner man, and working the cross, death, and hell in the outer man.
• St. Laurence said that the poor were the treasures of the church, but he used the term in accordance with the custom of his own time.
• We do not speak rashly in saying that the treasures of the church are the keys of the church, and are bestowed by the merits of Christ.
• For it is clear that the power of the pope suffices, by itself, for the remission of penalties and reserved cases.
• The true treasure of the church is the Holy gospel of the glory and the grace of God.
• It is right to regard this treasure as most odious, for it makes the first to be the last.
• On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is most acceptable, for it makes the last to be the first.
• Therefore the treasures of the gospel are nets which, in former times, they used to fish for men of wealth.
• The treasures of the indulgences are the nets to-day which they use to fish for men of wealth.
• The indulgences, which the merchants extol as the greatest of favours, are seen to be, in fact, a favourite means for money-getting.
• Nevertheless, they are not to be compared with the grace of God and the compassion shown in the Cross.
• Bishops and curates, in duty bound, must receive the commissaries of the papal indulgences with all reverence.
• But they are under a much greater obligation to watch closely and attend carefully lest these men preach their own fancies instead of what the pope commissioned.
• Let him be anathema and accursed who denies the apostolic character of the indulgences.
• On the other hand, let him be blessed who is on his guard against the wantonness and license of the pardon-merchant's words.
• In the same way, the pope rightly excommunicates those who make any plans to the detriment of the trade in indulgences.
• It is much more in keeping with his views to excommunicate those who use the pretext of indulgences to plot anything to the detriment of holy love and truth.
• It is foolish to think that papal indulgences have so much power that they can absolve a man even if he has done the impossible and violated the mother of God.
• We assert the contrary, and say that the pope's pardons are not able to remove the least venial of sins as far as their guilt is concerned.
• When it is said that not even St. Peter, if he were now pope, could grant a greater grace, it is blasphemy against St. Peter and the pope.
• We assert the contrary, and say that he, and any pope whatever, possesses greater graces, viz., the gospel, spiritual powers, gifts of healing, etc., as is declared in I Corinthians 12 [:28] .
• It is blasphemy to say that the insignia of the cross with the papal arms are of equal value to the cross on which Christ died.
• The bishops, curates, and theologians, who permit assertions of that kind to be made to the people without let or hindrance, will have to answer for it.
• This unbridled preaching of indulgences makes it difficult for learned men to guard the respect due to the pope against false accusations, or at least from the keen criticisms of the laity.
• They ask, e.g.: Why does not the pope liberate everyone from purgatory for the sake of love (a most holy thing) and because of the supreme necessity of their souls? This would be morally the best of all reasons. Meanwhile he redeems innumerable souls for money, a most perishable thing, with which to build St. Peter's church, a very minor purpose.
• Again: Why should funeral and anniversary masses for the dead continue to be said? And why does not the pope repay, or permit to be repaid, the benefactions instituted for these purposes, since it is wrong to pray for those souls who are now redeemed?
• Again: Surely this is a new sort of compassion, on the part of God and the pope, when an impious man, an enemy of God, is allowed to pay money to redeem a devout soul, a friend of God; while yet that devout and beloved soul is not allowed to be redeemed without payment, for love's sake, and just because of its need of redemption.
• Again: Why are the penitential canon laws, which in fact, if not in practice, have long been obsolete and dead in themselves-why are they, to-day, still used in imposing fines in money, through the granting of indulgences, as if all the penitential canons were fully operative?
• Again: since the pope's income to-day is larger than that of the wealthiest of wealthy men, why does he not build this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of indigent believers?
• Again: What does the pope remit or dispense to people who, by their perfect repentance, have a right to plenary remission or dispensation?
• Again: Surely a greater good could be done to the church if the pope were to bestow these remissions and dispensations, not once, as now, but a hundred times a day, for the benefit of any believer whatever.
• What the pope seeks by indulgences is not money, but rather the salvation of souls; why then does he suspend the letters and indulgences formerly conceded, and still as efficacious as ever?
• These questions are serious matters of conscience to the laity. To suppress them by force alone, and not to refute them by giving reasons, is to expose the church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies, and to make Christian people unhappy.
• If therefore, indulgences were preached in accordance with the spirit and mind of the pope, all these difficulties would be easily overcome, and indeed, cease to exist.
• Away, then, with those prophets who say to Christ's people, "Peace, peace," where in there is no peace.
• Hail, hail to all those prophets who say to Christ's people, "The cross, the cross," where there is no cross.
• Christians should be exhorted to be zealous to follow Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hells.
• And let them thus be more confident of entering heaven through many tribulations rather than through a false assurance of peace.

Search Results in Other Versions

Search results by book, blb searches, search the bible.

Advanced Options

There are options set in 'Advanced Options'

Theological FAQs

Other Searches

Multi-Verse Retrieval

* 'Number Delimiters' only apply to 'Paragraph Order'

Let's Connect

Daily devotionals.

Blue Letter Bible offers several daily devotional readings in order to help you refocus on Christ and the Gospel of His peace and righteousness.

• BLB Daily Promises
• Day by Day by Grace
• Morning and Evening
• Faith's Checkbook
• Daily Bible Reading

Daily Bible Reading Plans

Recognizing the value of consistent reflection upon the Word of God in order to refocus one's mind and heart upon Christ and His Gospel of peace, we provide several reading plans designed to cover the entire Bible in a year.

One-Year Plans

• Chronological
• Old Testament and New Testament Together

Two-Year Plan

• Canonical Five Day Plan

Recently Popular Pages

• H3068 - Yᵊhōvâ - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv)
• O.T. Names of God - Study Resources
• Hoekstra's Day by Day by Grace
• David Guzik :: Study Guide for James 5
• Servants Honored by C. H. Spurgeon
• David Guzik :: Hechos 9 – La Conversión de Saulo de Tarso
• David Guzik :: Génesis 3 – La tentación y caída del hombre
• David Guzik :: 1 Samuel 22 – David en la Cueva de Adulam, Saúl Asesina a los Sacerdotes
• David Guzik :: 1 Corintios 7 – Principios Sobre el Matrimonio y la Soltería

Recently Popular Media

• Jehovah's Witnesses, Jesus and the Holy Trinity (Walter Martin)
• Who Is Jesus Christ? (Tony Clark)
• Romans 3-4 (1982-85 Audio) (Chuck Smith)
• Intro. - Universal Beginnings (Chuck Missler)
• Romans 1-2 (1982-85 Audio) (Chuck Smith)
• Romans 4:2-3 (Dr. J. Vernon McGee)
• Romans 4:4-5 (Dr. J. Vernon McGee)
• Acts 12-13 (1982-85 Audio) (Chuck Smith)
• Matthew 4:1-11 (Dr. J. Vernon McGee)
• 1 Peter 3-5 (1982-85 Audio) (Chuck Smith)

CONTENT DISCLAIMER:

The Blue Letter Bible ministry and the BLB Institute hold to the historical, conservative Christian faith, which includes a firm belief in the inerrancy of Scripture. Since the text and audio content provided by BLB represent a range of evangelical traditions, all of the ideas and principles conveyed in the resource materials are not necessarily affirmed, in total, by this ministry.

Blue Letter Bible

Login to your account.

Email / username or password was incorrect!

Check your email for password retrieval

 Keep me logged in!

Did you forget your password?

Register a new BLB account

Complete the form below to register  [?]

Error: That Email is already registered

Error: Please provide a valid Email

Error: Passwords should have at least 6 characters

Error: Passwords do not match

Error: Please provide a valid first name

Error: That username is already taken

Error: Usernames should only contain letters, numbers, dots, dashes, or underscores

← Login to Your Account

Passwords should have at least 6 characters. Usernames should only contain letters, numbers, dots, dashes, or underscores.

Thank you for registering. A verification email has been sent to the address you provided.

Did You Know BLB Is User Supported?

Your partnership makes all we do possible. Would you prayerfully consider a gift of support today?

Cookie Notice: Our website uses cookies to store user preferences. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. Please see Blue Letter Bible's Privacy Policy for cookie usage details.

Old Testament

New testament.

• Search Menu
• Advance articles
• Author Guidelines
• Submission Site
• Open Access
• Why Publish with EHR?
• About The English Historical Review
• Editorial Board
• Advertising and Corporate Services
• Journals Career Network
• Self-Archiving Policy
• Dispatch Dates
• Books for Review
• Terms and Conditions
• Journals on Oxford Academic
• Books on Oxford Academic

Article Contents

• < Previous

Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses and the Origins of the Reformation Narrative

• Article contents
• Figures & tables
• Supplementary Data

C Scott Dixon, Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses and the Origins of the Reformation Narrative, The English Historical Review , Volume 132, Issue 556, June 2017, Pages 533–569, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/cex224

• Permissions Icon Permissions

With the quincentenary of the German Reformation now upon us, it is worth revisiting how, and why, the posting of the 95 theses emerged as such a defining moment in the Reformation story. It is easy to understand why it has assumed pride of place in modern histories. What is less easy to understand, however, is why the theses-posting emerged as the critical moment in the early modern accounts, for there were many other moments with even more drama and proximate significance for the Reformation. Moreover, the posting of theses had little shock-value at the time. Many professors posted academic theses, many reform-minded Christians had questioned indulgences, and many high-profile German intellectuals had written at least one critical piece against Rome. The following article begins with a survey of the origins of Reformation history and traces the incorporation of the theses-posting into the narrative stream. The second section examines the reasons why this act remained so prominent in the Lutheran memory during the two centuries after the Reformation by relating it to a broader analytical framework and sense of self-perception. The final section examines the process of reinterpretation that occurred during the period of late Lutheran Orthodoxy and the early Enlightenment, when scholars started to revisit the episode and sketch out the features of the modern view. The broader aim is to demonstrate how historical conditions can shape historical facts, even when those facts were bound to something as seemingly idealistic as the origins of a new Church.

Email alerts

Citing articles via.

• Recommend to your Library

Affiliations

• Online ISSN 1477-4534
• Print ISSN 0013-8266
• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Institutional account management
• Rights and permissions
• Get help with access
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

by Dr. Martin Luther, 1517

Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences by Dr. Martin Luther (1517)

Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter. In the Name our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance. 2. This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance, i.e., confession and satisfaction, which is administered by the priests. 3. Yet it means not inward repentance only; nay, there is no inward repentance which does not outwardly work divers mortifications of the flesh. 4. The penalty [of sin], therefore, continues so long as hatred of self continues; for this is the true inward repentance, and continues until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven. 5. The pope does not intend to remit, and cannot remit any penalties other than those which he has imposed either by his own authority or by that of the Canons. 6. The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring that it has been remitted by God and by assenting to God's remission; though, to be sure, he may grant remission in cases reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in such cases were despised, the guilt would remain entirely unforgiven. 7. God remits guilt to no one whom He does not, at the same time, humble in all things and bring into subjection to His vicar, the priest. 8. The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and, according to them, nothing should be imposed on the dying. 9. Therefore the Holy Spirit in the pope is kind to us, because in his decrees he always makes exception of the article of death and of necessity. 10. Ignorant and wicked are the doings of those priests who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penances for purgatory. 11. This changing of the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory is quite evidently one of the tares that were sown while the bishops slept. 12. In former times the canonical penalties were imposed not after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition. 13. The dying are freed by death from all penalties; they are already dead to canonical rules, and have a right to be released from them. 14. The imperfect health [of soul], that is to say, the imperfect love, of the dying brings with it, of necessity, great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater is the fear. 15. This fear and horror is sufficient of itself alone (to say nothing of other things) to constitute the penalty of purgatory, since it is very near to the horror of despair. 16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ as do despair, almost-despair, and the assurance of safety. 17. With souls in purgatory it seems necessary that horror should grow less and love increase. 18. It seems unproved, either by reason or Scripture, that they are outside the state of merit, that is to say, of increasing love. 19. Again, it seems unproved that they, or at least that all of them, are certain or assured of their own blessedness, though we may be quite certain of it. 20. Therefore by "full remission of all penalties" the pope means not actually "of all," but only of those imposed by himself. 21. Therefore those preachers of indulgences are in error, who say that by the pope's indulgences a man is freed from every penalty, and saved; 22. Whereas he remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to the canons, they would have had to pay in this life. 23. If it is at all possible to grant to any one the remission of all penalties whatsoever, it is certain that this remission can be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to the very fewest. 24. It must needs be, therefore, that the greater part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and highsounding promise of release from penalty. 25. The power which the pope has, in a general way, over purgatory, is just like the power which any bishop or curate has, in a special way, within his own diocese or parish. 26. The pope does well when he grants remission to souls [in purgatory], not by the power of the keys (which he does not possess), but by way of intercession. 27. They preach man who say that so soon as the penny jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory]. 28. It is certain that when the penny jingles into the money-box, gain and avarice can be increased, but the result of the intercession of the Church is in the power of God alone. 29. Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory wish to be bought out of it, as in the legend of Sts. Severinus and Paschal. 30. No one is sure that his own contrition is sincere; much less that he has attained full remission. 31. Rare as is the man that is truly penitent, so rare is also the man who truly buys indulgences, i.e., such men are most rare. 32. They will be condemned eternally, together with their teachers, who believe themselves sure of their salvation because they have letters of pardon. 33. Men must be on their guard against those who say that the pope's pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to Him; 34. For these "graces of pardon" concern only the penalties of sacramental satisfaction, and these are appointed by man. 35. They preach no Christian doctrine who teach that contrition is not necessary in those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessionalia. 36. Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon. 37. Every true Christian, whether living or dead, has part in all the blessings of Christ and the Church; and this is granted him by God, even without letters of pardon. 38. Nevertheless, the remission and participation [in the blessings of the Church] which are granted by the pope are in no way to be despised, for they are, as I have said, the declaration of divine remission. 39. It is most difficult, even for the very keenest theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people the abundance of pardons and [the need of] true contrition. 40. True contrition seeks and loves penalties, but liberal pardons only relax penalties and cause them to be hated, or at least, furnish an occasion [for hating them]. 41. Apostolic pardons are to be preached with caution, lest the people may falsely think them preferable to other good works of love. 42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend the buying of pardons to be compared in any way to works of mercy. 43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons; 44. Because love grows by works of love, and man becomes better; but by pardons man does not grow better, only more free from penalty. 45. 45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a man in need, and passes him by, and gives [his money] for pardons, purchases not the indulgences of the pope, but the indignation of God. 46. Christians are to be taught that unless they have more than they need, they are bound to keep back what is necessary for their own families, and by no means to squander it on pardons. 47. Christians are to be taught that the buying of pardons is a matter of free will, and not of commandment. 48. Christians are to be taught that the pope, in granting pardons, needs, and therefore desires, their devout prayer for him more than the money they bring. 49. Christians are to be taught that the pope's pardons are useful, if they do not put their trust in them; but altogether harmful, if through them they lose their fear of God. 50. Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the pardon-preachers, he would rather that St. Peter's church should go to ashes, than that it should be built up with the skin, flesh and bones of his sheep. 51. Christians are to be taught that it would be the pope's wish, as it is his duty, to give of his own money to very many of those from whom certain hawkers of pardons cajole money, even though the church of St. Peter might have to be sold. 52. The assurance of salvation by letters of pardon is vain, even though the commissary, nay, even though the pope himself, were to stake his soul upon it. 53. They are enemies of Christ and of the pope, who bid the Word of God be altogether silent in some Churches, in order that pardons may be preached in others. 54. Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or a longer time is spent on pardons than on this Word. 55. It must be the intention of the pope that if pardons, which are a very small thing, are celebrated with one bell, with single processions and ceremonies, then the Gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies. 56. The "treasures of the Church," out of which the pope. grants indulgences, are not sufficiently named or known among the people of Christ. 57. That they are not temporal treasures is certainly evident, for many of the vendors do not pour out such treasures so easily, but only gather them. 58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and the Saints, for even without the pope, these always work grace for the inner man, and the cross, death, and hell for the outward man. 59. St. Lawrence said that the treasures of the Church were the Church's poor, but he spoke according to the usage of the word in his own time. 60. Without rashness we say that the keys of the Church, given by Christ's merit, are that treasure; 61. For it is clear that for the remission of penalties and of reserved cases, the power of the pope is of itself sufficient. 62. The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God. 63. But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last. 64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first. 65. Therefore the treasures of the Gospel are nets with which they formerly were wont to fish for men of riches. 66. The treasures of the indulgences are nets with which they now fish for the riches of men. 67. The indulgences which the preachers cry as the "greatest graces" are known to be truly such, in so far as they promote gain. 68. Yet they are in truth the very smallest graces compared with the grace of God and the piety of the Cross. 69. Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of apostolic pardons, with all reverence. 70. But still more are they bound to strain all their eyes and attend with all their ears, lest these men preach their own dreams instead of the commission of the pope. 71. He who speaks against the truth of apostolic pardons, let him be anathema and accursed! 72. But he who guards against the lust and license of the pardon-preachers, let him be blessed! 73. The pope justly thunders against those who, by any art, contrive the injury of the traffic in pardons. 74. But much more does he intend to thunder against those who use the pretext of pardons to contrive the injury of holy love and truth. 75. To think the papal pardons so great that they could absolve a man even if he had committed an impossible sin and violated the Mother of God -- this is madness. 76. We say, on the contrary, that the papal pardons are not able to remove the very least of venial sins, so far as its guilt is concerned. 77. It is said that even St. Peter, if he were now Pope, could not bestow greater graces; this is blasphemy against St. Peter and against the pope. 78. We say, on the contrary, that even the present pope, and any pope at all, has greater graces at his disposal; to wit, the Gospel, powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written in I. Corinthians xii. 79. To say that the cross, emblazoned with the papal arms, which is set up [by the preachers of indulgences], is of equal worth with the Cross of Christ, is blasphemy. 80. The bishops, curates and theologians who allow such talk to be spread among the people, will have an account to render. 81. This unbridled preaching of pardons makes it no easy matter, even for learned men, to rescue the reverence due to the pope from slander, or even from the shrewd questionings of the laity. 82. To wit: -- "Why does not the pope empty purgatory, for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a Church? The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial." 83. Again: -- "Why are mortuary and anniversary masses for the dead continued, and why does he not return or permit the withdrawal of the endowments founded on their behalf, since it is wrong to pray for the redeemed?" 84. Again: -- "What is this new piety of God and the pope, that for money they allow a man who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God, and do not rather, because of that pious and beloved soul's own need, free it for pure love's sake?" 85. Again: -- "Why are the penitential canons long since in actual fact and through disuse abrogated and dead, now satisfied by the granting of indulgences, as though they were still alive and in force?" 86. Again: -- "Why does not the pope, whose wealth is to-day greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?" 87. Again: -- "What is it that the pope remits, and what participation does he grant to those who, by perfect contrition, have a right to full remission and participation?" 88. Again: -- "What greater blessing could come to the Church than if the pope were to do a hundred times a day what he now does once, and bestow on every believer these remissions and participations?" 89. "Since the pope, by his pardons, seeks the salvation of souls rather than money, why does he suspend the indulgences and pardons granted heretofore, since these have equal efficacy?" 90. To repress these arguments and scruples of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons, is to expose the Church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies, and to make Christians unhappy. 91. If, therefore, pardons were preached according to the spirit and mind of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved; nay, they would not exist. 92. Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace! 93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Cross, cross," and there is no cross! 94. Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hell; 95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace.

This text was converted to ASCII text for Project Wittenberg by Allen Mulvey, and is in the public domain. You may freely distribute, copy or print this text. Please direct any comments or suggestions to:

Rev. Robert E. Smith Walther Library Concordia Theological Seminary.

E-mail: [email protected] Surface Mail: 6600 N. Clinton St., Ft. Wayne, IN 46825 USA Phone: (260) 452-3149 - Fax: (260) 452-2126

• Back to lcms.org
• The Lutheran Witness
• Lutherans Engage
• Youth E-Source
• Event Calendar
• International Mission
• MDFL Resource Center

The Ninety-Five Theses

• Post author: The LCMS
• Post published: June 27, 2016
• Post category: History

by Dr. Jack Kilcrease

To understand the 95 Theses, we must first examine the nature of indulgences. According Roman Catholic theology, within the process of confession and absolution there is a distinction between “eternal punishment” and “temporal punishment” due to sin. All sin is worthy of damnation (i.e., eternal punishment). When a person comes to confess their sins, the priest questions them regarding whether or not they are genuinely repentant. If they are, then the priest is to absolve them. Through absolution he makes the sinner free of eternal punishment.

Nevertheless, in spite of the fact that the sinner is free from eternal punishment, he is still subject to temporal punishment. Temporal punishment is simply the temporary suffering that all sin merits irrespective to forgiveness. If a person possesses heartfelt sadness at having violated the will of God (what Roman Catholic theology calls “contrition”) they will have already partially fulfilled the temporal punishment due to their sin. If they are merely repenting because they fear God’s judgment (what Roman Catholic theology calls “attrition”), then they will be subject to the full weight of temporal punishment.

