What Did Martin Luther Protest Against?

By Staff WriterLast Updated March 24, 2020

Martin Luther protested against the selling of indulgences, clerical abuses and doctrines on salvation in the Catholic Church. He famously published these discontents in his “95 Theses.”

Martin Luther held that clergy in the Catholic Church wrongfully sold indulgences, or remissions from sin, to members of the church for themselves or for deceased believed to be in Purgatory. In addition, Luther was dissatisfied with the hierarchy of the church, monastic routine, exterior worship and ceremony, which he considered to be excessive and unnecessary for salvation. Whereas the Catholic Church taught that salvation could be achieved by faith and good works, Luther came to believe that salvation could be achieved by faith alone.