English 3: Western literature 2
Lesson 3: Luther’s 95 Theses, Part 2
Reading assignment: Theses 1-47
Number each of them as manifesting one of the following:
1. Sovereignty
2. Authority
3. Law
4. Sanctions
5. Succession
Poenitentiam agite:
The Latin term Poenitentiam agite is used in the first of the Ninety-Five Theses of Martin Luther, and variously translated into English as “Repent” or “Do Penance.”The term is part of the larger quotation from St. Jerome’s Vulgate translation of Mt. 3:2 (as said by John the Baptist) and Mt. 4:17 (as repeated by Jesus of Nazareth): Pœnitentiam agite: appropinquavit enim regnum cælorum (“Repent: the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”).
The Penitential Canons (Catholic Encyclopedia):
Rules laid down by councils or bishops concerning the penances to be done for various sins. These canons, collected, adapted to later practice, and completed by suitable directions formed the nucleus of the Penitential Books (see MORAL THEOLOGY; PENANCE). They all belong to the ancient penitential discipline and have now only an historic interest; if the writers of the classical period continue to cite them, it is only as examples, and to excite sinners to repentance by reminding them of earlier severity. In a certain sense they still survive, for the granting of indulgences is still based on the periods of penance, years, day, and quarantines.
This is from the Wikipedia entry: “Ninety-Five Theses.”
Luther was summoned by authority of the pope to defend himself against charges of heresy before Thomas Cajetan at Augsburg in October 1518. Cajetan did not allow Luther to argue with him over his alleged heresies, but he did identify two points of controversy. The first was against the fifty-eighth thesis, which stated that the pope could not use the treasury of merit to forgive temporal punishment of sin. This contradicted the papal bull Unigenitus promulgated by Clement VI in 1343. The second point was whether one could be assured that they had been forgiven when their sin had been absolved by a priest. Luther’s Explanations on thesis seven asserted that one could based on God’s promise, but Cajetan argued that the humble Christian should never presume to be certain of their standing before God. Luther refused to recant and requested that the case be reviewed by university theologians. This request was denied, so Luther appealed to the pope before leaving Augsburg. Luther was finally excommunicated in 1521 after he burned the papal bull threatening him to recant or face excommunication.