Address to the Nobility, 1520
by Martin Luther
To his most Serene and Mighty Imperial Majesty and to the
Christian Nobility of the German Nation.
Dr. Martinus Luther
THE grace and might of God be with you, Most Serene Majesty,
most gracious, well-beloved gentlemen! ...
THE THREE WALLS OF THE ROMANISTS
The Romanists have, with great adroitness, drawn three walls
round themselves, with which they have hitherto protected
themselves, so that no one could reform them, whereby all
Christendom has fallen terribly.
Firstly, if pressed by the temporal power, they have affirmed
and maintained that the temporal power has no jurisdiction over
them, but, on the contrary, that the spiritual power is above the
temporal.
Secondly, if it were proposed to admonish them with the
Scriptures, they objected that no one may interpret the
Scriptures but the Pope.
Thirdly, if they are threatened with a council, they pretend
that no one may call a council but the Pope.
Now may God help us, and give us one of those trumpets that
overthrew the walls of Jericho, so that we may blow down these
walls of straw and paper, and that we may set free our Christian
rods for the chastisement of sin, and expose the craft and deceit
of the devil, so that we may amend ourselves by punishment and
again obtain God's favour.
(a) THE FIRST WALL
That the Temporal Power has no Jurisdiction over the
Spirituality
Let us, in the first place, attack the first wall.
It has been devised that the Pope, bishops, priests, and
monks are called the spiritual estate, princes, lords,
artificers, and peasants are the temporal estate. This is
an artful lie and hypocritical device, but let no one be made
afraid by it, and that for this reason: that all Christians are
truly of the spiritual estate, and there is no difference among
them, save of office alone. As St. Paul says (1 Cor. xii.), we
are all one body, though each member does its own work, to serve
the others. This is because we have one baptism, one Gospel, one
faith, and are all Christians alike; for baptism, Gospel, and
faith, these alone make spiritual and Christian people.
As for the unction by a pope or a bishop, tonsure,
ordination, consecration, and clothes differing from those of
laymen—all this may make a hypocrite or an anointed puppet,
but never a Christian or a spiritual man. Thus we are all
consecrated as priests by baptism, as St. Peter says: “Ye
are a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Peter ii. 9); and
in the book of Revelation: “and hast made us unto our God
(by Thy blood) kings and priests” (Rev. v. 10). For, if we
had not a higher consecration in us than pope or bishop can give,
no priest could ever be made by the consecration of pope or
bishop, nor could he say the mass, or preach, or absolve.
Therefore the bishop's consecration is just as if in the name of
the whole congregation he took one person out of the community,
each member of which has equal power, and commanded him to
exercise this power for the rest; in the same way as if ten
brothers, co-heirs as king's sons, were to choose one from among
them to rule over their inheritance, they would all of them still
remain kings and have equal power, although one is ordered to
govern.
And to put the matter even more plainly, if a little company
of pious Christian laymen were taken prisoners and carried away
to a desert, and had not among them a priest consecrated by a
bishop, and were there to agree to elect one of them, born in
wedlock or not, and were to order him to baptise, to celebrate
the mass, to absolve, and to preach, this man would as truly be a
priest, as if all the bishops and all the popes had consecrated
him. That is why in cases of necessity every man can baptise and
absolve, which would not be possible if we were not all priests.
This great grace and virtue of baptism and of the Christian
estate they have quite destroyed and made us forget by their
ecclesiastical law. In this way the Christians used to choose
their bishops and priests out of the community; these being
afterwards confirmed by other bishops, without the pomp that now
prevails....
Since, then, the temporal power is baptised as we are, and
has the same faith and Gospel, we must allow it to be priest and
bishop, and account its office an office that is proper and
useful to the Christian community. For whatever issues from
baptism may boast that it has been consecrated priest, bishop,
and pope, although it does not beseem every one to exercise these
offices. For, since we are all priests alike, no man may put
himself forward or take upon himself, without our consent and
election, to do that which we have all alike power to do. For, if
a thing is common to all, no man may take it to himself without
the wish and command of the community. And if it should happen
that a man were appointed to one of these offices and deposed for
abuses, he would be just what he was before. Therefore a priest
should be nothing in Christendom but a functionary; as long as he
holds his office, he has precedence of others; if he is deprived
of it, he is a peasant or a citizen like the rest. Therefore a
priest is verily no longer a priest after deposition. But now
they have invented characteres indelebiles' and
pretend that a priest after deprivation still differs from a
simple layman. They even imagine that a priest can never be
anything but a priest—that is, that he can never become a
layman. All this is nothing but mere talk and ordinance of human
invention.
It follows, then, that between laymen and priests, princes
and bishops, or, as they call it, between spiritual and temporal
persons, the only real difference is one of office and function,
and not of estate; for they are all of the same spiritual estate,
true priests, bishops, and popes, though their functions are not
the same—just as among priests and monks every man has not
the same functions....
