Erasmus, Desiderius

Average customer rating:

The Ongoing Debate
The Christian Robot
Required Reading for Pastors
Must have
Is Scripture clear about election?

The Bondage of the Will
Martin Luther
Manufacturer: Revell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Religion & Spirituality Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Luther's Ninety-Five Theses
Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther
Evangelism & the Sovereignty of God
Institutes of the Christian Religion (Two Volumes in One)
Chosen by God

ASIN: 0800753429

Book Description

Acknowledged by theologians as one of the great masterpieces of the Reformation, Martin Luther's Bondage of the Will was also Luther's favorite work. Luther responds to Desiderius Erasmus' Diatribe on Free Will with the bluntness, genius, sarcasm, and spirituality that were as much a part of his writing as they were of his colorful personality. Luther writes lucidly on the themes of man's inability and God's ability, man's depravity and God's sovereignty. The crucial issue for Luther concerned what ability free will has, and to what degree it is subject to God's sovereignty. Luther's doctrine of salvation pivoted on this key issue. Is man able to save himself, or is his salvation completely a work of divine grace? This work will long remain among the great theological classics of Christian history. Bondage of the Will was first published in 1525, eight years after Luther penned his Ninety-Five Theses.

Customer Reviews:

The Ongoing Debate.......2007-04-23

I purchased Luther's book for my "Formation of Modern Christianity" class and am in the process of using it to write my term paper on the debate between Erasmus and Luther on the issue of free will. Luther does an excellent job in this book when presenting his case for the bondage of free will by demonstrating that humans are completely depraved and cannot choose salvation, therefore we do not have the free will to do both good and evil, but only evil. Buy this book if you want a clear picture on this ongoing debate, but make sure to also purchase "Discourse on Free Will" to gain a picture of Erasmus' point of view, as well.

The Christian Robot.......2007-03-09

The Bondage of the Will is necessary reading for anyone seeking to understand the roots of Protestant theology. I am a Catholic and found most of what Luther wrote to be poorly based and unscriptural, however, his treatise on the bondage of the will did serve to stress once again the Pauline doctrine of justification by grace alone. This doctrine which teaches that there is nothing a man can do to begin, promote, or accomplish his justification before God, but that justification is initiated, begun, and brought to fulfillment completely through God's grace has been Catholic doctrine from the beginning. Tragically, this doctrine was muddied and distorted by the late Scholastic theology of the "via moderna" - the only theology Luther was really familiar with. Apparently Luther knew very little if any Christian theology pre-dating the 14th Century. The doctrine of justification by faith alone appeared to him therefore as a novelty; something he had "rediscovered." This doctrine, however, is not what the Catholic Church took issue with. It was Luther's insistence that even after justification a man remains totally corrupt. Luther makes plain in this text that even subsequent to justification any good a person accomplishes is done without any human input; all good actions are accomplished by God alone. Luther is very unclear in his explanation of how this occurs. He says man's nature is changed, regenerated, and wills only good after justification, but somehow the man is also evil and deserves only eternal damnation. It is only by the grace of God he is spared this. What part of the man remains evil Luther doesn't clarify. If it is God alone that works the good in us according to our new nature and we have absolutely no ability to reject God's grace and action in our lives (just as under Satan we have absolutely no say in whether we sin since we are then ruled by Satan), we are not only in effect, but in our innermost being nothing more than automatons without any inherent meaning to our existence. Luther makes it extremely clear that in his view man has no free will after justification. He is "free" in the sense that he operates according to his nature, but he has no ability to act otherwise. That man is most free when he acts in accord with his nature has always been Catholic doctrine, but at no time in history did Christianity teach, and nowhere in the Bible does it say man cannot turn away from God or reject his grace. Believing this makes the Bible, indeed the whole of existence, an exercise in futility. Why would Jesus die for men whom he causes to sin necessarily? Why would he have to? Luther says this is part of God's "hidden Majestic will" that we have no right to question. He frequently sites Paul's words in Romans 9:14-25 and 11.33-36 in justification of this attitude, but Paul is clearly speaking in these passages of God's providential guidance of history and peoples - not the justification and salvation of individuals. Luther claims to be in agreement with St. Augustine, but anyone who has read Augustine knows there are scarcely two men more distant in thought. Augustine, as all Christianity, held that once an individual is justified he truly becomes a new creation capable of freely choosing the good through the grace of Christ. This action is done through the power of God's grace, yet it is truly the individual's own action as well. Furthermore, as Paul makes clear in numerous passages, an individual always possesses the ability to reject Christ even subsequent to justification. Although Luther claimed his doctrine of "necessity of immutability" offered consolation to those perturbed by conscience, in reality it creates a universe in which we have no control over our own destiny, all things are determined apart from us, and God damns or glorifies those whom he chooses on an absolutely arbitrary basis. I cannot see how this can be comforting, let alone "good news." Luther holds that simply because God has foreseen all things from eternity that everything happens of necessity. He makes a gigantic blunder in confusing God's eternal vision from outside time with the free operations of persons within time. Simply because we remember something from yesterday, it doesn't follow that we caused it to happen. In the same way, because God sees all things due to his being outside time, it doesn't follow that he caused them directly. He allows men to freely choose to reject his grace. He created us free and desires all men to be saved and offers all men his grace. Luther is absolutely right in saying man can do nothing to save himself - it is all grace, but he can do something to cause his damnation - he can reject this grace when it is offered to him each day of his life. Perhaps it was providential, though, that Luther stressed "grace alone." Much Christian theology had drifted far from this gospel truth. Finally, I found Luther's caustic sarcasm hard to stomach. I'm not a fan of Erasmus (to whom Luther was responding and who did a poor job of defining the Catholic position), but Luther's anathemas and ad hominem attacks detracted considerably from a book that would otherwise have been quite enjoyable to read.

