De libero arbitrio diatribe sive collatio
| Author | Erasmus |
|---|---|
| Original title | De Libero Arbitrio |
| Language | Latin |
| Genre | Philosophy, Theology |
| Publisher | Johann Froben |
Publication date | September 1524 |
| Preceded by | Assertio omnium articulorum M. Lutheri per bullam Leonis X |
| Followed by | On the Bondage of the Will |
| Part of a series on |
| Catholic philosophy |
|---|
De libero arbitrio diatribe sive collatio (literally Of free will: Discourses or Comparisons) is the Latin title of a polemical work written by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam in 1524. It is commonly called The Freedom of the Will or On Free Will in English. It was written to call out Martin Luther's revival of John Wycliffe's teaching that "everything happens by absolute necessity".
Erasmus' civil but deliberately provocative book mixes evangelical concerns that God has revealed himself as merciful not arbitrary ("nobody should despair of forgiveness by a God who is by nature most merciful" I.5.) and the conclusion in the Epilogue that where there are scriptures both in favour and against, theologians should moderate their opinions or hold them moderately: dogma is created by the church not theologians.: 86 In his view, a gently-held synergism mediates the scriptural passages best, and moderates the exaggerations of both Pelagius (humans meriting or not requiring grace for salvation) and Manichaeus (two Gods: one good, one bad).
In response, Luther wrote his important work On the Bondage of the Will (1525), against which Erasmus in turn wrote the two-volume book Hyperaspistes (1526, 1528), which Luther did not respond to.