Bound Choice, Election, and Wittenberg Theological Method

From Martin Luther to the Formula of Concord

Robert Kolb

Fortress Press

Minneapolis

BOUND CHOICE, ELECTION, AND WITTENBERG THEOLOGICAL METHOD

From Martin Luther to the Formula of Concord

Copyright © 2017 Fortress Press. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Email copyright@1517.media or write to Permissions, Fortress Press, PO Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440-1209.

Interior contents have not been changed from prior editions.

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-5064-2709-6

eBook ISBN: 978-1-5064-2710-2

LUTHERAN QUARTERLY BOOKS

Editor

Paul Rorem, Princeton Theological Seminary

Associate Editors

Timothy J. Wengert, The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, and Steven Paulson, Luther Seminary, St. Paul

Lutheran Quarterly Books will advance the same aims as Lutheran Quarterly itself, aims repeated by Theodore G. Tappert when he was editor fifty years ago and renewed by Oliver K. Olson when he revived the publication in 1987. The original four aims continue to grace the front matter and to guide the contents of every issue, and can now also indicate the goals of Lutheran Quarterly Books: “to provide a forum (1) for the discussion of Christian faith and life on the basis of the Lutheran confession; (2) for the application of the principles of the Lutheran church to the changing problems of religion and society; (3) for the fostering of world Lutheranism; and (4) for the promotion of understanding between Lutherans and other Christians.”

For further information, see www.lutheranquarterly.com.

The symbol and motto of Lutheran Quarterly, VDMA for Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum (1 Peter 1:25), was adopted as a motto by Luther’s sovereign, Frederick the Wise, and his successors. The original “Protestant” princes walking out of the imperial Diet of Speyer 1529, unruly peasants following Thomas Muentzer, and from 1531 to 1547 the coins, medals, flags, and guns of the Smalcaldic League all bore the most famous Reformation slogan, the first Evangelical confession: the Word of the Lord remains forever.

Contents

Bibliographical Abbreviations

Acknowledgments

Introduction: “One of the Most Famous Exchanges in Western Intellectual History”

Content and Method in Wittenberg Theology

The Reception of De servo arbitrio as a Theological Issue

I. “None of My Works Is Worth Anything, Except Perhaps De servo arbitrio …”: Luther and the Bondage of Human Choice

Erasmus and Luther: A Feud Waiting to Happen

The Nature of De servo arbitrio

The Roots of Luther’s View of Choice

The Theology of De servo arbitrio

Let God Be God

God Hidden and Revealed

God Chooses His Own

God Saves through the Means of Grace

Human Beings Are Dependent Creatures

All Things Happen by Necessity

Human Beings Are Sinners

Human Creatures Are Totally Responsible Agents

Believers Live a Life of Repentance

God ...

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About Bound Choice, Election, and Wittenberg Theological Method: From Martin Luther to the Formula of Concord

Galvanized by Erasmus’ teaching on free will, Luther wrote De servo arbitrio, or The Bondage of the Will, insisting that the sinful human will could not turn itself to God. This groundbreaking study investigates the sixteenth-century reception of De servo. Robert Kolb unpacks Luther’s theology and recounts his followers’ ensuing disputes through their resolution in the Formula of Concord.

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