The Reformation, 500 Years Later
http://www.npr.org/2017/10/27/560298...00-years-later
Five hundred years after a rebellious act by a single German monk divided the Christian world, religious leaders on both sides of that split have finally agreed their churches share responsibility for the historic rupture.
On Oct. 31, 1517, an outspoken university lecturer and Augustinian monk named Martin Luther posted a list of objections to the dominant Roman Catholic beliefs and practices of his time. Chief among his grievances was the church's claim that Christians could buy their way out of punishment for sin — and thus shorten their time in purgatory — by purchasing a letter of "indulgence" from their local parish. In practice, much of the money went into the pockets of corrupt local princes.
Whether Luther nailed his list to the door of his hometown church, as legend has it, or simply mailed it to his archbishop is in dispute, but his "95 Theses" represented a stunning challenge to papal authority and the entire Holy Roman Empire.
The split that followed, known as the Protestant Reformation, fostered the development of religious and political freedoms in Europe but also set the stage for persecution and war. Catholic-Protestant enmity endured for centuries.
On the Reformation anniversary, however, the Lutheran Church, founded by Luther himself, and the Roman Catholic Church that rejected Luther's protest have achieved at least a partial reconciliation.
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