Christian Humanism

511 Words2 Pages

Christian Humanism

Christian humanism was the humanists’ efforts to unite classical

learning with the Christian faith. The Christian humanists rejected what they

regarded as medieval Christianity’s excessive emphasis on other

worldliness. They desired to bring their knowledge of the classical languages

to bear in their effort to attain a deeper knowledge and understanding of the

Christian faith. Christian humanism was properly nothing but a reclaiming

of the basic inheritance of history and the natural connection of culture

with the religious vistas of the human being.

Desiderius Erasmus was probably one of the biggest and most

outstanding of the Christian humanists. He was known as the “Prince of the

Humanists”. He mostly devoted his life to classical studies. His Adages, a

collection of Latin proverbs, established his scholarly reputation. Most of his

other early works attacked corrupt church practices and the scholasticism

developed by churchmen. In the Praise of Folly, his most famous work,

made fun of many attitudes of his time which were ignorance , superstition ,

and greed.

Another big time humanist was Thomas More. An English

statesman and writer, known for his religious stance against King Henry

VIII costed him his life. He was England’s greatest humanist. More’s most

famous work Utopia described an ideal world where society was based on

reason and ignorance. The citizens practiced a Christianity that was free of

ignorance and superstition. There was no private property and no desire for

profit and there was no war except in self-defense. More contrasted this

society with the evils existing in his own society.

These Christian humanists had similar characteristics and helped

Martin Luther in his reformation process. They both wanted huge reform in

the Roman Catholic Church. In Erasmus’s Colloquia his continuing assaults

on the evils and errors of the church authorities and on superstition made

him vulnerable to the accusation that he was a Lutheran. They both used and

emphasized on scripture. Even though Erasmus denied being a Lutheran and

at times even verbally attacked Luther, he is often regarded as a precursor of

the Reformation. The humanists work in translating and analyzing original

sources often uncovered discrepancies among these sources, which led to

questions about the Catholic Church's practices and encouraged efforts for

reform. Erasmus got this ball rolling and Luther just blew it up. There was

just one difference between Erasmus and Luther. Christian humanists

believed strongly in the unity of the church and the preservation of a

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