In Review: The Bondage of the Will

Well then, what is my opinion on Dr. Martin Luther's Bondage of the Will?  It is a theme on this blog, so apparently, I am in favor of it!  Indeed, I am.  Martin Luther uses humor, wit, and scripture through out his entire book.  Who would have thought you could chuckle and grin so many times whilst reading a theological book?  If you read this book, you will too.

I will now include some of his humorous words, wit, and dare I say it, sarcasm!-in which he used in his rebuttal to Erasmus's Diatribe.

"So that it seems even superfluous to reply to these your arguments, which have been indeed often refuted by me; but trodden down, and trampled underfoot, by the incontrovertible Book of Philip Melancthon 'Concerning Theological Questions:' a book, in my judgment, worthy not only of being immortalized... in comparison of which your Book is in my estimate, so mean and vile that I greatly feel for you for having defiled you most beautiful and ingenious language with such vile trash; and I feel an indignation against the matter also, that such unworthy stuff should be borne about in ornaments of eloquence so rare; which is as if rubbish, or dung, should be carried in vessels of gold and silver." Pgs. 9-10

Who else but Luther might give compliments and stinging blow upon the ego all at once, with such elegance and colorful language?

"Do you think the Diatribe could be sober or in its right sense when it wrote this?  For I cannot attribute it to malice or iniquity: unless it be that it designed to effectually wear me out by perpetually wearying me, while this, ever like itself, it is continually turning aside to something in a matter so important, then I will be pleased to expose its voluntary fooleries publicly." pg. 196

*grins*

"Wonderful!  Surely the Diatribe does not speak this out of its own head, but has taken it out of some paper or other, sent or received from another quarter, inserted it in its book!  For it certainly can neither see nor hear the meaning of these words!" pg. 176

*chuckles*

"And thus the Diatribe explodes itself." pg. 167

Haha! Favorite!

"May I perish if the Diatribe itself knows what it is talking about." pg. 160

"Only observe, I pray you how many evasions and ways of escape a slippery mind will invent, which wold flee from the truth, and yet cannot get away from it after all." pgs. 155-156

And I ask you, dear reader, how could you resist to engage in such a book with such gems sprinkled through out?  These are but a few in the latter half of the book.  I started highlighting some of these grin inducing remarks alongside the thought inducing remarks made.  I trust you are entirely diverted by such grand writing.

Now, as a serious thought on the book, in many ways I found it to be over my head.  Which is great!  How can one grow in knowledge if you only read books you fully comprehend?  I can say with confidence that though I learned a great deal from reading this book, there is still room for numerous more readings of this one work in the future.  Many times over.

For the heart of the matter, this is a book about the Free-will of man concerning salvation, and the refutation thereof.  It is manifestly clear to Luther, proven by the scriptures, that man possesses no such will.  A good quote from the book sums up why:

"We know that man was constituted lord over those things which are beneath himself; over which, he has a right and a Free-will, that those things might do, and obey as he wills and thinks.  But we are now inquiring whether he has a 'Free-will' over God, that He should do and obey in those things which man wills: or rather, whether God has not a Free-will over man, that he should will and do what God wills, and should be able to do nothing but what He wills and does.  The Baptist (speaking of John) here says, that he 'can receive nothing, except it be given him from above.'-Wherefore, 'Free-will' must be nothing at all!" pg 234

In essence, it is God has Free-will over man VS Man has Free-will over God, in regards to salvation.  Luther is really put out by all the contradictions the Diatribe has, for in one place it declares man cannot gain salvation or do good without the grace of God, then in another place it labors to declare man has the free-will to endeavor after good. Here he says,

"that which was aimed at to be proved, that is, the PROBABLE OPINION; by which, 'Free-will' is defined to be that impotency, 'that it cannot will anything good without grace, but is compelled into the service of sin; though it has endeavour, which, nevertheless, is not to be ascribed to its own powers.'-A monster truly! which, at the same time, can do nothing by its own power, and yet has an endeavour within its own power: and thus, stands upon the basis of a most manifest contradiction!" pg. 110

Luther is asserting in diverse places, that it is a contradiction to say "free-will" can't do good, but at the same time say it can apply itself unto eternal salvation!  He also brings forward this problem: If God does not foreknow and will all things immutably, not contingently, how can anyone trust his promises?

