The Freedom of the Will Literary Elements

Philosophical Treatise

16th century Netherlands, in response to Martin Luther

After the uproar caused by Luther's famous Ninety-Five Theses, Erasmus writes this treatise as a response to those writings, now four years later. He writes these as essays in the first person.

Scholarly and systematic; the mood is confrontational with religious sincerity.

One might say Erasmus considers himself the protagonist here, and Luther the antagonist.

The major conflict of these discussions is that Luther implied in his Theses that perhaps God were so sovereign that human free will could be seen as an illusion, because God is in such control that it might not exist, philosophically. Erasmus is arguing that humans have free will, and that sin and evil are the product of it.

The arguments reach their climax when Erasmus offers his theodicy. A theodicy is an attempt to reconcile Christian beliefs about God with the suffering and mayhem of life on earth. He lands on God's grace as a pinnacle importance.

The end times are foreshadowed in these writings, because the writings are implicitly connected with divine judgment. The Judgment Day is foreshadowed in the conversation about free will.

The philosophies employ understatement by using language to explain existential concepts that extend far past the imagination of human beings.

Allusions are made to the Bible, especially the gospel narrative about Jesus's life, death, and the resurrection from the dead. God's sovereignty is explored through Biblical analysis.

Heavenly imagery dominates this discussion, like references to the "heavenly spheres," and the chain of being. The classical Christian metaphysic is on full display in these systems.

God's sovereignty is shown to be paradoxical with human free will, because humans do things that Erasmus alleges a good God could never have intended.

Erasmus considers various stories in parallel, attempting to understand the connection (for instance) between the gospel and reality. They are considered in parallel, especially in the relationship between justice and God's judgment.

The forgiveness and salvation of Jesus is shown as a synecdoche for existential judgment, because Jesus is still offering forgiveness as he is being murdered. Jesus can be seen as a demonstration of God's ways, Erasmus argues (using Paul's theology from the epistles).

The universe is personified in existential considerations. The universe is said to wait, to praise, to glorify, etc.