History
fromThe New Yorker
3 weeks agoDo We Think Too Much About the Future?
Religious and revolutionary eras treated the future as urgent, with history nearing an end or beginning, shaping how people imagined time and destiny.
In 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to a church door to protest the sale of salvation. The Catholic Church had turned faith into a transaction: Pay for indulgences, reduce your time in purgatory. Luther's message was plain: You could be saved through faith alone, you didn't need the church to interpret scripture for you, and every believer could approach God directly.