THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL WORLD LEADERS OF ALL TIME

7 The 100 Most Influential World Leaders of All Time 7

Christ represents God’s forgiving mercy; and that the soul,
free from the burden of guilt, may serve God with a joyful
obedience.
Luther was moved to public protest in 1517 by Johann
Tetzel, a Dominican friar, who claimed that the faithful
could purchase a letter of indulgence for the forgiveness of
their sins. The ostensible purpose of this practice was to
fund rebuilding of St. Peter’s basilica in Rome.
In protest, Luther drew up the Ninety-five Theses and,
according to legend, fastened them on the door of the
Castle Church in Wittenberg, on October 31, 1517. These
were tentative opinions, to some of which Luther himself
was not committed. The closing section attacked those
who refused to recognize that to be a Christian involved
embracing the cross and entering heaven through tribula-
tion. Luther sent copies of the theses to the archbishop of
Mainz and to his bishop, but further copies were circu-
lated. The archbishop forwarded the documents to Rome
in December 1517, with the request that Luther be inhib-
ited. The pope merely instructed the vicar general of the
Augustinians to deal with Luther through the usual chan-
nels. In October the Cardinal Cajetan at Augsburg ordered
him to recant.
In June 1520 the pope issued the papal bull Exsurge
Domine (“Lord, Cast Out”) against 41 articles of Luther’s
teaching, followed by the burning of Luther’s writings in
Rome. Luther replied in a series of treatises issued in 1520,
the second of which, De captivitate Babylonica ecclesiae prae-
ludium (“A Prelude Concerning the Babylonian Captivity
of the Church”), reduced the seven sacraments of the
church to three (baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and pen-
ance). It also denied mass and attacked transubstantiation,
made vehement charges against papal authority, and
asserted the supremacy of Holy scripture and the rights
of individual conscience. In January 1521 the pope issued