Lutheran Conception on Freedom and the Counter-Reformation Doctrine: its Impact on Spanish Golden Age authors

The topic of free will flows across the plays, poems and texts by many our Spanish Golden Age authors. It is not a coincidence. The anthropological conception underlying many of our 16th and 17th century works stems from the dispute caused by Luther in relation to the denial of human freedom and the backlash produced by the Counter-Reformation doctrine. This paper presents a historical and theological journey from Luther's viewpoint towards our authors' advocacy of human freedom, which was reflected in many of their literary works.