To Trust or Not To Trust Erasmus?
“Before Luther was known, everyone liked Erasmus.” This commentary made by Stunica reflects how many opinions of Erasmus’ works and defenses shifted into a different pedestal of criticism. In one of Erasmus’s letters responding to Luther, it is not hard to notice how utterly disturbed he was with being associated with Luther’s radicalism and much worse, being blamed for all of it. The situation was taken personally offensive to Erasmus and severe enough for him to have said, “No words of mine could describe the storm raised here by your books. Even now it is impossible to root from men’s minds the most groundless suspicion that your work is written with assistance from me and that I am, as they all it,
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He was seen in their eyes to be crafty in his method of defense, and didn’t officially become a heretic. Some seemed to believe Erasmus wasn’t so much of a troublemaker as much as one who desired unnecessary attention by means of writing radical nonsense. In other words, he should have been penalized, but was never penalized. They probably wondered why he was still considered a part of the Roman Catholic Church. Two witnesses expressed this sense of frustration: one from Edward Lee and the other from Stunica. Lee characterizes Erasmus as an expert of manipulation saying that, “He uses artificial praise as an incentive to make some-one study literature or keep wavering friend within the bounds of duty, but if someone does not understand this gentle, being preoccupied with ambition and blinded by a desire for recognition, he drops the pretense and uses open criticism.” It seemed to really bother Lee that Erasmus wouldn’t make his direct point in the first place, and wish he would. His astute method by what E. Rummel described as his four tactics, is what saved Erasmus from becoming an official …show more content…
Eustachius’ insight, according to Augustijn, “can help us to read the Enchiridion with the eyes of his contemporaries.” His fear was a hypothetical one: one fear was if the traditional ways of the church become inferior to a person’s inner devotion to God from coming primarily from the heart, Christianity would become too internalized and therefore loose its rich, liturgical historical significance along with it’s appreciation for it. This does not mean that Eustachius only believed in true devotion to God by the outward practices alone, but he argued for the case of the external and internal belonging together to express devotion to God. In the eyes of Eustachius, to place the outward, liturgical practices as less important was to loose what was the core of religion. The bodily and symbolic practices of the church were no doubt, almost everything that defined religion for Eustachius. Jacques Etienne even defined Erasmus’s idea of true piety as “religion of the pure spirit.” This was not exactly the intention of Erasmus, but it is how those who were familiar or read the Enchiridion perceived his point. Whether this was an honest critique or not isn’t very clear. It sounds as if Eustachius gave an honest examination, and it’s possible that he did, but many other critiques have also held the appearances of saving the church, when really they yearned to
Everyone has aspirations; whether they are ginormous or microscopic, they hold a great deal of importance in our lives. They become so important that with adherence and diligence, a person has the ability to set their mind to anything. It is absolutely true that when a person tries to reach a goal, they are going to experience a few obstacles here and there; this is the time when they must step it up a notch and fight their way to the top. In this particular book, a man named Desiderius Erasmus must fight to keep the worldwide body of Christians united as Catholicism attempts to tear the people apart, limb-by-limb.
Roland H. Bainton opens the door to the life of Martin Luther one the greatest theologians of all time. Dr. Bainton, who was a minister along with serving as a faculty member for forty-two years at Yale’s school of Divinity. Mr. Bainton celebrates the life of this great Christian leader, by bringing to life one of the greatest events in the history of the Christian church and society which was the Great Reformation of the fifteen hundreds. The church-history changing act of nailing his 95 theses to the church door of Wittenberg on October 31, 1517 set Luther on course to become a man worthy of study by those who follow him and seek biblical truth. In Dr. Bainton’s work “Here I Stand” we will investigate Martin Luther’s stand
James Kittelson’s biography on the life of Luther is thought provoking and informative. Kittelson does not have a concise thesis, but as it is a biography the central theme of Luther the Reformer is an insightful narrative of Martin Luther’s life from his birth in Eisleben until his death on February 18, 1546 in Eisleben. Kittelson thoroughly and with great detail and sources explains Luther’s mission to reform the catholic church. Luther the Reformer seeks to condense Luther’s life in a manner which is more easily read for those who do not know the reformer’s story well. Luther is portrayed not only as a theologian throughout the book, but as a person with struggles and connections throughout the Germanic region in which he lived. Luther’s theology is portrayed throughout the entirety of the book, and Kittelson approaches Luther’s theology by explaining Luther’s past. The inclusion of
First, before exploring Luther’s rejection of the peasant revolt, one must examine his explanation of Christian freedom. Written in 1520, The Freedom of a Christian proclaimed the new freedom to be found in salvation by faith alone. His doctrine liberated people from works but also from the laws of the Old Testament. Salvation was found in the promise of Go...
Chapter twelve, about Erasmus and Luther, exemplified the interesting, clear, and informative way in which Wolf created his work. Although there are many other examples in Wolf's book as to how these aspects ring true to his purpose, I chose chapter two as only one reason. The question stated: To what extent is it possible to reform an institution from within? What intellectual and personal qualities cause some people to be more radical than others, and what are the implications of such differences in history (p.113).? After reading the essay, one might say that a person could go as far as possible to make something like reforms happen; but people may stand in his/her way. However, if that person is willing to lose or gain anything, such as excommunication from his/her Church or an increase of enemies, then he/she will extend to the distance needed. The essay answer also informed the reader of more general information, not solely facts on Erasmus and Luther. Readers learned that intellect and intelligence are not all that bring historical greatness. Personal qualities such as dominance, determination, perseverance, morality and empathy all play a role in making a difference in history. Some of these qualities can make the situation more radical than expected. Although Erasmus and Luther landed on the...
