“God the Almighty has made our rulers mad; they actually think they can do—and order their subjects to do—whatever they please. And the subjects make the mistake of believing that they, in turn, are bound to obey their rulers in everything.”

Source: Temporal Authority: To What Extent It Should Be Obeyed (1523), p. 83

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Martin Luther 214
seminal figure in Protestant Reformation 1483–1546

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