Happy Reformation Day (Oct. 31st)!

Were you aware that up until 1517, the Christian (Catholic) Church had dozens of rules for people that were listed nowhere in the Bible. Chief among them being that people could “buy their way out of Hell” for the sins that they or their ancestors had committed.

On October 31st, 1517 a monk named Martin Luther challenged the church on 95 different practices by posting them on a church door in Wittenberg, Germany. Although Martin Luther was kicked out of the Catholic Church for this (which was a very light punishment for the time), it led to the formation of Protestant Churches (such as Calvinism and the Lutheran Church) around Europe.

This was very good for the common people of Europe as the Catholic Church was not as nice back then as it is today. It taxed people and controlled their lives much as a malevolent king would. (It still tells people to confess their sins to a priest instead of straight to Jesus, which is totally unnecessary.)