Elizabeth Eisenstein has argued that his claimed surprise at their success may have involved self-deception and Hans Hillerbrand has claimed that Luther was certainly intending to instigate a large controversy.
Elizabeth Eisenstein berpendapat bahwa klaim keterkejutan atas kesuksesannya mungkin mengandung unsur penipuan diri, dan Hans Hillerbrand mengklaim bahwa Luther tentu berniat untuk menimbulkan suatu kontroversi besar.