In the sixteenth century dogmas not only seemed but were matters of supreme importance.

It was just by her sacramental system, by her claim to give the believer eternal life and salvation through her rites, that the church had imposed her yoke on men.

As long as that belief remained intact progress in thought, in freedom of conscience, in reform, remained difficult.

And here, as is frequently the case, the most effective arguments were not those which seem to us logically the strongest.

Luther made no appeal to reason as such.