(Vespers) Luther's 95 Theses: Theses 13-29

13. The dying are freed by death from all penalties; they are already dead to canonical rules, and have a right to be released from them.
14. The imperfect health [of soul], that is to say, the imperfect love, of the dying brings with it, of necessity, great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater is the fear.
15. This fear and horror is sufficient in itself alone (to say nothing of other things) to constitute the penalty of purgatory, since it is very near to the horror of despair.
16. There seems to be the same difference between hell, purgatory, and heaven as there are between despair, almost-despair (fear), and the assurance of safety.
17. The horror of souls in purgatory should grow less and love ought to increase.
18. It seems unproven, either by reason or Scripture, that they are outside the state of merit, that is to say, of increasing love.
19. Again, it seems unproven that they, or at least that all of them, are certain or assured of their own salvation, though we may be quite certain of it.
20. Therefore by "full remission of all penalties" the pope means not actually "all penalties," but only of those imposed by himself.
21. Therefore those preachers of indulgences who say that by the pope's indulgences a man is freed from every penalty and saved are in error;
22. Indeed he cannot pass on to souls in purgatory any penalty which canon law declares should be paid in this life.
23. If it is at all possible to grant to anyone the remission of all penalties whatsoever, it is certain that this remission could be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to very few.
24. Therefore it must be the case that the greater part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and highsounding promise of release from penalty.
25. The power which the pope has, in general, over purgatory, is just like the power which any bishop or curate has, in particular, within his own diocese or parish.
26. The pope does well when he grants remission to souls in purgatory, not by the power of the keys (which he does not possess), but by way of intercession.
27. There is no divine authority for preaching that so soon as the penny jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory].
28. It is certain that when the penny jingles into the money-box, gain and avarice can be increased, but the result of the intercession of the Church is in the power of God alone.
29. Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory wish to be bought out of it, as in the legend of Saints Severinus and Paschal.