luther vs. erasmus: debate on free will?

Question

can someone summarize their positions and how this influenced the early church? it can be a really basic summary in a couple sentences. my roomate and i disagree on these points, so we're betting on the responses...

yes, i meant the reformation

Answer 1

In a sentence, Luther believed in monergism, salvation is all a work of God, Erasmus believed in synergism, man and God cooperating.

"At the time of the Reformation, many hoped Martin Luther and Erasmus could unite against the errors of the Roman Catholic Church. Luther himself was tempted to unite with Erasmus because Erasmus was a great Renaissance scholar who studied the classics and the Greek New Testament. Examining the Roman Catholic Church, Erasmus was infuriated with the abuses in the Roman Catholic Church, especially those of the clergy. These abuses are vividly described in the satire of his book, The Praise of Folly. Erasmus called for reform in the Roman Catholic Church. Erasmus could have been a great help to the Reformation, so it seemed, by using the Renaissance in the service of the Reformation.

But a great chasm separated these two men. Luther loved the truth of God's Word as that was revealed to him through his own struggles with the assurance of salvation. Therefore Luther wanted true reformation in the church, which would be a reformation in doctrine and practice. Erasmus cared little about a right knowledge of truth. He simply wanted moral reform in the Roman Catholic Church. He did not want to leave the church, but remained supportive of the Pope.

This fundamental difference points out another difference between the two men. Martin Luther was bound by the Word of God. Therefore the content of the Scripture was of utmost importance to him. But Erasmus did not hold to this same high view of Scripture. Erasmus was a Renaissance rationalist who placed reason above Scripture. Therefore the truth of Scripture was not that important to him.

The two men could not have fellowship with each other, for the two movements which they represented were antithetical to each other. The fundamental differences came out especially in the debate over the freedom of the will."

"Packer and Johnston call The Bondage of the Will "the greatest piece of theological writing that ever came from Luther's pen." Although Erasmus writes with eloquence, his writing cannot compare with that of Luther the theologian. Erasmus writes as one who cares little about the subject, while Luther writes with passion and conviction, giving glory to God. In his work, Luther defends the heart of the gospel over against the Pelagian error as defended by Erasmus. This controversy is of utmost importance."

"Erasmus defines free-will or free choice as "a power of the human will by which a man can apply himself to the things which lead to eternal salvation or turn away from them." By this, Erasmus means that man has voluntary or free power of himself to choose the way which leads to salvation apart from the grace of God.

"Erasmus attempts to answer the question how man is saved: Is it the work of God or the work of man according to his free will? Erasmus answers that it is not one or the other. Salvation does not have to be one or the other, for God and man cooperate. On the one hand, Erasmus defines free-will, saying man can choose freely by himself, but on the other hand, he wants to retain the necessity of grace for salvation. Those who do good works by free-will do not attain the end they desire unless aided by God's grace. Therefore, in regard to salvation, man cooperates with God. Both must play their part in order for a man to be saved. Erasmus expresses it this way: "Those who support free choice nonetheless admit that a soul which is obstinate in evil cannot be softened into true repentance without the help of heavenly grace." Also, attributing all things to divine grace, Erasmus states,

And the upshot of it is that we should not arrogate anything to ourselves but attribute all things we have received to divine grace … that our will might be synergos (fellow-worker) with grace although grace is itself sufficient for all things and has no need of the assistance of any human will."

In his work On the Freedom of the Will, Erasmus defends this synergistic view of salvation. According to Erasmus, God and man, nature and grace, cooperate together in the salvation of a man. With this view of salvation, Erasmus tries to steer clear of outright Pelagianism and denies the necessity of human action which Martin Luther defends."

For the full piece, click this link:
http://www.prca.org/prtj/apr99.html#LutherAndErasmus

Answer 2

Luther And Erasmus

Answer 3

Erasmus And Luther

Answer 4

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Erasmus argued with Luther over free will. Erasmus was of the opinion that we must believe that man has free will, or man has no purpose on earth, he is just a puppet. Luther disagreed. He felt that all things are ultimately decided by God's infallible will. See the site below....

Answer 5

Luther though free will did not exist. I don't know about Erasmus.

Luther was right, but for the wrong reason.

Answer 6

RE:
luther vs. erasmus: debate on free will?
can someone summarize their positions and how this influenced the early church? it can be a really basic summary in a couple sentences. my roomate and i disagree on these points, so we're betting on the responses...

Answer 7

Watching tv is simpler but I enjoy reading books more

Answer 8

while reading a book, you're stimulating the human brain. You transform your literacy and reading skills and you simply along the way, become more literate. Despite having today's modern tools, you should be in a position to read still.
While you're watching t.v. can be good fun, it is not doing anything to the human brain.

Answer 9

They had absolutely no influence on the early Church as they came 1500+ years after its founding by Christ. Did you mean, how did they influence the modernist Protestant Reformation movement founded by these men and others?

In Christ
Fr. Joseph

Answer 10

lex luthor is against free will.

however he doesn't want mind controlled slaves, he just wants to be able to manipulate people.