Required Reading for Pastors.......2006-11-06

This fascinating book explores the question of just how much "free will" humans actually have in the light of God's will and sovereignty. With modern man's insistence on their own dominion over their own destinies, it is good and necessary to examine the scriptural evidence to the contrary. The question is, as fallible humans, are we going to place our trust in how things feel to us, or in the infallible, unshakeable Word of God? May we return the glory to Him unto whom it is due!

Must have.......2006-10-07

A must have resource for the serious student of theology on the topic of free will and predestination - two of the most perplexing questions of the Christian faith. This is a collection of responses from Martin Luther to objections raised to his views on the topic. The objections that were raised then are raised now and will be to the end of time. Read Luther's response and search the scriptures yourself to find the truth.

Is Scripture clear about election?.......2006-07-05

In this masterpiece, Luther does not merely explicate those Scriptures teaching unconditional election, but he also makes the crucial distinction between God's hidden will, which we are forbidden to pry into, and his will to save all, revealed to us in the proclamation of the good news of Christ's death for the sins of the world.

Luther struck at the root of the uncertainty of Erasmus concerning election: the latter scholar saw Scripture as unclear, with some passages favoring election and others favoring free will. In fact, a section on Scripture's perspicuity undermines Calvinists' appeals to the book for support. For in it, Luther put the Reformed "heretics" in the same category as the Arians and the likes of Erasmus: each of the three groups respectively read figures of speech into Scripture instead of believing what it said about the Real Presence, the full deity of Christ, or the total depravity of man. (My "Comment" clarifies this.)

Average customer rating:

A modest disclaimer
A Modest Satire
Perhaps there is hope for us all.
Couldn't finish it!
This fool is too wise

Praise of Folly (Penguin Classics)
Desiderius Erasmus
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Essays | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Reference Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Religion & Spirituality Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Ethical Writings: His Ethics or "Know Yourself" and His Dialogue Between a Philosopher, a Jew and a Christian
The Heidelberg Catechism With Scripture Texts
Nature and Grace Selections from the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas
Bonaventure: The Soul's Journey into God, the Tree of Life, the Life of St. Francis (The Classics of Western Spirituality)
Anselm of Canterbury: The Major Works (Oxford World's Classics)

ASIN: 0140446087

Book Description

A satire on the pretensions of Erasmus's contemporaries in the Church and philosophy

Customer Reviews:

