Luther's the Church Held Captive in Babylon: Latin-English Edition, with a New Translation and Introduction

279 Pages·2019·1.9 MB·English

by  Janz, Denis

Martin Luther’s
The Church Held Captive in Babylon
Latin–English Edition
with a New Translation and
Introduction

Martin Luther’s
The Church Held
Captive in Babylon
Latin–English Edition
with a New Translation and
Introduction
z
By
DENIS R. JANZ
1
1
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reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the
Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above.
This text is a new translation of Martin Luther’s De captivitate Babylonica
ecclesiae. Lateinisch-Deutsch Studienausgabe. Edited by Wilfried Härle,
Johannes Schilling, and Günther Wartenberg in cooperation with
Michael Beyer. Vol. 3, Die Kirche und ihre Ämter, edited by
Günter Wartenberg and Michael Beyer, with an introduction by
Wilfried Härle. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2009.
You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Luther, Martin, 1483–1546, author. | Janz, Denis, editor. | Luther, Martin, 1483–1546.
De captivitate Babylonica ecclesiae praeludium. | Luther, Martin, 1483–1546. De captivitate
Babylonica ecclesiae praeludium. English. Title: Martin Luther’s The church held captive
in Babylon : a prelude : a new translation with introduction and notes / [edited] by
Denis R. Janz, with parallel Latin text.
Description: New York : Oxford University Press, 2019. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018030218 (print) | LCCN 2018050737 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780199359547 (updf) | ISBN 9780199359554 (online content) |
ISBN 9780190927073 (epub) | ISBN 9780199359530 (cloth)
Subjects: LCSH: Sacraments—History of doctrines. | Catholic Church—Doctrines—Early
works to 1800. | Catholic Church—Controversial literature—Early works to 1800. |
Luther, Martin, 1483–1546. De captivitate Babylonica ecclesiae praeludium.
Classification: LCC BR333.5.S33 (ebook) | LCC BR333.5.S33 L8713 2019 (print) |
DDC 234/.16—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018030218
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc.
United States of America
For
Levi Sharma Janz
Annie Kristin Janz
Maggie Rose Janz
Abby Sharma Janz

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
Orientation 1
The Growth of Luther’s New Ecclesiology: From Ecclesia
Sacramentorum to Ecclesia Verbi 2
Beginnings 3
1518 5
The Leipzig Debate 14
The Aftermath of Leipzig 19
Ecclesiology in The Church Held Captive 27
Excursus: Luther’s New Ecclesiology and Thomas Aquinas 28
The Church Held Captive: Composition, Language, Title,
Basic Thesis 39
A Note on Further Developments in Luther’s Ecclesiology and
Sacramental Theology 41
A Note on the Book’s Early Reception History 43
A Note on This Translation 45
The Church Held Captive in Babylon: A Prelude 51
By Martin Luther
[A Letter of Introduction] 53
From: Martin Luther, Augustinian Friar 53
To: Hermann Tulich, with best wishes 53
[The Sacraments Imprisoned] 67
viii Contents
[The Lord’s Supper] 67
[The First Imprisonment: Communion in One Kind] 69
[The Second Imprisonment: Transubstantiation] 83
[The Third Imprisonment: The Mass as Our Gift to God] 95
[Our Good Work or Christ’s Testament?] 97
[Our Sacrifice or Christ’s Promise?] 123
The Sacrament of Baptism 133
[God’s Promise of Forgiveness] 135
[The Sign of this Promise] 145
[A Sacrament Corrupted by the Popes] 155
[Vows and the Freedom of Baptism] 163
The Sacrament of Penance 173
[A Sacrament Destroyed by Greed and Power] 175
[Contrition] 179
[Confession] 181
[Satisfaction] 187
Confirmation 191
Marriage 195
[A Non-Sacrament] 195
[Sex, Love, and Law] 201
[Sexual Morality and Christian Freedom] 213
Ordination 219
[An Invention of the Papal Church] 219
[Dionysius the Areopagite] 223
[Ordination and Power] 229
[Celibacy and Power] 233
[The Restoration of Christian Liberty] 237
The Sacrament of Extreme Unction 239
[The Distortion of Scripture] 239
[The Promise of Healing] 243
[The Promise of Forgiveness and Peace] 247
[Conclusion] 249
[Reducing the Sacraments to Two] 249
[The Gift of Recognizing God’s Gifts] 253
Bibliography 255
Index 261
Acknowledgments
my work on this volume has, with frequent interruptions, spanned the
greater part of seven years. As it now draws to a close, my dominant sentiment
is gratitude:
—to all friends and colleagues who, contrary to the prevailing spirit of the
age, encourage and support this kind of work in the humanities and liberal arts;
—to my home institution, Loyola University New Orleans, for giving me
everything I needed to pursue the outrageously privileged life of a scholar;
—to Oxford University Press editor Cynthia Read, for her boundless pa-
tience and astute counsel;
—to the Tantur Institute for Theological Studies in Jerusalem, which,
under the leadership of Timothy Lowe, welcomed me into its superb work
environment for a month in 2011;
—to the Johannes a Lasco Library in Emden, Germany, which, under the
leadership of Dr. J. Marius J. Lange van Ravenswaay, made possible a most
pleasant and productive writing retreat for a month in 2015;
—to the Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose Giovanni XXIII in Bologna,
which, under the leadership of Prof. Alberto Melloni (and Dr. Davide Dainese),
opened its outstanding library to me for a month in 2016.
Blessed is the translator/researcher/writer who has access to such re-
sources and is the recipient of such kindness!
Further on the subject of my personal beatitude: it may seem to some that
translating a five-hundred-year-old book from a dead language would be a lonely
and melancholy undertaking. Actually it brought me a kind of quiet contentment,
and even luminous moments of delight on occasion. But of course this was a
weak glimmer compared to the dazzling sunshine that four grandchildren can
beam into one’s life. They may never read this, but they should know that their
contribution to my happiness was immense. It is to them that I dedicate this work.
Denis R. Janz
New Orleans
June 2018