How the Protestant Reformation Still Drives Western Civilization 500 Years Later
By Steve Bynum, Julian HaydaHow the Protestant Reformation Still Drives Western Civilization 500 Years Later
By Steve Bynum, Julian Hayda
WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information.
Sign up for our newsletters
to stay up to date on the stories that matter.
Around the
globe, the Protestant Reformation’s 500th anniversary will be officially
commemorated on Oct. 31.
On that day in 1517, Catholic priest Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany. His revolutionary ideas challenged the Roman Catholic Church and touched off religious and social changes still apparent today.
Many historians credit the Protestant Reformation with providing the undergirding for capitalism, Western democracy, and accelerating the growth of the modern secular state.
We’ll discuss the past 500 years with a number of religious experts:
- Fr. Don Senior, president emeritus, chancellor, and professor of New Testament Studies at Catholic Theological Union
- Susan Ross, professor of Theology and faculty scholar at Loyola University Chicago
- Aana Marie Vigen, a Lutheran and associate professor of Christian Social Ethics and Theology at Loyola University Chicago and author the recent article in America magazine titled “A Lutheran’s love letter to Pope Francis”
- Reverend Craig Mueller, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Chicago and author of the book Any Body There?: Worship and Being Human in a Digital Age
- David Goa, a former Lutheran, now Eastern Orthodox Christian, who is a philosopher, ethicist and founding director emeritus of the University of Alberta’s Chester Ronning Centre for the Study of Religion and Public Life