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.
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.
ReplyDeleteWhat 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