No one can deny, after his Ninety-Five Theses, Martin Luther was on the road to serious reform, but he wasn't always on that track. He was born in 1483, the son of a coal miner and had a strong will from the beginning of his life (Mullett, 26). In his childhood, Luther was sometimes beaten up to 15 times in a morning while attending school. Martin Luther's father had first arranged for him to be a lawyer and began training him for this even at an early age, insisting that he learn Latin (Mullett, 29). In 1505, he received his master's degree and upon his fathers wishes he enrolled in law school at the University of Erfurt. That same year though, he would become derailed after a traumatic experience on his way home from school to his parent's house. As Martin Luther was walking home, he suddenly became trapped in a terrible lightning s...
Luther begins this memorandum by placing the blame of the peasants’ heinous behavior not on the peasants themselves, but on the excess of the Church that has spread falsities among them. In this assumption, Luther accuses the church of “what [peasants] had in their false minds, and that the pretences which they made in their twelve articles, under the name of the Gospel, were nothing but lies.” The ...
As we look to the different points of view between Luther and Erasmus, we will begin looking at Discourse on Free Will. As Luther states, “You make the power of free will small and utterly ineffective apart from the grace of God. Acknowledged? Now then, I ask you: If God’s of power, what can it do for itself? You say it is ineffective and can do nothing good. Therefore it will not do what God or His grace wills” (Bloomsbury, Luther 116). Luther makes such a point to say everything very meticulously in a specific way to convey his true question or intent of that specific statement. Luther’s opinion on free will is simply that we have none. He specifically believes that since we do not have free will, we must rely simply on God’s grace to lead us down the right path for we do not have the opportunity to make our own path.
If we look at Kaplan’s book as a summary of most of the events that we have discussed throughout the class this semester, it helps solidify the complexity of the reformation in early modern Europe. It fits along the lines that recent historians have argued that traditional views on toleration and the reformation are outdated and need to be more closely examined. When viewed from all angles (or at least the ones we can look at) the reformation takes on a very vast and difficult social, political, and religious situation that will be continually revisited.
This chapter tells about Erasmus. Their relationship with Luther, disagreed with that at the time was evaluated like blasphemy. The truth is that despite the fact that they started their way from one point, they went very different ways. Also, here it is said about how Erasmus gave answers, hoping to find the answer in the labyrinth of free will. According to Erasmus, the idea of free will comes from the Scriptures, while Luther argued that no such thing as "free will" exists, but there is only "pure necessity.» Also, Erasmus asserts that he is the enemy of certain beliefs in contrast to Luther, and that it does not come at odds with the Church and the Scriptures it would have been skeptical. Also, Erasmus says that he even be hearing, deaf
Luther, a pastor and professor at the University of Wittenberg, deplored the entanglement of God’s free gift of grace in a complex system of indulgences and good works. In his Ninety-five Theses, he attacked the indulgence system, insisting that the pope had no authority over purgatory and that the doctrine of the merits of the saints had no foundation in the gospel. Here lay the key to Luther’s concerns for the ethical and theological reform of the church: Scripture alone is authoritative (sola sciptura) and justification is by faith (sola fide), not by works. While he did not intend to break with the Catholic church, a confrontation with the papacy was not long in coming. In 1521 Luther was excommunicated; what began as an internal reform movement had become a fracture in western
During Luther’s early life he faced a severe inner crisis. When he sinned he looked for comfort in confession and followed the penance, the fasting, prayer and observances that the church directed him. But, he found no peace of mind and worried about his salvation. But reading St. Paul’s letters he came to believe that salvation came though faith in Christ. Faith is a free gift, he discovered, it cannot be earned. His studies led him to a conclusion that, “Christ was the only mediator between God and a man and that forgiveness of sin and salvation are given by god’s grace alone” (Martin Luther, 01). Historians agree that, “this approach to theology led to a clash between Luther and the Church officials, precipitating the dramatic events of Reformation”.
From the Catholic observation point, the Church presents two parts: One representing its divine nature as the untarnished body of Christ, and one direc...
...void money at all costs, but many cannot resist women or wine, all without recognizing the hypocrisy. It is important to note that while the observance of these superficial rules makes men of religion and monks think that they are getting closer to the original ideals of Christianity, they are actually straying farther from one of Christianity’s most basic principles, simplicity. Each monk points to his own sacrifices and particularities of faith, never remembering that Christ judges each based off of his own standard of charity. However, the thing which Erasmus criticizes the most about monks, and one of the biggest sources of corruption he sees in the church, that they hold the key to the confessional. They know that they hold the power to rectify a person’s relationship with God, and can abuse this power freely, despite the fact that this is highly immoral.
Erasmus was raised by his mother through boyhood and, at the age of nine, attended the school of the famous humanist Hegius at Deventer. At the age of 13, his mother died; soon after, his father followed in her footsteps. Left orphaned, the boy’s guardians sent him to the monastery school of Hertogenbosch for two years. As a youth, he demonstrated anticipation in the learning of Latin, theology, and elegant writing styles, though he later called his time at Hertogenbosch “two wasted years.”