Matin, Serein France (trekearth)
Preface
Martin Luther was a slightly referenced PhD source.
Martin Luther (and his influence on sovereignty defence/theodicy PhD Edit)
Martin Luther (1483-1546)[1] is known as the father of the German Reformation[2] and preceded Calvin in the Reformation movement.[3] After reading Romans 1:17 he was convinced that only faith in Christ could make one just before God.[4] His core theology became that believers were justified by faith in Christ alone[5] and that Scripture was the only authority for people seeking salvation.[6] Luther (1516)(1968) writes concerning Romans 1:17 that only the gospel reveals the righteousness of God and that a person becomes righteous by trusting in the Word of God, Jesus.[7] Luther believed that the righteousness of God was the cause of human salvation,[8] not primarily since God was righteous, but because the believer is justified by God through faith in the gospel of the righteous Christ.[9] He reasoned that the righteousness of God was contrary to the human righteousness of works,[10] instead when a human being received justification by God the person could then commit truly good works.[11]
In 1525 Luther wrote The Bondage of the Will, which was a debate with a Catholic scholar named Desiderius Erasmus (ca.1466-1536)[12] who was an advocate of the free will theory.[13] Luther reasons that since human beings were fallen and abandoned God, they could not will good but only turned in the direction of their own desires.[14] He comments that human beings were perverted and evil,[15] but this can be used by God for his purposes, although people can do nothing but oppose God by the use of their own will.[16] He dogmatically assumes that there is no middle way between God’s grace and human free will,[17] and postulates that human free will should be theologically denied and everything should be ascribed to God.[18] Luther’s sovereignty perspective[19] may place less emphasis on the human will than the later writings of Calvin and Feinberg. However, even the title of Luther’s book The Bondage of the Will shows that he likely influenced Calvin somewhat in The Bondage and Liberation of the Will. Jay Green writes that Luther can be viewed as an early and continual influence on Calvinism,[20] and it is reasonable to deduce that Luther is perhaps a minor historical influence on Feinberg’s sovereignty theology.[21] Green points out that Luther’s views on theistic determinism are only accepted by a minority of Calvinists today.[22]
[1] Cairns (1981: 288-296).
CAIRNS, EARLE E. (1981) Christianity Through The Centuries, Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing House.
CALVIN, JOHN (1543)(1996) The Bondage and Liberation of the Will, Translated by G.I. Davies, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.
FEINBERG, JOHN.S. (1986) Predestination and Free Will, in David Basinger and Randall Basinger (eds.), Downers Grove, Illinois, InterVarsity Press.
FEINBERG, JOHN.S. (1994) The Many Faces of Evil, Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing House.
FEINBERG, JOHN.S. (2001) No One Like Him, John S. Feinberg (gen.ed.), Wheaton, Illinois, Crossway Books.
GREEN, JAY (1971) Five Points of Calvinism, ‘Forward’, Grand Rapids, Sovereign Grace Publishers.
LUTHER, MARTIN. (1516)(1968) Commentary On The Epistle To The Romans, Translated by J.Theodore Mueller, Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing House.
LUTHER, MARTIN. (1518)(1989) ‘Heidelberg Disputation’, in Timothy F. Lull (ed.), Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings, Minneapolis, Fortress Press.
LUTHER, MARTIN. (1525)(1972) ‘The Bondage of the Will’, in F.W. Strothmann and Frederick W. Locke (eds.), Erasmus-Luther: Discourse on Free Will, New York, Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., INC.
