Erasmus, Desiderius

Abstract

Erasmus was the most important humanist of the sixteenth century. His work in theology and education deeply influenced the European culture of his times and of subsequent centuries. In theology and ecclesiology, he was a reformer, criticizing the doctrine of sacraments and condemning the existence of the religious orders and the role of their exponents as theologians, preachers, and inquisitors. He radically refused Scholastic theology as well. His view of Christianity and the Church as a community was an evangelical one, and he believed that salvation for mankind could only be found in Christ, understood as the Word of God made incarnate in the written words of the New Testament. For this reason, he dedicated his theological activity to the philological study of the text of the New Testament and to the works of the Church Fathers, making this the main purpose of his life. Conversely, he refused to join the Lutheran movement, which he considered schismatic, and condemned any form of aggressive dissent. He stayed faithful to the Pope of Rome, believing in a theological and moral reformation without rifts in the body of the universal (Catholic) Church. Alongside his theological work, his writings on education focused on the moral reform of Christian people. Children, women, common men, and men of power are the addressees of books that became classics (e.g., the Colloquies, first published in 1518). In line with his humanistic thinking, he greatly appreciated rhetoric as an excellent means of communication, whereas he considered dialectics a dangerous science. Many of his writings are conceived as examples of the art of rhetoric, and let his brilliant and creative style come through at its best. The Praise of Folly (first published in 1511) is the most famous of these examples.