In order to fulfill temporal punishment due to sin, the priest assigns penance after he has absolved the believer of sin. The priest decides how much penance to assign on the basis of an educated guess regarding the level of contrition experienced by the sinner. The more contrition the sinner feels (as opposed to mere attrition), the less penance should be assigned. To the extent that the sinner does not complete all penance given to him, or the priest makes a mistake regarding how much penance should be assigned, the sinner will have to endure the sufferings of purgatory in the next life to fill in the deficit.

Indulgences were invented partially as a way to solve the problem of the inexact nature of penance. Because the pope has access to the “Treasury of Merits” (i.e., the great reserve of the merits of Christ and the saints), he can release persons from the need to perform penance whenever he so chooses. This power extends to this life as well as the next (i.e., purgatory). He can do this by attaching a promise of indulgence to any action a sinner might take. By the time of the Reformation, the pope had attached this promise of the abrogation of penance to the payment of a fee. The pope also decreed that people could  make a payment for their dead relatives in purgatory, thereby shortening their sufferings.

The specific occasion of the outbreak of the Indulgence Controversy was Johann Tetzel’s sale of indulgences in northern Germany. This sale was authorized by Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz and Pope Leo X. Albrecht had recently paid the pope to make him archbishop of the region.  In order to repay the loan Albrecht had taken out to cover the bribe, the pope offered him the option of allowing the sale of indulgences in his region of Germany and splitting the profits with the Vatican. Specifically, the papacy was interested in selling indulgences at this time as a way of paying for the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Although indulgences were not sold in Saxony, many people in Wittenberg traveled to the nearby regions and purchased them.

In the 95 Theses, Luther’s response to indulgences was several fold.  First, it must be understood that at this point Luther’s teaching on justification was not completely developed and so at first he did not reject the very idea of indulgences, as he later would.  Instead, Luther argued that the Latin Bible (also called the Vulgate translation) had improperly translated Matthew 3:2: “ Repent , for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” as “ Do penance , for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” According to Luther’s interpretation, Jesus did not mean that people were obliged to perform penance. Instead, what Christ taught was that possessing an attitude of genuine contrition was central to the Christian life. The Church could prescribe the outward means through which one could express that inner contrition (i.e., penance), and even abrogate the necessity of employing those means (i.e., indulgences). Nevertheless, the Church could not circumvent the command of Christ by telling believers that by merely paying a fee that they need not feel genuine contrition for their sins.

Lastly, Luther argued that the pope does not have any power over purgatory.  If we believe that the pope does, argued Luther, it raises the uncomfortable question of why he does not simply empty purgatory for the sake of mercy, rather than demanding a fee.

Although Luther’s criticisms of indulgences in the 95 Theses stand at variance with his later Reformation theology, the document remains an important witness to a stage in the Reformer’s thinking.  The posting of the 95 Theses gave rise to a series of debates which caused Luther to radically rethink the doctrine of confession and absolution.  As a result of these debates, Luther eventually came to recognize the free grace of God in the unconditional promise of the Gospel.

Jack Kilcrease is a member of Our Savior Lutheran Church, Grand Rapids, Mich.

Ninety-Five Theses

22 pages • 44 minutes read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Essay Analysis

Key Figures

Index of Terms

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Summary and Study Guide

Summary: “ninety-five theses”.

Martin Luther wrote the “Ninety-Five Theses: A Disputation to Clarify the Power of Indulgences” in 1517. These statements were called “theses” because they were meant to provide a basis for later arguments, much like the statements that students base academic papers on today. This guide refers to The Ninety-Five Theses and Other Writings , translated by William R. Russell, published in 2017 by Penguin Books.

Martin Luther sent a copy of the theses along with a letter to Archbishop Albrecht von Brandenburg on October 31, 1517. Luther may have placed a copy of the theses on the door of All Saints’ Church in the northern German town of Wittenberg. Although the image of Luther posting his theses to the church door has become famous in art, historians debate whether he actually did so. It was customary to use church doors to show announcements and writings to the community. If Luther did post the theses, it was a routine act of presenting one’s writings to the public, not an act of defiance.

Get access to this full Study Guide and much more!

• 7,650+ In-Depth Study Guides
• 4,850+ Quick-Read Plot Summaries
• Downloadable PDFs

Nonetheless, Luther’s theses made a splash. October 31, the day he chose to send his theses to Archbishop Albrecht, was All Saints’ Day, an important holy day on the Catholic Church’s calendar. Later generations would remember October 31 as the day the Protestant Revolution started. Today, it is still observed as Reformation Day in parts of Europe and South America. Once Luther’s ideas evolved and spread, and Protestantism emerged as a new branch of Christianity, the “Ninety-Five Theses” would become one of the most important documents in world history.

Still, it is important to keep in mind that Luther did not intend to start a revolution. Instead, the 95 theses were meant to start an academic debate. Luther’s main concern in the “Ninety-Five Theses” is indulgences , as the document’s subtitle, “A Disputation to Clarify the Power of Indulgences,” explains. Indulgences are grants that reduced the penance required by a living or dead Christian to make up for their sins, sold by the Catholic Church. Although Luther and his supporters would have a large impact on the history of Christianity, in the “Ninety-Five Theses” Luther is not arguing to change Christianity or get rid of the pope.

The SuperSummary difference

• 8x more resources than SparkNotes and CliffsNotes combined
• Study Guides you won ' t find anywhere else
• 100+ new titles every month

Luther explains that he is a professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg and that he is offering up the theses for a debate. Luther’s theses argue that when Jesus Christ called for his followers to repent (Matthew 4:17), he meant “the entire life of believers be a life of repentance” (Line 1). In the next few theses, Luther clarifies that in this biblical passage Jesus is referring to the sacrament of penance. Luther argues that Jesus did not just mean “internal” repentance, meaning repenting one’s actions. Instead, Jesus was also asking for “external” repentance, which would mean resolving to exercise more “external self-control” in the future (Line 3). Luther concludes that “true internal repentance” would entail guilt or “hatred of self,” which would not end until after one entered heaven (Line 4).

In the next theses, Luther addresses the question of the pope’s authority over forgiveness and penance. Because Luther sees penance as a matter of guilt, he argues that the pope cannot reduce the amount of anyone’s required penance any more than he can reduce a person’s guilt. Nor can the pope reduce the penalties the dead suffer in purgatory for their sins in life. Instead, the dead are released from any canonical penalties the church can impose. Priests who argue otherwise “act ignorantly and wickedly” (Line 10). By using indulgences to offer people absolution from their sins first and requiring them to perform penance later, priests are reversing the older procedure of the church, in which absolution was only offered after acts of penance.

Luther discusses purgatory. He views the afterlife in terms of emotions: “The differences between hell, purgatory, and heaven are akin to the differences between despair, fear, and the assurance of salvation” (Line 16). Luther sees purgatory as a place where souls can lose their fear of damnation and gain God’s love. In short, Luther is arguing that souls in purgatory do not need penance from the church.

Next, Luther argues that the pope can only reduce or absolve penalties that the church itself imposes, referring to the penance the church orders for people seeking absolution. Even if the pope could grant such remissions, it would be reserved for only a few. According to Luther, the only way the pope can help souls in purgatory is by praying for them. Otherwise, he has no direct influence over the amount of penance they must pay in purgatory. The claim that the pope can help souls enter heaven is “simply a human doctrine” spread by deceptive priests (Line 27). The church can only pray to God on someone’s behalf, while God alone determines when a soul gets to heaven.

Luther adds that we cannot know if all souls in purgatory even wish for salvation. Nor can anyone know if they have repented of their sins or have received plenary (total) forgiveness. Luther concludes that the person who buys an indulgence and is genuinely remorseful is “exceedingly rare” (Line 31). Indulgences are only good for receiving penance according to church doctrine. However, certain priests lead people into believing that receiving indulgences absolves them of their sins. This causes people to believe that an indulgence makes true contrition for one’s sins unnecessary.

Luther still insists that indulgences can do some good. However, he argues people should understand it is better to spend one’s money in charity toward the poor or on their own families. If not properly understood, indulgences could cause Christians to “lose their fear of God” (Line 49). Also, Luther thinks the pope himself would be horrified at the actions of the “indulgence-hawkers” (Line 51). He goes on to denounce priests who discuss indulgences as much or more than the actual tenets of the church.

Luther concludes that “the church’s true treasure is the most holy gospel of God’s glory and grace” (Line 62). This treasure is the most ignored. Rather than valuing the church’s message of God’s love for the poor and downtrodden, certain priests are valuing indulgences for profit.

Luther says that the abuse of indulgences has hurt the pope’s reputation. Specifically, it raises questions such as why the pope does not just free every soul in purgatory, why endowments to pray for the dead are continued if the pope can absolve the sins of all souls, and why impious people are allowed to buy their way out of purgatory. Luther concludes that it is the responsibility of priests and theologians to remind Christians to “be confident of entering heaven through many tribulations rather than through the false security of peace” (Line 95). To put it another way, Luther finishes by asserting that indulgences offer a deceptively easy path to salvation.

Don't Miss Out!

Access Study Guide Now

Featured Collections

Christian Literature

View Collection

Philosophy, Logic, & Ethics

Religion & Spirituality

• Print Edition
• Medieval History
• Early Modern History
• Modern History
• History at York
• Book Reviews
• Film Reviews
• Museum Reviews
• Article Guidelines

The York Historian

What was the significance of the 95 theses.

What were the 95 Theses?

According to historic legend, Martin Luther posted a document on the door of the Wittenberg Church on the 31 st October 1517; a document later referred to as the 95 Theses. This document was questioning rather than accusatory, seeking to inform the Archbishop of Mainz that the selling of indulgences had become corrupt, with the sellers seeking solely to line their own pockets. It questioned the idea that the indulgences trade perpetuated – that buying a trinket could shave time off the stay of one’s loved ones in purgatory, sending them to a glorious Heaven.

It is important, however, to recognise that this was not the action of a man wanting to break away from the Catholic Church. When writing the 95 Theses, Luther simply intended to bring reform to the centre of the agenda for the Church Council once again; it cannot be stressed enough that he wanted to reform, rather than abandon, the Church.

Nonetheless, the 95 Theses were undoubtedly provocative, leading to debates across the German Lands about what it meant to be a true Christian, with some historians considering the document to be the start of the lengthy process of the Reformation. But why did Luther write them?

Why did Luther write the 95 Theses?

In particular, Luther was horrified by the fact that a large portion of the profits from this trade were being used to renovate St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. His outrage at this is evident from the 86 th thesis: ‘Why does the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build the basilica of St Peter with the money of the poor rather than with his own money?’ Perhaps this is indicative of Luther’s opinion as opposing the financial extortion indulgences pressed upon the poor, rather than the theology which lay behind the process of freeing one’s loved ones from purgatory.

It is interesting to note that Luther also sent a copy of his 95 Theses directly to Archbishop Albrecht von Brandenburg. It appears that he legitimately believed that the Archbishop was not aware of the corruption inherent in the indulgence trade led by Tetzel. This is something which can be considered important later on, for it indicates that Luther did not consider the Church hierarchy redundant at this point.

Why were the 95 Theses significant?

Though the document itself has a debateable significance, the events which occurred because of its publication were paramount in Luther’s ideological and religious development. Almost immediately there was outrage at the ‘heresy’ which the Church viewed as implicit within the document. Despite the pressure upon Luther to immediately recant his position, he did not. This in part led to the Leipzig debate in summer 1519 with Johann Eck.

This debate forced Luther to clarify some of his theories and doctrinal stances against the representative of the Catholic Church. The debate focused largely on doctrine; in fact, the debate regarding indulgences was only briefly mentioned in the discussions between the two men. This seems surprising; Luther’s primary purpose in writing the 95 Theses was to protest the selling of indulgences. Why was this therefore not the primary purpose of the debate?

Ultimately the debate served to further Luther’s development of doctrine which opposed the traditional view of the Catholic Church. In the debate he was forced to conclude that Church Councils had the potential to be erroneous in their judgements. This therefore threw into dispute the papal hierarchy’s authority, and set him on his path towards evangelicalism and the formulation of the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Yet it is important to bear in mind that, had the pope offered a reconciliation, Luther would have returned to the doctrine of the established Church.

An interesting point to consider about the aftermath of the 95 Theses is the attitude of the Catholic Church. It immediately sought to identify Luther as someone who had strayed from the true way and was therefore a heretic; it refused to recognise that Luther had valid complaints which were shared by many across Western Christendom. The 95 Theses could have been taken at face value and used as an avenue to reform, as Luther intended. Instead, the papal hierarchy sought to discredit Luther, and keep to the status quo.

What made the 95 Theses significant?

A document written in Latin and posted on a door like most other academic debates, it does not seem obvious when considering the 95 Theses alone to see just how they became as significant as they did.

The translation of the Latin text into German also helped make the document significant. Translated in early 1518 by reformist friends of Luther, this widened the debate’s appeal simply because it made the subject matter accessible to a greater number of people. ‘Common’ folk who could read would have been able to read in German, rather than Latin. This therefore meant that they would be able to read the article for themselves and realise just how many of the arguments they identified with (or did not identify with, for that matter). The translation also meant that these literate folk could read the Theses aloud to a large audience; Bob Scribner argued that we should not forget the oral nature of the Reformation, beginning with one of the most divisive documents in history.

Finally, the 95 Theses can be considered significant because they were expressing sentiments that many ordinary folk felt themselves at the time. There had been a disillusionment with the Church and corruption within it for a great deal of time; the Reformatio Sigismundi  of 1439 is a prime early example of a series of lists detailing the concerns of the people about the state of the Church. By the time of the Imperial Diet of Worms in 1521, there were 102 grievances with the Church, something overshadowed due to Martin Luther’s presence at this Diet. Many of the issues Luther highlighted were shared among the populace; it was due to the contextual factors of the printing press and the use of the German language that made this expression so significant.

It would not be surprising if, when posting his 95 Theses on the door of the chapel on the 31 st October 1517, Luther did not expect a great deal to change. At the time, he did not know what such an act would lead to. The events which occurred due to the Theses led to Luther clarifying his doctrinal position in a manner which led to his eventual repudiation of the decadence and corruption within the Catholic Church and his excommunication.

Yet we must remember that whilst the 95 Theses can be considered to constitute an extraordinary shift in the mentality of a disillusioned Christian, they are very unlikely to have achieved the same significance without the printing press. If the 95 Theses had been posted on the 31 st October 1417 , would the result have been the same?

Written by Victoria Bettney

Bibliography

Dixon, Scott C. The Reformation in Germany . Oxford  : Blackwell, 2002.

Dixon, Scott C ed. The German Reformation: The Essential Readings . Oxford: Blackwell, 1999.

Lau, Franz and Bizer, Ernst. A History of the Reformation in Germany To 1555 . Translated by Brian Hardy. London: Adam and Charles Black, 1969.

Lindberg, Carter. The European Reformations . Oxford: Blackwell, 1996.

McGrath, Alister. Christian Theology: An Introduction . Oxford: Blackwell, 2007.

McGrath, Alister. Reformation Thought: An Introduction. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1998.

Scribner, Robert. ‘Oral Culture and the Diffusion of Reformation Ideas,’ History of European Ideas 5, no. 3 (1984): 237-256.

“The 95 Theses,” http://www.luther.de/en/95thesen.html , accessed 29.10.15

Share this:

Post navigation, 3 thoughts on “ what was the significance of the 95 theses ”.

Interesting article! You rightly argue that the Theses were not the finished product but just a step in Luther’s theological development. That makes you think; should we really be celebrating 31 October 2017 as the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, or should we be remembering a different date?

Like Liked by 1 person

hit the griddy

Leave a comment Cancel reply

• Search for:

YAYAS’ York Historian

Subscribe to the york historian.

Enter your email address to follow The York Historian and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Email Address:

• View TheYorkHistorian’s profile on Facebook
• View TYorkHistorian’s profile on Twitter
• Entries feed
• Comments feed
• WordPress.com

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

The 95 Theses , a document written by Martin Luther in 1517, challenged the teachings of the Catholic Church on the nature of penance, the authority of the pope and the usefulness of indulgences. It sparked a theological debate that fueled the Reformation and subsequently resulted in the birth of Protestantism and the Lutheran , Reformed , and Anabaptist traditions within Christianity.

Luther's action was in great part a response to the selling of indulgences by Johann Tetzel, a Dominican priest, commissioned by the Archbishop of Mainz and Pope Leo X. The purpose of this fundraising campaign was to finance the building of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Even though Luther's prince, Frederick the Wise, and the prince of the neighboring territory, George, Duke of Saxony, forbade the sale in their lands, Luther's parishioners traveled to purchase them. When these people came to confession, they presented the plenary indulgence, claiming they no longer had to repent of their sins, since the document promised to forgive all their sins.

Luther is said to have posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517. Church doors functioned very much as bulletin boards function on a twenty-first century college campus. The 95 Theses were quickly translated into German, widely copied and printed. Within two weeks they had spread throughout Germany, and within two months throughout Europe. This was one of the first events in history that was profoundly affected by the printing press, which made the distribution of documents and ideas easier and more wide-spread.

Text of the 95 Theses

**Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther\ on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences

by Dr. Martin Luther, 1517** Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter.

