In his The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, Martin Luther set forth a reconsideration of the sacramental Christian life that centered on the word. His thesis is that the papacy had distorted the sacraments with its own traditions and regulations, transforming them into a system of control and coercion. The evangelical liberty of the sacramental promises had been replaced by a papal absolutism which, like a feudal lordship, claimed its own jurisdictional...

Volume 3 of The Annotated Luther series presents five key writings that focus on Martin Luther's understanding of the gospel as it relates to church, sacraments, and worship. Included in the volume are: The Babylonian Captivity of the Church (1520); The German Mass and Order of the Liturgy (1526); That These Words of Christ, "This is my Body," etc., Still Stand Firm Against the Fanatics (1527); Concerning Rebaptism (1528), and On the Councils and...

With great detail, Kirsi I. Stjerna introduces and annotates Luther's Large Catechism, which the reformer offered as a radical reorientation in the matters of theology and spirituality. After diagnosing what appeared to him as his church's failures to provide proper spiritual care, Luther set out to offer a new compass for religious life. The sweeping reforms he proposed took root primarily through preaching and education as people embraced the new...

With great clarity and insight, James M. Estes illuminates Luther's call to secular authorities to help with the reform of the church in this important 1520 treatise. Starting with the Ninety-Five Theses in 1517, Luther's appeals for reform had been addressed to the ecclesiastical hierarchy, whose divinely imposed responsibility for such things he took for granted. By the early months of 1520, however, Luther had come to the conclusion that nothing...

"Volume 6 of The Annotated Luther series features Martin Luther the exegete and Bible teacher. His vast exegetical writings and lectures on Scripture are introduced through important examples from both Old and New Testaments. Included in the volume is his brief treatise 'On translating' and his prefacess to both Old and New Testaments, to key sections of scripture (Psalter, Prophets), and to select books Isaiah, Daniel and Romans. The content is...

Timothy J. Wengert provides detailed background into the development of Luther's popular Small Catechism, which began with Luther's early sermon series on the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, and the Apostles' Creed. Luther wrote his catechism because many requested he do so but also as a response to his 1528 visitation of parishes in Saxony and Meissen, where he discovered an abysmal level of Christian instruction. Luther's Small Catechism explains...