Filmmaker Dale Ward's fascinating documentary combines interviews and archival materials to provide an overview of Martin Luther's 16th-century, then-radical religious ideas and their continuing impact on Western culture and society. 500 (a reference to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation) begins with the familiar story of Luther's rejection of an increasingly top-down, authoritarian, ritual-based Catholic Church that championed celibacy over procreation and marriage. He also threw cold water on the church's emphasis on suffering as the cost of redemption (unless the sinner had the money to buy indulgences from the church—money that helped pay for St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican). Luther maintained that anyone could live a holy life outside the clergy and Rome's rules—notions that were regarded as heresy, but have prevailed through the centuries. Despite violent divisions between branches of the Reformation that led to bloody conflicts, Luther's core principles—including God's care for both our body and soul—ultimately played a role in the formation of capitalism and the American principle of separating church and state. A fine examination of the wide-ranging, continuing impact of the Reformation on contemporary life, this is highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (T. Keogh)
500: The Impact of the Reformation Today
(2017) 103 min. DVD: $19.99. DRA. Vision Video (avail. from most distributors). Volume 33, Issue 1
500: The Impact of the Reformation Today
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