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A review by sofer_mahir
The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther
4.0
Luther's sharp mind (and sharp wit) is a delight to read, and his primary conclusions on this subject are (to my mind) impossible to refute. I've certainly come away from this book with a more settled conviction regarding the depravity of natural humanity. That being said, I'd be lying if I said I wholeheartedly agreed with every word.
His position on the relationship between God's "hidden" and "revealed" wills, in my thinking, allow for a conflict within the mind of God that doesn't sit well with me. He appears also not to have affirmed anything like the Calvinistic doctrine of Particular Redemption, which leaves an implied disunity in the actions of the three Persons of the Trinity (Jesus endeavors toward the salvation of some that neither the Father nor the Spirit are). Lastly, certain of his interpretations go beyond what the biblical text itself is saying.
On the whole, however, this book is every bit the masterpiece I was hoping it would be, and entirely worth the time it took me to read it.
His position on the relationship between God's "hidden" and "revealed" wills, in my thinking, allow for a conflict within the mind of God that doesn't sit well with me. He appears also not to have affirmed anything like the Calvinistic doctrine of Particular Redemption, which leaves an implied disunity in the actions of the three Persons of the Trinity (Jesus endeavors toward the salvation of some that neither the Father nor the Spirit are). Lastly, certain of his interpretations go beyond what the biblical text itself is saying.
On the whole, however, this book is every bit the masterpiece I was hoping it would be, and entirely worth the time it took me to read it.