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The 95 Theses of Martin Luther: 95 Theses - Wikisource

1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite,(“Repent ye” or “Do Penance”) willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.

I agree.

2. This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance, i.e., confession and satisfaction, which is administered by the priests.

Confession to the Priesthood leader -- we consider it an important step, but only in extreme cases. The VAST majority of repentance is strictly between the sinner and God Himself. So in the majority of cases, we would agree with Luther here.

3. Yet it means not inward repentance only; nay, there is no inward repentance which does not outwardly work divers mortifications of the flesh.

We would agree with Luther here. More to the point, we would stress that the right kind of repentence must occur. Self-punishment in such forms as whipping and flailing oneself for the purpose of punishing oneself for sin -- a practice common in Catholicism in centuries past -- is entirely missing the point. And to my understanding, Luther agrees. We must repent inwardly and live as a changed person outwardly.

4. The penalty, therefore, continues so long as hatred of self continues; for this is the true inward repentance, and continues until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

This strikes at Martin Luther's personal experiences and at his theological paradigm shift. At long last, he realized that self-hatred is not only a bad thing. It's offensive to God. It was making him miserable when God did not intend for him to be miserable. We wholeheartedly agree with Luther on this point. There is such a thing as Godly Sorrow that leads us to true repentance and happiness. Then there is the sorrow that leads to despair and misery. It is critically important that any believer in Christ avoid the pitfall of self-hatred and then allow themselves to think that it is a feeling God intends for them to feel. It is of Satan, not God.

5. The pope does not intend to remit, and cannot remit any penalties other than those which he has imposed either by his own authority or by that of the Canons.

We would agree with Luther here. No earthly spiritual guide gets to forgive sins. Only God gets to do that. Of course this is leading into Luther's objection to the sale of indulgences and defying the notion that the Pope had such authority grant to him to validate anything similar. We agree with Luther on this point as well.

6. The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring that it has been remitted by God and by assenting to God's remission; though, to be sure, he may grant remission in cases reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in such cases were despised, the guilt would remain entirely unforgiven.

Extention and clarification of thesis 5 and we agree with the general premise, though we do not believe that the Pope has authority granted to him to even forgive or judge at all. We would concur that there is a certain balance of things -- the eclesiastical leaders have a certain number of things that of necessity they must pronounce judgement and so forth. Removal from the body of the Church would be an example. But it can never be understood to usurp God's right to forgive or not forgive. God has the final say in matters of forgiveness and judgement. I think we agree with Luther in general on this thesis.

7. God remits guilt to no one whom He does not, at the same time, humble in all things and bring into subjection to His vicar, the priest.

We wholeheartedly agree that one must be humbled in all things. The absolute necessity of "vicar/priest" is something we would agree with only in extreme cases, and not as a general rule for every sin ever committed.

Okay so that's 7 down and 88 to go.

Eric, I wholeheartedly disagree with the notion that we must discuss the Protestant Reformation ONLY in the context that you have laid out for us. The Solas are nice and all, but they are a retroactive summary of the Protestant Reformation, not the specific thoughts of the actual Reformers themselves. They serve to act as a unifier of ideology, but they are incredibly general. That makes them difficult to discuss on a point by point basis. And all Protestant faiths do not necessarily line up behind them. If your entire purpose is to discuss the 5 Solas then that is fine -- but it'd be a short discussion. I think you already know where we stand on those issues, so I'm at a loss what you are asking for.