The year is 1524; Desiderius Erasmus, the famed humanist scholar, has finally chosen a side in the debate between the Catholic Church and Martin Luther by publishing his Diatribe on Free Will (Waibel 71). Prompted by Pope Adrian IV to distance his own humanist work from the spiritual reform of Luther, Erasmus’s Free Will asserts how important humanity’s freewill is in the effort of salvation (Tomlin 139). His view was a direct assault against Luther's own vocal opinion on the subject (Waibel 72). Both Luther and Erasmus were well aware of the theological differences between them. Erasmus, having been suspected of contributing to Luther’s rebellion against the medieval church, at last made the differences between himself and Luther clear in print (Waibel 71). Luther responded to Erasmus’ provocation a year later with his own book On the Bondage of the Will (Waibel 81). On the Bondage of the Will seeks to assert that there is no such thing as ‘freewill’ due to God’s foreknowledge of all things, and thus the human will has no role in the spiritual salvation of humanity. We can use Luther’s book to answer important questions on worldview: What is prime reality, external reality and the basis for morality? We will look at each of these questions in greater detail later and exactly how Luther’s book is addressing these important questions. The year of 1525 was a momentous year for Martin Luther. At Luther’s urging, the German princes crushed the peasant revolt; the decisive victory ended the lives of thousands of men, women, and children (Waibel 21). In June Luther married Katherine von Bora, an ex-Cistercian nun, and the marriage was a happy one by all accounts. In December Luther published his book On the Bondage of the Will, a counte... ... middle of paper ... ...certain and he is eternal, God is our prime reality. He created and controls our external reality, and he is the sole basis for morality as we have no control over the matters of good and evil. Inescapably, we can see in On the Bondage of the Will that Luther has crafted a master thesis, asserting in contrast to Erasmus, that there is no such thing as ‘freewill’. Works Cited Luther, Martin. "On the Bondage of the Will (Abridged)." Luther's Bondage of the Will. The Reformed Reader, 1999. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. Marshall, Peter. "Chapter 2: Salvation." The Reformation: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. 42-59. Print. Tomlin, Graham. "Chapter 7: The Breach." Luther and His World. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2002. 135-53. Print. Waibel, Paul R. Martin Luther: A Brief Introduction to His Life and Works. Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, 2005. Print.
The reformation was a religious and political movement that took place in the year 1517. This movement was spread by the Cristian humanist Martin Luther, when he posted his “Ninety Five Theses”. The reformation itself is one of those things everybody has heard about but no one quite understands, even nowadays, 500 years after this movement occurred.
Roland H. Bainton opens the door to the life of Martin Luther one the greatest theologians of all time. Dr. Bainton, who was a minister along with serving as a faculty member for forty-two years at Yale’s school of Divinity. Mr. Bainton celebrates the life of this great Christian leader, by bringing to life one of the greatest events in the history of the Christian church and society which was the Great Reformation of the fifteen hundreds. The church-history changing act of nailing his 95 theses to the church door of Wittenberg on October 31, 1517 set Luther on course to become a man worthy of study by those who follow him and seek biblical truth. In Dr. Bainton’s work “Here I Stand” we will investigate Martin Luther’s stand
First, before exploring Luther’s rejection of the peasant revolt, one must examine his explanation of Christian freedom. Written in 1520, The Freedom of a Christian proclaimed the new freedom to be found in salvation by faith alone. His doctrine liberated people from works but also from the laws of the Old Testament. Salvation was found in the promise of Go...
King Jr., Martin Luther, ed. Readings in Christian Ethics: A Historical Sourcebook. Edited by J. Philip Wogaman and Douglas M. Strong. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996.
In this essay Martin Luther comments upon the role of good works in a Christian's life and the overall goal of a Christian in his or her walk. He writes seventeen different sections answering the critics of his teachings. I will summarize and address each one of these sections in the following essay.
