Martin Luther and Desiderius Erasmus
The Protestant Reformer's Encounter with the Prince of the Humanists
Martin Luther originally sought to reform the corrupt Church of Medieval Christendom from within. For him, there was only one holy and apostolic Church administered under the spiritual direction of the papacy. However, the series of events that followed the publication of his 95 theses — in particular, the Diet of Worms — eventually forced him to break his ties with the Roman Catholic Church.
From this point forward, Luther became the default leader of the emerging Protestant movement. At this point in time, the movement had already become a separatist group that was primarily comprised of people who openly opted to join him in an effort to reform the church from within, only to find themselves seeking reform from a position outside the Church.
Erasmus' Protest Against the Protestants
Although sympathetic of the Protestant Reformation, the Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam openly disagreed with Luther's protestation against the Roman Catholic Church. Having earned the reputation to have been widely recognized as the prince of the humanists, Erasmus believed that the corruption of the Church had its source in obscurantism that came out of what historians would later identify as the Dark Ages.
His proposed solution to such a dark moment in the history of the Church was to recover the light that was lost through the furtherance of scholarship and education within the Church patterned after the program set by the most influential movement among the intellectual forces of the Renaissance, humanism. Along with his fellow humanists, he therefore sought to reform the Church by ushering in — through his literary career — people of Medieval Christendom into the original source of Christianity, namely the Bible.
Along with his Praise of Folly and Handbook of the Christian Soldier, the 1516 publication of Greek New Testament (otherwise known as Textus Receptus) was his greatest contribution. This became Luther's main reference for his own translation of the New Testament into German. (It must be noted that Erasmus' Greek New Testament was also the source text of the English reformer William Tyndale when he translated the New Testament into English. Furthermore, it was also the main source of reference of the English translation of the New Testament in the King James Version of the Bible).
Perhaps Erasmus' protest against the Protestants had its roots in his association with the Brethren of the Common Life, whose "modern devotion," as church history author Justo Gonzalez puts it, had left a profound imprint on him. He had this devotion combined with the Renaissance humanist spirit, out of which he formulated a spiritual discipline that aimed to subject passion under the rule of reason. While he criticized monasticism to have bred idleness and ignorance, he also refused to support what he personally perceived to be a somewhat emotionally driven movement of the Protestant Reformation.
Luther's Protest Against Erasmus
Erasmus longed to reform the Roman Catholic Church in terms of customs, practice of moderation and inward devotion characterized by learning and meditation. Although born out of wedlock to a Roman Catholic priest, he eventually won the admiration of scholars, nobles and monarchs throughout Europe. He did not lose hope to reform the Church from within.
Not so with Luther, who, at this point, had already made a choice to seek reform from without and protested against Erasmus' approach to the issues at hand. While he also respected and admired the prince of the humanist on account of his superior learning and cleverness, he did not hesitate to call him a coward, halfhearted and unsteady in purpose.
As a matter of fact, Luther solicited Erasmus' support for the Protestant Reformation, which the latter readily declined while at the same time unwilling to throw his support on the Catholics' attacks against the Protestants. In short, he rather preferred to stay neutral, so much so that while he had admirers in both sides of the controversies, he was only able to attract a very few followers.
Erasmus' letter to Laurinus in February 1523 fairly sums up his relationship with the Protestant Reformation in his own words, saying, "I doubt that either side in the dispute can be suppressed without grave loss ... But both sides reproach me and seek to coerce me. Some claim that since I do not attack Luther I agree with him, while the Lutherans declare that I am a coward who has forsaken the gospel."
Centuries later, people on both the Protestant and the Roman Catholic sides would hold him in great regard for his brilliant mind and great heart worthy of admiration, despite of his weaknesses.
References:
- Gonzalez, Justo. The Story of Christianity Volume 2. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1985.
- Schaff, Phillip. History of the Christian Church Volume VII. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995.
- Kreis, John Steven. "Desiderius Erasmus, 1466-1536" The History Guide: Lectures on Early Modern European Intellectual History.
Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam
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