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The greatest figure of Christian Humanism

Erasmus of Rotterdam, baptized Desiderius Erasmus, was born on October 28, 1466 in the city of Rotterdam. Dutch theologian and writer, he devoted his entire life to the cause of internal reform in the Catholic Church. His dream was a united spiritual Europe, with a common language that would bring all people together. The son of a religious and a woman from the bourgeoisie, he dedicated his life to theology, attending the Seminary of the Augustinian Monks. Later, however, he criticized monastic life, the clergy and the Church.

Acclaimed “Prince of Humanists”, Erasmus of Rotterdam was considered the greatest figure of Christian humanism. Humanists no longer accepted the values and ways of being and living of the Middle Ages. The source of aspiration of these authors was the cultural production of Greco-Roman antiquity.

In 1492 he was consecrated a priest, even criticizing the monastic life and the characteristics that he considered negative for the Catholic Church. In 1495, Erasmus secured a scholarship to Paris and entered the famous College of Montaigu, annexed to the Sorbonne. There he studied for the degree of Doctor of Theology. Dissatisfied with hostilities to the new ideas coming from Italy, he dropped out of the course. He began teaching seeking his independence.

His anticlericalism manifested itself in the form of a scathing critique of the religious life of his time, more specifically, of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, particularly the Roman curia. Humanists also disparaged the medieval scholasticism so widespread in their day. They preferred practical matters related to society and civic life to the philosophical and rationalist discussions that had taken hold in European universities.

Dedicated to reading the classics, he became one of the most cultured men of the time. For him, pagans like Cicero and Socrates deserved the name of saints much more than many Christians canonized by the pope. “Saint Socrates, pray for us”, was his famous motto.

All healthy education is education without religious control

Like other humanists, Erasmus believed that the moral advancement of humanity was possible through education. For him, moral conduct should be a kind of test of truth in matters of doctrine. For this reason, he is seen more as a moral reformer than a doctrinaire is.

Even though his life as a teacher was short, education remained, a lifelong interest and a central theme in his writings (see especially Margolin 1995). Erasmus trusted in the potential of human beings for the pursuit of improvement that, in his view, was a consequence of the acceptance of free will. The power of the will was preponderant in creation over nature. Therefore, it was the duty of parents and teachers to ensure that children fulfill their potential and of adults to live up to it.

Erasmus advocated ending religious dominance in education. He defended the knowledge of the classics as well as the autonomy of knowledge in relation to religion. He believed that the best way to solve the Church's problems was a smoother rebirth through the purifying benefits of education, knowledge, and prayer. These ideas were revealed in chapter 1504 of his book Enchiridion Militis Christiani (Handbook of the Christian Soldier).

His disagreements with theological dogmatism began early, still in Paris, at the Montaigu College. Like other humanists, he opposed the obscurantism and intolerance of religious orders, becoming one of the central figures of Renaissance Humanism.

Erasmus' liberalizing stance removed him for the last time from dogmatism and led him to a moderate reformist position, in which he made room for tolerance as the only viable basis for transforming the church.

Forerunner of Church Reformation

In 1499, in England, he met Thomas More and they became lifelong friends. He studied Greek at Oxford and became friends with the humanist John Colet. Erasmus idealized, together with Thomas More and Colet, the project of restoration of theology, with new editions of the sacred texts, from Greek and Latin.

Colet accelerated Erasmus' ambition to be a "primitive theologian," one who would expound Scripture not in the argumentative manner of the Scholastics, but in the manner of St. was still understood and practiced. He returned to the continent with a Latin copy of the Epistles of St. Paul and the conviction that “ancient theology” required mastery of Greek.

In 1500, he published Adagios, a collection of Latin quotations and proverbs. For the time, the work represented the maximum in popular literature and made the name of the author famous.

The wandering life took him back to Paris, where he devoted himself to the study of the New Testament. He returned to England in 1505. In 1506, already in Italy, he obtained the “papal dispensation of obedience to the customs and statutes of the Convent of Steyn”. In Rome, he frequented the intellectual circle of Pope Julius II, but confessed that he was horrified by the pope's triumphal entry into Bologna. Convinced that the bellicose Julius II was Caesar's successor and not Christ's, and with the expansion of papal power, he felt the need for reform in the church.

Erasmus' greatest theological contribution and the real spark of what would become the Protestant Reformation was, of course, the publication of his edition of the New Testament in Greek, in 1516. He intended, with it, to replace that of Jerome. However, his ambition to become a revived Jerome was thwarted by the Council of Trent, which in 1559 condemned the Latin translation. Even so, he achieved immortality, as his editing of the Greek text was the basis for different Protestant translations and became known as the Textus Receptus.

Johann Froben, his editor, as the first published Greek edition, marketed Erasmus’ edition. Erasmus expressed, in the preface to the work, that he wanted every person to have the chance to read the Bible.

Although it is considered the first modern edition of the New Testament in that language, a bilingual (Greek and Latin) edition of the entire Bible, which was printed two years earlier and became known as the Completeness Polyglot, preceded it.

