On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church

In this incendiary treatise of 1520, Luther launches a direct assault on the sacramental system that defined medieval Catholicism. Arguing that only Baptism, the Eucharist, and Penance possess genuine biblical warrant, he rejects Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders, and Extreme Unction as human inventions foisted upon the faithful. The title itself is provocation: by comparing the Roman Church to Babylon during the Jewish exile, Luther declares the entire institutional apparatus a form of spiritual captivity. He challenges not merely doctrine but the economic and political power built upon these rituals, the fees, the sacramental tolls, the priestly monopoly on grace. Written in vigorous German rather than Latin, it was meant for nobles and commoners alike, a declaration that Scripture alone, not papal decree, must determine Christian practice. This is Luther at his most radical, before the political calculations of later years, speaking as a prophet tearing down the temple of established religion.