Happy Reformation Day!

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, posted his 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. The theses concerned the sale of indulgences which Albert of Brandenburg, archbishop of Mainz, sponsored to pay for the construction of Saint Peter’s in Rome. Indulgences were payments of money to the church for the forgiveness of sins. Martin Luther’s theses invited debate over the legitimacy of the sale of these indulgences. In 1521 Luther was excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church. From the middle of the century on, the Reformation swept Northern and Eastern Europe.

Today, every non-Roman Catholic Church, whether Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Mennonite, or Non-Denominational owes its existence, by the grace of God, to the Reformation, and the stand taken by Luther.

Luther’s 95 theses are no longer posted on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, but they are posted on various sites around the internet! Here’s one.