The Bondage of the Will (Unabridged‪)‬

Martin Luther's Bondage of the Will (1525) is a response to Desiderius Erasmus's "Diatribe on Free Will.’ The work is considered as one of the great masterpieces of the Reformation. 

Luther writes powerfully about man's depravity and God's sovereignty in his direct style, which combines spirituality and humor. For Luther, the crucial issue was the ability of free will, and the extent to which it is subject to God's sovereignty. This key issue of free will is directly connected to the plan of salvation, in his view. Is man able to save himself, or is his salvation entirely a work of divine grace? 

That sin incapacitates human beings from working out their own salvation, and that they are completely incapable of bringing themselves to God. As such, there is no free will for humanity because any will they might have is overwhelmed by the influence of sin. 

Bondage of the Will is vital to understanding the primary doctrines of the Reformation.