Wittenberg. To Hermann Tulich , Professor in Wittenberg - Martin Luther

WITTENBERG. TO HERMANN TULICH, PROFESSOR IN WITTENBERG Luther dedicates his treatise on the Babylonian Captivity to Tulich. October 6, 1520.

Whether I will or not I am becoming more learned daily, as the esteemed doctors, time about, insist upon my taking up the cudgels. Two years ago I wrote on the Indulgences, and now that the book is out I regret it. For then I was steeped in superstition, and thought the Indulgence not to be despised, as I saw so many enlightened men take it. But later, thanks to Sylvester and his comrades, I saw the Indulgence was only pure deception of the Papal flatterers through which faith in God was destroyed. Therefore I would like the printers, and those who have read the little book, to destroy it, and read instead what I have written on this subject. Eck and Emser opened my eyes as to the Pope’s sovereignty; for although at first I maintained his right to the human title, I now see that the Papacy is the kingdom of Babylon, and the tyranny of Nimrod, the mighty hunter. I must now go and lecture on giving the sacramental cup to the laity, and deny the seven sacraments, retaining only three — Baptism, Repentance, and the Lord’s Supper, in all which the Roman Court has imposed a miserable captivity upon the Church. The Indulgence is sheer tyranny of the Roman flatterers.

MARTIN LUTHER .