On October 31, 1517, a young theology professor at a relatively obscure school in Germany posted 95 Theses of protests to a church door, proposing an academic debate concerning the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church, particularly with regard to the practice of selling indulgences.
At the time, a Dominican priest commissioned by Pope Leo X, Johann Tetzel, was touring Germany on a fundraising campaign in support of a project to renovate and expand St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. He sold indulgences in service of this project. A person paid the church money and in return receive relief from the punishment of sins, or the sins of a deceased loved-one, to decrease the amount of time spent in purgatory. What a way to raise money! Granny, whom you loved, was languishing in purgatory, and you had the power to help relieve her suffering! It’s a no-brainer.
Martin Luther wasn’t real excited about this, to say the least, especially when persons would come to him with proof they need not do penance for their sins because they’d purchased indulgences. Thus, the 95 Theses, which were quickly translated from Latin into German and widely disseminated creating quite a stir. The cascading theological debate eventually led to a split in the Western Church that we refer to as the Protestant Reformation.
Up to this point, there had been two main branches of Christianity, Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic. Today, there are three, the third being the various Protestant Churches. One can argue for the benefits and drawbacks of the current state of disunity in the Church Universal, but I don’t think it’s debatable that the abuses of the medieval church were largely reformed, both without Roman Catholicism and within, due to the Reformation. Now, we see in a mirror dimly, then we shall see face to face. May God continue to reform his Church, until Jesus returns and God’s will is perfectly done on earth as it is in heaven.