The German Reformation started when the concept of indulgences was taken too far.  Indulgences were originally meant as a way to exempt people from purgatory, by being a “good” Catholic.  On March 15, 1917, Pope Leo X put into effect the most famous of all indulgences.  These were offered to anyone who would confess their sins and help the Church build a great shrine.  Germany protested along with France, England, and Spain, that their country’s wealth was being drained and their economy was suffering by the consistent requests from Rome for money.
 One of the key agents in the request for money was Albrecht of Brandenburg.  He borrowed twenty thousand florins (the money of the day) from Germany for his confirmation and the Archbishop of Mainz.  But, he only paid back three thousand of that to the German Monarch Government.  As the Archbishop, Albrecht’s principle agent was Johann Tetzel..  Tetzel was a Dominican friar, famous for the indulgences he offered to the people who would give money to build a new St. Peter’s Cathedral.  Tetzel would travel around Germany and offer the plenary indulgence as well as putting on a ceremonial show, using bells, silver and gold banners, parades, and each indulgence was placed on a velvet pillow, and given to anyone who would confess their sins and contribute to building the new cathedral.  Here is what was written on the indulgences given out:
 “May our Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on thee, and absolve thee by the merits of His most holy Passion.  And I, by His authority, that of His blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and of the most holy pope granted and committed to me in these parts do absolve thee, first from all ecclesiastical censures, in whatever manner they may have been incurred, and then from all thy sins, transgressions, and excesses, how enormous soever  they be, even from such as are reserved for the cognizance of the Holy See; and as far as the keys of the Holy Church extend,   I remit you from all punishments which you deserve in purgatory on their account, and I restore you fully to the holy sacraments of the church…and to that innocence and purity which you possessed at baptism; so that when you shall die, the gates of punishment shall be shut,  and the gates of the paradise of delight shall be opened; and if you shall not die at the present, this grace shall remain in full force when you are at the point of death.  In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
 This bargain for the believer in the Catholic faith, was actually within the original concept of indulgences.  When Tetzel came up with his formula for money, he was also within his instructions from the Archbishop of Mainz and within the perimeters of his political power.  A Catholic historian’s statement on  Tetzel’s indulgences:
 “ There is no doubt that Tetzel did, according to what he considered his authoritative instructions, proclaim as Christian doctrine that nothing but an offering of money was required to gain the indulgence for the dead, without there being any question of contrition or confession.  He also taught that an indulgence could be applied to any given soul with unfailing effect. Starting from this assumption , there is no doubt that his doctrine was virtually that of the drastic proverb: ‘As soon as the money in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory’s fire springs.’  The papal bull of indulgence gave no sanction whatever to this proposition.  It was a vague Scholastic opinion…not any Doctrine of the Church.”
 A Fransiscan friar named Myconius heard Tetzel’s performance and reported the following:
 “It is incredible what this ignorant monk said and preached.  He gave sealed letters stating that even the sins, which a man was intending to commit, would be forgiven.  The pope, he said, had more power than all the Apostles, all the angels and saints, more than even the Virgin Mary herself; for these were all subject to Christ, but the pope was equal to Christ.”
 Johann Tetzel would have actually not been as well known as he is today, if he had not over stepped the boundaries with Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony.  Frederick himself did not object to the concept of indulgences.  He had actually gathered nineteen thousand saintly relics to be placed in his Castle Church at Wittenburg and had arranged to have an indulgence attached to each one of them at their veneration.  But, when he heard of Tetzel’s exaggerations, he forbade the teaching of indulgences in Wittenburg.
 Several people who had chosen to go to the borders of Wittenburg to obtain indulgences and papal letters.  Those who received the letters sent them to Martin Luther, a professor at the University of Wittenburg, to be tested for their efficacy.  Luther refused to read the letters.  This news reached John Tetzel, and he denounced Luther.
 Shortly after this incident, Martin Luther composed his ninety-five theses.  He called them Disputatio pro Declaratione Virtutis Indulgentiarium, which translates to Disputation for Clarification of the Power of Indulgences.  At the time, which these were written, Luther was still a devout Catholic and did not consider his proposals heresy, nor were they.   His sole purpose was to challenge the greediness that had stemmed form the current teachings of indulgences.  At high noon on October 31, 1517, Luther nailed his theses to the door of the Castle Church at Wittenburg.  In addition to his theses, Martin Luther posted this kindly invitation:
 “Out of love for the faith and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenburg under the chairmanship of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and 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.”
