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The Forgotten Reformer: An encouragement from the Past
Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam 1466-1536
Erasmus, sometimes called the forgotten Reformer, was a genius of his time. His knowledge was encyclopaedic, his devotion to scholarship unsurpassed, his devotion to Christ unwavering and his appreciation of “pagan” writers exceptional.
He preferred Jerome, whose works he fulsomely translated, to Augustine because of his wide scholarship and linguistic capacities. He decided early on that he could not be a preacher so he decided to influence the world for good through his amazing scholarship and good humoured provocations (In Praise of Folly).
He could similarly translate with delight what he saw as pre-Christian writers like Cicero and Plutarch whose wisdom and morality could only come from the Lord. He was the most widely admired man of his age and fortunately for posterity a fulsome correspondent, sometime genial, sometimes caustic.
When Luther “graffitied” the door of Wittenberg Cathedral with his theses, seeking a healthy debate within the Church, the life of Erasmus was never the same. Some thought he was the author behind Luther’s writings and so he came under attack from popes, bishops and scholars. His early correspondence with Luther was warm but later chilled.
Erasmus hated conflict and so refused to publicly support Luther, while popes, to whom he professed undying loyalty, urged him to attack Luther with his scholarship. By seeking neutrality he ended up being attacked from all sides. His one major literary response to Luther was A Discussion of Freewill where he pointed out the paradoxes in Scripture which affirm the sovereignty of God as determinative, alongside places where a clear choice of obedience and disobedience is evident, e.g. throughout the Pentateuch especially in Deuteronomy.
It is debatable whether the Reformation could have happened as it did without Erasmus’ Greek New Testament. Also his magnificent paraphrases of the NT not only anticipated The Message, but brought Scripture alive for scholar and illiterate alike.
He battled with ill health, in particular with kidney stone pain. At such times his correspondence tended, understandably, to be at its most choleric.
What preachers can learn from Erasmus
- All knowledge is God’s knowledge.
- Christian humanism existed before secular humanism.
- No scholarship is wasted in the service of the Kingdom.
- Truth matters more than unity and unity without truth is a chimera.
- Neutrality is impossible where the Kingdoms of darkness and light are at war.
- There is a cost to standing for the truth in times of conflict.
- Writing gifts can be used by the Lord as much as speaking gifts.
- Being faithful to Scripture is a reputation worth having.
- Practicing love in words, demeanour and correspondence is required.
- The cross is the climactic place of God’s revelation.
- Looking after our health is part of our stewardship.
- Communicating with opponents is vital.
- Choose your battles.
- Learn from history and the arts.
- Trust that the Lord uses your efforts in grace, even when you see few results.
Rev Dr Robert Iles. Golden Grove SA. 2000
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