<Tr> <Th> Publication date </Th> <Td> 31 October 1517 (10 November 1517 New Style) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Text </Th> <Td> Ninety - five Theses at Wikisource </Td> </Tr> <P> The Ninety - five Theses or Disputation on the Power of Indulgences are a list of propositions for an academic disputation written in 1517 by Martin Luther, professor of moral theology at the University of Wittenberg, Germany, that started the Reformation, a schism in the Catholic Church which profoundly changed Europe . They advanced Luther's positions against what he saw as the abuse of the practice of clergy selling plenary indulgences, which were certificates believed to reduce the temporal punishment for sins committed by the purchasers or their loved ones in purgatory . In the Theses, Luther claimed that the repentance required by Christ in order for sins to be forgiven involves inner spiritual repentance rather than merely external sacramental confession . He argued that indulgences led Christians to avoid true repentance and sorrow for sin, believing that they could forgo it by purchasing an indulgence . They also, according to Luther, discouraged Christians from giving to the poor and performing other acts of mercy, believing that indulgence certificates were more spiritually valuable . Though Luther claimed that his positions on indulgences accorded with those of the Pope, the Theses challenge a 14th - century papal bull stating that the pope could use the treasury of merit and the good deeds of past saints to forgive temporal punishment for sins . The Theses are framed as propositions to be argued in debate rather than necessarily representing Luther's opinions, but Luther later clarified his views in the Explanations of the Disputation Concerning the Value of Indulgences . </P> <P> Luther sent the Theses enclosed with a letter to Albert of Brandenburg, the Archbishop of Mainz, on 31 October 1517, a date now considered the start of the Reformation and commemorated annually as Reformation Day . Luther may have also posted the Theses on the door of All Saints' Church and other churches in Wittenberg in accordance with University custom on 31 October or in mid-November . The Theses were quickly reprinted, translated, and distributed throughout Germany and Europe . They initiated a pamphlet war with indulgence preacher Johann Tetzel, which spread Luther's fame even further . Luther's ecclesiastical superiors had him tried for heresy, which culminated in his excommunication in 1521 . Though the Theses were the start of the Reformation, Luther did not consider indulgences to be as important as other theological matters which would divide the church, such as justification by faith alone and the bondage of the will . His breakthrough on these issues would come later, and he did not see the writing of the Theses as the point at which his beliefs diverged from those of Rome . </P>

Who wrote the ninety-five theses and what church practice did this document criticize
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