“There Should Be No Beggars Among Christians”: Karlstadt, Luther, and the Origins of Protestant Poor Relief

Abstract

Thesis forty-three of theNinety-five Thesesreads, “Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better deed than he who buys indulgences.” Following the historical convention of dating the Reformation from theNinety-five Thesesof 1517, we may argue that from its inception theology and social ethics were inseparable. One particular aspect of the Reformation impact on social change which has attracted attention and controversy from the sixteenth century to the present is welfare reform. While it would be overbold to claim that reform of poor relief was motivated by theology alone, radical theological change was certainly a major factor. Since righteousnesscoram Deowas thought to be by grace alone, it became difficult to rationalize the plight of the poor as a peculiar form of blessedness. Thus Luther excoriated the indulgence sellers who robbed the people of needed resources. What was implicit in theNinety-five Thesesbecame increasingly explicit in the months and years leading up to the publication on January 24, 1522 of the Wittenberg Order.