“In short, I will preach it, teach it, write it, but I will constrain no one by force, for faith must come freely without compulsion. Take myself as an example. I opposed indulgences and all the papists, but never with force. I simply taught, preached and wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing.”

- Martin Luther (1483 - 1546)

“The Protestant Reformation had a lot to do with the printing press, where Martin Luther’s theses were reproduced about 250,000 times, and so you had widespread dissemination of ideas that hadn’t circulated in the mainstream before.”

- Nate Silver (1978 -Present)

1. How did Martin Luther protest the Roman Catholic Church and the Papacy (the Pope) at the All Saints’ Church in Germany?

2. Do the quotes from Martin Luther and Nate Silver agree with one another? Explain.

3. To what effect do you think that the printing press helped in the spread of Luther’s beliefs and opinions of the Roman Catholic Church at that time?

4. With the dissemination of ideas, what did this also lead to a rise of? Hint: think books.

5. What is an indulgence? Do you agree with the sale of these by the Roman Catholic Church?