The Bondage of the Will

Rating:
Summary: Scripture Alone (Sola Scriptura)
Review: Luther's emphasis on the veracity of God's word and insistance upon interpreting and applying the text plainly is a breath of fresh air in this age of twisted "scholarly" understandings. Luther cuts down Erasmus' arguments for the freedom of Man's will in salvation with the two-edged sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The power, sincerity, and passion of Luther's writing is matched only by the prophets, apostles and our Lord Himself.

No believer should be able to read this book and come away still believing in the total freedom of Man's will. Luther wisely handles the most difficult objections in the same manner as the apostle Paul, answering naysayers with the challenge "who are you to answer back to God?" (Romans 9:20).

The only downfall of the book is that Erasmus' arguments are so weak. Because of this, Luther spends much time refuting the foolish musings of reason and philosophy and therefore has less time to devote to the scripturally-based questions concerning this doctrine of the bondage of the will. Luther proves truly that "the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Cor. 1:18).

Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest I have ever read!
Review: Some will see this book as nothing more than Martin Luther's combative apologetic against the doctrine of free will and works salvation. But this is precisely why this book ranks among the best ever written because it passionately, logically, and decisively deals with the error concerning free will and the error adding any human merit to salvation. The subject matter according to Luther is "the hinge on which the whole gospel turns". Luther himself said that this was perhaps his greatest work. I found my own logical attempts to resolve to free will controversy pinned to the mat by Luther's irrefutable logic and accurate use of the scriptures. This book should be a standard text in bible schools and seminaries. This book left me with the impression that the modern church as robbed God of His glory by insisting that a believer merits salvation because he/she was smart enough or had will enough to make a decision for Christ. In some ways it makes me realize that we have abandoned the true gospel in favor of a man-centered, warm-fuzzy, gospel. Read this book!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: This is one of the best and most important books ever written. In this book Luther explodes the myth of human freedom, and shows from scripture that our wills our bound to our fallen nature until our hearts are changed by God's work in our lives.

This book is important and Informative both as a theological work, and as a part of the history of the Reformation.

Rating:
Summary: Luther was not an anti-rationalist
Review: This text is indeed a cornerstone of Reformed thought and Luther's arguments are utterly destructive of the Romanist nonsense it was his task to combat.

He must, however, be read carefully! He does often write as though reason itself were suspect, but we must understand his meaning from context.

As another reviewer writes: "I am wary of this [Luther's use of logic], being ever mindful that reason and logic are opposed to faith, are of the fleshly world instead of the spiritual, and are therefore Satan's tools." This is certainly true of fallen human reason. But God Himself is rational, and according to John 1:1 Jesus Christ is his very Logos (a word which may well be translated "logic"). If Luther were contending that God is anti-rational, he would be departing from Scripture. However, I think he was merely drawing the proper *logical* conclusion from the doctrine of the Fall: that human reason is not autonomous but must be firmly yoked to the Word so that "every thought is made captive to Christ."

The alternative is that Christians are not permitted to use logic! And in that case we might as well become Romanists.

Rating:
Summary: Luther really was a Calvinist
Review: Wow. I first heard of this book mentioned by R. C. Sproul shortly after I read his tome, Classical Apologetics. (Sproul, Gerstner, Lindsley, Zondervan, 1984) which changed my life forever.

God blessed Luther with a find discriminating mind, and while Erasmus was no fool, he was no theologian either. The book is one sided. Luther takes each one of the (corrupted) conventional wisdoms of the Church (at least as Erasmus saw them) and turns it on it's head; how far had mother church come from the days of Augustine, the errors in logic and reason so destructive by the time Luther came on the scene. Luther dispatches the arguments with flourish, and I began to relish each upheaval as I, who had been incorrectly taught over the years, finally found my way. When Luther explains that "free will" is in fact an oxymoron (that is, that will cannot be free), I finally understood the true meaning of Grace - and Calvin's TULIP model. It is a disturbing concept - that we are completely powerless - but one that can not be rationally attacked. With Luther's book to guide you, you can dispatch that argument today as quickly as he did 500 years ago.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone, but especially to students of church history and those not yet converted to a Reformed faith.