ed them could
be confined to Wittenberg. Contrary to Luther's expectation and
to his great surprise,[6] they circulated all through Germany
with a rapidity that was startling. Within two months, before the
end of 1517, three editions of the Latin text had been printed,
one at Wittenberg, one at Nurnberg, and one as far away as Basel,
and copies of the Theses had been sent to Rome. Numerous
editions, both Latin and German, quickly followed. Luther's
contemporaries saw in the publication of the Theses "the
beginning of the Reformation," [7] and the judgment of modern
times has confirmed their verdict, but the Protestant of to-day,
and especially the Protestant layman, is almost certain to be
surprised, possibly deeply disappointed, at their contents. They
are not "a trumpet-blast of reform"; that title must be reserved
for the great works of 1520.[8] The word "faith," destined to
become the watchword of the Reformation, does not once occur in
them; the validity of the Sacrament of Penance is not disputed;
the right of the pope to forgive sins, especially in "reserved
cases," is not denied; even the virtue of indulgences is
admitted, within limits, and the question at issue is simply
"What is that virtue?"

To read the Theses, therefore, with a fair degree of
comprehension we must know something of the time that produced
them, and we must bear two facts continually in mind. We must
remember that at this time Luther was a devoted son of the Church
and servant of the pope, perhaps not quite the "right frantic and
raving papist" [9] he afterwards called himself, but as yet
entirely without suspicion of the extent to which he had inwardly
diverged from the teachings of Roman theology. We must also
remember that the Theses were no attempt at a searching
examination of the whole structure and content of Roman teaching,
but were directed against what Luther conceived to be merely
abuses which had sprung up around a single group of doctrines
centering in the Sacrament of Penance. He sincerely thought that
the teaching of the Theses was in full agreement with the best
traditions of the Church,[10] and his surprise that they should
have caused so much excitement is undoubtedly genuine and not
feigned. He shows himself both hurt and astonished that he
should be assailed as a heretic and schismatic, and "called by
six hundred other names of ignominy." [11] On the other hand, we
are compelled to admit that from the outset Luther's