Martin Luther on the Bondage of the Will to the Venerable Mister Erasmus of Rotterdam

by Martin Luther

Publishers:

T. Hamilton; T. Combe

, 1823

Overview

Martin Luther’s classic treatise is a reply to Desiderius Erasmus’ work On the Freedom of the Will. Both wrote on the human will, but from different perspectives. Erasmus, the humanist and scholar of classical Greek, and Martin Luther, the reformer and theologian, differed greatly in their approaches. In this unique translation from the original Latin of a historically significant work, Edward T. Vaughan makes the words of Martin Luther accessible for English speakers. Gain a clearer perspective for this perennial topic of debate.

Key Features

• Offers a reply to Desiderius Erasmus’ work On the Freedom of the Will
• Presents a unique translation from the original Latin
• Provides a clearer perspective for this perennial topic of debate

Contents

Top Highlights

“It is most necessary and most salutary, then, for a Christian to know this also; that God foreknows nothing contingently, but foresees, and purposes, and accomplishes every thing, by an unchangeable, eternal, and infallible will. But, by this thunderbolt, Freewill is struck to the earth and completely ground to powder. Those who would assert Freewill, therefore, must either deny, or disguise, or, by some other means, repel this thunderbolt from them.” (Page 32)

“Sophists (with whose mouth you also speak here, Erasmus), but they have never produced a single instance, nor can they produce one, by way of making good this mad assertion of theirs. Yet, by such hobgoblins as these, Satan has deterred men from reading the sacred writings; and has rendered holy Scripture contemptible, that he might cause his own pestilent heresies, derived from philosophy, to reign in the Church. I confess indeed that many passages of Scripture are obscure and shut up; not so much through the vastness of the truths declared in them, as through our ignorance of words and grammar: but I maintain that these do not at all prevent our knowledge of all things contained in the Scriptures.” (Pages 18–19)

“I know that Judas betrayed Christ through an act of his will. But I affirm that this will was about to be in this very Judas, certainly and infallibly, if God foreknew it. If what I affirm be not yet sufficiently understood, ‘let us refer one sort of necessity—that of violence—to the work; another sort of necessity—that of infallibility—to the time.’ Let him who hears me understand me to speak of the latter of these two necessities, not of the former; that is, I am not discussing whether Judas became a traitor willingly or unwillingly, but, whether at the time fore-appointed of God it must not infallibly come to pass, that Judas, by an act of his own will, betrays Christ.” (Page 295)

Product Details

• Title: Martin Luther on the Bondage of the Will; To the Venerable Mister Erasmus of Rotterdam, 1525
• Author: Martin Luther
• Publishers: T. Hamilton, T. Combe
• Print Publication Date: 1823
• Logos Release Date: 2016
• Pages: 470
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Erasmus, Desiderius, d. 1536 › De libero arbitrio diatribe; Free will and determinism › Early works to 1800
• Resource ID: LLS:MRTNLTHRRRTTRDM
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-02-12T04:39:50Z

About Martin Luther

Martin Luther (1483–1546), one of the most significant figures in Western history, was a key figure in the Protestant Reformation. Over the course of his life, Luther was a monk, a priest, a professor of biblical literature, a Reformer, a husband, and a father.

Luther is most noted for his Ninety-Five Theses (1517), in which he argued that indulgences were not acts of penance which could replace true repentance. His refusal to retract all his writings, demanded by Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521, resulted in his excommunication by the pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the emperor.

Luther has been both praised and vilified for what he preached and wrote. Luther’s translation of the Christian Bible into the vernacular greatly influenced the church. His works continue to impact all Christians and animate the movement that bears his name. Luther’s Works (55 vols.) contains many of Luther’s writings, including commentaries, sermons, and lectures.