Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about the period that spans the late Renaissance and early Reformation eras and naturally this brought my attention to two of the most important and influential men of that time - Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536) and Martin Luther (1483-1546). As many of you know, Martin Luther is the man considered by most to have launched the Protestant Reformation (sorry, John Wycliffe), and Erasmus, aka the “Prince of the Humanists”, is known as one of the greatest Classical and Christian Humanists in history. Originally, the two men had quite a bit in common - both had been monks who joined Augustinian monasteries, both were prominent proponents of reforming the Catholic Church and its practices, both were renowned for their translations of the New Testament - but their studies and beliefs would take them in extremely different directions which led to their famous debate concerning the questions surrounding Man’s free will, salvation and God’s role in the world. Primarily, their debate involved the issues surrounding Luther’s controversial position on justification by faith alone, Sola Fide (link below), which was connected to a host of other issues. Not surprisingly, their arguments involved not only their different views on Man and God and interpretation of Scripture, but the projection of their own personal views of themselves. As Rebecca Newberger Goldstein noted in her article "Erasmus vs. Luther - a Rift That Defined the Course of Western Civilization" (link below): Erasmus “was a firm believer in human perfectibility, which is one of the convictions that would put him on a collision course with Luther, committed to the incorrigible depravity of human nature.” I don’t know that “perfectibility” is the proper term to use in regard to Erasmus’ optimistic view of Man and the ability of people to redeem themselves though their faith in God and the free will He gave them, nevertheless Luther had a decidedly pessimistic view of Man, whose alleged depravity had enslaved his will to sin (a view expressed by Augustine of Hippo over a thousand years earlier). This pessimistic view of Man would be taken a step further by the proponents of the “Calvinist” doctrine of Total Deparavity (link below). While Luther had been preaching his doctrine for some time, the debate between the two men began with the publication of The Freedom of the Will (De libero arbitrio diatribe sive collatio) by Erasmus in 1524, and continued with Luther’s response On the Bondage of the Will (De Servo Arbitrio) in 1525. Five hundred years later the debate continues, and I’ve even seen it debated here in the Religion & Philosophy section of the Political Forum, so I thought I would open a discussion thread dedicated to this topic. If you’re interested, I’d be interested to hear your own views, observations and whatever you would like to contribute. Other than my long-winded introduction and the links provided below, I’ll begin by stating that, for the most part at least, I am one of the people who can be found in Erasmus’ camp. I share his belief in free will and his optimistic view of Man and the potential of individuals to elevate themselves above the state of Total Depravity. Consistent with that, I have never subscribed to the theories surrounding predestination and the notion that we have no control over own fate and soul. And with that, I am going to post some support links and yield the floor…. Links: Sola fide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sola_fide Total Depravity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_depravity -------------------- Luther and Erasmus: Free Will and Salvation https://www.sjsu.edu/people/james.l...mus-and-Luther-on-Free-Will-and-Salvation.pdf De libero arbitrio diatribe sive collatio (The Freedom of the Will) by Desiderius Erasmus (1524) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_libero_arbitrio_diatribe_sive_collatio De Servo Arbitrio (On the Bondage of the Will) by Martin Luther (1525) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Bondage_of_the_Will -------------------- Erasmus vs. Luther — a Rift That Defined the Course of Western Civilization By Rebecca Newberger Goldstein (Review of Fatal Discord: Erasmus, Luther and the Fight for the Western Mind, by Michael Massing) https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/29/books/review/fatal-discord-michael-massing.html Bonus link: Erasmus’ Greek New Testament changed history 500 years ago https://www.brnow.org/news/Erasmus-Greek-New-Testament-changed-history-500-y/
Cross-link to this thread: Are we all damned? http://www.politicalforum.com/index.php?threads/are-we-all-damned.594514/
