Tuesday, January 20, 2015

It's Always About Religion

When starting a conversation with someone new, people often give the same words of advice. “Just stay away from religion,” they always say. Upon reading the Discourse of Free Will one can quickly understand why. For centuries, religion has been cause for great conflict.  In this novel, Eramaus and Martin Luther go head to head as they discuss their opinions and supporting arguments for the definition of free will, a large aspect of religion. During the age of the renaissance, Christian humanism exploded as humanistic ideals took center stage. Eramaus greatly supports these ideals as he believes in the free will of man and gives light to the idea that God does not impose on man’s will but according to Luther, all men are slave to sin making free will nothing but a name. Though both religious men, their vastly different ideals go head to head and history continues to repeat the pattern.


As Martin Luther began to expound his ideas, the Protestant Reformation took place as Luther’s teachings opposed that of the Catholic Church. Continual debate on beliefs and interpretations continued to emerge and soon, the once all powerful religion of Catholicism turned into several varying religions.


This patterns continues to the time of the American pilgrims. English colonists seeking to break free from British reign, sailed to the American continent and began a new life. One of their largest demands? Freedom of religion. Men sought to worship what they may without the fear of conflict. With salvation on the line, people have great cause to seek the truth that will bring them salvation. Religious conflict continues to be a cause for conflict, even to this day. Numerous debates arise on topics such as religion in school, religious beliefs on morality, and more. However, much like Martin Luther and Eramaus, debates on religion are likely to continue throughout time and it is likely that men will never come to see eye to eye. 

2 comments:

  1. I agree with the idea that the debates of the time had created a lot of contention and the fact that nations were established on the basis of religious tolerance was a great by-product of the Reformation. I also do appreciate the benefits of good religious discussion as it can help us understand our own beliefs better. Although a strong statement, Luther stated that Erasmus helped him strengthen his own beliefs about free will because he gave him an opportunity to think about it more deeply.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a fantastic graphic! It encapsulates so well the idea of your blog post. Its true that it'll be hard for people to ever agree on religion. (I've heard even in the millennium not everyone will be a member of the church).

    ReplyDelete