Dates are important and a specific date or a year can carry a significance far beyond a mere day or number on the calendar. Here in America, consider the year “1776". When we see that year on some piece of Americana we automatically think about the American Revolution (which went on until 1791) and all that comes with it.
This is similar to what we mean when we call ourselves “1517". 1517 was the year that Martin Luther published his 95 Theses against certain abuses of the Catholic Church. For us, and many around the world, “1517” marks the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.
And we aren’t alone in marking the year as a significant one for the history of Western Civilization. Some have used “1517" to signify the beginning of the modern west. Gone were the Medieval superstitions and cumbersome church hierarchies. This was a year signifying independence and modernity, a year that heralded freedom of conscience and freedom of belief.
Here at 1517 we hold to Luther, and those early Reformers who proclaimed an independence and a total dependence on Christ and his work on our behalf. 1517 doesn’t signify some amorphous freedom and independence but rather relief from the burdens of our sin and guilty consciences. 1517 means freedom, a Freedom in Christ in the gospel rediscovered by Luther and the Reformers and this gospel is For You!
Take a listen to this episode of Christian History Almanac that answers this question: https://www.1517.org/podcast-overview/2023-07-31