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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 7 page research paper that offers 2 short essays. The first is on the debate between Erasmus and Luther concerning free will and the second contrasts and compares the tone and writing style of Luther and Francis De Sales in regards to the existence and nature of Purgatory. Bibliography lists 7 sources.
Page Count:
7 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_kheldes.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
critics and reformers of the Catholic Church. However, Erasmus stayed within the church while advocating reform while Luther eventually left the church, starting the Protestant Reformation. As late as 1524,
Erasmus publicly stated his belief that Luther had performed a public service by criticizing the church and was not a heretic (Thigpen, 1992). However in that same year, Erasmus also
differed sharply with Luther by publishing his treatise "The Freedom of the Will" (Thigpen, 1992). Luther offered his rebuttal in 1525 with his work "The Bondage of the Will" (Thigpen,
1992). In these works, Erasmus and Luther take diametrically opposed stances to the topic of free will. Frost (1962) points out that the problem of free will had been debated
by philosophers long before the Christian era. The principal question in this debate is whether human begins have any real control over their own destiny. Does an individual choose between
good and evil, or is everything predetermined by God, who is omnipotent? Early Christian doctrine held that sin implies guilt and that guilt is meaningless unless the individual is,
in some form, responsible for that sin (Frost, 1962). In other words, it is not logical (or just) to hold an individual responsible for sinful acts unless that person has
the option of acting differently. Furthermore, early Christians argued that God, who is completely good, cannot be held responsible for the presence of evil in the world, so humanity must
be shoulder this blame (Frost, 1962). This is basically the stance taken by Erasmus. Luther, on the other hand, argues that humanity is in a fallen state. Therefore, human
beings gave up the option of free will when Adam chose evil over God. According to Luther, there is nothing that an individual can ever do that is not already
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