Desiderius erasmus quotes on religion

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He begins by quoting St. Martin and St. Jerome condemning war. He repeatedly praises docta pietas, piety which combines learning with a devout and humble spirit and warns against its opposite, impia curiositas, unholy inquisitiveness. (CWE 27: 284)

The duties and obligations are mutual.

Dive into those pages—each one is a ticket to your paradise.

This saying reveals as much about you as about women. Thus some of the proverbs provided starting points for essays, and many of the colloquies likewise became opinion pieces on issues of the day.

In 1499 Erasmus accompanied one of his pupils, William Blount, Lord Mountjoy, to England.

He begins his satire showing off his classical learning and ends it paradoxically by praising the devout fool. He also published four revised editions of his New Testament (1519, 1522, 1527, 1531) with corrections and expanded notes.

Critics of Erasmus’ New Testament edition accused him of introducing changes to a sacred text and thus challenging the principle of inspiration.

Wilhelm Dilthey, for example, called Erasmus the Voltaire of the 16^th century (GS II, 74). If papal authority was questioned in principle and the decrees of the synods were not binding, Erasmus the Christian Skeptic was paralyzed in his decision-making process and unable to settle questions that did not allow a resolution based on clear scriptural evidence.

Luther, who believed in the clarity of Scripture, did not accept skepticism as a methodological approach.

By that time Erasmus’ pacifism and strong rejection of warfare had been called heretical, that is, at variance with the accepted definition of just war. To separate clichés from principles it is necessary to consider the frequency and consistency of certain thought patterns in Erasmus’ works. The Erasmian model prince is a father figure who has the wellbeing of his people at heart.

A stipend, which he received as councilor to Charles V, was paid only irregularly, however.

Over the next two decades Erasmus traveled extensively. In an even more radical tone, Erasmus declares: “If you cannot defend your kingdom without violating justice…then abdicate” (CWE 27: 217).

The prince’s rights need to be balanced against the welfare of his people.

The good prince uses the public interest as a yardstick in every field, otherwise he is no prince.

In today’s fast-paced world, being proactive is your superpower, saving you time, energy, and heartache. It is the teacher’s task to present the material in an instructive and entertaining fashion to retain the student’s interest rather than use punitive methods. His misgivings found expression in one of his first works, De Contemptu Mundi (On disdaining the World, written in the 1490s, published 1521).

It is uncertain how much, if any, theological training Erasmus received during his brief stay at the college. As he said in reply to indignant critics of his famous jeu d’esprit:

The Folly is concerned in a playful spirit with the same subject as the Handbook of the Christian Soldier.

His translation of the New Testament into Greek provided a basis for many later translations into other languages.

Quotes by Desiderius Erasmus…

Now what else is the whole life of mortals, but a sort of comedy in which the various actors, disguised by various costumes and masks, walk on and play each ones part until the manager walks them off the stage?

Desiderius Erasmus (1469 – 1536)

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Finally, the mind of man is so constructed that it is taken far more with disguises than with realities.

Desiderius Erasmus (1469 – 1536)

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