Martin Luther by Carl E. Koppenhaver — Read

Before his letter to the nobility was off press, Luther was writing his second treatise, "The Babylonian Captivity of the Church." The first had been primarily for lay people while the second was for theologians. It aimed directly at freeing the Christian fellowship in Europe from the "captivity" of the Roman sacramental system.

The Roman Church taught that it alone could dispense the saving grace associated with the sacraments, and that the sacramental acts could be performed only by ordained priests. Anyone who denied that the church controlled the flow of grace from God was striking Catholicism in its most vital spot. Without its sacramental system Rome could no longer bind its subjects. This was the front at which Luther aimed his heaviest artillery.