A modest disclaimer .......2005-01-12

"It is not wisdom to be always wise, and on the inward vision close the eyes" That is Santayana's wisdom. To play with it a bit ," It is not foolish always to be a fool, and on the outward shows and games of mankind make endless mockery. For who is the fool in the one place we are all to go?"
I remember reading this work in graduate school. A dutiful plodder wondering why I was not laughing out loud and being so amused. Rather I was falling asleep inside and finding the dull complaints of Erasmus a kind of spiritless exercise in predictable dumping on all things.
Alas, I am usually apologetic about not understanding works generations of mankind consider classics. But in this case I will make a modest disclaimer. This one is not in my eyes a great one, not even a very good one.
And now to another complaint. The great tolerant Erasmus who could see the folly of human greed and vanity and prejudice everywhere was himself quite vain and greed and prejudiced in regard to one very small minority of 'Europeans' who can claim to be the most persecuted people in the history of mankind. Why should I sing the praises of someone who hates me?
The bootsteps of Nazism march to the tune that Erasmus and Voltaire the two great ' liberators' of European mankind sing.
I have no praise for Erasmus folly and his wickedness in this.

A Modest Satire.......2004-05-28

Praise of Folly is what it was intended to be, a modest satire, not a masterwork. Erasmus was an interesting and accomplished man - one of the lights of his age. However, this work, written, basically, on a lark for his good friend, Thomas More, is a little difficult for the modern reader but is still, at times, quite humorous. Unlike the work of Jonathon Swift (many years later) there's little reason to read this unless you're a student of the period.

Perhaps there is hope for us all........2003-03-25

Granted this is pretty dry reading. Erasmus may not be the greatest writer. This does make for a turgid evening if one plans or desires to read it from cover to cover in one sitting. That said, Erasmus rode (if not found himself starting) the beginning wave of the great reformation. In his writings (which bear a not so slight foreshadowing to the great C.S. Lewis) Erasmus gives hope for all of us sinners in the guise of wit. An important addition to any library of classical literature.

Couldn't finish it!.......2003-02-22

Sorry, I tried several times to read this book. I hunted for passages that might interest me. Unfortunately, all I found was [the author] blowing his own horn. But then fantasy and science is about all that interests me. I'm sure someone with a historical bent would find this tale exhilarating.

This fool is too wise.......2003-01-23

To say the book has less than perfect unity in tone, as was written in the introduction, pg xv, is an understatement. The reader is never sure whether it is Folly or Erasmus who is talking. Perhaps for the goddess of Folly, contradictions and inconsistencies are the very follies desired - how are we mortals to tell?

And that is what we have here - all the inconsistencies, as, for example, mentioned in pages xiv-xv of the introduction again, that Erasmus wrote with the learned sophistry he denied schoolmen, philosophers, courtiers, theologians and monks. It's almost like Lao-Tzu and his Tao-Te Ching which includes the famous "The name that can be named is not the eternal name; the Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao," only to have a later poet, Po Chi-Yi, quip about the 10,000 word effort to say what cannot be said in the first place. Yes, he did say at the end that 'I hate an audience that won't forget,' but that's not a courtesy he proffered to his opponents, of whom the criticism by Erasmus seems caviling, carping and nitpicking. He should have emulated his inpiration, Lucian with his 'philosophers for sale,' and made points simple like that here. It would be unfair, though tempting, to think that Erasmus took Quitillian to heart (pg. 81, 'what can't be refuted can often be parried in laughter') and disguised his voice in silly chaos for what has not been thought out cogently.

So, one is not quite sure whether wasting away a life in idleness, corruption or avarice as priests, bishops and monks are wont to do is the same kind of folly as the folly that comes from the innocence of the simple minded people or children, since Erasmus never quite made it crystal clear. Do we praise folly here but condemn it otherwise - without unity of tone and consistency of the vantage point of the writer, the whole thing just becomes a mess of confusion.

What Erasmus wanted to say does deserve our attention, but one wishes that he could have done it in a more fluid style and without all that pretentious classical references, for unlike Lucian, he lived not in that period. And certainly it could be better organized into chapters and sections, and used some editing to eliminate the endless repetitions, ensure consistency and unity of tone. Casson's 'Selected Satires of Lucian' is a much better read and is highly recommended over this one.

