Online research in philosophy

This volume includes the texts of Erasmus's 1524 diatribe against Luther,De Libero Arbitrio, and Luther's violent counterattack,De Servo Arbitrio.

There are uses of the term merit in Indian religions which also appear in secular contexts, but in addition there are other uses that are not encountered outside religion. Transfer of merit is a specific doctrine in whose connection the term merit is used with an intention which is not the same as that found in nonreligious contexts. Two main types of transfer of merit can be distinguished. First, the transfer of merit has been associated with certain ritual practices in Hinduism and in Buddhism. Another main type of transfer of merit is connected with Mahāyāna belief in bodhisattvas' loving-kindness towards other beings. In the orthodox Hindu schools, in Hnayāna Buddhism and in Jainism, transfer of merit has been rejected on account of the doctrine of karma according to which the person can acquire karmic outcomes for only those actions he or she has performed by himself.

A close reading of Luther's treatise on "Temporal Authority" and a review of the most pertinent Luther scholarship show why Luther's doctrine of the two kingdoms remains notoriously difficult to interpret. Reinhold Niebuhr's criticism of Luther in "The Nature and Destiny of Man" is representative of widespread discontent with Luther's argument, but Niebuhr misses the soteriological point of Luther's distinction between the two kingdoms and the significance of salvation for life in society. Ironically, Niebuhr must cite Luther in such a way as to confuse the kingdoms in order to support his charge that Luther's position leads to "quietism" and "defeatism.".

Martin Luther, to the venerable D. Erasmus of Rotterdam, wishing Grace and Peace in Christ. hat I have been so long answering your Diatribe on Free-will, ...