Six major movements of the resultant symphony are included in this volume, all dealing with the doctrine of the Lord's Supper. In addition to providing observations on vows, sin, celibacy, sainthood, and spirits, Luther expresses his views concerning authority in the church, the place of Scripture, and the merits and limitations of a "Lutheran" confession.

Luther stands out as the defender of his understanding of the Christian faith in this volume. What he had said and written was attacked by leaders of the Roman Church and the Holy Roman Empire. Though friends and enemies sought to deflect him from his purpose, he remained steadfast so that what took place at the Diet of Worms has a become a watershed in the history of Christendom.

Included in this volume therefore are four of the debates or disputations held in Wittenberg University between 1535 and 1542. Thirteen of the fourteen treatises appear in their entirety in an English translation for the first time with publication of this volume.

This volume contains eight significant works written between the Peasants War of 1525 and the Diet of Augsburg in 1530.

The final volume in the section entitled" Word and Sacrament" of Luther's Works traces the development of Luther's concept of the Lord's Supper from the time of the Marburg Colloquy in 1529 down to 1544, two years before his death.

This volume in Luther's Works contains writings of Luther directed for the most part against the fanatical front on the left. In denying the reality of the church, the validity and need of the office of the ministry, the fanatics relegate the sacraments to a secondary position, thus bypassing the Word as God's means of communication to men.

The young Luther emerges in this volume in his role of reformer. We follow him through his early years of clarifying his evangelical doctrines and relive with him the stirring events that were to influence the fate of Germany, all of Europe, and eventually the whole world.