In this work Luther examines the
seven sacraments of the
Catholic Church in the light of his interpretation of the
Bible. With regard to the
Eucharist, he advocates for the
laity to receive
communion under both kinds, dismisses the Catholic doctrine of
transubstantiation but affirms the
real presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, and rejects the teaching that the
Mass is a sacrifice offered to God. 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 and be reclaimed. As for
penance, its essence consists in the words of promise (
absolution) received by faith. Only these three can be regarded as sacraments because of their
divine institution and the divine promises of salvation connected with them; but strictly speaking, only Baptism and the Eucharist are sacraments, since only they have "divinely instituted visible sign[s]": water in Baptism and bread and wine in the Eucharist. The titular "captivity" is firstly the
withholding the cup in the Lord's Supper from the laity, the second the doctrine of transubstantiation, and the third, the Roman Catholic Church's teaching that the Mass
was a sacrifice and a good work. 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. For the clerical audience whose offices were justified by the performance of sacraments, Luther's reassessment of the whole sacramental system made
The Babylonian Captivity one of his most controversial works. The title alone reflects his sense of utter alienation from the institutional church. The Christian people were, like the people of Israel, held in tyranny and bondage by the Roman hierarchy. This was a complex work, written in Latin for a scholarly audience. Luther began rather sensationally by repudiating some of his early writings, which he now found overly timid. For Luther's restless search for fundamental truths had led him to a root-and-branch reassessment of the Roman sacramental system. Of the seven sacraments that underpinned the Christian life, Luther was now prepared to recognize only three: the Eucharist, baptism, and (with reservations) penance. It was in his treatment of the Mass that Luther most stunned his readers. The Church had surely erred in denying the laity the cup: in this, he now calmly proposed, the Bohemian Hus had been correct. But the core of the issue lay in his denial of the central sacrificial act that lay at the heart of the Mass, transubstantiation. In asking his clerical readers to repudiate their whole sacramental system, Luther offered his most shocking view of his new theological program. The Mass lay at the heart of the clerical office. By paring back the sacraments from seven to three, Luther had demolished the church's role as a sacramental institution, nourishing the Christian from cradle (baptism) to death (extreme unction). Many of its readers regarded this as the most scandalous of all Luther's writings. Although published in Latin, a translation of this work was quickly published in German by Luther’s opponent, the Strasbourg
Franciscan Thomas Murner. He hoped that by making people aware of the radical nature of Luther’s beliefs, they would realise their foolishness in supporting him. In fact, the opposite proved true, and Murner’s translation helped to spread Luther’s views across Germany. The virulence of Luther's language however, was off-putting to some. After the publication of this work, with its harsh condemnation of the papacy, the renowned humanist
Erasmus, who had previously been cautiously supportive of Luther's activities, became convinced that he should not support Luther's calls for reform. ==References==