THREE TREATISES

MARTIN LUTHER

FORTRESS PRESS

To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, LW 44 © 1966 by Fortress Press

The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, LW 36 © 1959 by Muhlenberg Press now Fortress Press

The Freedom of a Christian, LW 31 © 1957 by Muhlenberg Press now Fortress Press

Texts and Introductions are from the American Edition of Luther’s Works, Volumes 31, 36, and 44, Helmut T, Lehmann, General Editor, Philadelphia: Fortress Press.

© 1943 by Muhlenberg Press now Fortress Press Revised Edition

© 1960 by Muhlenberg Press now Fortress Press

Second Revised Edition

© 1970 by Fortress Press

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 73-114753

ISBN 0-8006-1639-1

Contents

Abbreviations

Foreword

To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation

Introduction

To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation

The Babylonian Captivity of the Church

Introduction

The Babylonian Captivity of the Church

The Freedom of a Christian

Introduction

The Freedom of a Christian

ABBREVIATIONS

CIC Corpus Juris Canonici

CL Luthers Werke in Auswahl

LW American Edition of Luther’s Works

MA3 Martin Luther. Ausgewählte Werke

MPL Paŧrologia, Series Latina (also as Migne)

PE Works of Martin Luther. Philadelphia Edition

St. L. D. Martin Luthers sämmtliche Schriften

WA Weimar Edition of D. Martin Luthers Werke

FOREWORD

The year 1520 marks the watershed of the Reformation. On June 15 Pope Leo X issued the bull, Exsurge, Domine, giving Luther sixty days to recant or be declared a heretic. Luther officially received it on October 10. Sixty days later he wrote to a friend: “Greetings. On December 10, 1520, at nine o’clock in the morning, all the following papal books were burned in Wittenberg at the eastern gate near the Church of the Holy Cross.… This is the news here.” Luther had publicly and ceremoniously burned the bull, canon law, and books supporting the pope. On January 3, 1521, formal excommunication was announced. What had started in 1517 as a protest against indulgences by an unknown monk, developed in 1520 into an irreconcilable conflict dividing the Western church.

These three treatises of 1520 are the heart of Luther’s protest against the church of his day. The first was written in August, the second in October, and the third in November. They are about convictions causing conflict within both Protestantism and Catholicism today: the ethical responsibilities of the individual; trust in God versus trust in man’s abilities; and what the freedom of the individual person means.

The unabridged text of the three treatises is reprinted from the American Edition of Luthers Works, whose publishers, editors, and translators hope that through this edition “the message of Luther’s faith will speak more clearly to the modem ...