History: Protestant Reformation

1513- Spearheaded by Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformation set about to answer the question about what one must do to attain salvation. Luther believed that church theology which included the seven sacraments set an impossible task before good people who might deserve salvation. Luther's idea was that the "justice of God" was not a punitive recounting of ones individual folly, but a merciful acceptance wrought out of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. The Reformation became very popular and spread rapidly, splintering the Catholic church into factions that exist to this day.