Now see what a Christian doctrine is this: that the temporal
authority is not above the clergy, and may not punish it. This is
as if one were to say the hand may not help, though the eye is in
grievous suffering. Is it not unnatural, not to say unchristian,
that one member may not help another, or guard it against harm?
Nay, the nobler the member, the more the rest are bound to help
it. Therefore I say, Forasmuch as the temporal power has been
ordained by God for the punishment of the bad and the protection
of the good, therefore we must let it do its duty throughout the
whole Christian body, without respect of persons, whether it
strikes popes, bishops, priests, monks, nuns, or whoever it may
be. If it were sufficient reason for fettering the temporal power
that it is inferior among the offices of Christianity to the
offices of priest or confessor, or to the spiritual
estate—if this were so, then we ought to restrain tailors,
cobblers, masons, carpenters, cooks, cellarmen, peasants, and all
secular workmen, from providing the Pope or bishops, priests and
monks, with shoes, clothes, houses or victuals, or from paying
them tithes. But if these laymen are allowed to do their work
without restraint, what do the Romanist scribes mean by their
laws? They mean that they withdraw themselves from the operation
of temporal Christian power, simply in order that they may be
free to do evil, and thus fulfil what St. Peter said: “There
shall be false teachers among you, . . .and in covetousness shall
they with feigned words make merchandise of you” (2 Peter
ii. 1, etc.). Therefore the temporal Christian power must
exercise its office without let or hindrance, without considering
whom it may strike, whether pope or bishop, or priest: whoever is
guilty, let him suffer for it.
Whatever the ecclesiastical law has said in opposition to
this is merely the invention of Romanist arrogance....
(b) THE SECOND WALL
That no one may interpret the Scriptures but the Pope
The second wall is even more tottering and weak: that they
alone pretend to be considered masters of the Scriptures;
although they learn nothing of them all their life. They assume
authority, and juggle before us with impudent words, saying that
the Pope cannot err in matters of faith, whether he be evil or
good, albeit they cannot prove it by a single letter. This is why
the canon law contains so many heretical and unchristian, nay
unnatural, laws; but of these we need not speak now. For whereas
they imagine the Holy Ghost never leaves them, however unlearned
and wicked they may be, they grow bold enough to decree whatever
they like. But were this true, where were the need and use of the
Holy Scriptures? Let us burn them, and content ourselves with the
unlearned gentlemen at Rome, in whom the Holy Ghost dwells, who,
however, can dwell in pious souls only. If I had not read it, I
could never have believed that the devil should have put forth
such follies at Rome and find a following....
(c) THE THIRD WALL
That no one may call a council but the Pope
The third wall falls of itself, as soon as the first two have
fallen; for if the Pope acts contrary to the Scriptures, we are
bound to stand by the Scriptures, to punish and to constrain him,
according to Christ's commandment, “Moreover, if thy brother
shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between
thee and him alone; if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy
brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or
two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word
may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it
unto the Church; but if he neglect to hear the Church, let him be
unto thee as a heathen man and a publican” (St. Matt. xviii.
15-17). Here each member is commanded to take care for the other;
much more then should we do this, if it is a ruling member of the
community that does evil, which by its evil-doing causes great
harm and offence to the others. If then I am to accuse him before
the Church, I must collect the Church together. Moreover, they
can show nothing in the Scriptures giving the Pope sole power to
call and confirm councils; they have nothing but their own laws;
but these hold good only so long as they are not injurious to
Christianity and the laws of God. Therefore, if the Pope deserves
punishment, these laws cease to bind us, since Christendom would
suffer, if he were not punished by a council....
But as for their boasts of their authority, that no one must
oppose it, this is idle talk. No one in Christendom has any
authority to do harm, or to forbid others to prevent harm being
done. There is no authority in the Church but for reformation.
Therefore if the Pope wished to use his power to prevent the
calling of a free council, so as to prevent the reformation of
the Church, we must not respect him or his power; and if he
should begin to excommunicate and fulminate, we must despise this
as the doings of a madman, and, trusting in God,
excommunicate and repel him as best we may. For this his
usurped power is nothing; he does not possess it, and he is at
Once overthrown by a text from the Scriptures....
And now I hope the false, lying spectre will be laid with
which the Romanists have long terrified and stupefied our
consciences. And it will be seen that, like all the rest of us,
they are subject to the temporal sword; they have no authority to
interpret the Scriptures by force without skill; and that they
have no power to prevent a council, or to pledge it in accordance
with their pleasure, or to bind it beforehand, and deprive it of
its freedom; and that if they do this, they are verily of the
fellowship of antichrist and the devil, and have nothing of
Christ but the name.