Social Science (087) — AI-generated practice question

Print posed a fundamental threat to the Church's authority because it enabled the wide circulation of ideas that challenged established religious teachings. Anyone could now print and spread views that questioned the Church, making it difficult to control what people believed.

Examples:

• Martin Luther printed his Ninety-Five Theses criticising Catholic practices; reproduced in vast numbers, they sparked the Protestant Reformation and split the Church.
• Menocchio, a miller in Italy, read locally available books and formulated his own interpretation of God and Creation, which "enraged the Roman Catholic Church." He was tried twice by the Inquisition and ultimately executed.

To suppress such heretical ideas, the Church began maintaining an Index of Prohibited Books from 1558.

Source: Chapter 5, Section 3.3 — Print and Dissent

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Examiners expect two things here: (1) a clear statement of the threat — uncontrolled spread of ideas leading to heresy and questioning of Church authority — and (2) at least one or two specific examples from the text (Luther and/or Menocchio). Both examples are directly in the passage, so use them. Avoid vague generalisations; name the person and the consequence. The Index of Prohibited Books (1558) should be mentioned as the Church's response to tie the answer together.