"For if you doubt, or disdain to know that God foreknows and wills all things, not contingently, but necessarily and immutably, how can you believe confidently, trust to and depend upon His promises?  For when He promises, it is necessary that you should be certain that He knows, is able, and willing to perform what He promises; otherwise, you will neither hold Him true nor faithful; which is unbelief, the greatest wickedness, and a denying of the Most High God" pg. 30

Be it said, that Luther is replying to another book, and so this is not a book that just picks up the topic and explains it from scratch.  For all his sarcasm and his fierce devotion the scriptures, he is not lacking grace toward Erasmus.  In his closing he says,

"We must mutually pardon each other in these things; for we are but men, and there is nothing in us that is not touched with human infirmity." pg 199

I enjoyed reading this.  The first half of the book has notes galore and lots of places highlighted where I liked his points, arguments, and explanations.  This made for more laborious reading, and thus, I quickly got behind in my reading schedule.  So I was content to ease up on my notes and to content myself with a quick highlighting of important things to note.  The latter half will be filled with my thoughts via the margins the second reading, perhaps.  I would make mention of the fact that this book is written in a style that is not commonly used in modern writing and makes it "harder" to read, but I recommend it none the less.  Let it be a challenge. Perhaps the excerpts I shared will whet your appetite.

I'm not sure I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the topic of "Free-will" vs "Enslaved Will" who has never delved into the topic before, I might direct them toward someone like Dr. R.C. Sproul first.  (Which, one of his books is on my reading list in this year).  But I do recommend this book whole-heartedly!  I appreciated this copy by Watchmaker Publishing translated by Henry Cole (1823) because of his helpful footnotes.  There is some theology in it in which he contrasts what John Calvin would say on the same topic, or further clarification in the Westminster Confession of Faith.  I would be interested to obtain the copy with which Packer gives the introduction.  Needless to say, I liked this book and found it very informative, and appreciated Dr. Martin Luther's loyalty to the Holy Scriptures, and his being stalwart in his devotion to God's word above man's opinions and good feelings.

I forgot to add my rating.  It gets the big FIVE star.  5) being, found enjoyable, challenging, useful in many ways, would highly recommend with no holding back, over all EXCELLENT book. Need to read again!

Yes, Another New Blog!

As with most of my blogs, a new one has been created to flow with the new season I am in. (:

I included, as the header of my blog, an excerpt from Martin Luther's Bondage of the Will.  I was most delighted with his elegant language and description, and was drawn to his definition.  On another page, he writes to Erasmus more on assertions.

“The Holy Spirit is not a Skeptic, nor are what He has written on our hearts doubts or opinions, but assertions more certain, and more firm than life itself and all human experience." Pg 17

"But, (that we may not be mistaken in terms) by assertion, I mean a constant adhering, affirming, confessing, defending, and invincibly persevering… And moreover, I speak concerning the asserting of those things, which are delivered to us from above in Holy Scriptures." Pg 13

 To explain more about the title, I will indulge in past titles of my blogs. (:  The first I ever created I named "Incessancy"; followed by the second, "Two Roads Diverged"; the third was switched over to "Catching Mere Glimpses".

I must pause to reflect and point out, I have linked you to ALL of my blogs.  I have kept my Incessancy blog "private" for years, due to embarrassment by some of my own ignorant musings.  But, they show growth, they show the state of my heart and mind in those younger years.  It is most humbling to realize how far I have come.  By God's grace, He has moved me ever near to His heart and His truth.  From the rough and crude words I spoke, to anything edifying is but by His grace... and hopefully, this blog continues to show a more sanctified Leah.

The reasons I named them such?  I was enamored with the word "Incessant" and frequently latched onto to specific words that became my favorites, and used them at every chance I could!  I incessantly read, incessantly talked, incessantly analyzed, incessantly did everything (;  It was a blog of turmoil, of wanting to understand.  But, through much agonizing, Christ showed mercy on me in the midst of it all and began to open my eyes bit by bit.  So then comes along the next blog, Two Roads Diverged.  I memorized that poem by Robert Frost for a class in school.  I realized two paths were laid before me, and by God's grace... I began to tread upon the one less traveled on.  His path, the narrow one.  Not too long after that, I began to see how all of my life I had known nothing.  I was but a mere child, looking at God's creation with wonder, realizing I could not understand the depths of His glory and what I saw was but a mere glimpse compared to eternity.  Thus began, Catching Mere Glimpses. (: 

The point of this blog is to be more direct.  To assert.  I hope to post things I am reading, things that encourage me, and things I would wish to assert.  The root cause of all I do, is Christ.  His truth, His word, His love... all is Christ and I would humbly endeavor to live my life resting in His love and grace, glorifying and enjoying Him as I live and love.  The purpose is to write with the intent to assert boldly what it is I am learning, as well as humbly.  I don't want this to be more wasted space, but the point is to glorify God through the things that I post on this internet outlet.

Soli Deo Gloria