An interesting irony has occurred to me in view of the nomination today of Judge Alito and the possibility of a Catholic majority on the Supreme Court: this is Reformation Day.
On this day in 1517, Catholic priest Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses onto the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg in present-day Germany, thus sparking the Protestant Reformation. The 95 Theses, also known as The Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, challenged the Church's teachings on indulgences, a medieval Catholic eccentricity and fund-raising technique whereby in exchange for certain meritorious deeds and acts (e.g., major cash gifts for cathedral construction, dying in a Crusade, etc., etc.), the excess "merits" of the saints are transferred to a sinner to remit his punishment or purification time in Purgatory (another Catholic eccentricity) before going to Heaven, challenged the Church's teachings on the nature of pennace (confession and forgiveness of sins), and challenged the authority of the Pope as the dictatorial, theologically-infallible, supreme head of the Church.
Hmm. I wonder how many Christians have died since 1517 in the wars between Catholics and Protestants over the supremecy of the pope and the Roman Church?
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