His effort to publish the New Testament in the original language came about because of the humanist influences that existed at the time. This Renaissance movement, which began in Italy, fueled enthusiasm for the study of classical art. For this reason, there was a peculiar interest in “returning to the sources”, prioritizing literary works in their original language.

He possibly, contributed the most to laying the foundations of the Protestant Reformation movement. While he gave significant impetus to the study of the Bible, he also exposed monastic fanaticism and ignorance, as well as ecclesiastical abuses.

Despite this, he never declared himself a reformer in the Protestant sense of the term. He even announced “war” against Luther. Although he continued to disagree with Rome in many respects, he did not dissociate himself from it. His desire was a reformation within the church and the papacy.

Erasmus anticipated in his literary works several concepts that would later be considered typical principles of the Protestant Reformation, such as religious individualism; that is, the notion that true religion consists of inward devotion rather than outward symbols of ceremonies and rituals.

Because of his positions in relation to the Church, he acquired enemies on both sides, which brought him bitterness at different times in his life. However, none of this prevented him from becoming highly respected throughout Europe. His life, works and theological opinions are necessary objects of study for anyone who wants to know more deeply the origins of the Protestant Reformation.

Erasmus versus Luther

Erasmus' relationship with the Lutheran Reformation was complex. At first, he favored changes in the church and sympathized with criticisms of it by the radical reformer Martin Luther. He also disagreed with those who, in addition to Luther, emphasized the dependence of human agency on the divine will. In 1524, he published his famous essay on free will De Libero Animal (Of Free Will), opposing Luther, for whom people did not freely choose their salvation but were the subjects of predestination. Luther responded with violence and this caused a rift between them.

Erasmus wrote the work when he was in Basel, Switzerland, living there since 1521. The city became such a hotbed of radical reformers that Catholic worship was banned there. In 1529, he moved to Freiburg, Germany, where he worked at the Catholic university. He returned to Basel in 1535.

Erasmus did not attach great importance to Luther's 95 theses nailed to a church door, but he agreed with the criticism of the sale of indulgences. In many of his works, he had already formulated Luther's convictions, against the mechanical practice of rites and the fetishistic cult of saints and relics, which replace religion based on piety.

Erasmus piously believed in the Bible and revered it as divine revelation. For him, Scripture was the true source of theology and devotion. However, he lacked a deeper understanding of sin and grace. These doctrines occupied Luther's thought most closely. Indeed, Erasmus and Luther differed in several respects. “Erasmus was eighteen years older than Luther, and he was at the height of his fame when the reformer began his work. He differed from Luther as Jerome differed from Augustine […]. Erasmus was essentially a scholar, Luther a reformer; the first was absorbed in Literature, the other in religion. Erasmus aimed at enlightenment, Luther at reconstruction. The former developed the intellect of an educated person; the second touched the hearts of the people. Erasmus fought for freedom of thought; Luther, for liberty of conscience” (History of the Christian Church, v. 7, p. 412).

Praise of Madness

Installed in the house of his friend Thomas More, in London, he wrote, in 1509, Praise of Madness. The work brings a critique made in an ironic, but objective and direct way, to the customs of the Christian faith preached by the Catholic Church of the time, without attacking anyone personally. Erasmus presents Madness as a goddess who calls herself the great responsible for the delights that the human being wants to obtain in the world. In addition, it is Madness who speaks in his name, who places herself in an unassailable position and allows him every audacity.

Indignant at the pagan luxury of the popes' cities, where open criticism could lead to the stake, Erasmus used his madness to denounce all these abuses. He used to say how many material treasures the holy fathers would abandon, if judgment one day took possession of their spirit. Without a doubt, Praise of Madness is a masterpiece. It was published in 1511 and dedicated to his friend Thomas More.

While in Paris, Erasmus became known as an excellent scholar and speaker. One of his pupils, William Blunt, Baron Montjoy, granted him a pension, allowing him to adopt a life of independent scholar, from town to town teaching, lecturing and corresponding with some of Europe's most brilliant thinkers.

Erasmus died without coming to an understanding of many truths that would be restored during the following centuries. As the Bible mentions in Proverbs 4:18, the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until the perfect day. Although he was a great scholar and became the great expression of Christian humanism at the time, he also had his limitations. However, it is not possible to measure the value of his contribution, especially that of his publication of the Greek New Testament. God, in His infinite wisdom, knows how to use each person's talents.

Works by Erasmus of Rotterdam

Erasmus was a wise and avid reader. He wrote several literary, philosophical and religious works of which the following stand out:

Christian Knight's Handbook
Praise of Madness
Christian Parents
Family Colloquiums
The Navigations of the Ancients
Preparation for Death

Although Erasmus is not considered by many scholars to be a reformer in the strictest sense of the term, his influence on many reformers cannot be denied. His interest in the classical arts and languages, as well as his emphasis on education as a means of overcoming the low morality of his day, markedly influenced the theology of the Reformers and their message that each person should know the Bible for himself.

On his deathbed, he was visited by three friends, which reminded him of Job's experience. Erasmus died on July 12, 1536, and is buried in Basel Cathedral, Switzerland.