The Ninety-five Theses were best described as?

• A. A list of propositions challenging Church practices, launching the Protestant Reformation.
• B. An official Catholic catechism.
• C. A sermon delivered at the Council of Basel.
• D. A collection of maritime laws.

Answer: (A)

They were a set of arguments aimed at sparking scholarly debate about the sale of indulgences and the authority of church practices, especially how forgiveness and penance were handled. Martin Luther wrote and posted them in 1517 to challenge what he saw as corrupt or ineffective practices in the medieval church, inviting theologians to discuss whether indulgences truly aligned with Scripture and genuine repentance. The immediate intent was to prompt dialogue, but the ideas quickly spread and helped ignite the Protestant Reformation, a movement that reoriented Western Christianity toward Scripture, faith, and conscience rather than papal authority. They are not an official Catholic catechism, not a sermon delivered at the Council of Basel, and not a collection of maritime laws.