The Babylonian Captivity of the Church

work by Luther

Also known as: “De captivitate Babylonica ecclesiae praeludium”(Show More)

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June 18, 2026

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The Babylonian Captivity of the Church was a significant manifesto by Martin Luther published in 1520. In this work, Luther challenged the traditional understanding of the sacraments, arguing that the church had distorted their true meaning.12

Luther reduced the seven traditional sacraments to two: baptism and the Eucharist or mass. He believed that only these two were instituted by Christ himself and revealed in Scripture. He also rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation, which states that the bread and wine in communion transform into the actual body and blood of Christ, proposing instead that Christ's body is physically present with the elements. This challenged the intermediary role of priests and the hierarchical structure of the church.1

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Protestantism
Luther’s manifesto
Another tract, The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, suggested that the sacraments themselves had been taken captive by the church. Luther even went so far as to reduce the number of the sacraments from seven—baptism, the Eucharist or mass, penance, confirmation, ordination,
Read More
Another tract, The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, suggested that the sacraments themselves had been taken captive by the church. Luther even went so far as to reduce the number of the sacraments from seven—baptism, the Eucharist or mass, penance, confirmation, ordination,
Read More

Roman Catholicism
Roman Catholicism and the Protestant Reformation
And in his treatise The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, issued in 1520, Luther denounced the entire system of medieval Christendom as an unwarranted human invention foisted on the church.
Read More
And in his treatise The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, issued in 1520, Luther denounced the entire system of medieval Christendom as an unwarranted human invention foisted on the church.
Read More