On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church
Author | Martin Luther |
---|---|
Country | Germany |
Language | Latin, German |
Genre | Theological treatise |
Publication date | 1520 |
Prelude on the Babylonian Captivity of the Church (
Context
The book was circulating in print not quite a week when the papal bull against Luther arrived in Wittenberg in October 1520. The bull and the book were being prepared simultaneously.[1]
Luther accuses the Catholic Church and the papacy of keeping the church in captivity, equating Rome with the biblical Babylon that exiled the Israelites from their homeland, holding them captive in Babylon. According to Luther, the pope was holding the church in captivity through the use of the sacramental system and Catholic theology.[1]
In 1521, Luther was requested to either confess or recant his books, including his treatise The Babylonian Captivity of the Church. It still defines the Confessional Lutheran relationship to the number of sacraments.[1]
Content
In this work Luther examines the
With regard to baptism, he writes that it brings justification only if conjoined with saving faith in the recipient; however, it remains the foundation of salvation even for those who might later fall[2] and be reclaimed.
As for
Luther wrote that marriage was not a sacrament because, in his interpretation of the Bible, God the Father gave marriage to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and Jesus did not give humans the ability to marry. He also defended the marriages of Muslims and Jews, and thought they were valid under God just as much as Christian marriages.[3]
The titular "captivity" is firstly the
The work is angry in tone, attacking the papacy, and at some points, even defending some practices of Muslims and Jews. Although Luther had made a link tentatively in the address To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, this was the first time he forthrightly accused the pope of being the Antichrist. It certainly heralded a radicalisation of Luther's views — only a year before he had defended the validity of the sacraments, yet was now attacking them fiercely.
Although published in Latin, a translation of this work was quickly published in German by Luther’s opponent, the Strasbourg
References
- ^ a b c "The Babylonian Captivity of the Church". Lutheran Reformation. 2016-01-12. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
- ^ a b Schaff-Herzog, "Luther, Martin," 71.
- ^ "Protestantism - Ninety-five Theses". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2022-11-11. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
- ^ Spitz, 338.
- Pelikan, Jaroslav and Lehmann, Helmut T, Luther’s Works, 55 vols, (Saint Louis, Philadelphia, 1955–76), Vol 36
External links
- Full text at Christian Classics Ethereal Library
- On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church public domain audiobook at LibriVox