john wycliffe posted the ninety-five theses on a church door effectively creating protestantism.
who posted the ninety-five theses on a church door effectively creating protestantism?
john wycliffe
it was customary when proposing a disputation to have the theses printed by the university press and publicly posted. no copies of a wittenberg printing of the "ninety-five theses" have survived, but this is not surprising as luther was not famous and the importance of the document was not recognized. in wittenberg, the university statutes demand that theses be posted on every church door in the city, but philip melanchthon, who first mentioned the posting of the "theses", only mentioned the door of all saints' church. melanchthon also claimed that luther posted the "theses" on 31 october, but this conflicts with several of luther's statements about the course of events, and luther always claimed that he brought his objections through proper channels rather than inciting a public controversy. it is possible that while luther later saw the 31 october letter to albert as the beginning of the reformation, he did not post the "theses" to the church door until mid-november, but he may not have posted them on the door at all. regardless, the "theses" were well-known among the wittenberg intellectual elite soon after luther sent them to albert.
ninety-five theses
ninety-five theses
ninety-five theses