Discourse On Free Will (Continuum Impacts)
Average customer rating:

The Ongoing Debate

Discourse on Free Will

"The Clash of the Theologians"

an inside look at the ideas that made the Reformation

Erasmus & Luther - Smoke- rings for the Blind

Discourse On Free Will (Continuum Impacts)
Desiderius Erasmus
Manufacturer: Continuum International Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Free Will & Determinism | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Religious | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Theology | Reference | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Philosophy | Theology | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Religion & Spirituality Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Qualifying Textbooks - Spring 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The Merchant of Venice (Norton Critical Editions)

The Rule of Saint Benedict (An Image Book Original)

The Praise of Folly and Other Writings: A New Translation With Critical Commentary (Norton Critical Editions)

The Prince (Bantam Classics)

Three Treatises

ASIN: 0826477941

Customer Reviews:

The Ongoing Debate.......2007-04-23

I purchased this book for my "Formation of Modern Christianity" class and am in the process of writing my term paper on the debate between Erasmus and Luther on the issue of free will. This book does an excellent job of reviewing Erasmus' case for free will and briefly summarizes Luther's case for the bondage of will, as well. Buy this book if you'd like a concise review of this ongoing debate.

Discourse on Free Will.......2002-04-18

Readers of Discourse on Free Will, a written debate between Martin Luther and Desiderius Erasmus, will find one of the early essential philosophical divisions of the Roman Catholic Church. These two theologians debate the heart of Luther's fundamental differences over church doctrine. Never mind issues like indulgences and purgatory (indeed Luther thanks Erasmus for not discussing such "trifles") because Luther's primary argument concerned justification by faith through the grace of God. The book compiled here, edited by Ernst Winter, is a glimpse into the minds of these two influential men.

Winter's editing is a bit suspect, as Erasmus enjoys the first 94 pages while Luther receives only the final 44, but this really gives Erasmus more time to make a fool of himself. Erasmus wonders around raising many points and attempts to connect all into his free will argument, but it is not until his conclusion that he begins to make his point. In section 48, Erasmus confuses free will with grace, on page 56 he refers to a chamber pot to make his point. He makes a weak argument until his conclusion, which takes on the appearance of a lawyer closing his case. Ultimately though, one must consider this: Rotterdam has never been known for its scholars; Erasmus is no exception.

But this is not to say Luther is the "winner" here. The book is somewhat akin to a pre-Reformation version of "Grumpy Old Men." The debate gets personal at times. In two instances Luther refers to Erasmus as "stupid" and Erasmus states Luther is "without reason." This makes for a more interesting read but also shows the limits of each man's patience. This book may not be for everyone, but those desiring to know more about the debate of the Catholic Church will find it has much to offer. THere clearly are two different styles here. Erasmus offers hope for all, true to the elements of Humanism, while Luther's effort is not for the faint of heart. Either way, the reader will be richer for the effort.

"The Clash of the Theologians".......2001-06-26

Desiderius Erasmus and Martin Luther's theological polemic and "Discourse on Free Will" is a wonderful source to understand the thought that classified, diversified, and divided the plain between the classical and orthodox, and the novel and heretical. These view points changed the face of an age - from common belief and good conduct, to individualism and good belief ...with this book you may decide a position for yourself.

an inside look at the ideas that made the Reformation.......2000-05-15

Luther once said that the Catholic Church stands or falls on the question of justification and free will: salvation by faith alone, or must the human soul respond? Get a first-hand peek at what Luther thought of the Catholic Church's teachings, and how Erasmus, a Catholic bishop, replied. Don't think you understand the Reformation or the "protest" inherent in Protestantism until you read this book. This is Luther at his fist-pounding best; but Erasmus is sophisticated, irenic, and penetrating. The key question is: who was right? If you're a Christian, don't decide until you've read this cover to cover.

Erasmus & Luther - Smoke- rings for the Blind.......1999-01-29

A classic intellectual debate in a moderately ponderous translation, demonstrating the timelessness of ignorance , and the futility of religious debate. A great read for the cynical, or the cynical at heart.

