PREFACE
BY THE TRANSLATOR.
THE Translator has long had it in meditation, to present the
British Church with an English version of a choice Selection from the Works of that great
Reformer, MARTIN LUTHER: and in November
last, he issued Proposals for such a publication. He considers it however necessary to
state, that this Treatise on the BONDAGE OF THE WILL, formed no part of his design when those Proposals were sent forth. But receiving,
subsequently, an application from several Friends to undertake the present Translation, he
was induced not only to accede to their request, but also to acquiesce in the propriety of
their suggestion, that this work should precede those mentioned in the Proposals. The
unqualified encomium bestowed upon it by a Divine so eminent as the late Reverend AUGUSTUS MONTAGUE TOPLADY, who considered it a masterpiece
of polemical composition, had justly impressed the minds of those friends with a correct
idea of the value of the Treatise; and it was their earnest desire that the plain
sentiments and forcible arguments of Luther upon the important subject which it contained,
should be presented to the Church, unembellished by any superfluous ornament, and
unaltered from the original, except as to their appearance in an English version. In
short, they wished to see a correct and faithful Translation of LUTHER ON
THE BONDAGE OF THE WILL—without
note or comment! In this wish, the Translator fully concurred: and having received and
accepted the application, he sat down to the work immediately: which was, on Monday,
December 23rd, 1822.
As it respects the character of the version itself—the Translator, after much
consideration of the eminence of his Author as a standard authority in the Church of God,
and the importance of deviating from the original text in any shape whatever, at last
decided upon translating according to the following principle; to which, it is his design
strictly to adhere in every future translation with which he may present the
public—to deliver FAITHFULLY the MIND of
LUTHER; retaining LITERALLY, as much of his own WORDING,
PHRASEOLOGY, and EXPRESSION, as could be admitted into the
English version.—With what degree of fidelity he has adhered to this principle in the
present work, the public are left to decide.
The addition of the following few remarks shall suffice for observation.
1. The Work is translated from Melancthon's Edition, which he published immediately
after Luther's death.
2. The division-heads of the Treatise, which are not distinctively expressed in the
original, are so expressed in the Translation, to facilitate the Reader's view of the
whole work and all its parts. The Heads are these—Introduction, Preface, Exordium,
Discussion part the First, part the Second, part the Third, and Conclusion.
3. The subdividing Sections of the matter, which, in the original, are distinguished by
a very large capital at the commencement, are, in the Translation, for typographical
reasons, distinguished by Sections I, II, III, IV, &c.
4. The Quotations from the Diatribe, are, in the Translation, preceded and followed by
a dash and inverted commas: but with this distinction—where Erasmus' own words are
quoted in the original the commas are double; but single, where the substance of his
sentiments only is quoted. The reader will observe, however, that this distinction was not
adopted till after the first three sheets were printed: which will account for all the
quotations, in those sheets, being preceded and followed by double commas. Though it is
presumed, there will be no difficulty in discovering which are Erasmus' own words, and
which are his sentiments in substance only.
5. The portions of Scripture adduced by Luther, are, in some instances, translated from
his own words, and not given according to our English version. This particular was
attended to, in those few places where Luther's reading varies a little from our version,
as being more consistent with a correct Translation of the author, but not with any view
to favour the introduction of innovated and diverse readings of the Word of God.
With these few and brief preliminary observations, the Translator presents this
profound Treatise of the immortal Luther on the Bondage of the Will to the Public. And he
trusts he has a sincere desire, that his own labour may prove to be, in every respect, a
faithful Translation: and that the work itself may be found, under the Divine blessing, to
be—an invaluable acquisition to the Church—"a sharp threshing instrument
having teeth" for the exposure of subtlety and error—a banner in defence of the
truth—and a means of edification and establishment to all those, who are willing to
come to the light to have their deeds made manifest, and to be taught according to the
oracles of God!
HENRY COLE.
London, March,
1823.
