Luther had issues regarding the assurance that God loved him and would welcome into resurrection glory.

It is pretty easy to assume that widespread issues of assurance in the following decades were of the same sort.

But maybe not.

There was another factor that needs to be given due weight.

Suddenly there were leaders opposing one another claiming the other was a sure way to damnation and they were revealing the way of salvation.

For the illiterate majority that had to decide who to trust, it must have been a pretty unnerving dilemma.