The Praise of Folly and Other Writings: A New Translation With Critical Commentary (Norton Critical Editions)

Average customer rating:

Renascence Man
"Great Guide to Enter the Mind and Times of Erasmus"
Understanding Erasmus

The Praise of Folly and Other Writings: A New Translation With Critical Commentary (Norton Critical Editions)
Desiderius Erasmus
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Medieval | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Modern Renaissance | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Reference Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Qualifying Textbooks - Spring 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Utopia (Norton Critical Editions)
The Book of the Courtier (Penguin Classics)
Age of the Reformation
The Essential Erasmus (Essentials)
The Germans (Meridian)

ASIN: 0393957497

Customer Reviews:

Renascence Man.......2005-08-29

Robert Adams' translation is great and helps feature Erasmus wit and wisdom with modern usage, with plenty of footnote explanation of period literature. Erasmus' satirical writing is amusing and insightful of the political and social thinking of his time. Amazing to read how little has changed intellectually over 500 years.

"Great Guide to Enter the Mind and Times of Erasmus".......2001-05-22

This edition has "some" of Erasmus' most influential works; namely, "The Praise of Folly", the political "Complaint for Peace", "Forewords to the Latin New Testament", "Julius Excluded from Heaven", the "Colloquis", and excerpts from his finest letters. These works are selected more to understand the humanistic side of Erasmus rather than the scholarly doctrinaire who labored for the peace of christendom. With these selections - entailed by fotenotes, the editor's prefaces, and critcical commentaries - this edition will invariably enhance a more intimate impression of the mind of Erasmus at the dawn of the reformation.

Understanding Erasmus.......2000-03-25

I managed to stumble across Erasmus while reading William Manchester's "A World Lit Only By Fire", and was beyond intrigued by such a character as described that I had never even heard about. Of course, Erasmus had been mentioned in my presence often, but never in a direct context. So I pick up this book, hoping to find out what the deal was and what I was missing.

My entire view of the middle ages changed practically overnight. Do not miss the fact, people: Erasmus was THE deal. Erasmus makes Luther look like a limp little hothead. Erasmus is Jim Carrey to Voltaire's Carrot Top. Erasmus drows the candle of Aristophanes with a roaring torch. The ultimate critic, the ultimate wit, and the ultimate reason in an age of insanity. Without this fantastic book I may have passed a second 18 years without Erasmus as an inspiration. The pure genius and subtlety of truly the most underappreciated scholar of all time is laid out glowingly. Why did I waste my time with "Mandrake" and "Candide" when "In Praise of Folly" does the same job a thousand times better? Why on earth do we pay attention to Martin Luther, the most incompetant and ridiculous "reformer" of all time, when Erasmus was doing everything twice as good at exactly the same time?

Get this book, people. Understand Erasmus and understand a wisdom that defied an age of stupidity.

Erasmus of Rotterdam: Stefan Zweig ; translated by Eden and Cedar Paul (Compass books C13)
Average customer rating:

Correct appreciation

Erasmus of Rotterdam: Stefan Zweig ; translated by Eden and Cedar Paul (Compass books C13)
Stefan Zweig
Manufacturer: The Viking Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Similar Items:

Marie Antoinette: The Portrait of an Average Woman (Grove Great Lives)

ASIN: B0007HQQ0Y

Customer Reviews:

Correct appreciation.......2005-05-02

In this short book, Stefan Zweig sketches an impressive portrait of Erasmus as a private and a public man.
Erasmus was an erudite humanist but a loner (his motto: nulli concedo, homo per se).

He should be considered as the first true European and a real pacifist (all conflicts should be solved through negotiations).
But he was in no way a proponent of democracy, more a supporter of an oligarchic rule.
His biggest failure was that he couldn't prevent the schism between Catholics and Protestants, although he played a crucial role in the negotiations. The Elector of Saxony asked his opinion on Maarten Luther. He couldn't give a clearcut answer.
Erasmus went a long way: 'I am against the truth if it causes dissension'.
But he was too honest. He grasped the fact that the compulsory selling of indulgences by the Pope was an unforgivable extortion.

In a good hundred pages Zweig tells the ultimate tragedy of Erasmus's life: on the one hand, his belief in civilisation and the power of reason; on the other hand, a world full of dissensions and war.

Stefan Zweig writes in an enthusiastic style, full of dramas and contrasts.

