Importance of the 95 theses

Why did Martin Luther's 95 Theses get so much attention? Why did people pay attention to him, while John Huss’ and John Wycliffe's attempts at reforming the Christian Church were less successful? The “95 Theses” were written in 1517 by a German priest and professor of theology named Martin Luther. His revolutionary ideas served as the catalyst for the eventual breaking away from the Catholic Church and were later instrumental in forming the movement known as the Protestant Reformation. Luther wrote his radical “95 Theses” to express his growing concern with the corruption within the Church. In essence, his Theses called for a full reform of the Catholic Church and challenged other scholars to debate with him on matters of church policy. Luther sent his 95 Theses to a few bishops and some friends; therefore he did not expect or receive a prompt response. By the end of 1517, however, copies of the 95 Theses had been printed in Leipzig, Nuremberg and Basel. Some humanists and princes passionately approved of the theses, but parts of the Roman Church completely rejected them. The most vehement voice against the theses was the Indulgence Priest Tetzel, who supposedly categorized Luther as a follower of the heretic Jan Hus and threatened to have him burned at the stake. It's important to notice that all of the 95 theses have to do with indulgences. People paid attention to Martin Luther more than the other two because his 95 theses had a huge impact on the people. He had spoken against the church in such a big way and he was a monk! People who heard/read the 95 were able to know that it was true because he backed it up with scriptural evidence and the printing press was coming out which would allow for others to compare his 95 theses to the bible. He was the first really "bang" to start off the whole idea of how the church was curupt. SOURCES: Http://questions.org/95-theses.html#ixzz3KhYqDRxb http://www.climateers.org/eng/phpModules/googlesearch.php?act=url&q=http://www.luther.de/en/anschlag.html&sa=U&ei=UfgsVPheh-TwBbqCgeAG&ved=0CDEQFjAE&usg=AFQjCNFKuyuVNvs7HnKv4_zlAWON4m0XlQ http://www.christian-history.org/95-theses.html Pages team :)