On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Prelude on the Babylonian Captivity of the Church (October 1520) was the second of the three major treatises published by Martin Luther in 1520, coming after the Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (August 1520) and before On the Freedom of a Christian (November 1520). It was a theological treatise, and as such was published in Latin as well as German, the language in which the treatises were written. In this work Luther examines the seven sacraments of the medieval Catholic Church in the light of his interpretation of the Bible. With regard to the Eucharist, he advocated restoring the cup to the laity, dismissed the Catholic doctrine of Transubstantiation while affirming the real presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, and rejected the teaching that the Mass is a sacrifice offered to God.