Latomus and Luther : The Debate

Who was Jacob Latomus? What did he write in the series of lectures to which Luther penned an answer in 1521, an answer which is now so central to many interpretations of the great reformer? And how is the reading of that answer affected when it is preceded by an interpretation of what Latomus wrote? These are the fundamental questions asked in the present study. The task undertaken is to give a theological and historical account of the dispute between the two men in 1521, with the emphasis on Luther. Some of the historical preconditions for the dispute, and especially areading of Latomus' work, forms the background for an interpretation of Luther's Antilatomus.