The Reformation 500 Years Later

Book excerpt: 2017 is the 500th year anniversary of Martin Luther’s nailing his Ninety-five Theses to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, the event marking the beginning of the Reformation—and the end of unified Christianity. For Catholics, it was an unjustified rebellion by the heterodox. For Protestants, it was the release of true and purified Christianity from centuries-old enslavement to corruption, idolatry, and error. So what is the truth about the Reformation? To mark the 500th anniversary, historian Benjamin Wiker gives us 12 Things You Need to Know About the Reformation, a straight-forward account of the world-changing event that rejects the common distortions of Catholic, Protestant, Marxist, Freudian, or secularist retellings.