In the Name our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

• Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.
• This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance, i.e., confession and satisfaction, which is administered by the priests.
• Yet it means not inward repentance only; nay, there is no inward repentance which does not outwardly work divers mortifications of the flesh.
• The penalty [of sin], therefore, continues so long as hatred of self continues; for this is the true inward repentance, and continues until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
• The pope does not intend to remit, and cannot remit any penalties other than those which he has imposed either by his own authority or by that of the Canons.
• The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring that it has been remitted by God and by assenting to God's remission; though, to be sure, he may grant remission in cases reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in such cases were despised, the guilt would remain entirely unforgiven.
• God remits guilt to no one whom He does not, at the same time, humble in all things and bring into subjection to His vicar, the priest.
• The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and, according to them, nothing should be imposed on the dying.
• Therefore the Holy Spirit in the pope is kind to us, because in his decrees he always makes exception of the article of death and of necessity.
• Ignorant and wicked are the doings of those priests who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penances for purgatory.
• This changing of the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory is quite evidently one of the tares that were sown while the bishops slept.
• In former times the canonical penalties were imposed not after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition.
• The dying are freed by death from all penalties; they are already dead to canonical rules, and have a right to be released from them.
• The imperfect health [of soul], that is to say, the imperfect love, of the dying brings with it, of necessity, great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater is the fear.
• This fear and horror is sufficient of itself alone (to say nothing of other things) to constitute the penalty of purgatory, since it is very near to the horror of despair.
• Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ as do despair, almost-despair, and the assurance of safety.
• With souls in purgatory it seems necessary that horror should grow less and love increase.
• It seems unproved, either by reason or Scripture, that they are outside the state of merit, that is to say, of increasing love.
• Again, it seems unproved that they, or at least that all of them, are certain or assured of their own blessedness, though we may be quite certain of it.
• Therefore by "full remission of all penalties" the pope means not actually "of all," but only of those imposed by himself.
• Therefore those preachers of indulgences are in error, who say that by the pope's indulgences a man is freed from every penalty, and saved;
• Whereas he remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to the canons, they would have had to pay in this life.
• If it is at all possible to grant to any one the remission of all penalties whatsoever, it is certain that this remission can be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to the very fewest.
• It must needs be, therefore, that the greater part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and highsounding promise of release from penalty.
• The power which the pope has, in a general way, over purgatory, is just like the power which any bishop or curate has, in a special way, within his own diocese or parish.
• The pope does well when he grants remission to souls [in purgatory], not by the power of the keys (which he does not possess), but by way of intercession.
• They preach man who say that so soon as the penny jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory].
• It is certain that when the penny jingles into the money-box, gain and avarice can be increased, but the result of the intercession of the Church is in the power of God alone.
• Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory wish to be bought out of it, as in the legend of Sts. Severinus and Paschal.
• No one is sure that his own contrition is sincere; much less that he has attained full remission.
• Rare as is the man that is truly penitent, so rare is also the man who truly buys indulgences, i.e., such men are most rare.
• They will be condemned eternally, together with their teachers, who believe themselves sure of their salvation because they have letters of pardon.
• Men must be on their guard against those who say that the pope's pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to Him;
• For these "graces of pardon" concern only the penalties of sacramental satisfaction, and these are appointed by man.
• They preach no Christian doctrine who teach that contrition is not necessary in those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessionalia.
• Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon.
• Every true Christian, whether living or dead, has part in all the blessings of Christ and the Church; and this is granted him by God, even without letters of pardon.
• Nevertheless, the remission and participation [in the blessings of the Church] which are granted by the pope are in no way to be despised, for they are, as I have said, the declaration of divine remission.
• It is most difficult, even for the very keenest theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people the abundance of pardons and [the need of] true contrition.
• True contrition seeks and loves penalties, but liberal pardons only relax penalties and cause them to be hated, or at least, furnish an occasion [for hating them].
• Apostolic pardons are to be preached with caution, lest the people may falsely think them preferable to other good works of love.
• Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend the buying of pardons to be compared in any way to works of mercy.
• Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons;
• Because love grows by works of love, and man becomes better; but by pardons man does not grow better, only more free from penalty.
• Christians are to be taught that he who sees a man in need, and passes him by, and gives [his money] for pardons, purchases not the indulgences of the pope, but the indignation of God.
• Christians are to be taught that unless they have more than they need, they are bound to keep back what is necessary for their own families, and by no means to squander it on pardons.
• Christians are to be taught that the buying of pardons is a matter of free will, and not of commandment.
• Christians are to be taught that the pope, in granting pardons, needs, and therefore desires, their devout prayer for him more than the money they bring.
• Christians are to be taught that the pope's pardons are useful, if they do not put their trust in them; but altogether harmful, if through them they lose their fear of God.
• Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the pardon-preachers, he would rather that St. Peter's church should go to ashes, than that it should be built up with the skin, flesh and bones of his sheep.
• Christians are to be taught that it would be the pope's wish, as it is his duty, to give of his own money to very many of those from whom certain hawkers of pardons cajole money, even though the church of St. Peter might have to be sold.
• The assurance of salvation by letters of pardon is vain, even though the commissary, nay, even though the pope himself, were to stake his soul upon it.
• They are enemies of Christ and of the pope, who bid the Word of God be altogether silent in some Churches, in order that pardons may be preached in others.
• Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or a longer time is spent on pardons than on this Word.
• It must be the intention of the pope that if pardons, which are a very small thing, are celebrated with one bell, with single processions and ceremonies, then the Gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.
• The "treasures of the Church," out of which the pope grants indulgences, are not sufficiently named or known among the people of Christ.
• That they are not temporal treasures is certainly evident, for many of the vendors do not pour out such treasures so easily, but only gather them.
• Nor are they the merits of Christ and the Saints, for even without the pope, these always work grace for the inner man, and the cross, death, and hell for the outward man.
• St. Lawrence said that the treasures of the Church were the Church's poor, but he spoke according to the usage of the word in his own time.
• Without rashness we say that the keys of the Church, given by Christ's merit, are that treasure;
• For it is clear that for the remission of penalties and of reserved cases, the power of the pope is of itself sufficient.
• The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.
• But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last.
• On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first.
• Therefore the treasures of the Gospel are nets with which they formerly were wont to fish for men of riches.
• The treasures of the indulgences are nets with which they now fish for the riches of men.
• The indulgences which the preachers cry as the "greatest graces" are known to be truly such, in so far as they promote gain.
• Yet they are in truth the very smallest graces compared with the grace of God and the piety of the Cross.
• Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of apostolic pardons, with all reverence.
• But still more are they bound to strain all their eyes and attend with all their ears, lest these men preach their own dreams instead of the commission of the pope.
• He who speaks against the truth of apostolic pardons, let him be anathema and accursed!
• But he who guards against the lust and license of the pardon-preachers, let him be blessed!
• The pope justly thunders against those who, by any art, contrive the injury of the traffic in pardons.
• But much more does he intend to thunder against those who use the pretext of pardons to contrive the injury of holy love and truth.
• To think the papal pardons so great that they could absolve a man even if he had committed an impossible sin and violated the Mother of God -- this is madness.
• We say, on the contrary, that the papal pardons are not able to remove the very least of venial sins, so far as its guilt is concerned.
• It is said that even St. Peter, if he were now Pope, could not bestow greater graces; this is blasphemy against St. Peter and against the pope.
• We say, on the contrary, that even the present pope, and any pope at all, has greater graces at his disposal; to wit, the Gospel, powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written in I. Corinthians xii.
• To say that the cross, emblazoned with the papal arms, which is set up [by the preachers of indulgences], is of equal worth with the Cross of Christ, is blasphemy.
• The bishops, curates and theologians who allow such talk to be spread among the people, will have an account to render.
• This unbridled preaching of pardons makes it no easy matter, even for learned men, to rescue the reverence due to the pope from slander, or even from the shrewd questionings of the laity.
• To wit: -- "Why does not the pope empty purgatory, for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a Church? The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial."
• Again: -- "Why are mortuary and anniversary masses for the dead continued, and why does he not return or permit the withdrawal of the endowments founded on their behalf, since it is wrong to pray for the redeemed?"
• Again: -- "What is this new piety of God and the pope, that for money they allow a man who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God, and do not rather, because of that pious and beloved soul's own need, free it for pure love's sake?"
• Again: -- "Why are the penitential canons long since in actual fact and through disuse abrogated and dead, now satisfied by the granting of indulgences, as though they were still alive and in force?"
• Again: -- "Why does not the pope, whose wealth is to-day greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?"
• Again: -- "What is it that the pope remits, and what participation does he grant to those who, by perfect contrition, have a right to full remission and participation?"
• Again: -- "What greater blessing could come to the Church than if the pope were to do a hundred times a day what he now does once, and bestow on every believer these remissions and participations?"
• "Since the pope, by his pardons, seeks the salvation of souls rather than money, why does he suspend the indulgences and pardons granted heretofore, since these have equal efficacy?"
• To repress these arguments and scruples of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons, is to expose the Church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies, and to make Christians unhappy.
• If, therefore, pardons were preached according to the spirit and mind of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved; nay, they would not exist.
• Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace!
• Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Cross, cross," and there is no cross!
• Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hell;
• And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace.
• Martin Luther
• Reformation

External links

• The 95 Theses in the original Latin
• The 95 Theses in English

Luther's 95 theses

An extremely rare document, this is a copy of the first printing of Martin Luther’s 95 theses as a pamphlet. 'Disputatio … pro declaratione virtutis indugentiarum', by Martin Luther (Basel, 1517).

Martin Luther 's attention in his 95 theses of 1517 focused on the Church's sale of indulgences.

Selling full or partial remission of the punishment for sin was a lucrative source of income for the Pope and his administration by the 16th century.

While criticism of the practice was not unusual, the tumultuous impact of Luther's 95 theses was unexpected.

He had written and made them public to start off an academic debate. Once he translated them into German, however, the theses gained widespread popularity.

Distributed across Europe

As posters and pamphlets, the theses were printed and distributed across the Holy Roman Empire's territories in northern and central Europe.

Of the few hundred copies printed, those produced in Nuremberg and Leipzig were issued as posters, those in Basel as pamphlets.

Luther's introduction

The 95 theses are introduced with the following words:

'Out of love for the truth and from desire to elucidate it, the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology, and ordinary lecturer therein at Wittenberg, intends to defend the following statements and to dispute on them in that place.

The academic disputation never took place, but Luther's theses sparked the Reformation.

A copy of the first edition of Luther's 95 theses is one of the highlights of the display 'The Reformation: What was it all about?' at the National Library from 19 October to 10 December 2017.

'The Reformation'

Our site uses cookies to help give you the best online experience. Please let us know if you happy for us to use these cookies or if you wish minimum functionality only.

• Grace Chapel, TN
• A Puritan’s Mind
• Puritan Publications

Historic Church Documents

The 95 theses by martin luther.

1. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent” (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.

2. This word cannot be understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, that is, confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy.

3. Yet it does not mean solely inner repentance; such inner repentance is worthless unless it produces various outward mortification of the flesh.

4. The penalty of sin remains as long as the hatred of self (that is, true inner repentance), namely till our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

5. The pope neither desires nor is able to remit any penalties except those imposed by his own authority or that of the canons.

6. The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring and showing that it has been remitted by God; or, to be sure, by remitting guilt in cases reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in these cases were disregarded, the guilt would certainly remain unforgiven.

7. God remits guilt to no one unless at the same time he humbles him in all things and makes him submissive to the vicar, the priest.

8. The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and, according to the canons themselves, nothing should be imposed on the dying.

9. Therefore the Holy Spirit through the pope is kind to us insofar as the pope in his decrees always makes exception of the article of death and of necessity.

10. Those priests act ignorantly and wickedly who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penalties for purgatory.

11. Those tares of changing the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory were evidently sown while the bishops slept (Mt 13:25).

12. In former times canonical penalties were imposed, not after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition.

13. The dying are freed by death from all penalties, are already dead as far as the canon laws are concerned, and have a right to be released from them.

14. Imperfect piety or love on the part of the dying person necessarily brings with it great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater the fear.

15. This fear or horror is sufficient in itself, to say nothing of other things, to constitute the penalty of purgatory, since it is very near to the horror of despair.

16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ the same as despair, fear, and assurance of salvation.

17. It seems as though for the souls in purgatory fear should necessarily decrease and love increase.

18. Furthermore, it does not seem proved, either by reason or by Scripture, that souls in purgatory are outside the state of merit, that is, unable to grow in love.

19. Nor does it seem proved that souls in purgatory, at least not all of them, are certain and assured of their own salvation, even if we ourselves may be entirely certain of it.

20. Therefore the pope, when he uses the words “plenary remission of all penalties,” does not actually mean “all penalties,” but only those imposed by himself.

21. Thus those indulgence preachers are in error who say that a man is absolved from every penalty and saved by papal indulgences.

22. As a matter of fact, the pope remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to canon law, they should have paid in this life.

23. If remission of all penalties whatsoever could be granted to anyone at all, certainly it would be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to very few.

24. For this reason most people are necessarily deceived by that indiscriminate and high-sounding promise of release from penalty.

25. That power which the pope has in general over purgatory corresponds to the power which any bishop or curate has in a particular way in his own diocese and parish.

26. The pope does very well when he grants remission to souls in purgatory, not by the power of the keys, which he does not have, but by way of intercession for them.

27. They preach only human doctrines who say that as soon as the money clinks into the money chest, the soul flies out of purgatory.

28. It is certain that when money clinks in the money chest, greed and avarice can be increased; but when the church intercedes, the result is in the hands of God alone.

29. Who knows whether all souls in purgatory wish to be redeemed, since we have exceptions in St. Severinus and St. Paschal, as related in a legend.

30. No one is sure of the integrity of his own contrition, much less of having received plenary remission.

31. The man who actually buys indulgences is as rare as he who is really penitent; indeed, he is exceedingly rare.

32. Those who believe that they can be certain of their salvation because they have indulgence letters will be eternally damned, together with their teachers.

33. Men must especially be on guard against those who say that the pope’s pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to him.

34. For the graces of indulgences are concerned only with the penalties of sacramental satisfaction established by man.

35. They who teach that contrition is not necessary on the part of those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessional privileges preach unchristian doctrine.

36. Any truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without indulgence letters.

37. Any true Christian, whether living or dead, participates in all the blessings of Christ and the church; and this is granted him by God, even without indulgence letters.

38. Nevertheless, papal remission and blessing are by no means to be disregarded, for they are, as I have said (Thesis 6), the proclamation of the divine remission.

39. It is very difficult, even for the most learned theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people the bounty of indulgences and the need of true contrition.

40. A Christian who is truly contrite seeks and loves to pay penalties for his sins; the bounty of indulgences, however, relaxes penalties and causes men to hate them — at least it furnishes occasion for hating them.

41. Papal indulgences must be preached with caution, lest people erroneously think that they are preferable to other good works of love.

42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend that the buying of indulgences should in any way be compared with works of mercy.

43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better deed than he who buys indulgences.

44. Because love grows by works of love, man thereby becomes better. Man does not, however, become better by means of indulgences but is merely freed from penalties.

45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a needy man and passes him by, yet gives his money for indulgences, does not buy papal indulgences but God’s wrath.

46. Christians are to be taught that, unless they have more than they need, they must reserve enough for their family needs and by no means squander it on indulgences.

47. Christians are to be taught that they buying of indulgences is a matter of free choice, not commanded.

48 Christians are to be taught that the pope, in granting indulgences, needs and thus desires their devout prayer more than their money.

49. Christians are to be taught that papal indulgences are useful only if they do not put their trust in them, but very harmful if they lose their fear of God because of them.

50. Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the indulgence preachers, he would rather that the basilica of St. Peter were burned to ashes than built up with the skin, flesh, and bones of his sheep.

51. Christians are to be taught that the pope would and should wish to give of his own money, even though he had to sell the basilica of St. Peter, to many of those from whom certain hawkers of indulgences cajole money.

52. It is vain to trust in salvation by indulgence letters, even though the indulgence commissary, or even the pope, were to offer his soul as security.

53. They are the enemies of Christ 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.

54. Injury is done to the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or larger amount of time is devoted to indulgences than to the Word.

55. It is certainly the pope’s sentiment that if indulgences, which are a very insignificant thing, are celebrated with one bell, one procession, and one ceremony, then the gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.

56. The true treasures of the church, out of which the pope distributes indulgences, are not sufficiently discussed or known among the people of Christ.

57. That indulgences are not temporal treasures is certainly clear, for many indulgence sellers do not distribute them freely but only gather them.

58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and the saints, for, even without the pope, the latter always work grace for the inner man, and the cross, death, and hell for the outer man.

59. St. Lawrence said that the poor of the church were the treasures of the church, but he spoke according to the usage of the word in his own time.

60. Without want of consideration we say that the keys of the church, given by the merits of Christ, are that treasure.

61. For it is clear that the pope’s power is of itself sufficient for the remission of penalties and cases reserved by himself.

62. The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.

63. But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last (Mt. 20:16).

64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first.

65. Therefore the treasures of the gospel are nets with which one formerly fished for men of wealth.

66. The treasures of indulgences are nets with which one now fishes for the wealth of men.

67. The indulgences which the demagogues acclaim as the greatest graces are actually understood to be such only insofar as they promote gain.

68. They are nevertheless in truth the most insignificant graces when compared with the grace of God and the piety of the cross.

69. Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of papal indulgences with all reverence.

70. But they are much more bound to strain their eyes and ears lest these men preach their own dreams instead of what the pope has commissioned.

71. Let him who speaks against the truth concerning papal indulgences be anathema and accursed.

72. But let him who guards against the lust and license of the indulgence preachers be blessed.

73. Just as the pope justly thunders against those who by any means whatever contrive harm to the sale of indulgences.

74. Much more does he intend to thunder against those who use indulgences as a pretext to contrive harm to holy love and truth.

75. To consider papal indulgences so great that they could absolve a man even if he had done the impossible and had violated the mother of God is madness.

76. We say on the contrary that papal indulgences cannot remove the very least of venial sins as far as guilt is concerned.

77. To say that even St. Peter if he were now pope, could not grant greater graces is blasphemy against St. Peter and the pope.

78. We say on the contrary that even the present pope, or any pope whatsoever, has greater graces at his disposal, that is, the gospel, spiritual powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written, 1 Co 12[:28].

79. To say that the cross emblazoned with the papal coat of arms, and set up by the indulgence preachers is equal in worth to the cross of Christ is blasphemy.

80. The bishops, curates, and theologians who permit such talk to be spread among the people will have to answer for this.

81. This unbridled preaching of indulgences makes it difficult even for learned men to rescue the reverence which is due the pope from slander or from the shrewd questions of the laity.

82. Such as: “Why does not the pope empty purgatory for the sake of holy love and the dire need of the souls that are there if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a church? The former reason would be most just; the latter is most trivial.

83. Again, “Why are funeral and anniversary masses for the dead continued and why does he not return or permit the withdrawal of the endowments founded for them, since it is wrong to pray for the redeemed?”

84. Again, “What is this new piety of God and the pope that for a consideration of money they permit a man who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God and do not rather, because of the need of that pious and beloved soul, free it for pure love’s sake?”

85. Again, “Why are the penitential canons, long since abrogated and dead in actual fact and through disuse, now satisfied by the granting of indulgences as though they were still alive and in force?”

86. Again, “Why does not the pope, whose wealth is today greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build this one basilica of St. Peter with his own money rather than with the money of poor believers?”

87. Again, “What does the pope remit or grant to those who by perfect contrition already have a right to full remission and blessings?”

88. Again, “What greater blessing could come to the church than if the pope were to bestow these remissions and blessings on every believer a hundred times a day, as he now does but once?”

89. “Since the pope seeks the salvation of souls rather than money by his indulgences, why does he suspend the indulgences and pardons previously granted when they have equal efficacy?”

90. To repress these very sharp arguments of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons, is to expose the church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies and to make Christians unhappy.

91. If, therefore, indulgences were preached according to the spirit and intention of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved. Indeed, they would not exist.

92. Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, “Peace, peace,” and there is no peace! (Jer 6:14)

93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, “Cross, cross,” and there is no cross!

94. Christians should be exhorted to be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, death and hell.

95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven through many tribulations rather than through the false security of peace (Acts 14:22).

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our ring of reformed sites.

Keep up to date on new articles, new reformed and puritan books, and coupons for purchasing some of the best reformed literature in print!

You have Successfully Subscribed!

• Biographies & Memoirs

Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Amazon Prime includes:

Fast, FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button.

• Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
• Unlimited Free Two-Day Delivery
• Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
• A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
• Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists
• Unlimited photo storage with anywhere access

Important:  Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.

Return this item for free

Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges

• Go to your orders and start the return
• Select the return method

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Follow the author

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Martin Luther’s 95 Theses: Celebrating the Protestant Reformation in the 21st Century Paperback – October 23, 2021

Purchase options and add-ons, have you ever wondered what martin luther’s 95 theses actually said if so, you’re not alone. finally, there’s an accessible guide to luther’s most revolutionary words..

Martin Luther changed the course of church history. His 95 Theses are considered a groundbreaking document that sparked the Reformation and altered countless lives.

But most people today have never read them and don’t understand them.

In Martin Luther’s 95 Theses: Celebrating the Protestant Reformation in the 21st Century , Peter DeHaan takes Luther’s contentions and turns them into understandable, bite-sized snippets, short enough to keep your attention. He explains their meaning and makes them accessible for today’s reader.

With a helpful snapshot of Martin Luther’s life, you’ll get an easy-to-understand overview of the historical and religious context of his day, as well as the impact of his history-making document.

Martin Luther’s 95 Theses combines a concise history lesson with an easy-to-digest breakdown of each one so that you can:

• Uncover the basics of the Reformation
• Learn why Luther was inspired to write his 95 theses
• Understand Luther’s words in today’s language
• See how the theses are relevant to your life and your church
• Discover how his message can inspire and transform your faith today

In Martin Luther’s 95 Theses you’ll get the inside story of what led Luther to post these vital statements and how they apply to people today. A discussion guide to use with your small group is included.

An advocate for authentic church practices, Peter DeHaan, PhD sees reform as an ongoing process in order to advance the kingdom of God. His desire is to encourage Christians to better align their lives with their faith.

Let Martin Luther’s 95 Theses inspire you to learn more about the radical document that changed the course of church history and still impacts people today. You’ll finally understand what Luther’s words mean and how you can apply them to your life.

Get this accessible guide to the 95 Theses and start your journey to a new understanding of Martin Luther’s most important work. [This book was first published as 95 Tweets .]

• Print length 154 pages
• Language English
• Publication date October 23, 2021
• Dimensions 5 x 0.35 x 8 inches
• ISBN-10 1948082683
• ISBN-13 978-1948082686
• See all details

Frequently bought together

Similar items that may deliver to you quickly

From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

"In a quick-to-read format, Peter undertakes the challenge to simplify Martin Luther's 95 Thesis. He takes each of Luther's declarations and reshares them in understandable language."

"Provides a brief, but thorough historical account of Reformation as well as questions designed to create conversations surrounding our faith and reformation."

"[Luther's] ninety-five theses were written in Latin and translated to German then English. DeHaan breaks down the talking points into concise and understandable tweets for today's online audience."

About the Author

Product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rock Rooster Books; 2nd ed. edition (October 23, 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 154 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1948082683
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1948082686
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.6 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.35 x 8 inches
• #183 in Lutheran Christianity (Books)
• #2,651 in Religious Leader Biographies
• #2,903 in Christian Church History (Books)

Videos for this product

Click to play video

Martin Luther's 95 Theses - book trailer

About the author

Peter dehaan.

Peter DeHaan often makes religious people squirm, but spiritual seekers cheer. He’s not trying to be provocative, but he seeks truth, even if it makes some people uncomfortable. He yearns for Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

Peter earned his doctorate, awarded with high distinction, from Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary. He lives with his wife in beautiful Southwest Michigan and wrangles crossword puzzles in his spare time.

Customer reviews

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Top reviews from other countries

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

The 96th Thesis

• Publications
• About the Author
• 18 Points of Christian Nationalism – a 2nd Draft

Like any nascent political movement, Christian Nationalism is an idea that is still coalescing. For the time-being, it means some different things to different people–especially to critics who are inclined to construct straw-men decorated with a few of the worst examples they can find. But movements must either coalesce or die off. And because I don’t want “Christian Nationalism” to go the way of the short-lived “Alt-right,” I’ve found value in taking time to give the idea some specificity rather than merely a defense.

That’s why, a year and a half ago, I wrote down my first draft of what Christian Nationalism means to me–and certainly what I want it to end up being. But drafts are made to be updated. Between a year’s reflection and some feedback on another draft I recently posted on X , I found a number of points that needed some further clarification.

