A notable feature absent in Trainwreck Labs games is pay-to-win. If you cannot find the answer in Globle or connect your corners in Linxicon, there is no amount of money in the world nor anywhere to send it to to find a shortcut (although solutions are pretty easy to find on Discord). It’s no question that the pay-to-win model is unpopular in video games, however, this was briefly the business model of the Catholic Church until they crossed paths with Martin Luther (Chronogram guest #456).

The Catholic Church is still one of the most powerful institutions in the world, but it used to be even stronger. In the Middle Ages, the kings and queens of Europe competed with the Church for influence over their citizens, with the Church controlling many institutions not provided by the state. This included, to the very religious people of Medieval Europe, the business of who would enter heaven after they perish and who would burn in hell.

For many years, the Catholic Church accepted the sale of indulgences, allowing people to do extra prayers and good deeds to counteract their earthly sins. In the late Middle Ages, they discovered that asking for money instead of prayers would be much more lucrative, and could raise funds for church projects. This was a counterintuitive move for followers of a Gospel that preaches “it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Apparently now, being rich would be less of a hindrance to an eternity in paradise and more of a leg up.

Enter Martin Luther, the instigator of the Protestant Reformation. Luther's claim to fame was the Ninety-Five Theses, which he famously nailed to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church in 1517. One of his strongest objections was to the Sale of Indulgences. His writings rippled through the Christian world and were the spark of Protestant Christianity, one of the most practiced religions in the world today. Eventually, the Pope and his team caught up and ended the Sale of Indulgences in 1567. This was part of the Counter-Reformation, a movement somewhat analogous to a high school club losing ground to a popular "anti-club" and then starting an "anti-anti-club" to regain its influence.

This wasn’t the last time that the Catholic Church evolved on an issue. Evolution, for example, was seen as a challenge to the Church for generations, but the most recent popes have stated that this branch of science has no direct conflict with scripture. Likewise, topics like gay marriage have been under review for a while and Pope Francis recently expressed support for the legal recognition of civil unions for same-sex couples. Sometimes, change requires a reformation, but sometimes it just takes time.

Monday, June 24 to Sunday, June 30.

The following are the shortest paths from last week:

Play Forgeous for July 1.