Study Guide: To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, 1520

With great clarity and insight, James M. Estes illuminates Luthers call to secular authorities to help with the reform of the church in this important 1520 treatise. Starting with the Ninety-Five Theses in 1517, Luthers appeals for reform had been addressed to the ecclesiastical hierarchy, whose divinely imposed responsibility for such things he took for granted. By the early months of 1520, however, Luther had come to the conclusion that nothing could be expected from Rome but intransigent opposition to reform of any sort. It was only at this point that he began to write of the need for secular rulers to intervene with measures that would clear the way for ecclesiastical reform. Concerned that Christendom was going to ruin, Luther argued that with such an emergency looming, anyone who was able to do so should help in whatever way possible.

This volume is excerpted from The Annotated Luther series, Volume 1. Each volume in the series contains new introductions, annotations, illustrations, and notes to help shed light on Luthers context and to interpret his writings for today. The translations of Luthers writings include updates of Luthers Works, American Edition, or new translations of Luthers German or Latin writings.

Timothy J. Wengert is emeritus professor of church history at the United Lutheran Seminary. He has written extensively on Luther, Melanchthon, and the Reformation, including The Augsburg Confession: Renewing Lutheran Faith and Practice (Fortress, 2020). He was coeditor, with Robert Kolb, of the English edition of the Book of Concord (Fortress, 2000) and translated Luther's Small Catechism, used throughout the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He lives in Long Valley, New Jersey.