[53] Sermon von dem Wucher, Weimar Ed., VI, 36 ff. Cf. also Address to the German Nobility. [54] Cf. The Fourteen of Consolation above, p. 149. A TREATISE ON THE NEW TESTAMENT THAT IS THE HOLY MASS 1520 INTRODUCTION The Treatise on the New Testament, that is, on the Holy Mass, was published in the year 1520[1] In the beginning of August of that year, Luther's Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation had appeared, in which he had touched upon the subject of the mass,[2] but refused to express himself fully at that time, promising to take up this question later, a promise which he had already made in his Treatise on Good Works, of May, 1520.[3] He must have begun the preparation of this Treatise on the New Testament while the Address to the Christian Nobility was still in press, because on Aug. 3 it was already finished and ready for publication.[4] The treatise, therefore, takes its place between Luther's two famous writings, the Address to the Christian Nobility and the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, which appeared in Oct, 1520. Its tone is remarkably quiet, and its aim predominantly constructive. It is one of those devotional tracts which Luther issued from time to time between his larger publications, and which appear like roses among the thorns of his polemical writings. The doctrine of the Lord's Supper was one of the most corrupt doctrines of the Roman Church, and it was, therefore, but natural that Luther should have written extensively on this subject, even at the beginning of the work of reformation. From this period, when the opposition of the Sacramentarians[5] to the doctrine of the Real Presence had not yet arisen we have four writings of Luther in which he makes this sacrament a subject of special discussion. These are (1) his mild-toned Sermon von dem hochwürdigen Sacrament, etc., of 1519; (2) the present Sermon von dem neuen Testament, etc., of Aug., 1520; (3) the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, of Oct., 1520; (4) the strongly polemical tract On the Abuse of the Mass, 1522.[6] We shall have occasion to refer to some interesting points of comparison among these works. This treatise is divided into sections, ending with number 40, but section 32 is omitted, so that there are only 39 in all. Section 1 contains the introduction, section 40 the conclusion. Sections 2-15 are the positive, constructive part of the treatise, dealing with the question. What is the Lord's Supper? In sections 16-34 the sacrificial theory of the Roman Church is rejected; sections 35-31 discuss (1) in how far we may speak of making an offering in the sacrament, and (2) what follows for the conception of a true priesthood in the Church, viz., the priesthood of all believers. Sections 33-39 deal, among other things, with the abuses to which an unscriptural conception of the Lord's Supper has led. Of special interest is section 12, in which Luther gives a summary of all that enters into the Sacrament of the Altar.