Martin Luther (and his influence on sovereignty defence/theodicy PhD Edit)
Martin Luther (1483-1546)[1] is known as the father of the German Reformation[2] and preceded Calvin in the Reformation movement.[3] After reading Romans 1:17 he was convinced that only faith in Christ could make one just before God.[4] His core theology became that believers were justified by faith in Christ alone[5] and that Scripture was the only authority for people seeking salvation.[6] Luther (1516)(1968) writes concerning Romans 1:17 that only the gospel reveals the righteousness of God and that a person becomes righteous by trusting in the Word of God, Jesus.[7] Luther believed that the righteousness of God was the cause of human salvation,[8] not primarily since God was righteous, but because the believer is justified by God through faith in the gospel of the righteous Christ.[9] He reasoned that the righteousness of God was contrary to the human righteousness of works,[10] instead when a human being received justification by God the person could then commit truly good works.[11]
In 1525 Luther wrote The Bondage of the Will, which was a debate with a Catholic scholar named Desiderius Erasmus (ca.1466-1536)[12] who was an advocate of the free will theory.[13] Luther reasons that since human beings were fallen and abandoned God, they could not will good but only turned in the direction of their own desires.[14] He comments that human beings were perverted and evil,[15] but this can be used by God for his purposes, although people can do nothing but oppose God by the use of their own will.[16] He dogmatically assumes that there is no middle way between God’s grace and human free will,[17] and postulates that human free will should be theologically denied and everything should be ascribed to God.[18] Luther’s sovereignty perspective[19] may place less emphasis on the human will than the later writings of Calvin and Feinberg. However, even the title of Luther’s book The Bondage of the Will shows that he likely influenced Calvin somewhat in The Bondage and Liberation of the Will. Jay Green writes that Luther can be viewed as an early and continual influence on Calvinism,[20] and it is reasonable to deduce that Luther is perhaps a minor historical influence on Feinberg’s sovereignty theology.[21] Green points out that Luther’s views on theistic determinism are only accepted by a minority of Calvinists today.[22]
[1] Cairns (1981: 288-296).
[2] Cairns (1981: 288-296).
[3] Cairns (1981: 288-296).
[4] Cairns (1981: 289).
[5] Cairns (1981: 289-290).
[6] Cairns (1981: 289-290).
[7] Luther (1516)(1968: 25).
[8] Luther (1516)(1968: 25).
[9] Luther (1516)(1968: 25).
[10] Luther (1516)(1968: 25).
[11] Luther (1516)(1968: 25).
[12] Cairns (1981: 263).
[13] Erasmus (1525)(1972: 20).
[14] Luther (1525)(1972: 128-130).
[15] Luther (1525)(1972: 128-130).
[16] Luther (1525)(1972: 128-130).
[17] Luther is far more forceful in presentation that is Calvin and especially Feinberg. He is very forceful in his debate with Erasmus. I would provide the opinion that he seems closed-minded.
[18] Luther (1525)(1972: 133).
[19] Luther (1525)(1972: 123).
[20] Green (1971: 7).
[21] Feinberg is far more sympathetic to differing viewpoints than is Luther.
[22] Green (1971: 7).
CAIRNS, EARLE E. (1981) Christianity Through The Centuries, Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing House.
CALVIN, JOHN (1543)(1996) The Bondage and Liberation of the Will, Translated by G.I. Davies, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.
FEINBERG, JOHN.S. (1986) Predestination and Free Will, in David Basinger and Randall Basinger (eds.), Downers Grove, Illinois, InterVarsity Press.
FEINBERG, JOHN.S. (1994) The Many Faces of Evil, Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing House.
FEINBERG, JOHN.S. (2001) No One Like Him, John S. Feinberg (gen.ed.), Wheaton, Illinois, Crossway Books.
GREEN, JAY (1971) Five Points of Calvinism, ‘Forward’, Grand Rapids, Sovereign Grace Publishers.
LUTHER, MARTIN. (1516)(1968) Commentary On The Epistle To The Romans, Translated by J.Theodore Mueller, Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing House.
LUTHER, MARTIN. (1518)(1989) ‘Heidelberg Disputation’, in Timothy F. Lull (ed.), Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings, Minneapolis, Fortress Press.
LUTHER, MARTIN. (1525)(1972) ‘The Bondage of the Will’, in F.W. Strothmann and Frederick W. Locke (eds.), Erasmus-Luther: Discourse on Free Will, New York, Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., INC.
A version placed on academia.edu 20250701
