Preface to the Complete Edition of the Latin Writings
Luther’s own retrospect, written a year before his death, on how the indulgence controversy began and how he came to his understanding of the righteousness of God.
Read the text at projectwittenberg.org ↗Latin text (Project Wittenberg) ↗
Martin Luther wrote this preface for the first volume of his collected Latin works. In it he looks back over the years 1517 to 1521: the indulgence preaching, his letters to the bishops, the theses, the hearing before Cardinal Cajetan, the Leipzig debate and the summons to Worms. He also describes how his reading of Romans 1:17 changed.
It is a first-hand account, and it is a memory set down twenty-eight years later by a man who asks his readers to excuse how much he once conceded to the pope. Where it can be compared with letters written at the time, the letters are the better evidence for dates and sequence.
Cited in
- 31 October 1517, firm date