Imagine that you have just been given a new technology that allows you to respond almost instantaneously to critics and opponents. Imagine too that you find yourself in a highly charged situation where attacks and counter-attacks are a regular occurrence. The temptation to use the technology to counter-punch is quite strong, and the temptation to counter-punch in the heat of the moment stronger.
I am not talking about President Donald Trump's Twitter account. I'm talking about the printing press and the possibilities that it opened up for polemics and popular debate in the sixteenth century. During the middle ages, disputations were a common part of university education, but they were conducted among university theologians. Reformation polemics were published and distributed broadly, and were often written specifically with lay Christians in mind.
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