¨They assume authority, and juggle before us with impudent words, saying that the Pope cannot err in matters of faith, whether h
e be evil or good, albeit they cannot prove it by a single letter. That is why the canon [church] law contains so many heretical and unchristian, nay unnatural, laws; but of these, we need not speak now. For whereas they imagine the Holy Ghost never leaves them, however unlearned and wicked they may be, they grow bold enough to decree whatever they like. But were this true, where were the need and use of the Holy Scriptures? Let us burn them, and content ourselves with the unlearned gentlemen at Rome, in whom the Holy Ghost dwells, who, however, can dwell in pious souls only. If I had not read it, I could never have believed that the devil should have put forth such follies in Rome and find a following. But not to fight them with our own words, we will quote the Scriptures. St. Paul says, ‘If anything is revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace’ (1 Cor. xiv. 30).¨
Martin Luther, "Address to the Christian Nobility,” 1520
a) Explain ONE specific way Luther’s ideas in the passage differed from the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church.
b) Explain ANOTHER specific way in which Luther’s ideas in the passage differed from the Roman Catholic Church.
c) Explain how the ideas in the passage, or Roman Catholic responses to them, influenced Christianity from 1450 to 1750.