And so, my list of 14 points has now grown to 18. If you’re keeping score, the new ones are 4, 14, 16, and 18. These were added to answer common questions which I erroneously thought should have been clear such as “which denomination is going to rule?” (18) and “how can we tell one nation from another?” (4) I’ve also updated the language slightly on other points in response to silly but frequent criticisms, like “Christian Nationalism can’t make a perfect society” (10) and “Christians should never be separate for any reason” (6).

The Postwar Consensus has irrevocably failed; it’s not coming back. The West therefore needs a new way forward–one that stands for something more than just a rejection of what came before. There will be a new way whether we want one or not. When we consider the vile options being pushed by our elites, America could do far far worse than Christian Nationalism as defined below:

• Christian Nationalism is a political ideology informed by the Christian faith, not a religion informed by political ideology.
• The Church does not need Christian Nationalism for her wellbeing. Nations need Christian Nationalism for their wellbeing.
• Christian Nationalists understand nation as meaning a people who share common ancestry, religious heritage, language, culture, and history together. Nation is not synonymous with country or with state.
• Whether these traits are sufficiently “common” among a people to make them a nation is determined by whether they can peacefully agree on how to govern and how to be governed together. If these traits diverge to the point that they cannot agree, then they ought to peacefully separate instead.
• We put our own nation first–not because it is superior to all others, but because it is the nation of which Christ has made us a part. Accordingly, we serve it above all other nations, love it above all other nations and, when necessary, defend it against all other nations.
• We respect that other nations are likewise responsible for themselves first and therefore seek to govern ourselves separately from them but live in peace with them whenever possible–just as neighboring families live peacefully in different homes and under different rules.
• Christian Nationalists reject the incoherent religious neutrality of classical liberalism, and strive to honor Jesus Christ as King in every area of life, including government, education, and public speech.
• We understand that government is incapable of forcing conversion to Christianity because conversion depends on a faith that cannot be coerced into existence. The Church’s tools are sufficient to the task of conversion.
• Government’s purpose is not to make men righteous, but to restrain human wickedness and establish a just peace within its borders by punishing wrongdoers and commending those who do right.
• Some wrongdoing may be tolerated by government and society when legal or social suppression of an evil would lead to even greater evils. Utopia is not among Christian Nationalism’s goals; a relatively just peace among sinners is.
• Christian Nationalists distinguish right from wrong and weigh greater vs lesser evils according to Christian moral principles, and we seek to carry out the purpose of government in accordance with our principles, not others’ principles.
• Evils which must be legally restrained include, but are not limited to: clear blasphemy against Jesus Christ, murder (regardless of age), sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and unbridled greed. A government which does not seek to restrain such evils is negligent.
• God has appointed fathers to govern their own households. National government proceeds from this household government and exists to serve it. It does not replace it and may not usurp it. Rather, government maintains peace among our many households.
• Christian Nationalism rejects the modern worship of diversity & inclusion imposed by Critical Theory. We recognize the variety of nations in the world as a strength, but national diversity under a single local government as a severe weakness.
• Immigration is tolerable only insofar as it neither unduly burdens nor harms our nation. Mass immigration is always harmful. Immigration is more harmful the more immigrants differ from our nation in terms of ancestry, language, history, culture and religious heritage.
• Because we believe our religion is true, we do not value religious diversity. Government must provide the same just peace to Christians and non-Christians within its borders, but it ought not include or commend any foreign religious beliefs in carrying out its duties.
• It is good and proper for governmental institutions to participate in religious expression so long as that expression is explicitly Christian. This includes prayers, ceremonies, holidays, and the like.
• Different Christian traditions will naturally be reflected in national government according to their presence and prominence in that nation’s religious heritage. Some traditions will work well together. Others will not.
• Singleness in the Church

By now, we should all be aware that Western marriage and fertility rates are an unmitigated disaster. These circumstances raise a lot of questions. Among them is how Christians ought to talk about singleness in and out of the Church. Given the existential nature of this crisis for the West, the question may not be as urgent as “ how can we teach fruitful chastity again ,” but it’s certainly a valid one. There are a growing number of singles in our congregations and our mission fields. Many will not emerge from this societal collapse married. Some may have become unmarriageable–whether by circumstance or by their own actions. Others may simply never find success. Either way, such situations testify to the fact that we never really get over some hurdles this side of Paradise.

But worthy though the question might be, the popular answers leave a great deal to be desired. As I’ve written before , the typical attitude is a vainglorious one: singles (especially women) are said to be the unsung heroes of the Church, and voices need to be raised STAT. Marriage, we are told, is just too highly esteemed– a peculiar point of view given how our culture despises it –and singleness needs to finally receive its due.

But while the topic is timely, Concordia STM student Jacob Rhodes’ presentation, “ The Never Married: Developing a Vocabulary for and about Singleness ,” does little to improve the discourse. It at least attempts to avoid the common pitfalls while solving the problem he perceives. However, it’s hard to overstate how badly it fails in that attempt or how much Rhodes inadvertently undermines his own thesis.

Rhode’s Argument

According to Rhodes, the Church has become ensnared in a narrative it received from society rather than from God. If one considers the beginning, middle, and end of a normal life, family characterizes the end, and preparation for family the middle. While the Church puts its own spin on the first two stages, she nevertheless still makes holy matrimony the centerpiece of earthly life. The fruit of this narrative is the ubiquitous attitude that marriage is the normal state of a healthy and mature adult.

Rhodes claims that the consequence for those who don’t qualify as normal in this sense is to be “othered” by church and society alike. We treat singles as though something is missing in their lives. We place them in singles-only ministry ghettos. They are unrepresented among church leadership. They are implicitly unwelcome at events like family picnics. They have to endure endless familial anecdotes or Biblical instruction for spouses and parents from the pulpit. They feel lonely, alienated, and even fearful of what their communities might think about their lack of a mate.

While Christians value marriage in and of itself, he claims we put no such value on singleness. Christians only value it in two senses: The first he calls “instrumentality”, in which the single person has more bandwidth for various tasks because he’s not tied down with a wife or kids. The second is merely as a time of preparation for marriage–in other words, singleness is valued because it provides an opportunity to end itself in favor of something better. But on its own terms, we define singleness solely in terms of deficiency–the lack of a mate which a person is supposed to have.

So if Rhodes considers this the problem, what does he propose as a solution? In short, he asserts that all Christians should find their identity in Christ and in Christ alone. Appealing to Galatians 3:28 , he suggests that just as there is no longer any Jew and Greek or slave and free, neither is there married and unmarried. In that “end” stage of life, we need to replace marriage with the eschaton–eternal life in a world where marriage is ( perhaps ) obsolete.

What does this mean in practice, though? Surely, most of the Christians about whom Rhodes objects would already say that their most important identity is in Christ and that they are striving to live in light of eternity. What needs to change?

Some of the changes are simply a matter of attitude. For example, he tells us to emphasize the value of singleness to help singles feel more included in the church. But he includes specific suggestions as well: Teach Christians how to live the Christian vocation of singleness that they already possess, rather than teaching them how to prepare for marriage. Include more single people in church leadership positions. Families should invite singles to their meals and celebrations so they won’t feel lonely. Churches should develop singles ministries which aren’t judged by their ability to make singles married. And in general, churches must reduce how often they have family events and reduce family-oriented instruction in favor of more inclusive practices. When we accomplish all this and more, Rhodes contends, singles will finally feel welcome in our churches and the congregation itself can be everyone’s true family.

You’ve no doubt noticed a number of issues with this argument already, so lets just get into the details.

The Problems

It’s an ancillary point, but I’ll begin with the title because that’s also where the disappointment starts. With a name like “The Never Married: Developing a Vocabulary for and about Singleness,” I was expecting something in the way of new terminology to aid the discussion. He offers none. Rather than helpful terms or concepts to be evaluated objectively, he only presents us with highly subjective attitudes he would like to adjust.

But is the alleged focus given to marriage an inappropriate one in society or even the church?

If so, Christians have a real problem on our hands because the Bible itself treats singleness as “other.” Marriage is very much treated as the norm in Holy Scriptures. Rhodes might complain about too much family-oriented instruction, but God told us to “be fruitful and multiply” before literally anything else. He also made sure to explicitly reiterate it after every global disaster like the Fall or the Flood. He might suggest that we have too many married people in church leadership, but when God established qualifications for certain offices, He Himself included things like “husband of one wife,” “manages his household well” and “keeps his children submissive.” And while the Bible directs a great deal of instruction specifically at wives, husbands, parents or children (alongside what it directs to everyone) it devote comparatively little specifically to the single–especially if you deliberately exclude instructions that point them towards marriage.

Just as the Bible presents marriage as the norm, it presents celibacy as “other.” Rhodes might object to the church treating singles as though something is missing, but that’s exactly how God Himself treated Adam in a perfect world before creating Eve from his side. “It is not good for man to be alone.” When Jesus and Paul talk about celibacy, they treat it as an exception that people aren’t generally equipped to handle. For those who are not so equipped, “singleness” is described as burning with desire or unable to be accepted. Jesus and Paul neither need nor command any special accommodation for their “singleness,” but simply take the sufficiency of God’s gift as already given.

Understandably, Rhodes’ analysis of the solution isn’t any better than his analysis of the problem. Given that his diagnosis matches the world’s current obsession with “marginalization” and “inclusion” it shouldn’t be any surprise that his prescription is likewise effectively the same as the world’s: Expunge every natural identity people possess for the sake of peace . Division is, inevitably, part of what identity does. And so, for the thoughtless, eliminating identity is a quick and easy way towards unity. Why would nations fight if nations are just meaningless lines on a map? Religion won’t cause friction if it’s just personal preference. If you treat your parents as a matter of happenstance rather than Providence, they can make no inconvenient claims on you. There can be no battle of the sexes if male and female are just social constructs. In the same way, if we find our identities “only” in Christ as Rhodes recommends, then singles cannot feel alienated.

Rhodes tries to find his license for expunging marital identity in Galatians 3:28 the same way theological liberals do. He also makes the same oversight in his application. The God who said there’s neither slave nor free also gave different sets of instructions to slaves and masters. The same God who said there’s no male or female also announced very different vocations for each in the church, the home, and society. Galatians 3:28 speaks to the universality of the Gospel, but clearly it neither expunges natural identities nor renders them meaningless to the Christian.

The Real Issue with Singleness

Rhode’s case is not only at odds with the plain sense of Scripture, but also with itself. He accuses the church of falsely claiming there is something incomplete about singleness. But consider his own testimony on the subject.

Even though marriage and children are already sidelined by things like education and career in church and society alike, the fleeting references to family that remain are still enough to trigger feelings of loneliness. He suggests that families invite singles to their family celebrations, but what is this except a family providing something that’s missing to someone without a family of his own? And consider this quote he highlights at the end as “enough” to demonstrate his point:

“I hate to admit it, but one of the loneliest times of my week is Sunday morning. Sitting alone in a pew amidst a sea of happy couples and families, I listen to sermons about how to be a more god-honoring spouse and parent and announcements about church-wide family picnics I won’t attend because as a single, I’d feel too out of place. When we had communion a couple of weeks ago, it was served by the deacons–and their wives. As I sat staring at the lineup of smiling couples across the front of our church, I wondered where the single leaders were. And I stopped going to church singles groups because they’re usually too ‘meat-marketty’ or too depressing.”

Setting aside the impropriety of deacons’ wives distributing communion, think critically about this confession and consider the implications. This isn’t a normal response for those who are truly called to celibacy. What Paul describes in 1 Cor 7 or Jesus in Matthew 19 is characterized by contentment. Contentment is manifestly the “gift” part of the situation. And while the Church certainly encompasses many individuals who are contentedly single, that is self-evidently not who this conversation is about. Rhodes’ descriptions make it plain that this is about people who are feeling lonely, marginalized, lost, and even ashamed. The conversation is only occurring because so many people are not content.

Why should the mere sight of happy couples or the mere mention of marital responsibilities elicit such a response among someone with the gift of celibacy? Such people do not seek marriage or desire intercourse. They may have a few wistful thoughts about what marriage might be like, but it doesn’t go beyond that because they are secure and content by the grace of God. But Rhodes’ observations about the plight of the single all attest to a deep and abiding insecurity and deprivation.

The truth of the situation is precisely what Rhodes denies: for the growing population of singles in our congregations, something very important is missing. And given what specifically triggers their feelings of alienation, it’s extremely obvious that what’s missing is marriage and family.

To be sure, they do feel excluded in church. They do feel alienated in church. They do feel abandoned in church. But modern culture fails to recognize that our feelings aren’t self-interpreting. It’s only natural they’d erroneously conclude that the church must be excluding, alienating, and abandoning them. But if you know better about feelings, then you’ll also know better about the root cause. While I have no wish to offend, respect requires that we call a thing what it is . These singles are experiencing envy .

Now, I want to be clear that it doesn’t feel like envy to our suffering singles, but that’s because envy never feels like envy. Even the fox who declared his coveted grapes to be sour walked away feeling disgust and irritation, but not envy. This is because envy isn’t really an emotion at all. Envy is a conviction that a blessing you haven’t been given ought to be yours . Convictions produce all sorts of different feelings depending on the circumstance. Nevertheless, one can see the sour grapes attitude in Rhodes’ argument. “Marriage is just for this world anyway. I’ll find my identity in the eschaton instead.” By Rhodes’ own descriptions, there is clearly a great deal of bitterness at work among Christians singles today.

The Real Solution.

All of this said, we cannot stop there. Naming the problem as envy doesn’t make the problem go away or give the Church a license to ignore it. The valuable part of Rhodes’ presentation is detailing how singles describe their own experience. While Rhodes may be misinterpreting that experience, it nevertheless is what it is. The church needs to help singles with it–all the more because there’s a very real deprivation at work. Once we can actually admit that and deal with the issue in truth, our course becomes clearer. There are at least two ways the Church is instructed to deal with deprivations.

The first and most obvious is to assist those in need. If you say “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? Inasmuch as it lies within our abilities, congregations should help their singles find appropriate spouses. We must recover the lost art of match-making. Parents must prepare their sons to be good husbands and their daughters to be good wives so that they may fulfill these natural longings in one-another. Mature Christians should teach single men and women to avoid inadvertently sabotaging themselves when it comes to finding a mate. Much could be said here, but in short, we must do precisely the opposite of what Rhodes prescribes. We must focus on marriage even more.

Admittedly, we need a lot of improvement in this regard. Rhodes quotes a statistic stating that “62 percent [of singles] felt that their church leader’s advice on relationships and issues of singleness was either not relevant, unhelpful, or virtually non-existent.” I’m only surprised that the percentage is that low . We are several generations past the point where we deliberately jettisoned our know-how on coupling for the sake of feminism. Our Boomer leadership is mostly clueless about the realities of hookup culture and modern “ dating .” We’ve long been teaching our culture’s values as though they came from God . The church has put herself at a huge disadvantage in this regard. But that only means the church needs to work that much harder in order to rebuild what we’ve lost.

Nevertheless, our efforts cannot stop there. As I wrote back at the beginning of this piece, not every single Christian is going to emerge from this crisis married. Despite our best efforts, not every injury is going to be healed in this life. Not every belly will be filled. The Church must help the poor, but the poor will nevertheless always be with us. The same is true of singles–especially now.

But our course for such men and women should also be clear: mourn with those who mourn. The material abundance of Western society has greatly dulled our skills in this regard. We implicitly except the healing of our sicknesses and the filling of our bank accounts. What’s more, we expect that the right application of effort will always produce success. It does not. To make matters worse, we tend to avoid the afflicted because we don’t want remind ourselves that we aren’t always in control of our fates.

But mourning with those who mourn doesn’t involve denying that their loss is real. We don’t refuse to mention colors to avoid offending the blind. Neither should we refuse to mention marriage to avoid offending the single. That’s patronization rather than mourning.

So what does it involve? Listening, for one. We ought to give singles space to vent and listen to how they feel. We ought to respond with sympathy rather than pity. Despite what contemporary fools will tell you, we can do this without affirming their every errant interpretation of their feelings. What’s more, we ought to give them the opportunity to see that we take their needs seriously by our efforts to help them. True, those efforts will fail for some individuals. Nevertheless, “at least you cared enough to try” still provides some measure of comfort and blunts the feeling of alienation.

Rhodes’ suggestion of families inviting singles over for holidays is actually a good one–as long as we take propriety seriously. This is the domain of older couples, not couples encountering the seven-year itch. Congregations hosting holiday meals for their members would also help to make sure no one is forced to spend Christmas or Thanksgiving alone. And if singles groups feel too much like a meat market at times, Christians can also organize get-togethers for their fellow congregants centered around identities besides singleness–hobbies, service projects, book groups, movie nights, and a billion others. Giving company to the lonely is certainly within our power.

When it comes to church leadership, we don’t need the quotas for singles that Rhodes’ suggestions imply. Still, there is something to be done on that point. Consider the complaints about couples serving communion and such. There is a real problem here because leadership needs to be about the office serving the congregation, not about the people filling those offices or their familial relationships. It seems to me that promoting exclusively masculine leadership in the Church would bear much fruit towards making those positions less relationship-focused. These vocations indeed do work that is valuable in itself, and we ought to acknowledge it regardless of marital status.

Of course, this only begins to scratch the surface of what the church could do to help. Rhodes deliberately aimed his presentation at beginning a conversation rather than providing the final word. That is no less true of my rebuttal. But whatever course the church takes, we cannot afford to root our efforts in the presumptions of the culture, fairytales about overvaluing marriage, or sour grapes. When we take seriously what Scripture says about men and women, marriage and celibacy, sin and grace, we are provided with a multitude of tasks, both small and great to care for the singles in our congregations and communities. May God give us wisdom, direction, and success in caring for all of His sheep.

• Do Conservatives Need to Work With the Other Side?

Does the right need to work with liberals to accomplish its goals? I’ve heard this contention repeatedly from moderates and conservatives who still find some form of national divorce unthinkable. Usually, it’s intended to explain why they can’t support Donald Trump.

In a way, the frequency of this sentiment shouldn’t be surprising. After all, it was a key part of the political mythology I grew up with. Both sides, they told us, want what’s best for America; they just had different ideas on how to get there. And while a person might find one side or the other more appealing, they taught me to never, under any circumstances, be a partisan. That’s what makes one an extremist. That’s what makes one incapable of independent thought. Partisanship is what prevented both sides of the political aisle from coming together to make common-sense compromises that would move America forward together. It seemed pretty reasonable to me a few decades ago.

But gosh, kind of a lot has happened since then.

I could make a long list about the ridiculous beliefs and practices that have emerged from “the other side” over the past couple decades, but I’ll settle for the one I consider emblematic of the rest: the refusal to recognize the difference between men and women. Transgenderism is one of the Big Lies or our time. If Satan convinces you that men can be women, he can make you believe anything at all. It represents a divorce from reality so obvious it far surpasses “the Emperor’s New Clothes.”

But no matter how obvious the Lie, there is literally no limit to how far its adherents will go to affirm it. They will burn multi-million dollar brands like Bud Light or Sports Illustrated to the ground over it. They will cancel strangers and disown family members over it. They will invite perverts into women’s locker rooms over it. They will deny conservatives life-saving care at hospitals over it. They will steal children from their parents over it. They will mutilate children over it–injecting them with hormones to disrupt their growth, cutting off healthy organs, and carving up healthy flesh (warning: graphic) to construct fake organs. And in keeping with the Lie, they will call it all “love” from beginning to end.

Christians cannot work with such a side.

I cannot work with a side like that. Our respective beliefs are so different that we don’t even have sufficient common ground to work together. During the height of the Cold War, Sting could at least sing “ the Russians love their children too .” But here, the sides couldn’t even agree on the meanings of “Russian,” “children,” “their,” or especially “love.” We cannot be fair to one another because we cannot agree on what fairness means. We cannot even resort to minding our own business. After all, “do what you want as long as you don’t hurt anyone” is empty rhetoric if we cannot even agree on what “hurt” means. I think mutilating a confused child until they look like a bad parody of the opposite sex is hurting them. In contrast, they think not doing so is hurting them.

There can be no real polity in a house this divided. In some respects, America’s national divorce has already happened–even if it’s not official.

President Trump’s continuing popularity despite (or perhaps because of) the media-industrial-complex throwing it’s full weight against him proceeds from his willingness to recognize and exploit this division. He’s come to symbolize the growing number of Americans who realize they cannot work with the other side and are just as despised as Trump for noticing it. People look to him precisely because they see him as someone who will boldly defy the left (unlike the absolute failure which is the GOP.) To be sure, I think President Trump’s first term adequately demonstrates that he’s not really such a man. Nevertheless, he has embraced the mythology the left has given him to great effect.

Or at least it would be to great effect if the United States were still a genuine republic. 2016 was likely the last fair and meaningful presidential election America will ever have. Maybe you don’t believe there was any fraud in 2020 . Maybe you even think forcibly removing Trump from the ballot in various states is protecting democracy. But even ignoring all of that, there’s a deeper problem. Democracy is supposed to be the electorate choosing new leaders; but our leaders have long been choosing a new electorate–a foreign one that votes more to their liking. Americans aren’t determining the outcomes of our elections anymore. And so, the sides can’t even agree on voting as a way to resolve our differences anymore.

