Happy Reformation Day!

October 31, 1517–a date often overlooked on our calendars, but it’s probably one of the most important dates in Western history. Certainly one of the most important dates in church history. It was on this day 498 years ago, that an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther posted a list of 95 points for debate and discussion on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg. He was concerned over the practice of selling indulgences–time out of purgatory and, hence, a speedier passage to heaven when one dies–by church officials. St. Peter’s Basilica was under construction at the time, and the sale of indulgences was one centuries-old fund-raising method employed by the church. Confident that the Pope wouldn’t approve such things, Luther set forth his arguments against it.

But Luther was wrong about the Pope, and he soon found himself fighting the church over the principle that salvation can’t be bought and sold–it is the free gift of God. As Paul spells out in Ephesians 2:8-9, we are saved by grace alone, and not by works or anything that we think might merits God’s favor (e.g., giving money to a church building project).

What became known as the Protestant Reformation took hold across Europe. It upset the monarchy in England, which found itself vacillating between these “new” ideas and the traditions of the Pope and the “Roman” church. Elizabeth I’s “settlement” that outlawed all expressions of Protestantism save for the Church of England, her own church, found many Protestants fleeing for the New World. There, they not only established churches, but they founded colleges, and formed governments, crafting the constitutions that guided them, and have guided them ever since.

So, even if you’re one of the many who’ll be dressing up to celebrate some other festival today, spare a thought for Luther, and a day in history that shouldn’t be forgotten.