God is the only Certainty

One way I saw the issue of certainty come out in Erasmus' thoughts was in Chapter 2. Erasmus notes that the Spirit, supposedly given to every man, helps each to interpret things a bit differently, and that it may reveal different things to different people. As he wrote, "Let us admit that the possibility actually exists for the Spirit to reveal to a simple layman what is not revealed to many scholars." To Erasmus' point, it is fair to wonder how certainly one could believe a philosopher who maybe wasn't aware or enlightened of the same principles as a younger, simpler man.

For Luther, from what I could understand in his argument, his issue of certainty would be less stressful to me as an early 16th century reader, because it seems less worrisome. As Luther said in Part 2, Chapter 5, "both [my] creation and preservation come to pass by the sole will of the omnipotent power and goodness of God." If I'm a common villager living in the 16th century, I assume there is plenty of housework and farming and walking and surviving to be done. I as a hardworking commoner do not have the time or resources to dedicate to become a well versed devout Christian, so leaving it all up to God's omnipotence and grace sounds much more convenient and simple.

Certainty to Christians is a bit different, I think. That's the beauty of Christianity: we don't need to be certain in everything because we are certain that God will help us through whatever comes our way. Certainty in our beliefs allows us the confidence to be uncertain in everything else. Life is unpredictable, so it's impossible to be certain about temporal things. God is the only constant in a Christian's life.

This entire idea of certainty relates to what was happening with the Protestant Reformation. All the sudden, there were plenty of new beliefs, sects and theories on how to know what was certain--which one was true. Luther, Erasmus and others all had their own ideas of how we could know what God wanted for us. How grateful I am that Joseph Smith decided to go directly to the source and ask God Himself what he should do. God was Joseph's only certainty.

If the Discourse on Free Will Were Written in Utah 2015

The Protestant Reformation is largely accepted as beginning in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the Wittenburg Castle Church doors. This was the beginning of public questioning of the Catholic church in Europe, which, at the time, was the all-powerful church in all of Europe. There was no legal alternative for religious worship and those who were viewed as going against it's teachings were labeled as a heretic and possibly burned at the stake. While the nailing of the 95 theses could be labeled as a spark, what came after was a forest fire. Notable people began discussing religion and religious views, which began many sects that are still around today. Never before had so much debate been had, nor such a willing audience listened.

I believe that it is this context, the Protestant Reformation, that makes the Discourse on Free Will such an important and interesting work of literature. Since it was a time of confusion, people were asking questions and searching for answers that made sense based on what they knew as well as on what they hoped was true. Additionally, the church was one of, if not the, most important realm of an individual's life. Their whole lives revolved around worship.

So, what if the Discourse on Free Will were written today? I don't think it would make hardly a drop in the ocean and I definitely do not think that people would be reading it in another 500 years. There is so much information, so many books and so many articles being written today that something like this would probably be lost on the web. Perhaps a few people would click on a link talking about whether or not predestination is real or if we have free choice, but ultimately, I believe the following would be small and ultimately forgotten. Additionally, today we see an increasing secularism in our lives. Even for avid church-goers, people tend to separate their religious life with the rest of their lives (BYU and the culture we live in is quite unique). Therefore, I think that the context of the Discourse on Free Will is ultimately what makes the piece so important and relevant not only in the 1500's, but today.