On October 31, 1517, Dr. Martin Luther wrote a letter to Albrecht, archbishop of Mainz and Magdenburg, and his own superior, the bishop of Brandenburg. The letter included a copy of a "Disputation on Indulgences" in Latin that Luther proposed for a public debate at Wittenberg University, which supporters translated into German as the Ninety-Five Theses. Although historians debate that Luther actually nailed his theses to the door of the Castle Church, he certainly posted them on the public "bulletin board" where events-including academic debates-were announced regularly. It was certainly not his intention to mock the religious and secular authorities, and he made every effort to submit his concerns to them before "going public." But the Ninety-Five Theses certainly did go public and was the first major controversy to be disseminated by the printing press. Within two weeks, copies were in found throughout Germany and within two months throughout Europe. Almost five hundred years later, why do we still need Luther's Ninety-Five Theses? Because we need another reformation, for precisely the same reasons that required the first one. Indulgences and other wrong practices and teaching may have changed form, but the church is ever in need of semper reformanda-to be always reforming. May God spread his Word of Truth again in our day, so that our churches will once again be centers for the proclamation of the only good news in a world of spin: "Salvation by grace alone, in Christ alone, through faith alone, to the glory of God alone." May the church be bold enough today to speak, as Luther did almost five hundred years ago, "out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light." This reprinting of the "Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences" contains a new preface by Michael S. Horton, host of the White Horse Inn national radio broadcast and editor-in-chief of Modern Reformation magazine.
About the Author: Michael S. Horton (PhD, University of Coventry and Wycliffe Hall, Oxford; MA, Westminster Seminary California; BA, Biola University) is the J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary California, host of the White Horse Inn national radio broadcast, and editor-in-chief of Modern Reformation magazine.