![]() ![]() This was done by heavy debate, followed by a vote of the city council. ![]() Nuremberg was the first imperial city to embrace the Reformation by civil decree. Imperial cities of the empire had already been debating the ethics of indulgences, but implementing the Reformation was a more complex matter. Henry the VIII also rejected the doctrine of purgatory, disbanded the chantries, but curiously never replaced it all with the doctrine of justification.īecause of the intermixture of church and state, for a city to embrace the principles of the Reformation, there had to be a government decree. In time, Luther and Calvin would question the existence of purgatory, since they found no Scriptural basis for it. The treasure of the church is the gospel itself. There were no “saved up” treasures of the saints for us to access. One could not buy ones way out of purgatory. Luther still believed in purgatory, but in an Augustinian way, not the way it was being propagated. Even the theology department at Paris had condemned the system of relics and the purchase of plenary indulgences. Indulgences totaling one million years could be obtained by venerating them (which, of course, cost money). Frederick the Wise’s massive collection of relics were usually displayed on All Saints Day. “Typically, Martin Luther’s A Mighty Fortress is Our God is sung during the service… The observance of Reformation Day may be immediately followed by a reading of those members of the local congregation who have died in the past year in observance of All Saints’ Day…”įrank Senn, in The People’s Work, A Social History of the Liturgy, suggests that Luther’s posting of the 95 Theses on the eve of All Saints Day was intentional. Wikipedia says, “In many Lutheran churches, All Saints’ Day and Reformation Day are observed concurrently…” since Reformation Day is October 31 and All Saints Day is November 1. ![]() Some speculate that Holy Martyrs replaced the pagan Feast of Lemures, a time to appease the spirits of the dead. Many suggest that Easter replaced the Rite of Spring and Christmas replaced Winter Solstice. When pagan communities became Christian, they often kept their holiday times. Prior to that it may have been celebrated in May as Holy Martyrs. This date was fixed by Pope Gregory III in the eighth century. In the West, All Hallows, or Hallowmas, was celebrated November 1.
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