THE BONDAGE OF THE WILL
First Ambassador Edition 2007
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Paula Shepherd
ISBN: 978-1-93230-743-6
eISBN: 978-1-62020-622-5
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Erasmus' Scepticism, Sections 2-6
The Necessity of Knowing God and His Power, Sections 7-8
The Sovereignty of God, Sections 9-27
Discussion: First Part, Sections 41-75
Discussion: Second Part, Sections 76-134
Discussion: Third Part, Sections 135-166
Appendix 1: Martin Luther's Judgment of Erasmus of Rotterdam
Appendix 2: Martin Luther to Nicolas Armsdoff Concerning Erasmus of Rotterdam
LETTER FROM THE TRANSLATOR
THE TRANSLATOR HAS LONG HAD it in meditation, to present the British Church with an English version of a choice Selection from the Works of that great Reformer, Martin Luther: and in November last,he issued Proposals for such a publication. He considers it however necessary to state, that this Treatise on the Bondage of the Will, formed no part of his design when those Proposals were sent forth. But receiving, subsequently, an application from several Friends to undertake the present Translation, he was induced not only to accede to their request, but also to acquiesce in the propriety of their suggestion, that this work should precede those mentioned in the Proposals. The unqualified encomium bestowed upon it by a Divine so eminent as the late Reverend Augustus Montague Toplady, who considered it a masterpiece of polemical composition, had justly impressed the minds of those friends with a correct idea of the value of the Treatise; and it was their earnest desire that the plain sentiments and forcible arguments of Luther upon the important subject which it contained, should be presented to the Church, unembellished by any superfluous ornament, and unaltered from the original, except as to their appearance in an English version. In short, they wished to see a correct and faithful Translation of Luther on the Bondage of the Will—without note or comment! In this wish, the Translator fully concurred: and having received and accepted the application, he sat down to the work immediately: which was, on Monday, December 23rd, 1822.
As it respects the character of the version itself—the Translator, after much consideration of the eminence of his Author as a standard authority in the Church of God, and the importance of deviating from the original text in any shape whatever, at last decided upon translating according to the following principle; to which, it is his design strictly to adhere in every future translation with which he ...
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About The Bondage of the WillAcknowledged by theologians as one of the great masterpieces of the Reformation, Martin Luther's Bondage of the Will was also Luther's favorite work. Luther responds to Desiderius Erasmus' Diatribe on Free Will with the bluntness, genius, sarcasm, and spirituality that were as much a part of his writing as they were of his colorful personality. Luther writes lucidly on the themes of man's inability and God's ability, man's depravity and God's sovereignty. The crucial issue for Luther concerned what ability free will has, and to what degree it is subject to God's sovereignty. Luther's doctrine of salvation pivoted on this key issue. Is man able to save himself, or is his salvation completely a work of divine grace? This work will long remain among the great theological classics of Christian history. Bondage of the Will was first published in 1525, eight years after Luther penned his Ninety-Five Theses. |
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