The Babylonian Captivity of the Church
Luther’s Latin treatise of 1520 on the sacraments. It denies that there are seven and argues that Rome holds the Lord’s Supper captive by withholding the cup, by transubstantiation and by the sacrifice of the mass.
The book was written in Latin. Martin Luther opens by saying that he must deny that there are seven sacraments and for the present hold to three: baptism, penance and the bread. He then takes the seven in turn. On the Lord’s Supper he names three captivities: the cup withheld from the laity, the doctrine of transubstantiation, and the teaching that the mass is a good work and a sacrifice.
It is cited here for what Luther himself taught about the sacraments in 1520. He says in it that his view had moved since his earlier writing on the Eucharist, so it should not be read back into the theses of 1517.
Cited in
- 1520 to 1521, firm date