[Sidenote: The Ninety-five Theses, 1517] He pointed out that the doctrine of the church was very uncertain, especially in regard to the freeing of souls from purgatory; that contrition was the only gate to God's pardon; that works of charity were better than buying of indulgences, and that the practices of the indulgence-sellers were extremely scandalous and likely to foment heresy among the simple.

In all this he did not directly deny the whole value of indulgences, but he pared it down to a minimum.
The Theses were printed by Luther and sent around to friends in other cities.

They were at once put into German, and applauded to the echo by the whole nation.

Everybody had been resentful of the extortion of greedy ecclesiastics and disgusted with their hypocrisy.

All welcomed the attack on the "holy trade," as its supporters called it.