This year Presbyterians celebrate the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses. The theses, which criticized the sale of indulgences by church officials, are considered the opening salvo in the Protestant Reformation — a movement that emphasized individual relationships with God and salvation through faith alone.
In late October 1517, an obscure Augustinian monk teaching at a minor German university offered a set of propositions, inviting an academic debate. Many Presbyterians can picture Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, but we are hard-pressed to say what the theses were about, and why they sparked a movement that both reformed and divided the church.
In late October 1517, an obscure Augustinian monk teaching in a minor German university offered a set of propositions, inviting an academic debate. Many Presbyterians can picture Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, but we are hard-pressed to say what the theses were about, and why they sparked a movement that both reformed and divided the church.
Over the past few years, three members of my very Protestant extended family have become Roman Catholic. All of these conversions were undertaken with little or no contact with the other persons. These shifts have deepened the question that all of us face, particularly on Reformation Day: What is the future of Protestantism, particularly Reformed Protestantism?
