The freedom of a Christian, 1520 /
Timothy J. Wengert.
- xiii , approximately 72 pages : illustrations, facsimiles ; 24 cm.
- The Annotated Luther Study Edition .
- Luther, Martin, 1483-1546. Selections. English (Annotated Luther study edition) Works. .
Excerpted from The Annotated Luther, Volume 1, The Roots of Reform (Minneapolis : Fortress Press, 2015), Timothy J. Wengert, volume editor (title page verso). Pagination: pages 467-539.
Includes bibliographical references.
Timothy J. Wengert skillfully provides a clear understanding of the historical context from which the treatise The Freedom of a Christian and his accompanying Letter to Pope Leo X arose. As controversy concerning his writings grew, Luther was instructed to write a reconciliation-minded letter to Pope Leo X (1475-1521). To this letter he appended a nonpolemical tract describing the heart of his beliefs, The Freedom of a Christian. Luther's Latin version added an introduction and a lengthy appendix not found in the German edition. The two editions arose out of the different audiences for them: the one addressed to theologians, clerics, and church leaders (for whom Latin was the common language), and one addressed to the German-speaking public, which included the nobility, townsfolk, many from the lesser clergy, and others who could read (or have Luther's writings read to them). (Publisher)