What then is to become of America?

Ordinarily, when two different groups are in such conflict, it’s because each desires government which will benefit its posterity. In such cases, the best solution is peaceful separation so that two governments may be formed–in other words, a national divorce. Abraham and Lot are a great Biblical example of this on a small scale.

Sadly, the United States is cursed with countless foreign posterities within our borders competing with the posterity for whom our Constitution was written. The left’s solution to this self-inflicted tragedy of multiculturalism is to erase the very idea of posterity. They celebrate sterility , cuckoldry , sodomy , anti-racism , and every form of depravity that sets itself against the natural affections which would make peaceful separation work. What’s more, they are culturally ascendant and believe unquestioningly that they can take the whole thing by force anyway. So even a negotiated peace in which good fences produce good neighbors isn’t realistic.

The only thing keeping the two sides from the violent kind of national divorce is that it isn’t yet advantageous for either side. For the most part, there’s still too much to lose. The left has enjoyed virtually unopposed advancement for more than a generation now. They have no real need for open violence–only the implied threat thereof. Their open and official actions are still self-restrained for the moment. They do, however, have a growing impatience which motivates their sporadic escalations to violence. The left is happy to let Antifa and BLM murder and destroy to their hearts’ content because they have no real incentive to stop them. They only bring out heavy-handed government suppression when good men take action to defend themselves against evil–hence their frothing hatred for men like Kyle Rittenhouse or Daniel Penny. The bold actions of virtuous men are the only thing that truly frightens them into violence.

Meanwhile, on the right, we still have corners of society to which we can retreat. We can move away from California or New York. We can remove our children from public schools. We can start our own businesses after we get cancelled. We can choose to remain anonymous on social media. We can turn off Disney+, Netflix , and the other propaganda channels. In short, most of us can still keep our homes and families safe without resorting to violence. That’s why, despite all the posturing from the left, there was no right-wing insurrection on January 6th or any other day.

Nevertheless, we are beginning to understand that those days will come to an end. We got a glimpse of this during COVID when our leftist friends and neighbors were clamoring to lock us up in camps and make our families destitute if we refused experimental gene therapy. They straightforwardly threatened us when they treated January 6th like an insurrection while openly turning a blind eye to all the leftist protestors who jumped White House fences, occupied capitols, or even declared their own independent microstates in places like Portland. We know that we cannot simply work out some kind of compromise; and one day, there will no longer be too much to lose.

It’s Time to Repent.

It is sobering when you consider how many different threat points America is under with potential to remove that last barrier. We are being subjected to the largest mass migration in human history. Eventually, it will cause what mass immigration has always caused throughout history: horrible violence between native and migrant. Our economy is based entirely on debt and bereft of real production. Every time it wobbles, it’s more liable to collapse entirely. Our leaders seem intent on starting WWIII over foreign interests that have no real relevance to us. It’s only a matter of time before we pick a fight that our army of women and men who think they’re women won’t be able to handle. Disaster truly looms around us on all sides.

It would be irresponsible of Christians to view our situation as anything less than divine judgment. Therefore, America’s only hope at this point is to consider her sins and repent . We have shed an unfathomable amount of innocent blood. We have sold our children’s inheritance to foreigners for nothing more than cheap consumer goods and diverse restaurants. We have embraced fornication and adultery as our norms and treated children as a curse. We’ve grown too timid to stand against unspeakable wickedness, and we dress up our cowardice as “compassion.” Our men have allowed our women to rule over us and encourage feminist rebellion while we refuse our own headship . Our sins are great, and their consequences are well-deserved. Our national future hinges entirely on God’s mercy.

But true repentance and working with the other side are mutually exclusive. We cannot turn away from these evils while continuing to placate and enable those who are pursuing them with single-minded fanaticism. That is how we got here in the first place. True, we must tolerate some evil when stamping it out would cause even greater evils. But when we consider the moral weight of what we’ve done and the utter destruction that awaits us, we can put “greater evils” into its proper perspective. The gravity of our grossest sins crushes the petty concerns of our would-be collaborators–things like sensitivity, equality , or democracy.

Because we no longer have any ideological common ground with the left, our only option for working together would be to adopt some measure of their ideology. If America is to repent, we must therefore refuse to work with the other side, for we dare not share common cause with evil. And so, for the sake of our children, we must steadfastly resist the temptation to seek cooperation. If that results in an official national divorce and the end of the United States, so be it. Either we prevail against them, or we fall to them. Providence has given us no other options.

• What is the Postwar Consensus?

If you’ve ever borne witness to argument’s between Christian Nationalists and their opponents on the right, you’ve probably come across disparaging references to “the postwar consensus” from time to time. But what does it really mean?

Put simply, it’s a bundle of fundamental doctrines about politics and morality which modern Westerners presume to be universally true–a standard by which men of all ages must be judged. But in contrast to such broad scope, these doctrines only became widely accepted relatively recently in the aftermath of World War II. While questioning them may seem unthinkable to Americans today, they are very peculiar beliefs from an historical perspective–far from being objective moral standards akin to natural law or Holy Scripture. Their disguise of universality is maintained only through constant repetition by mass media, public schools, universities, and other cultural authorities in the West. These are the key doctrines of the postwar consensus:

Democracy is the only legitimate form of government.

Americans tend to see voting not as a privilege or as one particular method of political decision-making among many, but as a fundamental human right. Therefore, to deny any adult the right to vote is to render them less than human.

This doctrine is at the root of how easily we grant foreigners the ability to make America’s political decisions and how blasé we tend to be about resident aliens voting fraudulently. After all, if you count voting as part of being human, then the rest is just dubious paperwork.

This is likewise at the heart of our military adventurism abroad. Americans are quick to justify our forever wars with “spreading democracy” because we see all other forms of government as various shades of wicked dictatorship. And so, we perversely mistake every bomb dropped on the Middle East as some kind of favor to its targets.

The United States of America was, of course, founded as a republic–a form of government that uses democracy for many of its mechanisms. It’s only natural that we would have a preference for it. But embracing democracy as the universal political solution and embarking on a moral crusade to install it worldwide was an errant ideal that grew out of WWII’s resolution. We violently forced democracy on Japan and Germany as a means of making peace, and so we thought that same mechanism could bring peace anywhere. Accordingly, we spent the next 80 years defending the “Free world” against Communism and employing dubious means of imposing democracy on what we called the Third World. Reifying democracy as a moral absolute was the means by which our national conscience justified itself.

But as unquestionable as most Americans may find it (at least for the moment), this doctrine is nowhere to be found in Scripture or in sound theology. Scripture teaches us that God establishes government for the sake of punishing wrongdoers and commending rightdoers. Apart from declaring Christ as our King, it does not specify any other particular form, only the just pursuit of those ends. (And given our last century of experience, anyone paying attention should be skeptical that democracy is capable of pursuing such ends in the long run.) Christians may believe democracy to be suitable, but it is by no means required of us by God–only by transient historical circumstance. Accordingly, it is wicked for Christians to condemn their brothers in the name of Christ for pursuing alternatives.

Inequality is the root of all evil and discrimination the greatest sin.

Americans have become morally shallow as a people. Hitler is the sole point on most moral compasses, and by most accounts, his great sin was treating one group of people as superior and another as inferior–the Holocaust being considered the inevitable conclusion of any such a belief. And because “Hitler bad” is the only publicly-acknowledged moral certainty we have in common, most Americans embrace a false dichotomy between equality and hatred. Either you think that each group is the same as any other in every way that matters, or you literally hate them. There is no other option.

A notion of equality was, of course, baked into the founding of the United States, but only to a point. The scope given to the Declaration of Independence’s assertion of equality (rooted as it is in the laws of nature’s God and specific rights) is far narrower than how we treat it today . America’s early policies bore this fact out. Only male landowners were allowed to vote; immigration was limited by ethnicity; blasphemy was a crime; and while a federal church was disallowed, Christianity was nevertheless favored over any and every other religion in culture and policy alike. Early Americans as a whole in no way considered any of this contradictory with their ideals.

It was only in the 20th Century when the modern notion of equality consumed this older version whole. There were movements in this direction before the war, of course–women’s suffrage being the most obvious example. But it truly took off afterward. This era is when religious neutrality was ruthlessly imposed on public education and municipal institutions. This era is when freedom of association was abandoned for the sake of ending segregation–by sex, by race, and most recently by perversion. This era is when all restrictions were thrown to the wind and the border slowly became an evil. This era is when the parental duty of privileging one’s children was denounced as evil and maintaining law & order denounced as racist. It’s hard to overstate how much of this was motivated by endlessly repeating WWII’s Hitler narrative that “discrimination” is the greatest sin anyone can commit.

The grim result of this transformation has been moral and social insanity. We cannot prefer our own families, tribes, or nations over any given stranger on the other side of the globe. We cannot recognize that men and women are fundamentally different . We cannot say that chastity is morally superior to sodomy . We cannot even say that truth makes one religion superior to the rest . To be sure, conservative Americans will carve out a space for such discrimination in private while liberals do not; but both sides agree that expunging all such belief from the public square is a moral imperative–the only moral imperative we’re allowed to impose by force. Our every institution must not only be morally and religiously neutral, but must also treat every human being as utterly fungible.

From a Christian perspective, this is obscene. Scripture never imposes the burden of equality on us, but God does require us to discriminate in many important ways–equality be damned. But while Christians ought to be proclaiming Scriptural truth over-and-against our culture on this point, many of us are all-too-eager to do the Spirit of the Age’s dirty work and try to forcibly conform God’s Word and God’s people to modern equality instead.

Education can solve any problem.

Once equality leads a people to accept (either explicitly or implicitly) the blank slate theory of human nature, it follows that sufficient education can overcome any disadvantage and resolve any conflict. Does one race or one sex intellectually or economically outperform another? It can only be due to inequalities in their upbringing or preexisting prejudices in society–both of which can be solved by systematic education. Has virtually every multiethnic society in history devolved into violent separation? Well, as long as we can teach everyone that we’re all one race–the human race–we can finally avoid that. Is there interreligious conflict and even violence? If we teach them to understand one-another and realize how much they have in common, then religious differences will cease to matter. Even mundane issues like pestilence or poverty can be solved with just the right application of scientific know-how gained exclusively through formal education.

Americans have certainly swallowed this one hook, line, and sinker since WWII. From preschool to daycare, parents put children in standardized institutions at an ever-earlier age. At the same time, expected education has been extended further and further into adulthood. The Baby Boomers enjoyed material prosperity which made college a possibility for more people than ever before. They, in turn, made college an expectation for the entire middle class, and did all they could to bring as many poorer youth as possible into universities as well. The moral obligation to college is now so ubiquitous that few Americans can perceive anything strange about it.

This sense of normalcy changes, however, when a Christian begins to look objectively at what is given up for the sake of a college education. God says to flee fornication, but despite knowing how debaucherous college campuses are, we send our children there to have what we tell them is the best time of their lives. God warns us against pursuit of mammon, but even conservative parents still send their children to professors they recognize as wolves because they believe it’s the only path to economic success.

“Be fruitful and multiply” was the first command God ever gave mankind, but Americans assume that marriage must be put off until college is completed and a career befitting a college graduate has been attained –with the result being a ridiculous 30 years old as the median age for marriage. God directs young women to child-bearing and working for their husbands at home , but we pay huge sums of money and foist crushing debt onto them just to teach them the toxic feminist view that such God-honoring work is beneath them. The most basic Biblical instructions about everyday life are traded away for decades of fornication and indentured servitude before (maybe) landing the God-ordained estate of marriage as an afterthought .

There’s nothing wrong with formal education per se, but the twisted priority Americans place on it is wholly ungodly. Nevertheless, as the whole “ debt-free virgins without tattoos ” controversy proved, this fact doesn’t stop many Christians from siding with the world against the Church on this doctrine. For liberals, it’s a matter of saving the world; for conservatives, it’s a matter of mammon; but for both, the postwar fantasy of what education can achieve outweighs anything God has commanded us.

The nation-state is obsolete.

Here we find an inevitable consequence of all the previous points. If government is morally obligated to be democratic, and voters are all fungible blank slates formed by education, then the nation is an irrelevant concept. This view is so far advanced among us that many Americans don’t even recognize the difference between a nation (a group of people bound together by common ancestry, history, and heritage) and a state (a civil government) in the first place.

For Americans today, a nation is just a geographic entity whose only legitimate purpose is to help administrate the global citizens within its borders. And make no mistake, the typical American conservative holds this belief just as strongly as liberals–their only real deviation from the left is that “within its borders” must mean “ legally within its borders.” There is no one left to care for Americans as a singular people–only as an arbitrary collection of atomized individuals which can be replaced in bulk without issue.

As ubiquitous as this belief is now, it only became so following WWII. Our leaders blamed nationalism for the conflict, and declared caring for one’s own people “too much” dangerous to world peace. The United Nations was established in the months following the war, and the idea of a global government that transcended nations states become truly institutionalized. And while many American conservatives remain dubious of the UN, they clearly do not object to the concept. After all, these are usually the same conservatives who think the United States should act as a global police force. For them, it’s only a matter of which bureaucracy carries out global governance better.

This notion of global citizens was facilitated among Americans by 20th Century rhetoric about immigration. Nobody called America a “melting pot” until 1908, and it wasn’t an American who came up with the idea. Today, most people will piously intone that America has always been a nation of immigrants, but we have not always seen ourselves as such. It was only in the 50’s that this phrase entered our lexicon. Only in the 60s did we stop being picky about what kind of immigrants would fit in with Americans and how many could be tolerated. It was only in the subsequent decades that enforcing our borders became a mere technicality.

But once again, this product of 20th Century politics is neither found in Scripture nor derived from sound theology. The Bible describes the nations we’re blithely trying to dissolve in a melting pot as God’s creation . It treats rule by foreigners as a curse . It establishes our duties to our families as a far higher priority than our duties to strangers . And as Luther explains in his Large Catechism, the 4th Commandment is the root of all civil government –it ought to be inherently familial. In short, God is not the one who has commanded us to take up this doctrine. So why are so many Christians willing to condemn their brothers for rejecting it?

In Conclusion

I consider these four doctrines the core of the postwar consensus. But while Americans defend them with religious fervor, they are not doctrines of the Christian religion or even natural religion. On the contrary, they are foisted on us by the Spirit of the Age, and they lie at the root of all the biggest problems in America today.

Naturally, Christian Nationalists attempting to solve those problems are quite willing to attack these doctrines. While we ought to expect massive pushback from the world, it’s tragic that so much of it comes from fellow Christians who condemn us on the basis of their political preferences while pretending they do so at the command of Christ. Many of them don’t even realize who told them to be outraged at us .

American Christians need to take a long, hard look at who they’re truly serving. Do you really want Christ to return to find you beating your fellow servants? When He asks you why, do you really think “they denied the postwar consensus!” will be adequate? The Christian Faith has existed since the Fall and transcends nations, states, time, and space alike. We are in no way beholden to the postwar consensus; it’s time we start passing judgment on it and stop passing judgment on its behalf.

• Facing Wokeism as a Church  (After Lutheranism Part 4)

As I wrote when I started this “ After Lutheranism ” series, one of the greatest threats to American church bodies is our ongoing failure to adequately oppose the progressive social justice agenda or “wokeism.” Indeed, the recent events surrounding our now infamously bad  additions to Luther’s Large Catechism are  leaving many Christians with a sinking feeling about the LCMS. After all, the same patterns  which have typified the downfall of so many different institutions are observable among us as well. Is the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, once known for staunch adherence to God’s Word, now going woke?

Evidence to the contrary is sadly lacking, but there is one objection I see coming up again and again: The LCMS certainly runs on the politically conservative side, so it therefore cannot truly be going woke. It usually goes something like this: “How can you say the Synod is going woke when there are so many conservatives? You may not agree with them on everything, but aren’t their views pretty close to your own? Certainly, they must be far closer to yours even than to the average American’s–let alone some purple-haired trans lesbian’s! Clearly, the contention that Synod is going woke must be the product of a growing over-sensitivity and extremism on the right rather than reality.”

The problem with this objection isn’t that it’s making a false observation. The LCMS does remain an relatively conservative church body by typical measures. The problem is that the objection only considers positions on the wider debates of our day which are far too superficial. Yes, we may look almost identical on a standard American opinion poll because we have a lot of complaints in common. However, complaints alone do not determine one’s vision of what his society should look like or what direction we should take to get there.

The foundational beliefs which determine vision and direction usually fail to be captured by mere complaints. For example, the average conservative LCMS functionary and I would agree that women shouldn’t be permitted to be pastors. And that agreement would indeed set us both apart from the average American who considers such a view archaic, though not unheard of. However, Lutherans and conservatives alike have a well-earned reputation for merely being a few decades behind the times. Accordingly, whether we would allow women’s ordination today is far less relevant than whether we embrace the worldly priorities which would make it a reality in the future.

Details like that are precisely where our differences emerge. The average LCMS conservative believes that we need more women in church leadership — just not in the pastoral office . He would also accuse men of sin for believing otherwise . Handing our reins to feminism while retaining a small space for the Bible to set a few seemingly arbitrary boundaries does  lead to women’s ordination whether the conservative wants it to or not. It is one well-trod paving stone in the road to hell because God isn’t the one who told us to seek women leaders.

And that is how all of these woke-adjacent issues work. The West has been given a vision and a direction by progressive liberalism. Conservatives follow the crowd slowly because they hem, haw, pause, wander, and daydream, but they do ultimately follow. What they don’t do is openly defy the crowd by offering a different vision and pointing out a different way of getting there. That kind of difference is anything but superficial, and yet you would never discover it by asking about the controversies of the day. You’d find it by asking about issues that are not yet  real controversies. For example, instead of asking whether women should be ordained, you would ask whether women should be allowed to vote. Or instead of asking whether gay marriage should be legal, you should ask whether sodomy should be criminalized. Those are the kinds of differences that matter in the long run, and they are precisely where adherents of ancient Christianity depart from the merely conservative Christianity of today.

And because conservatives are genuinely dubious of the ancient faith of their forebears, they will ultimately find common cause with that purple-haired trans lesbian. For example, they fundamentally agree on the equality of men & women  and the evils of sexism . They merely disagree about whether a refusal to ordain women is truly sexist or not. That’s why the conservative always has far more vitriol for a man who says women shouldn’t be pastors because they’re easily deceived  than he has for any actual pastrix. He may see both conclusions as wrong, but only one “error” really cuts him to the quick.

No matter how much a conservative Christian agrees with me superficially, I’ve come to realize that he will always  side with the woke against me whenever their shared fundamental beliefs about pluralism, secularism, equality, multiculturalism, and globalism are threatened. And that is exactly  the behavior we’ve been observing from the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod over the past few years. If you know, you know; and those of us with a genuinely different vision  for the West know.

It remains to be seen whether the LCMS will successfully overcome this very real slide into wokeism. I am no prophet, but as the “after Lutheranism” theme of my last few posts suggests, I don’t really expect it to do so as an (intact) institution. Nevertheless, whatever happens to the institution, the large faithful remnant among us will  stand against it–both now and after Lutheranism should it come to that. The question with which we are left is “how.” While I’ve written a fair amount on that subject as it pertains to laity, we need to start grappling with the question of how our clergy and leadership ought to oppose wokeism among us.

The question is difficult only because so many people think wokeism is purely political and fail to recognize it as a false religion . So when many pastors hear that they need to oppose wokeism, they erroneously think they’re being asked to take up a political crusade. While there’s nothing wrong with a pastor taking political action, neither is it a requirement of the office. Many pastors find themselves too busy, too disinterested, or too ill-suited for political leadership, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

But wokeism, driven as it is by critical theory , is a wolf set on destroying Christians in both body and soul. It is a false religion put into practice through corrupting institutions–governmental, ecclesial, economic, or otherwise. Any man who seeks to be a true shepherd rather than a hireling  must therefore be prepared to drive these wolves away from his flock. With this proper understanding, the following responsibilities of a pastor in opposing wokeism should become clear.

Care about your flock .

The extent to which many Lutheran clergy make themselves aloof from this conflict is egregious. “Trust not in princes.” “We lose down here.” “We don’t need a political savior.” “God is still in control.” “Our home is in heaven.” “Set your hope on things above.” “We are but sojourners and exiles here.” These are the kinds of rote responses given by many pastors when laymen speak up about their distress over what’s happening to their families, homes, and nation. There’s truth in most of them. Many of them are even explicitly Biblical. However, there is something very wrong with how  many pastors are applying these sayings.

