Tradition has it that on this day in 1517 the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, an invitation to debate this and 94 other theses.  While not the actual beginning of the Protestant Reformation, it was an act of speaking truth to power that in time shook the western church to its foundations and ultimately resulted in the Lutheran church, and numerous other branches, splitting from it.  A century early, Jan Hus was teaching against indulgences, so that controversy was not new to Luther. But Luther, and many of the reformers that shortly followed, found strong political, if not popular, support that saved them from and their message from an untimely end in flames as Hus found.

94. Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hell;

95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace.