To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (German: An den christlichen Adel deutscher Nation) is the first of three tracts written by Martin Luther in 1520. In this work, he defined for the first time the signature doctrines of the Priesthood of all believers and the two kingdoms. In it he attacked what he regarded as the "three walls of the Romanists": (1) that secular authority has no jurisdiction over them; (2) that only the pope is able to explain Scripture; (3) that nobody but the Pope himself can call a general church council. Through a description of Luther’s letter, this article will describe the impact and historical problems that were caused by Luther’s call for a transfer of governing power over the secular sphere to the temporal authorities.
This edition of Luther’s To the Christian Nobility is specially formatted with a Table of Contents.