When Scripture speaks this way, it is as encouragement. We live in a wicked world and many evils befall us–often specifically because we are faithful to Christ, for the Spirit of the Age hates us for our Lord’s sake . The Christian needs to know that evil does not get the last word. And so Paul tells us that our current sufferings cannot be compared to the glory that awaits us. Peter tells us that our sufferings now will result in glory and honor on the Last Day. Jesus tells us that we are blessed when we are persecuted because our reward will be great in heaven. As we fight the good fight of the Faith, we need to be reminded that Christ is our conquering king. Whatever setbacks we experience in this life, his armies will nevertheless receive the crown of victory and trample Satan underfoot. His heirs will nevertheless inherit the Kingdom.

In contrast, many pastors offer these aphorisms not to encourage us in our fight, but to discourage us from fighting at all by telling us that our battles are meaningless. “Trust not in princes” and “we lose down here” are deployed to tell us that politics don’t matter therefore we should ignore them. “We are sojourners whose home is in heaven” is deployed to tell us to stop bothering to defend our homes from perverts and invaders. “God is still in control” and “set your hope on things above” are deployed to tell us not to concern ourselves with our children’s well-being. These are the very earthly vocations Christ has commanded of us, but too many pastors are quick to tell us there’s no point to any of it. By telling God’s faithful to abandon the field, these sayings are emptied of all Biblical wisdom and turned against their godly purpose. Words meant to avert desperation are instead leveraged to encourage complacency.

The impression this gives to faithful Christians is that our shepherds simply want us to stop bothering them with our petty concerns. But what are our “petty” concerns today? Schools try to convince our sons to literally emasculate themselves. Society teaches our daughters to be whores. Our government threatens our families with destitution unless we submit to medical experiments. Our families disown us and our employers fire us because we refuse to deny God’s condemnation of sodomy. The heartless cruelty of nihilistic clergy telling us that this is all beneath concern cannot be overstated. Lutheran churches who persevere in this battle will be shepherded by men who actually care that such things are happening to their flocks. Wherever this is the case, comforting the afflicted and encouraging the defeated will be a pastoral priority–as they should have been in the first place.

Boldly call evil evil and good good.

One of the most spiritually devastating aspects of woke culture is the constant gaslighting. Whether it’s claiming that trans women are women, that men can marry each other, that all religions are basically the same, or that everybody is completely equal in every way, Western Christians are constantly surrounded by lies. But the ubiquity of the deception isn’t even the most dangerous part. Our culture goes even further by having authority figures in government, universities, businesses, and media tell us over and over again that we are the crazy ones for doubting these lies. It is an understatement to call this a spiritually toxic environment in which to live and raise our children.

Man was never created to exist atomistically; peer pressure is part of our design . We will always be affected by the voices shouting in our ears whether we want to be or not. Therefore, as the Spirit of the Age constantly corrodes our grasp on natural law and Biblical wisdom alike, Christians need men who will boldly proclaim God’s Word in opposition to these lies. Where the devil is at work, our Pastors should be constantly pointing out the deceptions and reminding believers that they aren’t the crazy ones. And they should be doing so with confidence.

Sadly, this is far less common among us than it should be, and the reasons are legion. Some pastors try to avoid it out of a relatively innocent desire to be apolitical–they know that politics are divisive and would prefer not to involve themselves in it. Given that shepherding a church is already quite difficult, it’s understandable that a pastor would want to keep things simple and avoid such treacherous waters. Nevertheless, God’s Word stands in judgment over politics as well. Where Scripture speaks and sheep need to hear, a pastor has no excuse for silence.

Other pastors avoid it out of a desire for worldly approval. They crave the recognition of unbelievers and want to be seen as the reasonable ones, rather than one of those  Christians. They may speak the truth from time-to-time, but not with boldness. On the contrary, they bury Scriptural proclamation in endless nuance designed not to edify, but to avert the world’s ire. They might reluctantly admit that sodomy is a sin, but they’ll never use the term “sodomy” and will immediately change the subject to easier issues like pornography. They might briefly acknowledge that feminism is wrong, but they will spend far more time talking about what evil and abusive failures men are . Where their congregants need bold presentation of God’s Word, they proclaim sensitivity & “winsomeness” uber alles  and thereby propagate their own timidity among God’s people.

But the worst of the bunch are the blatant false teachers among us. The LCMS continues to be plagued with antinomians . These men will not proclaim any of the specifics of God’s Law over and against the Spirit of the Age, preferring to acknowledge sin only in the abstract –enough to justify their jobs, but not enough to actually be faithful. Because wokeism primarily denies and corrupts First Article gifts rather than their own reductionist gospel, they have no interest in the subject. What’s worse, if they actually hear any Lutheran speak out against the gross public sins  America celebrates, they will fall upon him like a pack of wolves to accuse him of self-righteousness  and hatred for the Gospel.

Those congregations who persevere through the woke calamity will have pastors who routinely remind them that while the world has gone mad, God’s Word remains the same forever. They will have pastors who are unafraid of being blunt in sermons and Bible Studies wherever God’s Word is blunt. When they offer nuance, it will be to help their wavering sheep understand the virtue of God’s proclamations, not to hide from worldly condemnation. They will openly speak against the insanity of wokeness so that their congregation can build on the Rock.

Don’t bind your congregation’s conscience to modernism .

As I’ve said, it’s understandable that many pastors don’t want to get involved in politics. The body of Christ has many members with different functions and we certainly don’t need each member to be an eye. And yet, many of these apolitical pastors who cannot be roused by all the woke, ungodly attacks against the Church quickly find their ferocity whenever modernism is threatened. If men in their churches begin to believe that the postwar liberal consensus is at the root of many of the problems in our society and seek to undermine it, then and only then is it time to break out the church discipline . While they have no interest in politics for themselves, they deliberately hamstring other Christians who are better suited to that purpose when they rock the boat.

But such action for the sake of modernism is highly dubious, for modernism is not a Biblical doctrine, and the postwar consensus is not a Scriptural command. On the contrary, a straightforward reading of Scripture will put many of its shibboleths under judgement. The Bible tells us that women are the weaker vessel and that wives should submit to their husbands , but our pastors get outraged if anyone questions egalitarianism . The Bible tells us that the nations are God’s creation  but pastors eagerly pursue diversity and hinder anyone who tries to preserve their nation by halting globalism . The Bible tells us to flee fornication and condemns adultery, but pastors rush to the defense of every unrepentant fornicator they can find and tear down men who express the godly desire for a virgin bride . Scripture tells us that any man who fails to care for his family is worse than an unbeliever, but our pastors condemn and deride men for putting their own children before foreigners.

It is not God who instructed our clergy to be outraged over such things , but many of them nevertheless seek to tie the hands of laymen who bring God’s Word with them into their earthly vocations. A good father who protects his family from wokeism or a good citizen who tries to steer his nation down a godly path will inevitably question social ideals which Americans take for granted. Lutheran congregations who cultivate such godly men will have pastors who refuse to be an enforcer of the Spirit of the Age, but instead feed them with God’s pure word, affirm their Christian freedom to do good for their neighbors, and uphold their authority in their own homes.

Be willing to suffer alongside your sheep .

For most of my life, every pastor preaching or teaching the various verses about persecution would include the comment, “thankfully, we don’t need to worry about that sort of thing in America.” Clearly this is no longer the case, and for now, that blessed time is drawing to a close. The pagans that surround us have once again been given free reign to take their hatred of Christ out on His followers. The satanic woke assault on nature and goodness is the great conflict of our time. Those laymen who live out their faith in opposition to the Spirit of the Age are beginning to suffer for it once again.

Pastors who attempt to drive off the wolves that would deceive, discourage, or distract their congregations from this conflict will likewise face consequences at the hands of the world. Feminism in particular is deeply entrenched in our congregations and will take decades of patient struggle to finally root out. A pastor may not be fired for condemning sodomy the way a layman might, but there will still be a cost to being faithful to Scripture, for many rank-and-file Lutherans who sit on boards and councils are quite worldly indeed. So what I’m asking of pastors here is no less daunting than when Peter instructed slaves to be obedient even to cruel masters.

But as Peter also says , that is what we have been called to. And when we suffer for doing good, it is a gracious thing in God’s sight. There are many false teachers who would rob all Christians of that comfort. What Scripture means coram mundo , they will apply coram deo  and assert that your actions were not truly good because you’re a sinner. They will say you’re suffering because you weren’t sensitive enough, winsome enough, or loving enough. And because we are  sinners, there will always be some faults even in our best actions. But you will never be more perfect or more loving than Christ, and He still endured suffering at the hands of the world. As we strive to be truly Christlike, we must rest in the sure and certain knowledge that our faults are forgiven, and through faith, our good works are made acceptable to God. These comforts are truly meant even for sinners like us. When we comfort one another, we will suffer, but we will suffer as one, as we ought.

As fellow members of Christ’s body, faithful Christians need to support everyone who is fighting on the same side of this battle. Maybe we think they are being too extreme, or maybe we think they are being too hesitant, or maybe they’ve made big mistakes. But as long as we are truly on the same side, we should be understanding about such things. Pastors need to support the laity who fight the good fight rather than undermining us, and laity need to treasure those clergy who serve them well as more valuable than gold. Let us all learn. Let us all grow. Let us all fight. And let us all be one body as we do it. But as for those Christians who would beat their fellow servants  and team up with the world against the Church, there can be no real unity, for we are on different sides. There are many men of high standing and repute in the LCMS who would do well to consider which side they are truly on.

Throughout history, Satan has attacked the church in many different ways in different times and places . But today, in our own time and place, wokeism is where his stroke falls heaviest against us. This is what is undermining our doctrine right now. This is what is leading to our persecution. This is what is driving ordinary men down paths of reprehensible wickedness. We must therefore faithfully resist him, for it is not our place to choose which walls are under attack.

Those churches which man their stations and remain faithful through this conflict will be the ones to inherit a future after Lutheranism. May God send faithful workers into the field to support His people; and may He preserve each of our churches with an unyielding faith in Jesus Christ.

Loving God’s Law After Lutheranism

https://matthewcochran.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/loving-gods-law-after-lutheranism.mp3

Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. -Psalm 119:97-104

Back when I was about to start seminary, the class I looked forward to the most for my first term was Theological Ethics. I had wandered off from the Church during high school and college–mainly due to my own failure to properly apply God’s Law to my life and circumstances. And it was certainly the conviction wrought by God’s Law over my sins that sent me running back to the Gospel I had learned in my youth (and then into studying apologetics  to see whether that blessed assurance was really true. It is.)

Under the circumstances, it should be no surprise that, like the Psalmist, I love God’s Law and want to meditate on it. I love that it revealed my sin. I love that it’s restrained me from even greater wickedness. I love that God did not just save me only to abandon me, but actually wants me to do works that please Him and even teaches me how. Yes, the Law causes pain when I take it seriously, but that’s only because of my sins. And since there is no longer any condemnation for me  because I am in Christ Jesus, that pain is fleeting in the face of learning God’s Wisdom.

So upon returning to the faith, I sought to learn more and more about God’s Word and Lutheran theology. But while I always count on Lutherans to expound wonderfully on many different matters of theology, I found myself having to read men from other traditions to deepen my understanding of the details of morality (and always having to tweak and adjust what I read to “Lutheranize” it.) While I went to seminary to ground myself in many different matters of doctrine, I was particularly looking forward to finally getting some of that missing ethical insight.

What I got in Theological Ethics was not exactly what I expected, to say the least. The majority of the class was devoted to making sure that ethics didn’t get in the way of understanding that we are saved by grace alone–something every Lutheran learns from the cradle. Even a class specifically about ethics couldn’t focus on equipping future pastors to understand God’s Law and apply it to the real-life circumstances they and their future congregants were likely to encounter.

As grateful as I am for my time in seminary  (and even for Theological Ethics, in which I learned much, even if it wasn’t what I was expecting) it did serve to reinforce my gnawing suspicion that contemporary Lutherans have a serious Law problem. A kind of soft antinomianism is entrenched in our institutions. We treat the Law like those action movies where two officers have to get two keys and turn them clockwise simultaneously to unlock the nuclear weapons. In practice, far too many of our pastors and theologians see God’s moral instructions as something to break out only in the most dire and exceptional circumstances. They don’t (usually) go full antinomian and explicitly deny God’s Law, but they do passive-aggressively despise it to keep it out of anyone’s mind.

As is typical of passive-aggression, their techniques for Law-avoidance are legion. In many cases, they avoid it simply by sniping at other Christians. Though they’ll cite the 8th Commandment endlessly when it comes to those who object to public false teaching, they won’t give a second thought to accusing faithful men of works righteousness  if they even express what they feel is “too much” interest in morality. Likewise, if you argue in favor of moral wisdom learned from Scripture, they’ll accuse you of adding to God’s Word  instead. Ironically, they’ll invent rules as legalistically as any Pharisee  if you (like Jesus , Paul , or Luther ) make even the most obvious of inferences from God’s commands. The intended effect is to shame any pastor or layman who dares break their embargo on Biblical morality.

Another approach they take is to try and lock down God’s Law so that it only has the specific effects they desire. Lutherans teach that there are three uses of the Law: 1) to restrain our overt sinful actions and reduce the harm we do to ourselves and others, 2) to reveal that we are sinners by nature whose only hope of salvation is the grace of God in Christ Jesus, and 3) to teach forgiven Christians how to live in God-pleasing ways. Second use is the only reason soft antinomians tolerate God’s Law at all. Their occupation as pastors would dissolve without it along with their false piety, for without some abstract form of sin, no one would require forgiveness from them. But theologians like Gerhard Forde, Steven Paulson, and their many followers in the LCMS have made it their life’s work to reduce God’s Law to a mere technicality sufficient to justify their paychecks.

Third Use was the first to be rejected, based on a corruption of simul justus et peccator . This (true) teaching that Christians are simultaneously saints and sinners was perverted to claim that A) totally depraved sinners cannot be reformed by the Law and B) already perfect saints have no need to be reformed by the Law, therefore C) Christians ipso facto  have nothing to learn from God’s Law except their identity as sinners. Of course, this legalistic sophistry not only ignores Scripture’s constant moral exhortations to believers, but also the obvious fact that even perfect humans still learn how to do good . Even Jesus Christ required such instruction according to his human nature .

But the matter didn’t stop at Third Use, for First Use is under assault now as well. This time, it’s Luther’s doctrine of the Two Kingdoms  that’s perverted in service to the antinomians. Here, the teaching that the Church and civil government have two distinct sets of God-given responsibilities is recast into 20th Century “separation of church and state” in which government is required to be religiously neutral. Of course, that kind of religious neutrality is not only logically incoherent  (for one cannot even serve two masters, let alone hundreds) but unbiblical as well. According to Scripture, civil government is established specifically to punish wrongdoers and commend right-doers–and God is still the one who defines that right and wrong.

Nevertheless, our soft antinomians willfully defy Scripture in order to support the post-WWII consensus that the only good society is one that’s both secular and pluralistic. Consider, for example, how the President of the LCMS recently condemned in the name of Christ  any who would use the civil law to restrain the wickedness of sodomites as God Himself did in Israel. Or consider the broader reaction against Christian Nationalism  by those who insist that God’s Law has no place in the way a nation governs itself. “That would be theocracy!” they wail, pearls clutched firmly in hand. Once again, the purpose is to keep God’s Law under lock and key, lest anyone actually hear it and perceive its wisdom.

And where good Lutheran doctrines cannot be perverted, they are simply forgotten. For example, Luther taught that there are two kinds of righteousness: righteousness before God ( coram deo ) and righteousness before the world ( coram mundo ). The former can only be received by faith in Christ, because none of us can keep the Law perfectly in God’s sight. The latter, however, can be achieved through basic virtue and decency, for imperfect humans cannot hold each other perfectly accountable. This is a good, proper, and useful theological distinction; and it is forgotten whenever Lutherans want to shut down uncomfortable conversations about morality.

The whole “ debt-free virgins without tattoos ” controversy made this deliberate oversight plain to many of us. When men acknowledged that they actually want wives with moral character (an obviously coram mundo  judgment), many of them took fire from pastoral white knights . Some were accused of denying the forgiveness of sins for Christian women with a history of fornication. Others were called hypocrites for daring to care about a woman having slept with two dozen strangers when they themselves had lusted after women in their thoughts. Judgments like these, however, are plainly coram deo , dealing as they do with imputed righteousness and perfect adherence to God’s Law. In all these objections, apples are conflated with oranges to shut up those who want God’s Laws and values to govern their lives.

I could go on listing examples, and I have done so in the past–from “ Saint/Sinner Nestorianism ” to bizarre legalisms like “ avoid moral specifics when preaching ” to reducing Law & Gospel to a tool of emotional manipulation to produce shame and relief at will. As I said, their techniques are legion. One cannot observe this cavalcade of anti-Lutheran & anti-Christian stupidities coming from our highest profile leaders and fail to notice the pattern:  They are all an attempt to steal God’s Law away from faithful Christians.

These are not the actions of a church body with a bright future, for there can be neither Church nor Christianity without God’s Law. For one thing, of course, there is no Gospel of forgiveness if there is no sin. Even most soft antinomians would agree with that, though as I said, they think they can get away with second-use-only without turning the Law and Sin into a meaningless abstractions rather concrete wrongdoing .

There is also the practical matter that without God’s Law, neither family, nor congregation, nor society will actually survive. Sin isn’t just naughtiness–it is destruction and uncreation. When we disregard God’s Law and embrace open sin, providence will grind us into dust one way or another. And as I wrote last time , our refusal to learn wisdom from God’s Laws about sexual morality is the root of our terminal demographic decline.

But more to my point here, if we divide God’s Word into Law and Gospel, but consider preaching the former to be beneath us, we have absolutely no business being a church body anymore. The Law is God’s Word, and we don’t get to second-guess God about which of His words are valuable. Every Christian has parts of the Bible he doesn’t like simply by virtue of being a sinner, but faith and humility require us to acknowledge that we are in the wrong on such matters. How, then, ought we to regard something as beyond the pale as striving to categorically dismiss half of Scripture because you don’t like how it makes you feel? Do you really think a church can deliberately embrace and enforce faithlessness of that magnitude without our Lord removing its lampstand? When you consider that even our Synodical President openly treats the Law as something to be taught only as a matter of last resort , it should make it plain how unfirmly our denomination stands.

The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod needs to wake up and realize that we have a severe Law problem on our hands. And it goes far deeper than simply having a bunch of fools in our midst who teach this antinomian garbage. This is deeply embedded in our institutions, in our leadership, and in our culture. We are actively and passively conforming ourselves to this error. Having attended one of our seminaries myself, I can attest that this is how our clergy are being trained. For all intents and purposes, neglect for the Law is part of the curriculum. Sometimes this is deliberate, as it was in Theological Ethics. Sometimes it is entirely absentminded. Either way, we have made soft antinomianism a matter of outward piety throughout our leadership. We have been trained to perceive contempt for God’s Law as love for the Gospel because that is how our prominent antinomians present themselves.

But here is the key point we all need to drive home in our own minds: If they truly believed the Gospel in the first place–that they are forgiven and redeemed from sin by Christ’s blood–then they would have no need to hide away from the Law. The Law always accuses, but there is no condemnation for those of us in Christ Jesus. There remains our own feelings of guilt and shame, but these are entirely healthy feelings for sinners to have, just as pain is a healthy sensation when one’s hand is to close to the flame. But like pain, guilt & shame are not pleasant.

Also like pain, we cannot leave guilt & shame behind in this life. At the very least, this is because we all continue to sin. We will always have new failures to be ashamed of. Other times, it will be because you cannot leave the consequences of your sin behind. If you’ve done things like mutilated your family through divorce or let your children grow up to be wantons, perverts, or pagans because you failed to raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord, you will naturally be reminded of it until Christ returns. And of course, for those with besetting sins, it is a constant struggle even to leave the sin itself in your past because it continually stalks you.

As these circumstances have multiplied among us and among our leadership, we are therefore more and more subject to the sinful impulse to scream “DON’T JUDGE ME” whenever the Law written on our hearts is brought to our minds–the same impulse that has proliferated in Western culture at large. We are therefore commanded to be sensitive by refusing to mention the specifics of God’s Law that we most desperately need–the parts that will restrain our children from following us into sin, that will point us to the absolute need for a savior, and that will teach us how to live apart from that sin. And the more we neglect them, the more sensitive we will become to anyone else who mentions them. Thus, the vicious cycle continues as we desperately try to hide our shame behind fig leaves.

But that is not a cycle in which a Christian ought to live–especially a Lutheran who knows we are saved by divine Grace alone apart from our works. Forde taught that Law and Gospel were found in the provoked feelings of shame and relief respectively, leading many astray in a vain pursuit of the more pleasant feeling of the pair. Real Lutherans know better. We know that God’s assurance of our forgiveness in Christ is real no matter how we may feel about it, for God’s proclamations transcend emotion. When we receive the Sacrament while set on fire for the Lord and ready to take on the world, we are forgiven. When we have to reluctantly drag ourselves to church and the altar because we feel like sinful refuse, we are still forgiven. And when we hear God’s just statutes, we know them to be true and good no matter how anyone may feel about them, and so the faithful Christian seeks them out regardless.

