Treatise on Good Works

Written in 1520 during the explosive early years of the Protestant Reformation, this treatise contains Martin Luther's radical rethinking of what it means to live a Christian life. Rather than viewing good works as transactions that purchase divine favor, Luther argues that authentic faith naturally overflows into ethical action. The Ten Commandments, in his reading, are not a burden imposed by an angry God but rather a framework for expressing the love already implanted in the believer's heart. This distinction between a religion of earning and a religion of responding to grace would reshape Western Christianity and continues to challenge readers today: What does it mean to do good when you know you cannot earn your way to heaven? For anyone seeking to understand the intellectual engine of the Reformation or the foundations of Protestant ethics, Luther's passionate, accessible, and often surprising argument remains essential reading.