The debate between Erasmus and Luther is one of the earliest of the Reformation over the issue of free will and predestination, between synergism and monergism, as well as on scriptural authority and human assertion.

He likewise contended that divine grace first called, led, and assisted humans in coming to the knowledge of God, and then supported them as they then used their free will to make choices between good and evil, and enabled them to act on their choices for repentance and good, which in turn could lead to salvation through the atonement of Jesus Christ (synergism).

[5] Luther's response was to claim that original sin incapacitates human beings from working out their own salvation, and that they are completely incapable of bringing themselves to God.

In either case there is no 'free choice'.Luther concluded that unredeemed human beings are dominated by obstructions; Satan, as the prince of the mortal world, never lets go of what he considers his own unless he is overpowered by a stronger power, i.e. God.

For Protestant historian Philip Schaff "It is one of his most vigorous and profound books, full of grand ideas and shocking exaggerations, that border on Manichaeism and fatalism.

Philosopher John Smith claims "Despite the force of Luther's arguments, in many ways Erasmus carried the day by laying the foundation for historico-philological biblical criticism—and so Luther's warnings, as some religious figures and communities stress to this day, were all too accurate, since Erasmus's Humanism did set the ball rolling down a problematic slippery slope toward nonbelief.

Luther did not answer Hyperaspistes, and it never gained widespread scholarly engagement or popular recognition, not even being translated into English for almost 500 years.

Luther was proud of his On the Bondage of the Will, so much so that in a letter to Wolfgang Capito written on 9 July 1537, he said: Regarding [the plan] to collect my writings in volumes, I am quite cool and not at all eager about it because, roused by a Saturnian hunger, I would rather see them all devoured.