I Wish To File A Protest! Trivia Quiz

Answer: 95 Theses

Although it is unclear as to whether Luther actually nailed the 95 Theses to the door of the church, which was the custom when sharing important documents, the paper is definitely considered to be the catalyst of the Protestant Reformation. At that stage Luther had no intention of breaking away from the Catholic Church and founding his own; his desire was to see the Church make what he viewed as necessary changes and reforms. Eventually - it took over two years - the pope issued a rebuttal to Luther's document.

However, Luther's friends had already translated the document from Latin to German, and with the use of the printing press, Luther's ideas quickly spread far and wide in an estimated two months; people who were already dissatisfied with what they saw as abuses in the Church were ready to move on.

Answer: Lawyer

Luther was a well-educated man of his day. His father, Hans Luther, wanted Martin to be a lawyer. His early education focused on the "trivium", the study of grammar, rhetoric, and logic; Luther later compared that aspect of his education to Purgatory and Hell.

He also disliked his time of study at the University of Erfurt, which he called a whorehouse and beerhouse. Nevertheless, he graduated with a master's degree at the age of twenty-four, after which he enrolled in law school. His decision to pursue theology came after being caught in a terrible thunderstorm.

When a bolt of lightening struck very close, he vowed to Saint Anna that he would become a monk, which he did, even though his father sternly objected.

Answer: Usury

The practice of moneylending dates back to Roman times. During the Empire Period private individuals could freely lend money and charge whatever interest they wanted as it was not regulated by law. The stories of Jewish moneylenders in the Bible are well-known. According to Old Testament regulations, Israelites could charge interest on loans as long as the loan was to a gentile. In 325, the First Council of Nicaea forbade the practice of usury among the clergy; in fact, it was later decreed that the loaning of money by the clergy could lead to excommunication and charges of heresy. During the early part of the Middle Ages as Christians were not allowed, and the Jews were excluded from many other occupations, they became moneylenders. Later in the Middle Ages some Christian families as the Medicis of Florence and the Fuggers of Augsburg established very successful banking houses and became extremely rich.

When the Church noticed the potential profit, well, it was just too good to pass up.

Answer: Johann Tetzel

"As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs", is a slogan attributed to Johann Tetzel. Appointed as the "Grand Commissioner" by Pope Leo X, Tetzel devised what may have been the most clever money-raising scheme of all time. People were told that their sins would be forgiven if they made a donation to the Church.

Although this slogan was never part of any Church doctrine, it was, in part, aligned with the Catholic belief that forgiveness of sins could be obtained for both the living and the dead.

The common people, desperate to obtain the comforts of heaven after such an uncertain life on earth, would do anything, even if it meant giving everything they had.

Answer: Indulgence

Indulgences were an intricate part of the Catholic idea about going to heaven. The general idea (which I hope isn't oversimplified) was that by confessing and doing penance, which was usually saying prayers or doing good deeds while alive, and "borrowing" some of the goodness left over by Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and the saints, a person could reduce his potential time (or even someone else's) in Purgatory.

In fact, they might even be able to by-pass Purgatory all together. What the Church was advocating in Luther's time was that a person could go straight to heaven, without doing penance, if they bought an indulgence.

This practice infuriated Luther. He believed that God alone could give forgiveness.

Answer: The Church needed the money to remodel St. Peter's Cathedral.

In the 95 Theses, Luther asked, "Why does the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build the basilica of Saint Peter with the money of poor believers rather than with his own money?" Apparently the Archbishop of Mainz, Albert, was heavily in debt, and agreed that Tetzel could sell in his territory for a cut, some say as much as half, of the proceeds. Even though neighboring leaders forbade the sale, their people would travel elsewhere to purchase, and bring documents back which promised their sins had been forgiven.

Answer: Faith

Luther believed that only God could grant forgiveness. As he studied passages in the Bible, Luther determined that justification, God's act of declaring a sinner righteous, was based on faith alone. Luther said that his experience of the act of being "justified" was "as though I had been born again".

Answer: Christians

Even though his followers were ultimately called "Lutherans", Luther believed that "Christian" was the only acceptable name for people who were followers of Christ. Of course, his successful protest set off a chain reaction which resulted in the formation of quite a number of new churches, led by reformers such as Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, and even King Henry VIII, although his reasons were a bit convoluted to say the least, and had very little to do with reform!

Answer: True

The Counter-Reformation was initiated by the Catholic Church in response to Luther's movement, and is considered to be a time of Catholic revival. Proper training of priests and the reform of religious life were part of the movement. There was also an effort to further spread religion and re-convert places that had become primarily Protestant. Beginning with the Council of Trent in 1545, and ending with the Thirty Year's War in 1648, the Counter-Reformation produced changes in many areas such as doctrine, art, and music.

Answer: True

By 1522 Luther had already published the New Testament in the German vernacular; he and his followers completed the translation of the Old Testament by 1534, when the entire Bible was published. Although the Church strongly discouraged translations, others had previously translated parts of the Bible. Luther's translation was done in a way that accorded with his beliefs and teachings.

He wanted to make the Bible available to ordinary Germans and kept the language as simple as possible. (The later KJV translation into English followed the same principle).

While it is true that most people at this time were illiterate, the desire to read and find one's own way to heaven led to better literacy in time, especially in Protestant countries.