her also demonstrated both his own deep personal faith and a certain naive belief in the willingness of others to learn and to change. His was not the first protest against the Catholic Church and its abuses, but he succeeded where others had failed because of his own charismatic conversion. He was one of the people and spoke their language. Rome resisted all reform with every power at her disposal, and the essential element of Church doctrine which was used to enforce this was the requirement of obedience. Luther clearly broke this tenet, but for Luther and his followers it was not a matter of obedience at all but a question of truth. Indeed, within the Church there was also a dedication to truth, and the Church was not living up to this part of its own tradition. Luther lived the spiritual life and did so with a dedication to truth that was inspiring.
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