Dear Martin Luther, You Did It.

Wittenberg Castle Church, October 31, 1517. The day Martin Luther nails a copy of his 95 Theses, the “Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences” on its doors. Tension fills the air as the smell of an uprising and a revolution fills the streets of Wittenburg as Luther singlehandedly sparks a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and papal authority that will be felt for the next hundred years.

I chose this date because I too agree with Luther’s stand; I too believe that papal authorities during that time were being corrupt and abusive with their policies and that service hymns in Church should be congregation-friendly. This moment was a pivotal point in history as it only further divided the Catholic Church while allowing Protestantism to emerge as a major religion during the 16^th century.

I would then talk to Luther and tell him that I’m from the future. I would thank him for sparking a movement that helped check the situation of the Catholic Church as a whole; not just their policies but their music. I too am a part of a youth group back at home, and I’ve always wanted to get more people to be more involved in Church. I would then talk to Luther about the current situation of the Church, and how his ideas helped shape the situation of congregational music through simpler polyphony that lead to a better understanding of the text.