A simple but masterful psychological and historical analysis.

The Correspondence of Erasmus: Letters 1122-1251 (1520-1521) (Collected Works of Erasmus)

Average customer rating:

The Correspondence of Erasmus: Letters 1122-1251 (1520-1521) (Collected Works of Erasmus)
Erasmus , and Peter G. Bietenholz
Manufacturer: University of Toronto Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Renaissance | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Renaissance | World | History | Subjects | Books

Medieval | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

History & Surveys | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

The Correspondence of Erasmus: Letters 1-141 (1484-1500) (Collected Works of Erasmus)

ASIN: 0802026079

Average customer rating:

One of the boldest books ever written!

The Essential Erasmus (Essentials)
Desiderius Erasmus , and John P. Dolan
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Medieval Thought | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

The Praise of Folly and Other Writings: A New Translation With Critical Commentary (Norton Critical Editions)
Martin Luther : Selections From His Writings
Luther and Erasmus: Free Will and Salvation (Library of Christian Classics (Paperback Westminster))
Discourse On Free Will (Continuum Impacts)
Three Treatises

ASIN: 0452009723

Customer Reviews:

One of the boldest books ever written!.......2006-05-08

Traveling toward England, Erasmus conceived the idea a little book that would become a referential text for the readers of the future. Dedicated to Thomas Moro making a curious twist of words between the name Moro and the Greek term "Moria" that designs the madness. This was a game in which he has thinking, but eventually will turn in a dangerous game. The text is apparently written by the madness itself and it says that it is the most powerful force which impulses the human life, and that all what it happens between men would be sadder, more mournful if not by its presence. This sort of allegation of the madness has a dark and corrosive emendatory, that precisely is what explicitly Erasmus is affirming. "All of you, men that populates Europe, loaded of destiny, are somehow madmen, foolish, people who ignore what you do or even go, and worst still, even don? t know the weight of your responsibilities." But wisely, he does not say in the serious tune of a preacher man, but in a mockery tune of this light satire that allows that such important isues be said and eventually contribute to shock the European conscious in a moment that was mature for that shaking, without great risk for the man who said it.

It is absolutely fundamental for any illustrated person its reading. This is one the most transcendental texts of the Western civilization,

In this sense this is a smart essay that will help us to understand evenc ?poser yjis egregious mind.

The Man Who Laid the Egg: The Story of Erasmus

Average customer rating:

The Man Who Laid the Egg: The Story of Erasmus
Louise A. Vernon
Manufacturer: Greenleaf Press (TN)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Renaissance | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Renaissance | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Consciousness & Thought | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Augustine Came to Kent (Living History Library (Warsaw, N.D.).)
Bible Smuggler
Famous Men of the Renaissance and Reformation
Son of Charlemagne (Living History Library (Warsaw, N.D.).)
Huguenot Garden

ASIN: 1882514157

Book Description

The story of Erasmus, the unsung hero behind the translation work of Tyndale and Luther. Erasmus was a scholar of New Testament Greek. Like Vernons other books, this one is about a young apprentice - in this case, his name is Gerhard. He winds up in Basel, Switzerland, living in the same house with Erasmus the scholar. There he comes to understand the popular saying that Erasmus laid the egg that Luther hatched!

Average customer rating:

Great historian's perspective of a great thinker
"An Intimate Portrait of the Great Erasmus"
Man in the Middle
Informative Historical Perspective

Erasmus and the Age of Reformation
Johan Huizinga
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Philosophers | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Modern | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The Essential Erasmus (Essentials)
The Waning of the Middle Ages
The Praise of Folly and Other Writings: A New Translation With Critical Commentary (Norton Critical Editions)
Luther and Erasmus: Free Will and Salvation (Library of Christian Classics (Paperback Westminster))
Discourse On Free Will (Continuum Impacts)

ASIN: 048641762X

Book Description

In this very readable biography, a noted scholar traces Erasmus's youth, his years as an itinerant scholar, sojourns in England, France, Switzerland, and Italy, friendship with Sir Thomas More, and disputes with Martin Luther. The author also probes Erasmus's mind and character and discusses his writings.

