Writer · Early modern
Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam
c. 1466–1536 · Christian humanism
Died in communion with Rome; his collected works were placed on the Index by Paul IV (1559), later reduced to specified titles by Trent's Index (1564).
The prince of the humanists, Erasmus edited the Greek New Testament (1516), the Fathers, and a vast correspondence; in the Praise of Folly and the Colloquies he mocked monastic abuses, scholastic subtlety and superstition, and in the Enchiridion proposed a simple “philosophy of Christ” learned from Scripture. Against Luther he defended free will (De Libero Arbitrio, 1524), and he refused to leave the Church while refusing to stop criticizing it.
Why he matters: He is the model of the Catholic reformer who would not be a Protestant, and his biblical philology founded modern Catholic Scripture study; his impatience with dogma and with the sacramental and monastic life shows the limits of a reform by learning alone.
Where to be careful
The Index censured his skeptical tone on dogmatic definition, his satire of religious life, and passages on confession, fasting and the cult of saints. He was never a heretic, but “Erasmus laid the egg that Luther hatched” was a charge he felt keenly.
Reading
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The Praise of FollyErasmus · Still funny; the last pages on the folly of the Cross are the point.
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On Free Will (De Libero Arbitrio) with Luther's Bondage of the WillErasmus and Luther (ed. Rupp and Watson) · The debate that defined the Reformation.
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Erasmus of EuropeR. J. Schoeck · A thorough two-volume life; or Johan Huizinga's shorter classic.
Documented positions
Where this thinker stands on each dispute the test covers.