Open Letter on Translating

This letter was written in 1530 to Wenceslas Link, a supporter of Luther and the Reformation movement, principally to address a question on the translation of Romans 3:28 in Luther's German version of the New Testament. Link was a theologian – initially an Augustinian monk and prior – and a protestant preacher at Nuremburg after 1525. The controversy surrounding the translation of Romans 3:28, centers on the word sola , “alone, only” – "We hold that the human will be justified without the works of the law but only by faith." Some theologians and scholars of the Established Church had impugned Luther's translation, and here the Reformer provides a detailed defense.


This letter demonstrates two central aspects of Luther's life and thought:

• The emphasis on Scripture as the source of authoritative truth and doctrine
• The fundamental doctrine of justification by faith alone

NOTE: This title is included in the Version 5 and OneTouch Libraries.