This paper looks at the meaning of Lutheran theology in the context of the period that witnessed the emergence of Protestantism, now five hundred years ago, when the Reformation gave rise to the diversification of Christianity. The paper stresses that Luther’s evangelical breakthrough lies in a theology of the cross, which substantially changes the meeting-place for the encounter between God and the human being. Attention is drawn to the effects of the Protestant Reformation, which for a number of authors like Charles Taylor has led to the secular era. The paper also reviews what Luther means for modernity, particularly for Nietzsche, the son of an evangelical pastor. Lastly, it attests to the strangeness of Luther for the contemporary world and our highly secularised reality, in which the relevance of the crucified Christ is receding to the point of becoming absent from the life of the world.