The Bondage of the Will I

I've known for at least a decade that this is a "must-read" but have put it off, because of a mistaken notion. I assumed, having never read Luther's own writings before, that this would be a dry theological treatise on free-will, which I would have to slug through simply because I should.

Boy was I wrong! This is a tailor-made Invective...a veritable handbook!...an extended "howler," if ever there was one! This response makes the current discourse about "Federal Vision" seem tame and practically impotent! (One significant difference, of course, being that Luther actually read the works of the man he was publicly refuting, and engaged the man himself in direct dialogue, rather than simply reading about his teachings while pontificating to others based on hearsay...)

Those who know me, are likely not surprised that I would enjoy this sort of animated verbal sparring! I must admit, however, that at times, I have been a bit astonished at and even uncomfortable with Luther's tone...or at least if I imagine this dialogue occurring today, it seems quite harsh. I don't know enough about the extent of his relationship with Erasmus - did they know each other only through these debates, or did they have a personal relationship? Nor have I read Erasmus' "Diatribe," so I am only learning what he actually said in bits and pieces as Luther quotes him. Maybe the sum of Erasmus' content deserved nothing less - just yesterday, I encountered some of his more absurd assertions (Erasmus').

I have only finished 2 of the 8 "chapters" to date. Here are some of Luther's most inciteful phrases:

"...your book struck me as so worthless and poor that my heart went out to you for having defiled your lovely, brilliant flow of language with such vile stuff. I thought it outrageous to convey material of so low a quality in the trappings of such rare eloquence; it is like using gold or silver dishes to carry garden rubbish or dung." (p63)

"...what kept me from rushing in with an answer to you was...simply disgust, disinclination and distaste - which, if I may say so, express my judgment on your Diatribe. ...you have taken vast pains throughout to be slippery and evasive...you would have nothing actually asserted, while yet you would seem to assert something!" (p64)

"In a word, what you say comes to this: that you do not think it matters a scrap what anyone believes anywhere, so long as the world is at peace...'If they affirm, I affirm; if they deny, so do I.'" (p69)

"So here again, in your desire to discourage us from anything rash, you allow yourself to be carried to the contrary extreme (as fools do) and teach the very quintessence of godless, suicidal folly. Do you see, now, that at this point your book is so godless, blasphemous and sacrilegious, that its like cannot be found anywhere?" (p85)

"You are venting your spleen on us, as usual, in order to prejudice and discredit our cause, because you see that you cannot conquer or overthrow it." (p88)

"What a fulsome speaker you are! - but utterly ignorant of what you are talking about. ...if you do not grasp that, if it leaves you unmoved, then mind your own business, and leave those to grasp it and be moved by it to whom it is given of God!" (p90)

"...your next bit of advice, 'wrong decisions made in councils should not be publicly acknowledged, lest grounds for denying the authority of the fathers should thereby be given.' This, of course, is just what the Pope wanted you to say! He finds it sweeter hearing than the Gospel itself; he will be most ungrateful if he does not honour you in return with a cardinal's hat, plus all the attendant revenues!" (p96)

"So, your Creator must learn from YOU, His creature, what may be usefully preached and what not? God was so stupid and thoughtless, was He, that He did not know what should be taught till you came along to tell Him how to be wise? - as if without your pointing it out He would not have realized that this paradox involves the consequence you draw? " (p98)

Wow! Even Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter seem tame by comparison!