 To have his assurance that his theses would be understood, Luther had copies translated into German and given to the people.  He also sent a copy of his theses to Albrecht.  This event began the Reformation.
 Martin Luther:
 Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483.  He was given fine education from elementary school through college.  When he was young, he was schooled in Mansfield.  Then at the age of thirteen, he transferred to a religious secondary school.  At the age of fourteen, he was sent to the School of St. George in Eiserach.  In 1501 his prosperous father sent him to the University of Erfurt.  The focus on the curriculum at the university was theology and philosophy, but one of the prominent and most popular ideas was Ockham’s nominalism.  Martin Luther seemed to take note that one of Ockham’s doctrines was that popes and councils could make mistakes.  In 1505, Luther graduated with a Master of Arts.  Luther chose to study law, but after only two months, he chose to become a monk.
 One day while traveling home from a visit to his father’s Luther encountered a severe thunderstorm.  To Martin Luther, God seemed to be saying that he needed to be on a quest for salvation.  Luther, as many Catholics believed, that good works would allow him to achieve salvation. Luther made a vow to Saint Anne, that if he survived the storm, he would become a monk.
 The other monks assured Luther that the Passion of Christ had atoned for the sinful nature of man.  However, for Luther, none of the teachings that the monks believed satisfied him.  An Augustinian friar named Johann von Staupitz took a fatherly interest in the troubled friar.  As a gift, he supplied Luther with a Latin Bible, a rare treasure, and the Doctrine of St. Augustine.
 At one point, Luther came across the verse “The just shall live by faith.” Which is Romans 1:17.  From this, Luther came to understand that no amount of good works could save him, only faith in Christ.  Slowly, between the years of 1512 and 1517 Luther’s beliefs began to change, moving away from the doctrines of the Church.
 Thus, in 1517, Luther responded to the indulgences with his ninety-five theses. Tetzel responded to Luther with one hundred six anti-theses, which had no concessions or apologies, but “gave at times uncompromising, even dogmatic sanction, to mere theological opinions that were hardly consonant with the most accurate scholarship.”  Luther responded to this with:
 “If I am to be called a heretic by those whose purses will suffer from my truths, I care not much for their brawling, for only those say this whose dark understanding has never known the Bible.”
 Luther was ordered to appear in court.  He argued that many of John Huss’ teachings were sound.  This was exactly what his enemies wanted, so that he could be charged as a heretic.  Many of these charges were outrageous, based on his arguments for what he believed.  Here follows a conversation between Luther and the Pope Leo X.
 “Although there are in the Church both very learned and very holy men, it is nevertheless the infelicity of our age that even they…cannot succor the Church…. Now that at last we have a most excellent Pontiff, Leo X, whose integrity and learning are a delight to all good men’s ears.  But what can that most benign of men do alone, in so great a confusion of affairs, worthy as he to reign in better times?…In this age we are worthy only of such popes as Julius II and Alexander VI….Rome herself, yea, Rome most of all, now laughs at good men; in what part of the Christian world do men more freely make a mock of the best bishops than in Rome, the true Babylon.”
- Leo X
Luther’s Response:
 “Most blessed Father, I offer myself prostrate at the feet of your Holiness, with all that I am and have.  Quicken, slay, call, recall, approve, reprove, as may seem good to you.  I will acknowledge your voice as the voice of Christ, residing and speaking in you.  If I have deserved death I will not refuse to die.”
 Luther continued to have many outrageous accusations made against him,  upon which he met extremes with extremes:
“If Rome thus believes and teachers with the knowledge of popes and cardinals (which I hope is not the case), then in these writings I freely declare that the true Antichrist is sitting in the temple of God and is reigning in Rome- that empurpled Babylon- and that the Roman Curia is the Synagogue of Satan…If the fury of the Romanists thus goes on, there will be no remedy left except that the emperors, kings, and princes, girt about wit force and arms, should attack these pests of the world, and settle the matter no longer by words but by the sword….If we strike thieves with gallows, robbers with the sword, heretics with fire, why do we not much more attack in arms these masters of perdition, these cardinals, these popes, and all this sink of the Roman Sodom which has without end corrupted the Church of God, and was our hands in their blood?”
