of indulgence-letters was better than all good works,
that they were an insurance against the pains of hell and of
purgatory, that they availed for all satisfactions, even in the
case of the most heinous sins that could be conceived.[27]
"Confessional letters" [28] were one of the forms of this
indulgence. They gave their possessor permission to choose his
own confessor, and entitled him to plenary remission once in his
life, to absolution from sins normally reserved, etc. The
indulgences for the dead were zealously proclaimed, and the duty
of purchasing for departed souls release from the pains of
purgatory was most urgently enjoined. So great was the power of
the indulgence to alleviate the pains of purgatory, that the
souls of the departed were said to pass into heaven the instant
that the coins of the indulgence-buyer jinked in the
money-box.[29]

4. Luther's Protest--The Theses were Luther's protest against the
manner in which this indulgence was preached, and against the Use
conception of the efficacy of indulgences which the people
obtained from such preaching. They were not his first protest,
however. In a sermon, preached July 37th, 1516,[30] he had issued
a warning against the false idea that a man who had bought an
indulgence was sure of salvation, and had declared the assertion
that souls could be bought out of purgatory to be "a piece of
temerity." His warnings were repeated in other sermons, preached
October 31st, 1516, and February 14th, 1517.[31] The burden of
these warnings is always the same: the indulgences lead men
astray; they incite to fear of God's penalties and not to fear of
sin; they encourage false hopes of salvation, and make light of
the true condition of forgiveness, vis., sincere and genuine
repentance.

These warnings are repeated in the Theses. The preaching of
indulgences has concealed the true nature of repentance; the
first thing to consider is what "our Lord and Master Jesus Christ
means," when He says, "Repent." [32] Without denying the pope's
right to the power of the keys, Luther wishes to come into the
clear about the extent of the pope's jurisdiction, which does not
reach as far as purgatory. He believes that the pope has the
right to remit "penalties," but these penalties are of the same
sort as those which were imposed in the early Church as a
condition precedent to the absolution; they are ecclesiastical
penalties merely, and do not extend beyond the grave; the true
pen