The halls of history rang with the sound of a single hammer as one man reshaped Christianity forever. This man was Martin Luther and he changed the course of history when he nailed his 95 theses to the door of the cathedral in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517. These theses challenged the Roman Catholic Church by inviting debate over the legitimacy of many of the theses. practices of the Church, especially the sale of indulgences.1 Luther's simple action not only got him into trouble with church authorities, but also accelerated the reform of Roman Catholicism in Europe. Protestantism is the result of this reformation, called the Protestant Reformation because its reformers protested against corruption and unbiblical practices in the Roman Catholic Church. Although this was undoubtedly the most important religion in European history and perhaps in the world, it is only one among thousands of other religions on earth. Another similar religion was Neo-Confucianism in China. While there are many differences between these two religions, their origins, and the reforms that created them, a number of similarities can also be found between them. One difference between Neo-Confucianism and Protestantism lies in their origins. Protestantism originated from a denomination of Christianity, Roman Catholicism, essentially the only denomination that existed in Europe in the 16th century. Christianity centers on the worship of a triune God and the study and guidance of the Bible, the inspired word of God. Christians believe that God loved all men so much that he sent Jesus Christ, his son, to earth in flesh, to live for a short time among men, and then to die to pay for the sins of all men.2 By the 16th century, however, Roman Catholicism had added to Christianity many doctrines not found in the Bible. Such additions included salvation by faith plus works, transubstantiation, the cult of Mary, the mother of Jesus, the infallibility of the Pope, and Purgatory, to name a few. On top of this, many church authorities were corrupt, demanding high taxes, collectively owning about a third of all the lands in Europe, selling church offices, and even selling indulgences or "pardons" for sins. All this contributed to making many Europeans unhappy with the Roman Catholic Church. Neo-Confucianism, on the other hand, originated from Confucianism, which was not truly a religion. Original Confucianism was actually a philosophy or code of ethics based on the teachings of Confucius,3 an itinerant scholar.