Luther on Human Will

A thoughtful abridgement of The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther based upon the original Latin text of De Servo Arbitrio, as translated by Henry Cole in 1823 and edited for the 21st century reader by Leon Stansfield. The primary goal in editing this public domain manuscript has been to update the text into twentieth century English as far as possible without altering the theology or expression of Luther. This 500th Anniversary Abridged Edition presents the essence of Luther's teaching in a significantly more succinct and focused volume, and is believed to be the first effort at an abridgement of the book. Includes twentytwo illustrations, a brief biography of Luther, and twenty-five mostly brief chapters with very brief chapter introductions. Formatted for eye appeal and easy reading. 6" x 9" trade with 12 point text. 214 pages. Endnoted.

• Is a person's will active in making a decision to follow Jesus Christ, and is his will the impulse which brings about the new birth, or is God's sovereign will the key instrument which works to take a person from spiritual death to spiritual life?
• Is true conversion to Christ a matter of the Holy Spirit's drawing, but the person's will giving assent to that work to complete the regeneration?
• Is true salvation ninety-nine percent God's work and one percent man's work?
• Is it logical to think that a person whose spiritual birth is a gift from God could become unborn spiritually?
• Could it possibly be that regeneration precedes faith for salvation?

The text of this abridgement of Martin Luther's work has been divided into twenty-five completely new chapter titles, taken sequentially and logically from the original work. Each of these chapters has a brief introduction to clarify what Luther will say in that chapter. Let it be clear that this newly edited and abridged text is based entirely upon the original text of The Bondage of the Will, the public domain manuscript which was translated by Henry Cole in 1823. It has been significantly edited by Leon Stansfield to bring the language somewhat into the twenty-first century, but with every intent to convey only Luther's thoughts.