 Later in the same year of this, Carlstadt issued a book: De Canoncis Scripturis Libellus.  Which gave the Bible the Authority over the popes, councils and tradition.  With the support of other men: Melanchthon, Carlstadt, Hutten, and Sickingen, Luther wrote to Spalatin in 1520:
 “I have no cast to die.  I now despise the rage of the Romans as much as I do their favor,  I will not reconcile myself to them for all eternity….Let them condemn and burn all that belongs to me; in return I will do as much for them….Now I no longer fear, and I am published a book in the German tongue about Christian Reform, directed against the pope, in language as violent as if I were addressing Antichrist.”
 Luther was continuously summoned to Rome to recant all he had said against the pope and the Catholic faith.  After several refusals, Leo X gave him sixty more days to appear.  However, Luther did not appear and was then shunned as a heretic.
 Luther continued to challenge the Church on the current problems:
 “Some have estimated that every year more than 300,000 gulden find their way from Germany to Italy…We here come to the heart of the matter…. How it comes it that we Germans must put up with such robbery and such extortion of our property at the hands of the pope?…If we justly hang thieves and behead robbers, why should we let Roman avarice go free?  For he is the greatest thief and robber that has come or can come into the world, and in all the holy name of Christ and St. Peter!  Who can longer endure it or keep silence.  Above all we should drive out from German lands the papal legates with their ‘powers’- which the sell us for large sums of money- to legalize unjust gains, dissolve oaths, vows, and agreements, saying that the pope has authority to do this- though it is sheer knavery….If there were no other evil wiles to prove that the pope is the true Antichrist, this one thing would be enough to prove it.  Hearest thou this O pope, not most holy of men, but most sinful?  Oh, that God from heaven would soon destroy thy throne, and sink it in the abyss of hell!…O Christ my Lord, look down, let the day of thy judgment break and destroy the Devil’s nest at Rome.”
 Luther also wrote a letter to the pope, not as an apology, but as paternal counsel to him, expressing his respect for the pope as an individual:
 “Thy reputation and the fame of thy blameless life…are too well known and too high to be assailed….But thy See, which is called the Roman Curia, and of which is, as far as I can see, and of which neither thou nor any man can deny that it is more corrupt than any Babylon or Sodom ever was, and which is, as far as I can see, characterized by a totally depraved, hopeless, and notorious wickedness- that See I have truly despised….The Roman Church has become the most licentious den of thieves, the most shameless of all brothels, the kingdom of sin, death, and hell….I have always grieved, most excellent Leo, that thou hast been made pope in these times, for thou wert worthy of better days….
 “Do not listen, therefore, my dear Leo, to those sirens who make thee out to be no mere man but a demigod, so that thou mayest command…what thou wilt…. Thou art a servant of servants, and beyond all other man in a most pitiable dangerous position.  Be not deceived by those who pretend that thou art lord of the world…who prate that thou has power over heaven, hell, and purgatory….They err who exalt thee above a council and above the Church universal.  They err who ascribe to thee the right if interpreting Scripture, for under cover of thy name they seek to set up their own wickedness in the Church, and, alas, through them Satan has made much headway under predecessors.  In short, believe none who exalt thee, believe those who humble thee.”
 On December 11, however; Luther proclaimed that no man could be saved unless he renounced the rule of the Papacy.  Luther had excommunicated the Pope.
 In closing, this is some of Luther’s doctrine, which was a comfort to many sinners and:
 “Jesus Christ stoops and lets the sinner jump on His back, and so saves him from death….What a consolation for pious souls to put Him on like this and wrap in my sins, your sins, the sins of the whole universe, and consider him thus bearing all our sins!…When you see that your sins cleave to Him, then you will be safe from sin, death, and hell.  Christianity is nothing but a continual exercise in feeling that you have no sin, although you sin, but that your sins are thrown on Christ.  It is enough to know the Lamb that bears the sins of the world; sin cannot detach us from Him, we were to commit a thousand fornications a day, or as many murders.  Is not that good news if ,when someone is full of sins, the Gospel comes and tells him:  Have confidence and believe, and henceforth your sins are remitted?  Once this stop is pulled out, the sins are forgiven; there is nothing more to work for.”
 Luther was a key factor in the Reformation.  His new Church was the first Protestant church, known and the Lutheran Church.