Customer Reviews:

Great historian's perspective of a great thinker.......2004-11-07

Johan Huizinga writes great history. I do not think many contemporary historians can match his prose. He does an excellent job of providing the reader a unique perspective of certain events, and the people involved with them as they unfold.

In this book, Huizinga writes about Erasmus, a man who is arguably one of the great thinkers of the 16th century. I did not know a lot about Erasmus before I read this book, but now feel like I have a much greater understanding about the man, his ideas, and the era in which he lived.

A word of warning about this book - it helps if you have a pretty good understanding of 16th century European history. If you are a novice, like me, you may struggle through some sections. It is well worth the effort though, in the end.

The best thing about Huizinga's book is that you get more than just the history of Erasmus. The author includes a lot of analysis and his perspective into Erasmus' life, which are fascinating.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is familiar with 16th century European history, and wants to learn more about Erasmus. If you are new to this era of history, or do not know much about Erasmus, I would consider reading a more general history before making your way through this book.

"An Intimate Portrait of the Great Erasmus".......2004-02-06

Of all volumes of study which concern the learned scholar Desiderius Erasmus, it must be said, quite simply, that Johan Huizinga's work stands out among the greatest. Huizinga skillfully and colorfully weaves the many aspects of Erasmus' life together into one intimate portrait which places the man respectfully within the setting of his time. In this work, the reader will find that Huizinga always seems to surface the inmost sentiments of Erasmus, even amidst all the triumph, turmoil, and controversy which marked the age he lived in. From Erasmus' early years as an Augustinian canon, to his final days as an accomplished and conscientious scholar, the same underlining genius will be discovered by anyone who comes to grips with this classic work. Huizinga's, Erasmus and the Age of the Reformation, is a work worthy of praise, even eighty years after its first publication. Also, found here are several valuable letters of Erasmus', which display his dutiful correspondence with individuals like St Thomas More and Martin Luther. Any study of Desiderius Erasmus is not complete without Huizinga's timeless masterpiece at hand.

Man in the Middle.......2004-01-04

Of particular value to the reader is the preface of this work, penned in 1952 by the then Provost of Oriel College, Oxford, G.N. Clark. The brief preface introduces not only the work but the author, Johan Huizinga, perhaps as a halting effort at rehabilitation. Clark reminds the readers that Huizinga had suffered through two world wars and was imprisoned by the Nazis, and died in February, 1945, literally days before his beloved Holland was liberated: an apologia of sorts for a most controversial scholar.

Huizinga had shaken the European and American historical and religious establishments with the publication of his most famous work, "The Waning of the Middle Ages," in 1919. In that work Huizinga introduced a novel gestalt for interpreting the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, upsetting historians of his day who still clung to the traditional strictures of epochs, and Churchmen, notably Catholic, for his candor in debunking ecclesiastical mythology of that era. ["The Waning" was actually placed on the Index of Forbidden Books for a time.] Clark argues that the Erasmus text is a companion piece to "The Waning," a useful point to remember in assessing this biography.

For all the energy generated by their respective forces, neither the Renaissance nor the Reformation was particularly rich in seminal philosophical inquiry. In fact, the sixteenth century was in many respects quite conservative, with its veneration of Classical thought, Aristotelian scientific method, and religious interest in primary sources. Erasmus's lifespan, 1466-1536, was an age of application, where orthopraxis was making a run at orthodoxy. Erasmus has always enjoyed reputation as the consummate "Renaissance Man," literary giant, man of letters, humane reformer, diplomat. In this work he is still the preeminent Renaissance man, but in the Renaissance of Huizinga's making, when being a "Renaissance Man" was a dicier proposition than popularly held. He was after all, a friend of both Thomas More and Henry VIII. Huizinga's Erasmus is brilliant, though not particularly original, and he was often broke, sick, insecure, unemployed, displaced-at the height of his reputation, no less.

The original literary works of Erasmus demonstrate scholarship, mastery of the pen, satire, wit, and synthesis. As Huizinga observed, Erasmus wrote less from piety than from humanistic reasoning. Despite the fact that his "Praise of Folly" is his best remembered original work, Erasmus had little patience for folly, which he would have defined in real life as extremism, violence, or pretension. His satire could be pointed, but he was never mad at the world per se, only those who would deface it needlessly. Theologically, he espoused "low church Catholicism" stripped of both spiritual and practical indulgences. His satire poked fun at Church excess, but this was hardly earthshaking at a time when many intellectuals laughed down their sleeves at ecclesiastical pomp.

