lvation by grace alone which, in Luther's opinion, called for just
such an answer as he gave in _De Servo Arbitrio_. Wherever the occasion
demanded it Luther was ready to defend also the truth concerning God's
majesty and supremacy, but he always was and remained a preacher of the
universal mercy of God as revealed in Christ Crucified.

Nor is there any solid foundation whatever for the assertion that Luther
later on retracted his book against Erasmus or abandoned its doctrine,
--a fact at present generally admitted also by disinterested historians.
(Frank 1, 129. 135. 125.) In his criticism of the _Book of Confutation_,
dated March 7, 1559 Landgrave Philip of Hesse declared: "As to free
will, we a long time ago have read the writings of Luther and Erasmus of
Rotterdam as well as their respective replies; and, although in the
beginning they were far apart, Luther some years later saw the
disposition of the common people and gave a better explanation (_und
sich besser erklaeret_); and we believe, if a synod were held and one
would hear the other, they would come to a brotherly agreement in this
article." (_C. R._ 9, 760.) But Flacius immediately declared that this
assertion was false, as appeared from Luther's _Commentary on Genesis_
and his letter to the Elector concerning the Regensburg Interim. (Preger
2, 82.) Schaff writes: "The Philippist [Christopher] Lasius first
asserted, 1568 that Luther had recalled his book _De Servo Arbitrio;_
but this was indignantly characterized by Flacius and Westphal as a
wretched lie and an insult to the evangelical church. The fact is that
Luther emphatically reaffirmed this book, in a letter to Capito [July
9], 1637, as one of his very best." (_Creeds_ 1, 303.) In his letter to
Capito, Luther says: "_Nullum enim agnosco meum iustum librum nisi forte
'De Servo Arbitrio' et 'Catechismum_,'" thus endorsing _De Servo
Arbitrio_ in the same manner as his Catechism. (Enders 11, 247.) Before
this Luther had said at his table: "Erasmus has written against me in
his booklet _Hyperaspistes_, in which he endeavors to defend his book
_On Free Will_, against which I wrote my book _On the Enslaved Will_,
which as yet he has not refuted, and will never in eternity be able to
refute. This I know for certain, and I defy and challenge the devil
together with all his minions to refute it. For I am certain that it is
the immutable truth of God." (St. L. 20, 1081.) Despite numerous
endeavors, down to the pr