So how do Lutherans overcome the contempt for the Law we’ve instilled in our hearts? Well for one thing, you know a lot of the antinomians’ tricks now, so don’t fall for those. But there is much more to be done.

Unfortunately, we cannot rely on our leadership or our institutions to help us in this matter, for that would be the blind leading the blind. Thankfully, we have not been left as orphans. If you need a perspective from outside contemporary culture, then the simplest solution is to read old books. And we are truly blessed in this regard. Holy Scripture is wide open to any of us who wish to learn what our leadership tries to hide. Likewise, the Lutherans Confessions  and other works of the early Lutherans are available to anyone and readily demonstrate that they did not share our modern contempt for God’s Law. Once again, I can attest from personal experience that the more you read faithful writings, the more you will be able to recognize and overcome the antinomianism being foisted on you. This is especially necessary for pastors whose training has required them to face the most temptation in this regard.

But what starts with self-study does not end there. Share what you have learned with your brothers and sisters in Christ however you can, and learn from others who have taken up the same journey into the Faith. And if you find you need to resist some of them–even pastors and presidents–you can stand firm on God’s Word just as Luther and countless other Christians through the ages have done. And whenever you do find Lutheran pastors and teachers who have overcome the antinomian impulse, treat them as a precious treasure, for that’s what they are.

From the very beginning, Satan has used many and various ways of hiding whichever parts of God’s Word he finds most opportune to hide. And from the beginning, whatever heartache his efforts have caused, his designs have always failed as God’s Word is proclaimed again and again throughout the world. This age is no different in either respect. God’s Word will prevail with or without Lutherans. Let us therefore repent and pray that it would prevail with us.

Forming Christian Families – After Lutheranism Part 2

https://matthewcochran.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/forming-families-after-lutheranism.mp3

Any discussion of a future for Lutherans after Lutheran denominations pass away  must begin with God’s first instructions to humanity: Be fruitful and multiply . Practically speaking, our rejection of God’s command in Genesis 1 is the most significant proximate cause of our decline. The future belongs to those who show up for it, but like most Americans, we embraced deliberate barrenness and thereby strangled our future before it even reached the crib.

What’s more, even when we did reproduce, we failed to pass on the faith to our youth. Parents outsourced their children’s theological education to the church for an hour or two each week while simultaneously outsourcing every other subject to pagan schools who (at best) told them God had nothing to do with anything. More typically, of course, our families were told to fornicate freely, hate children, and pursue mammon over all else. And most recently, they are taught to carve up the bodies God gave them and embrace their true identity as the opposite sex, an animal, an alien, or God knows what else.

Now, simply having babies again won’t be enough to save the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod; it’s too slow for that. The cynic in me is inclined to think that this is why Synod has been largely unconcerned with God’s command, preferring instead to recruit other nations to replace their people . Encouraging child-bearing would only help their sheep rather than themselves. But If we, as individuals and congregations, cannot finally rise to the challenge presented by the sexual revolution and recover genuine chastity among us, then we will not have any future at all–with or without Lutheranism.

So how do we do this? By doing what we should have been doing in the first place: Teaching God’s command to be fruitful and multiply as normative for Christians, and by proclaiming marriage as God’s solution to the sexual temptation that surrounds us all. Both of these are straight out of both Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions. But while it is simple in theory, there are several complicating factors at work that make putting it into practice more difficult.

The first is that we have abandoned this teaching for several generations now, and much of the practical know-how has been lost in the meantime. The Church can deliver imperatives like “get married” and “don’t fornicate” all day, but when youth naturally respond by asking “how”, we don’t have much of an answer for them. We tell them to be warm and well fed, but do nothing to meet their needs.

The second is that when we observe the practical impediments to marriage in our culture, our latent antinomianism kicks in, and we refuse to specifically address them because the Bible doesn’t specifically address them. For example, does our culture encourage young men and women to eschew any parental involvement in their love life and instead find mates by spending copious amounts of time alone to explore their mutual romantic feelings? We should be addressing things like that because it naturally leads to fornication rather than marriage–both matters of Biblical command. But since we cannot tell the difference between gaining moral wisdom and adding to God’s Law , we remain silent and shame others  into doing the same. Antinomianism will get its own post in this series, but it nevertheless bears mentioning here first.

The third complication is a growing disconnect between pastors and laity. Word and Sacrament are the meat and potatoes of pastoral ministry. But practically speaking, there is a great deal more that pastors need to carry out and oversee as part of their job. And because they have the kinds of duties that are never truly finished, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and burnt out. Good boundaries are therefore an absolute necessity. The problem, however, is that as laity find themselves more and more oppressed by the world and seek pastoral assistance, boundaries are increasingly being established for the sake of dismissing those concerns. (This will also get its own post in this series.)

Pursuit of marriage is one such example. Suggesting that the church needs to take an active role in helping their youth find suitable marriages often triggers responses like “pastors aren’t matchmakers” and “that’s a left-hand kingdom issue.” These responses aren’t exactly incorrect, but their use to end conversations is pastoral malfeasance. As a Pastor, it’s your job to tell your sheep that they need to find ways to develop chastity for themselves and their children. And as you are likely a father, you yourself need to successfully accomplish this. Indeed, managing your own family well is a God-given qualifications for your job. As such, leadership and example are the bare minimum of your lot in this matter. So yes, you must work with your people to help make marriage practical. Your boundaries need to be established through delegation rather than dismissal. Pastors and laity need to work together on this; our congregations will not survive without such cooperation.

So with this in mind, what kind of steps do churches need to take to exhort their membership to pursue marriage and family? Here are some ideas to consider:

If your congregation does not recognize the marriage imperative, teach them.

For the vast majority of Christians who have ever lived, marriage is a divine imperative. Apart from a relative few exceptions, marrying and having children is part of leading a godly life. Churches have, unfortunately, allowed our wicked culture to bury this fact, and so most of us delay and avoid marriage while we pursue mammon, debauchery, popularity, or other godless passions instead. But God’s Word’s still stands in judgment over both us and our culture. Christians need to hear that judgment. We need to hear it loudly and plainly. Most importantly, we need to hear it in our local congregations rather than from podcasters and bloggers like myself who are more likely to broach the subject.

Worldliness may have made such teaching unusual in American churches, but it is simply part of delivering the whole counsel of God. Pastors, if you’re already following and preaching from the lectionary, there will be ample opportunity to bring this up organically in your sermons. God’s Word offers frequent exhortation to marriage (unless, of course, you’re legalistically restricting yourself  by refusing to preach the Law.)

But teaching in the church does not end with sermons. So do a topical bible study on LGBTP issues , hookup culture , or chastity –these are weighty issues about which most Christians need to hear God’s Word. Do an in-depth study of the Ten Commandments or Luther’s (original) Large Catechism; if you do it well, you will hit the proper points.

You can also bring the issue up to your relevant boards (elders, youth, education) to make sure your most active members have it on their radar. If your congregation is like most in the LCMS, the membership will be older, and they have absolutely no idea how horrible America’s coupling customs have become in the past 40 years. For the sake of the younger generations, do not let your leadership stay in the dark.

Laymen can also do this in a more limited way. If you are a teacher, you can instruct as many students in these issues as will listen. If you are a board member, you can bring it up to your board. When you attend Bible Study you can bring up the subject yourself when the context permits it. If you have no position in your congregation, you can bring your concerns to your pastors or elders to try and get it on their radar (also, you can work on bettering yourself so that you can serve your congregation in more roles.) None of us can do it all, but all of us can do something.

Teach Biblical chastity rather than just adding Biblical expectations to broken customs.

I’ve written about this before , but while the church has continued to teach “no sex before marriage,” “marriage is between a man and a woman,” and “abortion is murder,” we cannot simply teach these rules in a culture which otherwise discourages marriage, androgenizes men & women, guides everyone into fornication , and despises children . We need to start from the ground up with the understanding that our society is our mortal enemy in this respect.

We need to explicitly talk about marriage as an expected and esteemed estate, giving special honor to husbands, wives, fathers, and mothers. We need to talk about children as joyous gifts of God rather than expensive burdens to be avoided through contraception. This is how the Bible and our Confessions talk about these things, so this is another one that we should have been doing all along. Boys and girls alike should be raised to aspire to marriage and children. Since our culture will not do that for us, it falls to the Church to teach God’s Word on the subject and to train Christian parents to do the same in the home.

One uncomfortable corollary of this, however, is that we will also need to cast down any American idols which teach us to despise marriage. The Spirit of the Age proclaims education, career, and youthful debauchery–establishing marriage as an optional arrangement that one should only pursue once these idols have been fully satisfied.

Teaching Biblical priorities means teaching them in contradistinction to worldly priorities. We need to start explicitly teaching that marriage is a work more pleasing in God’s eyes than any college degree or high-profile career (women especially need to hear this as everything else in our culture is dedicated to telling them the opposite.) We need to teach that the typical high school-to-college pipeline is no reason to put off obedience to God’s command to marry. We need to stop splitting up our families and congregations by sending our kids across the country for college and careers, away from the only people in their lives who understand the Biblical priorities, and into the care of pagans who work hard to instruct our sons to be incels and our daughters to be whores. We need to put the same kind of effort into finding suitable spouses for our children as we do into finding suitable colleges .

Another uncomfortable corollary is that our congregations will need to provide church discipline  for those who wantonly despise marriage by divorcing faithful spouses. Every divorce between members of a Christian congregation involves a grievous sin. Either one is murdering her family through divorce , or one spouse has committed adultery against or abandoned the other (meaning abandoning the fundamental responsibilities of the marriage like refusing sex  or physically maiming a spouse you’re supposed to protect .) So in 100% of divorces between members, one congregant is grievously sinning against another.

But Jesus says , “if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault… if he does not listen, take one or two others along… if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.” A member’s divorce is an uncomfortable subject because it’s so personal, but it is not a special case where God’s Word stops applying. Aggrieved husbands and wives need to know they can go to their congregation to be vindicated and to receive help in winning back their erring spouse to Christ through repentance. If you cannot honor marriage when it is under threat, then you cannot honor it at all.

Organize parents of young children to work out how they’ll help their children marry

Parents everywhere are beginning to wake up to the dangers posed by American culture in general, and our growing sexual anarchy in particular. To be sure, our culture has been toxic for quite some time, but the kind of imminent harm posed by transgenderism and pedophilia has made it almost impossible for Christian parents to continue ignoring the issue. We’re wary of government schools , television programming, and social media like never before.

Unfortunately, despite the growing awareness, parents are not yet sure about how they’re going to deal with it. It’s one thing to want to direct your children towards marriage instead of degeneracy. It’s another thing to actually help them achieve that when your entire culture is aligned against you. For the most part, parents are still in “we’ll do our best” mode, which is a hope but not a strategy.

But none of us are going to figure out a strategy alone because marriage is inherently social. In light of that fundamental reality, congregations should organize their committed young parents into meeting regularly to discuss their concerns, ideas, and specific challenges when it comes to marriage for their children. Not only will they collectively develop some strategies, they’ll also learn they’re not alone and get to know likeminded families with children of the opposite sex who will also be aimed at Christian marriage and family.

Families can organize this on their own, of course, but doing this as part of their congregation is a force-multiplier. They can receive encouragement, spiritual guidance, and leadership from their pastors. Other members can offer assistance, such as babysitting on-site so parents can actually attend the discussions and the children can spend time playing together. Other local congregations willing to address the same challenges can also be brought into the endeavor. But most importantly, this is entirely in keeping with proper Christian fellowship. Not only is marriage both a Biblical command and a holy estate that’s been made part of the ordinary Christian life by God, but spouses sharing the same Faith is clear Biblical wisdom. Where better to look for prospective wives and husbands than among other Lutherans?

Therefore this will ideally evolve into finding ways to facilitate match-making within local congregations. Instead of expecting our children to find spouses somewhere out there in a culture that hates marriage, we can direct them to worthy individuals they actually know who share Biblical values. We can even host dances or or other social events as they get older. This can not only provide a better foundation for marriage, but also make marriage a possibility at ages considerably earlier than America’s absurd median of thirty years old . This can also help resolve some of the issues surrounding the unattractiveness of Christian men  to Christian women, as  the social mechanisms of female attraction like status and preselection bias can once again be leveraged towards monogamy rather than polygamy .

Start reestablishing gender roles in your congregation’s culture

We cannot expect men and women to unite in healthy and fruitful ways when we strive to treat the sexes as interchangeably as we can get away with. Egalitarianism  is yet another idol which is worshiped by many American Christians, and it needs to be cast down. There is no Biblical command to equality .

Naturally, this needs to begin with the gender roles that God has explicitly established. The father is to be the authority within his home and family. I’ve already written about this at length , so I won’t labor the point here, but we cannot expect marriages to thrive while we deny the way God designed them to work. Pastors need to preach this faithfully and support the fathers in his congregation rather than undermining them   out of his own fear of his female sheep. The same needs to be taught when it comes to teaching and authority in the church. The more a role involves teaching men, the less it should be carried out by a women –from obvious roles like pastor or elder, all the way down to simpler ones like lay reader.

But the more faithful we are in those explicit Biblical commands, the more the distinction will naturally bleed into other roles  that are wise but not commanded. Not only will Christians begin to reject the worldly imperative of putting women into every role, they’ll begin to recognize the beauty inherent in masculinity & femininity and lose their desire to deliberately confuse the two. Men and women can work together enjoying their differences  rather than ignoring or hating them.

Given the nature of all this work, it should be clear why pastors and laity need to work together in this. By virtue of his office and qualifications, a pastor could accomplish most items from this list. However, no pastor can accomplish everything  from this list–it is simply too much; and though these things are responsibilities, they are far from his only responsibilities. Laity, in contrast, can only accomplish some of the things in this list. Our roles may involve teaching, serving on boards, and so forth, but those scopes are relatively narrow. We do, however, have far more access than any pastor to our own homes. We must constantly reinforce and practice at home everything we receive from the church, or it will all be for naught.

From beginning to end, this endeavor relies on those complimentary positions. Fathers need to reclaim the role of catechizing our children rather than outsourcing it to the pastor; pastors need to make sure the men in their congregation are actually equipped for that. Parents need to help their children achieve marriage; pastors need to remind parents that this is both a responsibility and a possibility . Parents need to teach their children to be chaste; pastors need to teach parents what Biblical chastity entails. Clergy and laity alike need to know that they are not alone in this. We are one body with many members, and we need to start acting like it.

These ideas are, of course, only a start. But we have to start somewhere. If we cannot finally rise to the challenge of the sexual revolution and recover chastity, then we will not have a future. We can hardly expect God to provide success when we despise the gifts he has already given us. This endeavor may be different, and change may be uncomfortable, but that does not stop it from being essential. Those of us who decide this is just too hard–that disregard this challenge and refuse to take up their cross–will find that they enter the next life not having fought the good fight, but having taken the good vacation. If our line isn’t to end with us–both genetically and theologically–then we have a lot of work to do.

May God preserve us from such an ignoble fate, and empower us by His Spirit to rise to the challenge and tread the Spirit of the Age under our feet.

After Lutheranism – Part 1

https://matthewcochran.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/after-lutheranism-1.mp3

How does Lutheranism end for us?

It’s taken a great deal to get me, a lifelong member of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, to ask myself such an ominous question. But then, these past few years have thrown an awful lot at faithful Lutherans.

Most recently, of course, is our entire debacle surrounding the Large Catechism with Annotations and Contemporary Application . The false teachings , the crypto-marxism , and the invitation of heretics  and women  to teach us theology were all bad enough on their own. And yet, Synod found a way to make it worse through its response.  President Harrison’s retaliatory strike  against critics–not only taking the standard corporate approach of blaming the whole thing on racism, but actually wielding the office of the keys against the outspoken–plunged the entire matter to further depths of wickedness.

Our response to Covid and especially the forced vaccinations is another recent travesty that cannot be overlooked. Given LCMS history, our willingness to cooperate with government interference in our churches and our credulity for their dubious claims about masks and vaccines is shameful on its own. And yes, the controversy has led to all manner of division in the church through everything from policy debates  to simple broken attendence habits. But worse than anything else was the refusal of our leadership to offer any support to conscientous objectors to the vaccine mandates. I will never forget that a random layman had to do the job Synod wouldn’t and publicly articulate from Scripture and our Confessions  what faithful Lutherans ought to have already known–that God specifically authorized fathers to oversee their households, including the decision of whether its appropriate to administer experimental medical treatments. As a tyrannical government tried to coerce us by threatening to steal our livelihoods and make our families destitute, the shepherds in charge of my church body couldn’t be bothered to even lift their little fingers for their sheep.

In addition to acute failures like these, there are also longstanding challenges to our theology and practice from within. We are, for example, plagued by soft antinomians (so-called Radical Lutherans) who teach a hatred for God’s Law disguised as a love of the Gospel. I first encountered this in Seminary, and grappling with the issue in my own mind is one major reason I started blogging in the first place . But many of our foremost theologians remain obsessed with Forde while others work hard to keep false teachers like Steven Paulson  employed writing theology for us. Surely, the fact that so many of our heretics voluntarily walked out during Seminex was a blessing from God, but they did not all leave. And we have done very little to discipline those that remained. What’s more, many took the victory we were handed as an excuse to rest on our laurels, presuming that the “Battle for the Bible” was the last issue we’d have to grapple with .

And the list could go on. There’s the constant push for contemporary worship , the continuing decline of our National Youth Gatherings, the collapse of our colleges into generic secularity, and more. And all this in the midst of the ongoing  woke war  against Christianity that should remind us all of Christ’s promises of persecution . Despite all the vicious blows the world has been delivering, our leadership has done precious little to rise to the occasion. We are deeply divided in theology, in liturgical practice, and more, but our response has been to paper over these divisions for a false pretense of peace rather than risking controversy by actually dealing with them.

But worst of all from a practical standpoint is simply our demographics. Like most church bodies in America, we are not-so-slowly dying simply because we couldn’t be bothered to have (and catechize) children to replace ourselves. This is not just unfortunate circumstance, for added to our list of grave errors is our wholehearted embrace of contraception culture . We may have tried to weakly resist some of the evils that came along for the ride, like rampant fornication, but so long as our vision of chastity is merely “ no sex outside of marriage “, we are just as destined to fall to barrenness as any other group of Americans. Rather than embracing the extreme discomfort of repenting and teaching genuine chastity to our people, our leaders have instead opted to blame the lack of diversity among their dying sheep  and replace them  through a string of short-lived church-growth programs that inevitably end in failure. Missionaries do the Lord’s work, but most Christians who have ever lived only evangelized their own families; that is the ordinary method of church growth which we have absentmindedly neglected to our destruction

This is only a brief list of the fundamental problems in my denomination, but it does not produce a rosy outlook for the future of the institution. I will be genuinely surprised if we don’t see a major split in the next few decades, and I honestly expect my children or grandchildren to see it end altogether.

But the LCMS is just one Lutheran synod, right? It’s not the whole of Lutheranism. This is true, but broadening our view doesn’t offer much better news. Many of the other confessional Lutheran bodies are facing the same challenges  we are, and I am unaware of any which are adeptly meeting them. But worse yet is that fact that real Lutherans–those of us who actually believe our theology is true–are a minority among those who bear the name. The state churches of Europe and mainline church bodies like the ELCA aren’t even churches–their religion is Theological Liberalism  rather than Christianity, and their God is the Spirit of the Age rather than Jesus Christ. I suspect that the word “Lutheran” reminds more people of sodomite bishops and Sparkle Creeds than anything resembling real Lutheran heritage.

To be sure, there remain many faithful Lutherans among us–both in terms of individuals and congregations. And God has given us a truly priceless treasure  when it comes to Lutheran theology, history, and practice. That heritage alone provides a remarkable advantage. However, I’m growing increasingly skeptical that that heritage will continue under any of our existing church bodies or even under the name “Lutheran.”

But it doesn’t have to.

When the Church of Rome or the Eastern Church tries to call us upstarts who have only been around 500 years compared to their two millennia, we often remind them that Lutheranism has existed since Genesis 3, when God first promised us a savior. The history of the Church is the history of those who believed that promise and to whom that faith was credited as righteousness. We may be constantly assailed by the devil through false teaching, worldliness, or outright violence; but one way or another, God always has and always will preserve His Church and His teachings. He did it before Luther. He can certainly do it without Luther. Likewise, those of us who have remained faithful can hold fast to the Gospel we have received through Lutheranism without calling ourselves Lutheran or belonging to a church body that’s called Lutheran.

The Church is no stranger to massive upheaval. From Constantine’s legalization of Christianity, to the fall of Rome, to the Great Schism, to the Reformation, our one holy catholic and apostolic Church has made disciples by teaching the same Word and baptizing in the same Name. But it does not always look the same superficially speaking–in terms of earthly hierarchy, organization, or custom. The persecuted Church of the first few centuries probably wouldn’t have expected the emergence of Christendom. Neither would the medieval Church have expected we’d one day be dispersed into denominations. Well, more and more people are beginning to sense that we stand on the cusp of another change whose magnitude scales with these other profound stages in the Church’s appearance. As Christians bear witness to the fall of modernism, we therefore need to understand that our current assumptions about structure and tradition may not last too long.

