Happy Reformation Day! To celebrate, here are some of my favorite of Luther’s 95 “Tweets”:

1. When our lord and Master Jesus Christ said “Repent,” he intended that the entire life of believers should be repentance.

2. This word repentance cannot be understood to mean the sacrament of penance, or the act of confession and satisfaction administered by the priests.

3. Yet it does not mean inward repentance only, as there is no inward repentance that does not manifest itself outwardly through various mortifications of the flesh.

4. The penalty of sin, therefore, continues so long as hatred of self, or true inward repentance, continues, and it continues until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

27. They preach man-made doctrines who say that so soon as the coin jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out of purgatory.

28. It is certain that when the coin jingles into the money-box, greed and avarice can be increased, but the result of the intercession of the church is in the power of God alone.

32. They will be condemned eternally, together with their teachers, who believe themselves sure of their salvation because they have letters of pardon.

33. Men must be on their guard against those who say that the pope’s pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to him;

36. Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon.

37. Every true christian, whether living or dead, has part in all the benefits of Christ and the church; and this is granted to him by God, even without letters of pardon.

43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons;

45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a man in need and passes him by and gives his money for pardons instead, purchases not the indulgences of the pope, but the indignation of God.

46. Christians are to be taught that unless they have more money than they need, they are bound to reserve what is necessary for their own families, and by no means to squander it on pardons.

49. Christians are to be taught that the pope’s pardons are useful so long as they do not put their trust in them; but altogether harmful if they lose their fear of God because of them.

50. Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the indulgence preachers, he would rather that St. Peter’s church should go to ashes than that it should be built up with the skin, flesh, and bones of his sheep.

53. They are enemies of Christ and the pope who bid the Word of God to be silent in some churches in order that pardons may be preached in others.

54. Injury is done to the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or a longer time is spent on pardons than on the Word.

62. The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.

63. But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last.

64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first. 65. Therefore the treasures of the gospel are nets with which they would formerly fish for men of riches.

66. The treasures of the indulgences are nets with which they now fish for the riches of men.

82. Such questions as the following: “Why does the pope not empty purgatory, for the sake of holy love and for the sake of desperate souls that are there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a church? The former reasons would be most just, while the latter is most trivial.”

86. Or: “why does not the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the riches of the richest, build this one basilica of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?”

88. Or: “what greater blessing could come to the church than if the pope were to do a hundred times a day what he now does once, and bestow on every believer these remissions and participation?”

92. Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, “Peace, peace,” and there is no peace. 93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, “Cross, cross,” and there is no cross!

94. Christians are to be exhorted to be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, death, and hell; 95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven through many tribulations, rather than through the false assurance of peace.

You can read the whole of Luther’s 95 Theses here.