Luther had a problem with the fact the Catholic Church of his day was essentially selling indulgences — indeed, according to Professor MacCulloch, they helped pay for the rebuilding of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Later, Luther appears to have dropped his belief in Purgatory altogether.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes an indulgence as “a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of …

Catholic church defended the selling of indulgences by saying it was to minimize the sins of the people. Indulgence was issued by Church and given to a people who did good work or penance. The main reason for the selling of the indulgences by the catholic church was to raise funds to built St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

What were three complaints people had about the Roman Catholic Church in the early 1500s? The three complaints were the methods that the church used to make money (sale of indulgences), the church was beginning to become too wealthy, and the clergy’s behavior started to concern people.

The decision to become a monk was difficult and greatly disappointed his father, but he felt he must keep a promise. Luther was also driven by fears of hell and God’s wrath, and felt that life in a monastery would help him find salvation.

Peter’s. Luther believed that the people of Wittenburg, Saxony, were being conned into believing that they had been forgiven for their sins and that this simply was not happening. In response to this action by Tetzel, Luther wrote a pamphlet called “The 95 Theses” which was an obvious criticism of indulgences.

Reformed Christians believe that God predestined some people to be saved and others were predestined to eternal damnation. This choice by God to save some is held to be unconditional and not based on any characteristic or action on the part of the person chosen.