Theology
Thomas Kaufmann
An den christlichen Adel deutscher Nation von des christlichen Standes Besserung
[To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation Respecting the Reformation of the Christian Estate. Student Edition.]
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Published in German.
The appeal To the Christian nobility is a key document of the early Reformation in which for the first time Luther shows himself to be the reformer who presented a radical challenge to the Latin-European church in its existing form. The concept of the general priesthood of the believers and the baptized, developed here for the first time, demonstrates a »Copernican turn« in the understanding of the church. Reflected in the first complete commentary on the appeal To the Christian nobility, the Reformation shows itself to be a radical break with tradition.»Kaufmann's volume is a piece of meticulous German scholarship.«
Mark D. Tranvik in Lutheran Quarterly 29 (2015), p.122/123