His major gift to the Renaissance and subsequent ages, in my view, is his application of philology to the Sacred Scriptures, an effort that would also cause his greatest friction with Catholicism. With the reverence of antiquity so common to his age, Erasmus mastered Latin and Greek to the point where he was able to discover major linguistic flaws in the official Catholic translation of Scripture, St. Jerome's Latin Vulgate edition. Erasmus, an eminently reasonable man, assumed that his Church would tolerate-in fact, welcome-a cleaner, more accurate rendering of the Bible, and he proceeded to edit the Vulgate with available Greek manuscripts. Pascal was yet to be born, so perhaps Erasmus can be excused his shock that the loyal faithful remained devoted to the Vulgate "for reasons of the heart." The Vulgate translation in 1500 enjoyed an almost sacramental reverence; it was the official text for the sacraments and, in fact, for all of the great body of scholastic medieval theology that synthesized orthodox Catholicism and the cosmos.

As every contemporary Scripture scholar is painfully aware, every translation is in fact an interpretation, a point not lost upon the Roman Curia. Given his known temperament, one would have to concede that Erasmus, who routinely fled from confrontation, was rather innocent of the charge that he was undermining things sacred. But worse, Erasmus had opened the door to doubts regarding the credibility of a sacred work which was in its own right a part of antiquity, having been composed around 400 A.D. He had given fuel to Protestant reformers and added Jerome's masterpiece to the growing list of accretions that needed purging. Luther, a scripture scholar himself, recognized the value of Erasmus's work and courted him for years, mostly by mail. The winning of Erasmus's hand by Protestant suitors would have been a major symbolic victory.

But Luther came to discover that even the most rational "Renaissance Men" have reasons of the heart. The reasonable Erasmus was traumatized by the irrationality of division. Perhaps the executions of his friends Thomas More and John Fisher or the general polemic and bloodshed that accompanied religious revolution led him to do the unthinkable for a humanist: make a decision. He threw his lot with Roman Catholicism. The reaction of both sides tells the stakes: Luther excoriated Erasmus in the choicest terms of his rich vocabulary. The Curia forgave Erasmus his translations and offered him a red hat shortly before his death. Both gestures indicate that we may never capture, at this distance, the reasons of the hearts of those who admired Erasmus as a man, a writer, and a symbol. But Huizenga makes a noble effort.

Informative Historical Perspective.......2003-11-15

In the preface, G. N. Clark tells us of Johan Huizinga that his "great success and reputation came suddenly when he was over forty. Until that time his powers were ripening, not so much slowly as secretly."

Huizinga starts his history of Erasmus with his childhood. He was born in Rotterdam, Holland in 1466. His years in the monastery are covered in the second chapter. We're told he was well read in Jerome. Furthermore he was consumed with the works of St. Augustine. In the summer of 1495 his studies carried him to the University of Paris. It was on this campus that a struggle of ideas was occurring. The story continues as Erasmus goes to England.

Erasmus was a true wandering scholar at times with no home of his own. In describing his travels, his studies, his love of God, his calling, the modern Christian scholar can sense the continuity of the personalities who went ahead to pave the way for our contritutions.

Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam: On Copia of Words and Ideas (Mediaeval Philosophical Texts in Translation)
Average customer rating:
Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam: On Copia of Words and Ideas (Mediaeval Philosophical Texts in Translation)
Donald King , and David Rix
Manufacturer: Marquette University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Greek & Roman | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

A Short History of Writing Instruction: From Ancient Greece To Modern America

Quintillian on the Teaching of Speaking and Writing: Translations from Books One, Two and Ten of the Institutio oratoria (Landmarks in Rhetoric and Public Address)

The Greek Sophists (Penguin Classics)

Composition-Rhetoric: Backgrounds, Theory, and Pedagogy (Pittsburgh Series in Composition, Literacy and Culture)

Cicero: On the Ideal Orator

ASIN: 0874622123

Philosophers:

Philosophers

Philosophers