Accordingly, the greatest concern of Lutherans today shouldn’t be finding a way to ensure that our (often corrupt and feckless) institutions survive. I’ve lost count of the Lutherans who claimed that we should have been silent over the false teachings in the new Large Catechism because it made us look bad. I don’t know how often I hear Lutherans impose incoherent understandings of the 8th Commandment in order to shut down any controversy for the sake of outward unity. We even have proposals going to Convention this summer to crack down on using the internet  to express anything negative about our church body. But the goodwill required from ordinary Lutherans to support such blatant self-serving nonsense has been utterly exhausted. All of this dead thinking is directed at preserving Synod as though that were somehow more important than faithfully teaching God’s Word. But if Synod cannot or will not help us faithfully teach God’s Word, then it has no reason to exist.

That is why the concern of pastors and laymen should be to preserve the Lutheran heritage we’ve been given and pass it on to our children. No matter what happens to denominations or to Lutheranism, we know that both family and the Faith will persevere until the End. Fathers will need to reclaim ownership of their children’s catechesis, of course. But while we cannot continue the custom of outsourcing Christian education to our churches, neither can we succeed in a vacuum without a congregation of fellow Christians. The Faith is passed on, not reinvented by the family each generation. So if you cannot imagine your church weathering the current storm and cannot find a way to help it reach a place where it could, then it is time to find a new church. But no congregation will survive without hard work from its faithful laity to help direct and carry out the enormous amount of work required for this battle.

The good news is that this is what we all should have been doing in the first place. Our families and local congregations are where our most important responsibilities have always been. For Lutherans to take up these challenges is simply to repent and return to faithfulness. This we can do, with or without Synod. That said, we should be grateful to God for any of our institutions who are also willing to pursue faithfulness over worldliness and follow along. And if our Lord once again defies my expectations and salvages Lutheranism or the LCMS by His mighty hand through the many faithful men who are still among us–an outcome I still pray for–then I shall greatly rejoice.

But as you may have noticed from the title, this is only “Part 1.”  That is because this subject cannot end with generalities and complaints. Lutherans must consider what this change in direction and circumstance may look like for them going forward. There are no clear answers about the future, of course. But in the follow-up essays, I intend to continue  to do what I’ve always tried to do and provide some food for thought on overcoming the challenges that confront us.

Scouring America’s Shire

https://matthewcochran.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/scouring-americas-shire.mp3

An often overlooked sequence in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings is the ‘Scouring of the Shire.’ After the Ring is destroyed, Sauron is defeated, Aragorn claims his throne, and all the more epic plot points have been resolved, the hobbits return to the Shire only to find it in the grips of a petty but cruel tyranny. From the moment they try and cross the river to their homeland, they are hindered by a gaggle of novel & senseless rules enforced by their fellow hobbits. They see ugly new industrial construction taking root where trees had been torn down. And all these changes seemed to have been wrought without resistance by a contingent of Men (lead by Saruman) who had usurped control in their absence. For Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin, reclaiming their homeland is the final battle of the War of the Ring.

It’s not too hard to see why so many neglect this episode. For one thing, it was skipped in the Peter Jackson film adaptations which, sadly, define the story for many. But even apart from that, it’s easy for a child or casual adult reader to consider it anticlimactic. These hobbits had just taken a hand in the fates of ancient nations, great men, and walking legends. How can expelling a relative handful of petty thugs from a rural backwater compare to such an adventure?

But in many respects, this is the hobbits’ truest test–the culmination of their time out in the world. Every orc slain, Balrog faced, or battle fought was merely preparation for them to do their more menial duty in their homeland. And this duty was borne not from destiny or from being the chosen one, but simply from being good citizens who knew better than their fellows. They don’t have a contingent of soldiers from Aragorn, a Wizard, or a Fellowship of legendary warriors to assist them in their task. All they have is the mettle they had already earned: unquestionable dignity and the courage to put their common sense into action.

And the fearless application of common sense really is their pathway to success. When they’re confronted by a long list of policies like refusing to open the gates after dark, no beer or pipe weed for commoners, the seizure of the food they produce for “fair distribution,” and the like, their response is to show open contempt–not only for the rules but also for the hobbits who chose to enforce them. When they’re arrested by their moral and physical inferiors, they go along only insofar as it serves their own ends. When they encounter the weak who recognize the evil but consent to it anyway, they share their character and strength through gentle rebuke. And only after they get the lay of the land and understand the nature & number of the oppressors do they thoughtfully consider their options and rally their countrymen to fight off the small number of thugs whom the Shire-folk had obeyed only because they didn’t know what else to do.

Their defiance of the new regime is rooted solely in what they recognize as good and decent for Shire folk. They do not ruminate on whether it’s ok to break the rules, whether they’re being impolite, or even whether their resistance is justified. They have no need of such introspection because they already know these things just as the vast majority of the other hobbits did as well. The difference is that the four who had set out for Rivendell were used to adversity whereas those who remained in the Shire were not. When they finally propose armed resistance, Merry expresses the reality of appealing to their countrymen well:

‘Raise the Shire!’ said Merry. ‘Now! Wake all our people! They hate all this, you can see: all of them except perhaps one or two rascals, and a few fools that want to be important, but don’t at all understand what is really going on. But Shire-folk have been so comfortable for so long they don’t know what to do. They just want a match, though, and they’ll go up in fire.’

This chapter strikes more of a chord with me now than when I read these books as a child because this is precisely where high fantasy intersects with reality. Tolkien’s fantastical tale of wizards, elves, orcs, and dark lords is compelling to ordinary humans because it expertly crystalizes universal virtues like hope and courage. We might not see Nazgul or magic rings in the real world, but the virtues are more real than anything we do see. To paraphrase Chesterton, while fairy tales don’t teach us that dragons are real, they do teach us that dragons can be slain. We take that knowledge–along with the virtues the story inspires–back with us into reality to face our own mundane battles. And as America now lies in the grips of a petty but cruel tyranny, the ‘Scouring of the Shire’ is more timely than ever.

In many respects, the Midwest is America’s Shire. We aren’t known for producing great works or art or having profound cultural influence. Our affairs are of little concern to our distant rulers just as their affairs are just stories on the evening news to us. To the coastal elites, we’re flyover country. And yet, the Midwest remains a wonderful place to live a good, simple, and virtuous life amidst farms and nature. Our treasure is the privilege of owning our own homes and raising families in communities of decent people.

But like the Shire, the world didn’t leave us alone forever. The wicked ideas of our elites were imported here and have taken root. We consume their media without much discernment. We foolishly entrust our young adults to them for four years of debauchery certified as education. And when the certified return–some educated, many corrupted–we entrust young and old alike to them through the schools and corporations they manage.

As a result, we are no longer hearing stories about the crazy things some Harvard professor teaches or about some weirdos living way off in California. Our own libraries and cafes have trans stripper story time for kids. Our own livelihoods are threatened by HR departments pushing DIE and  vaccines . Our own schools have litterboxes in the bathroom to accommodate furries. Globohomo has had its way with us; and many are finally waking up to the grim reality that they’re here, they’re queer, and they’re coming for our children .

Also like the Shire, most of us have absolutely no idea what to do about it. We are used to being comfortable, and we don’t like to cause a fuss. In many respects, we don’t even know how  to cause a fuss. Following the rules was just part of being neighborly back when we had normal rules, and so the advent of unjust & unnatural rules throws us for a loop. We need to be roused to action. We need confident men of good conscience to brazenly declare what we already know to be true–that the petty tyranny which has enclosed on us is truly evil. We need men of hope to remind us that it doesn’t have to be this way. We need men of strength and courage to openly defy the new Rules and resist the wicked however they must.

But where are we to find the steel that we’ve lost–the strength of character we see in  characters like Tolkien’s hobbits? Great works of literature like Lord of the Rings inspire us to virtue, but they can’t really train us in it. Only real-life experience can do that. If we are to scour our own Shire, then embracing righteous conflict is the only way to acquire the necessary virtues.

These conflicts need not be epic showdowns between great powers. If our virtues are small, then we will simply need to start small. We can stand up to speak the truth at school board meetings. We can publicly and unabashedly call out evil when we see it in our community. We can proclaim God’s Word in our churches and in our homes. We can despise the sniveling weasels who would hold us back through their fear of what our tyrants do and do not allow. We can encourage those who know better but are fainthearted. We can fearlessly tell the truth and live as though righteousness were more important than “proper” manners .

It will be neither easy nor peaceful. Many will lose their jobs or their families for their commitment to the truth. Eventually, some will start to lose their freedom and then their lives. But every battle will make us stronger. Every defeat will make us tougher. Every victory will make us more hopeful. Every action taken by & for our people will make us more of a community. And then we use what we’ve learned to escalate to ever larger conflicts until every last tyrant is removed and every collaborator stands publicly ashamed of their cowardice. And it all starts with embracing the small and mundane opportunities to scoff at someone mindlessly saying “love is love,” to pull the plug on our televisions, to confidently rebuke a fool who tolerates depravity, or to stand up for someone being cancelled.

It’s clear from our circumstances that we are not the men we need to be. If we were, it never would have come to this. But that doesn’t mean we cannot become those men or that our sons cannot. By the grace of God, even pleasant and docile Midwesterners can learn to stand up in righteous fury for our children and our communities. May our Lord grant us that opportunity to scour our Shire and deliver us from the Spirit of the Age.

Moral Wisdom vs Adding to God’s Law

https://matthewcochran.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/moral-wisdom-vs-adding-to-gods-law.mp3

“Where does it say that in the Bible?”

When it comes to learning God’s Law, it can be a great question when asked in good faith–when one seeks Scriptural warrant for doctrinal assertions out of curiosity or skepticism or a desire for assurance. When the Bereans did that in response to Paul’s preaching , they were commended for it. Jesus likewise condemned the Pharisees for taking their traditions and elevating them above God’s Word , constantly citing Scripture to demonstrate that they should have known better.

If we never compare our own beliefs and practices to God’s inerrant Word, then we are unlikely to recognize when we have strayed from it. And when we find ourselves in conflict with what Scripture plainly teaches, the Christian has only two choices: repentance or apostasy. The rules and doctrines which God has given us are absolute; we do not get the gainsay Him with our reason or experience. And so we recognize those who have departed from the Faith by rejecting Scripture. Therefore, Christians should ask this question regularly, for sinners like ourselves are prone to wander.

But although it can be a good question, it is by no means a sufficient one when we consider Biblical morality. After all, Scripture does not simply present us with a collection of moral rules. It also teaches us moral wisdom–the practical ability to discern right from wrong and make good judgments in everyday life.

Biblical wisdom is founded on God’s absolute and infallible statutes, but it does not stop with them. As any parent knows, raising a human to maturity is more involved than just programming a computer. We may start with rules, but we cannot end there. We each must learn through reason and experience to recognize the applications and implications of God’s Law in our hearts. That’s why it’s not exactly uncommon for Christ or his apostles to tell people to judge for themselves. That’s why Jesus expects us to know that i f it is wrong to commit adultery, it is likewise wrong of us to abandon self-control by lusting after strange women . That’s why the Bible contains the Book of Proverbs, which teaches wisdom through observations, generalizations, and application of God’s statutes, rather than by simply repeating them.

In short, we are to adopt the mind of Christ , not just His rules. For that, we cannot simply ask “where is that in the Bible” and dismiss any answer other than a direct prooftext. We must also ask, “How does the Bible lead you to believe that?”

In this, there is a measure Christian liberty and greater intellectual freedom–not liberty to depart from Scripture but to build upon it . Here we may therefore disagree with one another without necessarily disagreeing with God. We can argue and debate. We can call each other wrong, deceived, or even foolish. We can even decide we need to work separately due to our disagreements, as Paul and Barnabas did . All this can be done without calling each other unbelievers.

And so, as we endeavor to learn from Christ and become wise, Satan does not tempt Christians with a single error, but with a pair. On one hand, one must be careful of taking what wisdom he has acquired and elevating it to the level of Scripture so that it eclipses Scripture. After all, our reasoning may be in error; our experience may be limited; our personal or social prejudices may be projected onto the text; and we’re sinners to boot. This was, for example, Rome’s error during the Reformation, and so Sola Scriptura  was used as a corrective–restoring the Bible’s proper posture of judgment over traditional errors, rather than the inverse of using the Magisterium to determine what Scripture is allowed to say.

On the other hand, one must not escape the process of iron sharpening iron–dismissing your wise brothers by accusing them of adding to God’s Word. After all, our goal in reading Scripture is attaining knowledge and understanding, not simply memorization. Sadly, this error is far more common in American evangelicalism where Sola Scriptura is absurdly abused. Eschewing creeds, traditions, and human reason, they likewise oppose wisdom herself, condemning those who learn from Scripture as adding to it.

When we refuse to let God’s Word make us wise, the result is a gradual replacement of Biblical wisdom with worldliness. After all, life still presents us with difficult choices. If we forbid Scripture from preparing us for them, the Spirit of the Age will eagerly take its place and teach us everything it wants us to know.

Take, for example, a question like whether contraception is moral. Scripture makes no explicit statement on the subject. However, if we believe God’s Word when it counts children a blessing, barrenness an affliction, being fruitful the first command to mankind, marriage the human norm , and chastity a moral absolute, it’s hard to avoid recognizing that 99% of the ways in which Westerners use contraception are wicked. We can also look at the fallout from that use in light of Scripture–commoditization of children, the illusion that chastity is outdated, avoidance of marriage, birth-rates low enough to end our civilization–and observe how evil those fruits are.

Yes, there are extreme medical circumstances which make deliberate infertility the best among poor options, just as amputation is sometimes the best medical option. And to be sure, God created us with observable cycles of fertility that tend to space out children. So we cannot really conclude that it’s never  okay to space out children with contraception (and yes, to my papist readers, Natural Family Planning is still contraception; it’s just much healthier, organic contraception.) Nevertheless, it is quite appropriate for a Christian to conclude that contraception is sinful as a generalization. It is also quite appropriate for a Christian to teach that wisdom to others.

And yet, because there is no verse, this wisdom was disregarded as “adding to God’s word” in many protestant churches. As a result, the wisdom was lost, and many have suffered the natural consequences of immorality because they had no one to warn them. Now, because this is a matter of moral wisdom rather than moral absolute, I’m not going to claim that everyone who blessed the Pill has departed from the faith and become an unbeliever. I will, however, say that they are wrong, foolish, and deceived. As a result, I would openly dispute with them just as they would openly dispute with me so that more Christians are not caught up in error.

When we short-circuit this process of iron sharpening iron, we all lose out on wisdom. What’s worse, the consequent foolishness does not remain idle. For if we refuse to reason from the Bible, we will inevitably lose our ability to even understand the Bible. For example, a popular way to rationalize away the Bible’s clear prohibition on homosexuality (which is an explicit rule that has clear verses) is to claim that Scripture was only referring to Greek customs of the time , not to the “loving” gay relationships of today. And so they dismiss God’s clear instructions by dressing them up as adding to God’s Word.

Yes, that’s stupid. Yes, no one who truly seeks to learn from Scripture would ever make this mistake. Yes, they might as well say that “You shall not murder” only refers to the blunt and edged weapons of the time and not to modern firearms. But fools find it compelling precisely because they’ve already fallen into the habit of treating even the simplest use of their brains as adding to God’s Word. All that’s left are meanings that are narrow beyond reason. (And to those conservatives who are proud they haven’t fallen into this trap on homosexuality, cultivate some humility quickly because that’s exactly what you fell for with feminism. )

This distinction between moral absolute and moral wisdom is also quite relevant to the LCMS’s ongoing Large Cataclysm controversy . In true corporate fashion, our leadership has attempted to distract us from the grievous errors they packaged alongside our Confessions by recasting it as a controversy about racism. The subsequent retaliatory witch-hunt , which repurposes excommunication as a tool of cancel culture, is in desperate need of Biblical warrant for declaring Christian men to be damned for all eternity over the non-sin of racism. I’ve already written  about how the oft-misunderstood sin of partiality is inappropriately used for this task; but another common tactic is to take disagreements about Biblical morality that fall into the category of wisdom, and trump them up into just cause for declaring men eternally damned.

Consider, for example, the charges against Ryan Turnipseed, an intelligent young Lutheran who, as of this writing, has been placed under the lesser ban and thereby barred from the Lord’s Supper. (He made the letter from his church public; read it here .)  He has been called to repent of things like:

• Social media posts that were “not made in love.”
• Associating with sinners.
• Other men’s supposed denigration of women. (You read that correctly, the letter actually calls him to repent of other men’s statements.)
• “Divisively” criticizing the Large Catechism. (And to be clear, it’s called divisive specifically because Ryan did so in a forum in which his concerns might actually be heard rather than swept under the rug of process, as other private concerns about that volume already had been. This isn’t unlike what a certain Reformer did 500 years ago. Posting points for debate on Twitter is just as normal today as posting points for debate on a cathedral door was in Luther’s time.)
• Most outrageously of all, “not joyfully submitting” to the authorities who are abusing him in this manner.

Even if one is too detached from cancel culture to recognize these standard tactics of tone-policing, guilt by association, and accusations of racism/sexism, one should still notice something else these points all have in common. They are, at best, matters of wisdom rather than Divine Command.

There are times to minister to tax collectors and prostitutes; there are times when bad company corrupts good character . There are times to rebuke sharply ; there are times to speak tenderly. There are times to answer a fool according to his folly ; there are times to not answer a fool according to his folly . There are times to submit to earthly authorities ; there are times to obey God rather than man . Recognizing the right times is a matter of Biblical wisdom, and all of us must learn to make the best judgments we can whenever those times confront us.

People certainly can and do judge poorly, so Christians ought to hold one-another accountable for that. Iron must sharpen iron. However, correcting such judgments is generally a matter for rebuke and/or instruction in God’s Word. For those in authority, it can also be a matter of removing them from that office if they have proven themselves unfit for it. But it is by no means a matter for the lesser ban, and especially not the acts of excommunication which President Harrison has been encouraging and, perhaps, even demanding.

When the evidence of wrongdoing is sufficient, excommunication can be appropriate in instances of overt transgressions against Biblical absolutes like murder, adultery, heresy, sodomy, and so forth. After all, there is no argument to make against God. Wisdom, however, requires a great deal more patience because wisdom is not gained in a day. If Ryan Turnipseed’s pastor and elders were truly acting in good faith, they would be trying to teach him wisdom over time. They would be enlisting his father to assist in that endeavor rather than demanding that he recuse himself from it . Even if their absurd charges were legitimate, the fact that they are instead trying to shoo him out the door after a few months and a handful of adversarial meetings is absolutely unconscionable.

For the sake of our churches and the souls which they shepherd, we cannot let demands for an explicit verse derail wisdom. We cannot shrug our shoulders at the specific evils assaulting them because God didn’t giftwrap a temporal solution in Scripture. And we certainly cannot let the devil trick us into abusing our laypeople who care more about learning God’s Word than about violating the social taboos foisted upon us by wokeism . There is still time to repent.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” James 1:5

• Search for:

Recent Posts

Follow the blog, recent comments.

• Carl Vehse on 18 Points of Christian Nationalism – a 2nd Draft
• Matt on 18 Points of Christian Nationalism – a 2nd Draft
• carlvehse on 18 Points of Christian Nationalism – a 2nd Draft

Follow Matt on Twitter

• February 2024
• January 2024
• December 2023
• October 2023
• August 2023
• February 2023
• January 2023
• December 2022
• November 2022
• October 2022
• September 2022
• August 2022
• February 2022
• January 2022
• December 2021
• November 2021
• October 2021
• September 2021
• August 2021
• February 2021
• January 2021
• December 2020
• November 2020
• October 2020
• September 2020
• August 2020
• February 2020
• January 2020
• December 2019
• November 2019
• October 2019
• September 2019
• August 2019
• February 2019
• January 2019
• December 2018
• November 2018
• October 2018
• September 2018
• August 2018
• February 2018
• January 2018
• December 2017
• November 2017
• October 2017
• September 2017
• November 2016
• October 2016
• September 2016
• February 2016
• January 2016
• December 2015
• November 2015
• October 2015
• September 2015
• August 2015
• February 2015
• January 2015
• December 2014
• November 2014
• September 2014
• August 2014
• February 2014
• January 2014
• December 2013
• November 2013
• October 2013
• September 2013
• August 2013
• February 2013
• January 2013
• December 2012
• November 2012
• October 2012
• September 2012
• August 2012
• February 2012
• January 2012
• December 2011
• November 2011
• October 2011
• September 2011
• August 2011
• Apologetics
• Christian Nationalism
• Christian Youth
• End of Life
• Lutheran in a Strange Land
• Lutheranism
• Natural Law
• Sanctification
• Spiritual But Not Religious
• The Modern Church
• Theological Liberalism
• Theological Pietism
• Two Kingdoms
• Uncategorized
• Entries feed
• Comments feed
• WordPress.org