As we look to the different points of view between Luther and Erasmus, we will begin looking at Discourse on Free Will. As Luther states, “You make the power of free will small and utterly ineffective apart from the grace of God. Acknowledged? Now then, I ask you: If God’s of power, what can it do for itself? You say it is ineffective and can do nothing good. Therefore it will not do what God or His grace wills” (Bloomsbury, Luther 116). Luther makes such a point to say everything very meticulously in a specific way to convey his true question or intent of that specific statement. Luther’s opinion on free will is simply that we have none. He specifically believes that since we do not have free will, we must rely simply on God’s grace to lead us down the right path for we do not have the opportunity to make our own path.
During Luther’s early life he faced a severe inner crisis. When he sinned he looked for comfort in confession and followed the penance, the fasting, prayer and observances that the church directed him. But, he found no peace of mind and worried about his salvation. But reading St. Paul’s letters he came to believe that salvation came though faith in Christ. Faith is a free gift, he discovered, it cannot be earned. His studies led him to a conclusion that, “Christ was the only mediator between God and a man and that forgiveness of sin and salvation are given by god’s grace alone” (Martin Luther, 01). Historians agree that, “this approach to theology led to a clash between Luther and the Church officials, precipitating the dramatic events of Reformation”.
Brecht, Martin, and Wolfgang Katenz. "Luther, Martin." The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation. Oxford University Press, 1996. Web. 3 Dec. 2011. .
Luther, Martin. The Large Catechism, in The Book of Concord. Edited by Robert Kolb and
* Heiko A. Oberman. Luther: Man Between God and the Devil, trans. Eileen Walliser-Schwarzbart (New York, NY: Doubleday, 1992).
Sherman, Franklin. "Martin Luther, the Bible, and the Jewish People: A Reader/Martin Luther's Anti-Semitism: Against His Better Judgment." In Martin Luther's AntiSemitism: Against His Better Judgment, 1-5. 1st ed. Vol. 8. Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations. Accessed December 11, 2013. 1-5.
In the year 1501 at the age of 18 Martin Luther had the unique opportunity to attend the University of Erfurt. The reason why it was considered a unique opportunity was because during this time period not only were people poor but they were illiterate, hence secondary education would not have even been an option had they had the money to attend. At the university he was an obsessive student, always wanting to do better than before. While in the library one day he discovered two books hidden away covered in dust and cobwebs which most likely intrigued him further. The two books were, William Ockham’s The History of the Church which discussed the abuses of the church particularly during the t...
Erasmus said on page 25 that "The law announced the will of God. It placed sanctions on disobedience, and it promised reward to obedient man. Otherwise God through creation allows to their will the power of choice which he gave free and moveable in both directions." His meaning of this statement is that since we have created laws and guidelines for ourselves, we have the choice to do right or do wrong. Otherwise, rules would not be necessary. Basically, we have the will to send ourselves to hell if we refuse to accept salvation.
Martin Luther is viewed as of Western history’s most significant figures in his fight for equality and civil rights.Initially, Luther, born in Germany spent his early years in relative anonymity where he was a monk and also a scholar. However, it is his contribution and scholarly work in 1517 that Luther is mostly renowned for. He wrote a document that was attacking the then Catholic Church’s corrupt practice. This practice was in the form of selling different indulgences to absolve sins that the church believed was a common attribute in the society (Ziegler and Bentley 55). His scholarly document was named the “95 Theses”. The document provided and discussed two central beliefs. One of the central
The Reformation in Germany, which made a major impact on world history, was started by Martin Luther when, on a quest for his own personal salvation, became disillusioned with the Roman Catholic Church and began to speak out about his beliefs. This essay will describe and account for the progress of the Reformation in Germany to c. AD 1535 by outlining Luther’s life to 1517, the conflict that followed his Ninety-Five Theses, and the disputes of 1518 – 1520. Luther’s trial before the Diet of Worms and the support of the Protestant Princes will also be accounted for. Furthermore, Luther’s Bible, which helped greatly in the spread of the German Reformation, will be described. This essay will help give an understanding of the importance and lasting effect of the Reformation in Germany.