Erasmus then and now -- by Ron Dart

 The name of Erasmus will never perish.

John Colet

Erasmus has published volumes more full of wisdom than any which Europe has seen for ages.

Thomas More

What would the Christian Church be like today if the guidance and wisdom of Erasmus in the early 16^th century had been followed rather than the reactionary protestant thinking of Luther or Calvin or the equally brittle response of the Roman Catholic stance at the Treaty of Trent? What is it about Erasmus that towers, Everest like, above the lesser peaks on all sides?

Erasmus was put on the Roman Catholic Index for raising hard questions about the tradition he refused to leave. Protestants were drawn to the incisive and prophetic like insights of Erasmus, but were irritated by the fact he would not break from Rome and the unity of the church.

What can Erasmus speak to us today across the long ridges of time? There are six areas I will briefly touch on in this brief overview.

First, Erasmus was, probably, the finest Biblical translator and exegete of the 16^th century. His translations were used by the reformers, and many have suggested that Erasmus laid the egg that Luther hatched. Erasmus took the authority of Christ and the Bible with great seriousness, but he never flinched from facing the hard sayings of the gospel (particularly the Sermon on the Mount).

Second, we live at a period of time when most Christians know little about the depth and history of the church. Amnesia does abound with all its dire consequences. There is also a movement in the Christian community to return to the Classical sources (ad fontes) of the faith. The Fathers of the Church (West and East) are held high. Erasmus was one of the finest Biblical and Patristic scholars in his time. He realized, though, that much hinged on how the Bible and the Fathers were interpreted and applied. Erasmus was a radical traditionalist. We have few of his type in our day. The culture wars between liberals and conservatives have blinded the church to the wisdom of radical conservatism. Perhaps Erasmus and his read of the Fathers can walk us out of such an impasse.  

Third, Erasmus would never be so reactionary as to set spirituality against religion (as do many today), or further fragment the church (the protestant genetic code) as do many emerging and postmodern church types. Erasmus was convinced that as the Father, Son and Spirit are one, so the church is to be a unified and integrated body. We desperately need to hear more from Erasmus and his ideas of the unity of the church in an age of further fragmentation and schism.

Fourth, Erasmus was a trenchant critic of war, and, more importantly, the way Christians fought one another in the name of the prince of peace. Christ’s name was used by all sides in both the theological and military battles of the 16^th century, and Erasmus was convinced this misuse and abuse of Christ, the Bible and the Great Tradition was an affront to the peacemaking imperative of Christ. It would be hard to imagine Erasmus blessing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in the name Christianity.

Fifth, Erasmus lived at a time when Muslims were being treated poorly by Christians, and when a form of Islamic militancy was afoot. Many Christians responded with equal force and hawk like armies. This was not the way of St. Francis in his time nor of Erasmus in the 16^th century. We face the same challenges in our time. What should be the Christian response to Islam? Erasmus has an alternate message for us if we have ears to hear. There are more options than the ‘clash of civilizations’.

Sixth, Erasmus threaded together, in a sensitive, mature and nuanced way a mystical theology that was grounded and rooted in the Bible and the golden river of the Fathers of the Church. He was critical yet loyal to the church, held high the importance of the unity of the body of Christ, and he had a passion for justice and peacemaking. There are not many of the caliber, depth or humanist breadth of Erasmus in the church today, but if the church is ever to be renewed, the integrated and committed vision of Erasmus will need to be front and centre.

Ron Dart        

 

Comments

[jan]

what do y'all make of this?

Plato, by way of Erasmus...

there is nothing fairer
nothing more to be admired,
than wisdom,
which, if it could be seen by the corporeal eye, would draw to itself and incredible number of worshippers.

[Brad Jersak]

A good place to start is the Colloquies of Erasmus, the text of which can be found online. E.g.

http://www.archive.org/stream/selectcolloquie00erasgoog#page/n54/mode/2up

Brilliant irony abounds.

[Brian Zahnd]

Thank you, Ron. How about some suggested reading?

[jan]

... as the Father, Son and Spirit are one, so the church is to be a unified and integrated body.

is there a truer chord than this?

thank you.