# Ninety-five Theses of Martin Luther



## RomanBoukreev

Hello!
I have found Russian translation “95 Theses of Martin Luther” with the Latin original. Could you translate Latin into English? I don't fully understand Russian translation of 3rd and 4rd commentary, maybe because of an unclear translation. The first and second I'd putted for the certain context. By the way, I am interested in a grammar here. Is there no grammatical mistakes in this Latin? For example, is it good Latin quotes «something«? According to French (very based on Latin), it is a little weird. I want to put it in my book.

_I   dominus et magister noster Iesus Christus dicendo «poenitentiam agite etc.« omnem vitam fidelium poenitentiam esse voluit.
II  quod verbum de poenitentia sacramentali (id est confessionis et satisfactionis, quae sacerdotum ministerio celebratur) non potest intelligi.
*III  non tamen solam intendit interiorem, immo interior nulla est, nisi foris operetur varias carnis mortificationes.
IV  manet itaque poena, donec manet odium sui (id est poenitentia vera intus), scilicet usque ad introitum regni caelorum.*
_
Also, I don't understand Russian translation of this commentary (I hope a Latin original will help you make a clear translate):

_*LIV  iniuria fit verbo dei, dum in eodem sermone aequale vel longius tempus impenditur veniis quam illi.*
_
I know, there are plenty translations of this thing into English, but I want to see a translation as literal as possible. I think all the rest commentaries is clear, but these commentaries (in Russian edition) looks like an unclear translation.
Thanks advance!


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## Scholiast

Greetings and a warm welcome to the Latin Forum at WR.

I. In saying 'Practise penitence', our Lord and Master Jesus Christ wanted the entire life of the faithful to be penitence.
II. This word cannot be understood to refer to 'sacramental' penitence, as is performed by the ministry of priests.
III. But He did not mean inner penitence alone, for there is no inner [penitence] unless it involves public mortifications of the flesh.
IV. So there remains the penalty [of sin], so long as there abides self-loathing (that is true inner penitence), of course until our entry into the kingdom of heaven.

LIV. Injury is done to the Word of God, when in the same sermon, equal or longer time is devoted to indulgences than to the Word itself.

I hope this is helpful.

Σ


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## RomanBoukreev

Thank you, Scholiast! I understood that the Russian translation is very unclear.


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## Scholiast

Greetings once again, and привёт, Roman

I should perhaps have added: inspired by your inquiry, I made it my business today to read all 95 Theses. I had never done this before. For its period the Latin is (as you might expect from a man of Luther's time and training) generally good (and certainly grammatical), though (unsurprisingly) showing a tendency to German word-order, rather than 'classical' Latin. But you would find that in other texts, secular and sacred, of the period.

And it is essential to remember: these Theses were intended as 'discussion-documents', containing ideas which ML thought needed to be raised and debated, not a systematic theology. In the preface, he announces them as 'Theses which I propose to defend'; and it was, at the time he wrote them, his intention not to _split_ the Church, but to _reform_ it.

Good luck, and do let us know how your project progresses.

Σ


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## metaphrastes

Salvete, здравствуйте!

To the translation of Scholiast I would just add that in the clause "do penitence", Luther quoted verbatim the Vulgata with the "Pœnitentiam agite". The original Greek, instead of using a locution, has a single verb: Μετανοεῖτε! in imperative mood (from this same root cames the Russian noun метание, that means a physical prostration or bowing, but originally was related with repentance, conversion, change of mind, from the Greek μετάνοια).

Now, I don't think Luther was particularly concerned in keeping the exact wording of the Vulgata but, as he wrote in Latin to a public of lettered men, he simply adopted its wording as one immediately recognizable.

Then, in Russian you might simply adopt the wording of the Synodal Version as probably the most immediately recognizable: покайтесь. Or, if it seems necessary to give a more historic, archaic tone, you might ponder the reading of the Slavonic version: покайтеся. Sometimes an ecclesiastic author who writes in modern Russian - say, as St Theophan the Recluse - quotes the Scriptures in Old Church Slavonic.

In English, the King James or Authorized Version reads: "Repent ye", and the focus is not so much in _doing_ works of penitence as in changing the mind.

Добрая работа, have a good work!


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## RomanBoukreev

metaphrastes said:


> Then, in Russian you might simply adopt the wording of the Synodal Version as probably the most immediately recognizable: покайтесь. Or, if it seems necessary to give a more historic, archaic tone, you might ponder the reading of the Slavonic version: покайтеся. Sometimes an ecclesiastic author who writes in modern Russian - say, as St Theophan the Recluse - quotes the Scriptures in Old Church Slavonic.


Thank you for your information, metaphrastes! I know покайтесь, but I didn't hear Old Church Slavonic's version. At the same time, my question was related to the other main point. There is no problem with this word, but the Russian translation of fourth idea is very unclear.


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## Scholiast

Greetings again


metaphrastes said:


> I would just add that in the clause "do penitence", Luther quoted verbatim the Vulgata with the "Pœnitentiam agite"


Quite right—a quotation from the Gospel of Matthew, 4:17.

Σ


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