On the Freedom of a Christian

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On the Freedom of a Christian was the third of Martin Luther’s major reforming treatises of 1520, appearing after his Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (Aug. 1520) and the work Prelude on the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, (October 1520). This work developed the concept that as fully forgiven children of God, Christians are no longer compelled to keep God's law; however, they freely and willingly serve God and their neighbors.^[1]

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The treatise set out in detail Luther's doctrines of justification by faith and the priesthood of all believers. The treatise opens with two apparently conflicting statements:

A Christian is a free lord, subject to none.
A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant, subject to all.

From this point, Luther develops the concept of freedom through grace, and the meaning of this freedom.

In style, the treatise is apparently much more reconciliatory than Luther’s two earlier major works. The style and language is uplifting and reassuring, making it not hard to understand why this text has been so popular among later Christian readers. The German version opens with a letter to Pope Leo X. Luther appears to pull back from his previous identification of the pope as Antichrist which he had made in his two previous treatises, drawing a distinction between Leo’s corrupt advisers and his own duties. Whether this reconciliation was genuinely intended is, however, a debated matter. Luther deliberately dated the letter 6 September 1520, so as to make it appear as if it was written before the arrival in Wittenberg of the papal bull threatening Luther with excommunication. Some commentators view this as a genuine attempt at reconciliation on Luther’s part; others, however, see it as an attempt on Luther’s part to appear publicly reconciliatory and gain moral high ground. The letter was, after all, published in German, a language Leo X could not understand.

The work was highly popular. Indicating the size of the lay vernacular readership to which Luther’s work was increasingly appealing, the German version outsold the Latin by almost two to one.

[edit] Notes

^ Albrecht Beutel, "Luther's Life," tr. Katharina Gustavs, in The Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther, ed. Donald K. McKim (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 11.