Erasmus vs Luther; Discourse on Free Will Essay

The Erasmus-Luther Discourse on Free Will begins with the Diatribe concerning free leave alone, written by Erasmus. Luther then refutes Erasmus Diatribe with The Bondage of the Will. The scruple universe debated is whether small-arm is in control of his own entrust, or whether everything is preordained by God, thus leaving man without free allow for. Their diverging philosophies have been interpreted as being the basic difference between Catholic and Protestant presents regarding free leave alone. This debate offers two very conflicting views, although both philosophies were basic principles in their individual religions. Erasmus builds his argument without a solid foundation like building a house without a foundation, it skunk easily crumble. Thus, Luther convincingly attacks Erasmus Diatribe.Erasmus holds that man is left with the choice of doing either good or evil. It is mans choice and therefore, free leave exists. In the opinion of Erasmus, the freedom of the will in Holy Scriptures is as follows if on the road to piety, one should continue eagerly to improve if one has become involved in sin, one should make every effort to extricate oneself, and to solicit the mercy of the Lord. Two conclusions concerning Erasmus dogmas can be drawn from this statement firstly that man can himself find repentance and secondly that God is infallible, gist that a person engages in evil acts with his own will. The definition of free will given by Erasmus is the power of the human will whereby man can apply to or turn away from that which leads unto never-ending salvation.While addressing the topic of Adam and Eve, Erasmus states, In man, will was so good and so free that as yet without additional fancify it could have remained in a state of innocence, though non without befriend of grace could it attain the blessedness of eternal life, as the Lord Jesus promised his people. Erasmus, therefore, believes eternal salvation is attainable with the help and mer cy of God, simply Erasmus also believes that Adam and Eve caused man to have original sin. Erasmus goes on to write, In those without extraordinary grace the reason is darkened, that not extinguished. Probably the same occurs to the power of the will it is not completely extinct but unproductive of virtuous deeds. In short Erasmus believed that man has free will and therefore is punished or rewarded according to the choices hemakes. He backs his argument with many quotes from the scripture but so does Luther, thus the argument shifts, and the sense of scripture is the debate.Luther, who wrote The Bondage of the Will to refute what Erasmus had written in the Diatribe, disagrees stating that man does not have freedom of the will. In the first few pages, Luther proclaims The Holy Scripture is no skeptic, and what He has written into our hearts are no doubts or opinions, but assertions more certain and more firm that all human experience in life itself. Furthermore, he goes on to say The scent of Christianity which you (Erasmus) describeis without Christ, without the Spirit, and chillier than ice Luther immediately implies that Erasmus has not been saved. Luther abhors those who claim to be self-reformers, once again contradicting Erasmus. You say Who will reform his life? I answer Nobody No man can God has no time for you self-reformers, for they are all hypocrites. The elect who fear God will be reformed by the Holy Spirit.Perhaps the quote that best exemplifies Luthers position is as follows Thus the human will is like the savage of burden. If God rides it, it wills and goes whence God wills as the Psalm says, I was a beast of burden before thee (Psalm 7222) If Satan rides, it wills and goes where Satan wills. Nor may it choose to which rider it will run, nor which it will jawk. But the riders themselves contend who shall have and hold it. This philosophy contends that both good and evil are worked by a higher being. Both authors in this work make referen ce to Judas and his betrayal of Christ. Both parties observe the foreknowledge of God, but Luther proclaims that God willed it. Thus the Protestant faith grew on the principles of predestination and the absolute belief that the scriptures are to be interpreted literally.At no institutionalise does Luther ever stray from the central point of his refutation, proving Erasmus wrong by presenting the conclusive evidence needed. Erasmus, on the other hand, never really plants his feet in this argument. Erasmus covers his tracks by changing the terms of the debate throughout his work. For example, Erasmus fails to define the limits within which the reader should think that the will is being acted upon. One can not conclude thatErasmus does not fully believe what he states in his Diatribe, but he admittedly discloses I have always preferred playing the freer field of the muses, than fighting sheathed in close combat. Erasmus proclaims that their debate is in the sense of scripture, yet h ow can one who defends free will pigeonhole the interpretation of the reader? Luther is much more direct in laying out his arguments and criticizes Erasmus for stating a bare definition without explaining its parts.The debate has very much become a personal matter by the time Luthers discourse commences. There is no mutual agreement whatsoever, thus it is easy to see why the views of Catholics and Protestants were so divergent. Erasmus is clearly trying to convince his readers, most particularly Luther, that free will does then exist. Luther continues to stay his course and states that God wills all. Everything is preordained, evil included. Of the assertions, Luther simply states one must delight in assertions to be a Christian at all While Erasmus seems leery to take a firm stance in his debate, he is changing the circumstances of the debate, which clearly is an attempt to prevent Luther from pinning him down in Luthers The Bondage of the Will. After thoroughly refuting everythi ng Erasmus has stated, Luther proclaims that Erasmus has asserted nothing but made comparisons. Whether there be complete merit in either mans philosophy, Luther has quite convincingly made Erasmus position appear flawed.