Claimed, gathered and sent

Martin Luther had some very strong feelings about our free will or lack thereof. Below is a short essay I wrote concerning his work Bondage of the Will. In Bondage of the Will, Luther is responding to Erasmus’ writing of The Freedom of the Will from a number of different perspectives with appropriate arguments for each. What Luther keeps returning to however, is his Augustinian heritage. Augustine taught that sin was a curving in or turning in toward oneself. [1] That being the case, the human will was infected with evil and unable to choose correctly. Luther states unequivocally that “…free choice is a pure fiction. [2] Luther supports his response to Erasmus’ arguments using the scripture and reason. Arguing from Pauline epistles, Luther states that according to Paul , “Universal sinfulness nullifies free choice.” [3] His argument follows that all are under God’s wrath, even the very best philosphers and religious people, Jew and Gentile alike. That being the case,...