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Erasmus' Biblical Humanism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2019

C. A. L. Jarrott
C. A. L. Jarrott*
Affiliation:
Loyola University, Chicago/Rome
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Extract

Behind the humanists’ battle cry ‘ad fontes’ lies a long and laborious endeavor to get at the original meaning of the ancient texts with all the admittedly limited philological tools at their disposal. In his work on the Bible Erasmus was spurred to this effort by a religious zeal which is too seldom associated with the author of the Praise of Folly. Yet one of his most important contributions to the history of thought was his use of a humanistic method for the interpretation of scripture.

Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in the Renaissance , Volume 17 , 1970 , pp. 119 - 152
Copyright
Copyright © Renaissance Society of America 1970

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References

1 Huizinga, J., Erasmus of Rotterdam (London, 1952), p. 109 Google Scholar.

2 Cf. de Lubac, Henri, Exégèse Médiévale, Sec. Partie II (Paris: Aubier, 1964), pp. 460–464 Google Scholar, on the comparative neglect of Erasmus’ theological works.

3 Schwarz, W., Principles and Problems of Biblical Translation (Cambridge, 1955), p. 104 Google Scholar.

4 ‘ … adhuc nobis vivit, adhuc spirat, adhuc agit et loquitur ‘ Prefatory Dedication to LeoX, , Novum Instrumentum (Basel: Froben, 1516); Ep. 384 inOpus EpistolarumDes.Erasmi Roterodami, ed. P. S. Allen (Oxford, 1910)Google Scholar, n, 184-187.

5 Ep. 181 to Colet, 1504, in Allen, 1, 404. Cf. also Allen's account of Erasmus’ preparations for his work on the New Testament, n, 181-184. Allen suggests that ‘the whole circumstances of the work supply an interesting confirmation of the influence exercised over Erasmus by Colet’.

6 Metzger, Bruce, The Text of the New Testament (Oxford, 1964), p. 98 Google Scholar.

7 Ep. 694 to Pirckheimer, Willibald, Allen, m, 117. See also Metzger, p. 99. C. C. Tarelli states that Erasmus’ confession of haste should not be exaggerated, since he had been long at work translating the Vulgate: ‘Erasmus’ Manuscripts of the Gospels’, journal of Theological Studies, XLIV (1943), 160 Google Scholar.

8 In a letter to Erasmus, More reports Latimer's opinion of the 1516 New Testament, which, though generally favorable, nevertheless criticizes him for being too scrupulous. Allen adds that ‘this opinion doubtless had weight with Erasmus when he adhered more closely to his original translation in the second edition of the New Testament’. Ep. 481, Allen, n, 370-372. An example of one controversial change from the Vulgate is Erasmus' use of sermo for verbum in the opening words of Gospel, John's. For a discussion of the arguments on this point see my article, ‘Erasmus’ In Principio Brat Sermo: A Controversial Translation’, Studies in Philology, (Jan., 1964), 35 Google Scholar.

9 Ep. 860, Allen m, 380-382.

10 Metzger, p. 99; Tarelli, p. 156.

11 Metzger, p. 102.

12 Tarelli, p. 162.

13 Henri de Lubac, op. cit., p. 442.

14 Metzger, p. 103. He points out that the term ‘Textus Receptus’ was first used by Elzevir in a publisher's blurb to advertise the book. However, Basil Hall states that 'Textus Receptus’ was Elzevir's term for Beza's recension of Estienne's, Robert third edition, and that this was significantly different from Erasmus’ text: ‘Biblical Scholarship: Editions and Commentaries’, in The Cambridge History of the Bible, ed. S. L. Greenslade (Cambridge, 1963), p. 64 Google Scholar.

15 ‘ … et ita vertimus ut primum studuerimus, quoad licuit, incolumi tamen Apostolici sermonis simplicitate.’ Ep. 860, Allen, in, 381.

16 In Lucubrationum Erasmi Roterodami index (1519), quoted in Allen: ‘… liberius versum, ita ut sermo totus Latinae mundiciei sit redditus, salua simplicitate dictionis Apostolicae’. Note 35, III, 381.

17 ‘… si quid obscurius dictum occurrit, illustravimus, si quid ambigue dictum ac perplexius, id explicuimus.’ Preface to the Reader, Novum Instrumentum, p. 226. Unless otherwise indicated, the translations are mine, made with the help of my colleague in classical studies, Edwin P. Menes.

18 ‘Ut ne dicam interim, quod dum haec ex professo curamus, ilia tamen aliquoties obiter aperiuntur; ut quemadmodum qui sententias enarrant, coguntur aliquoties verborum explicare rationem, ita nos dum in verbis explicandis versamur, cogimur interim & sententiarum vim aperire.’ Ibid., pp. 227-228. Translation by W. Schwarz, p. 152.

19 Hermann Schlingensiepen, ‘Erasmus als Exeget’, Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte, XLVIII (1929), 2 1 .

20 In his comment on Erasmus’ assertion of his intention, Bludau, A. shows at length how he did not stick to it but interspersed ‘declamatory diatribes’ against scholastic theologians and church institutions; if he had limited himself to philological notes only, he would have been spared many attacks and calumnies. Die Beiden Ersten Erasmus- Ausgaben des Neuen Testaments … (Freiburg i. B., 1902), pp. 48–52 Google Scholar.

21 ‘Ut gratius est pomum, quod tuis manibus ex ipsa matre decerpseris arbore, ut dulcior aqua, quam ex ipsa vena subscatentem hauseris, ut iucundius vinum, quod ex eo deprompseris dolio in quo primum fuerat conditum, ita divinae literae, nescio quid habent nativae fragrantiae, nescio quid spirant suum ac genuinum, si eo sermone legantur, quo primum scripserunt… .’ Preface to the Reader, Novum Instrumentum, p. 228. Reuchlin's, Cf. use of a similar comparison to make the same point: ‘Wine that is often drawn off the cask loses in splendour. The same applies to translations: the original language of every work is sweetest.’ Johann Reuchlins Briefwechsel, ed. L. Geiger, CXXVI (Tübingen, 1875)Google Scholar, no. 15, p. 16; quoted in Schwarz, p. 71.

22 ‘Pium est opus, christianum est opus. Proinde te, quaeso, lector optime, ut tu quoque vicissim pias aures, & christianum pectus ad legendum adferas.’ Ibid., p. 229.

23 Basil Hall, op. cit., p. 81. For the humanistic significance of Erasmus’ preface to Valla's annotations, see Bainton, Roland, Erasmus of Christendom (New York: Scribner's, 1969), p. 65 Google Scholar.

24 Ibid., p. 82. For the relation between this grammatical method and the dialectical method of the Middle Ages, see McKeon, Richard, ‘Renaissance and Method in Philosophy’, Studies in the History of Ideas, III (New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1935)Google Scholar.

25 Reicke, Bo, ‘Erasmus und die neutestamentliche Textgeschichte’, Theologische Zeitschrift, XXII (1966), 260 Google Scholar.

26 Editions prepared after Erasmus’ death, such as that of 1541-42 and the Leyden edition of 1705, have not been included.

27 For this study I have used the editions that were published at Basel by Froben in 1516, 1519, 1522, 1527, and 1535. They will be abbreviated in the text as NT plus the date: e.g., NT 1516 (although this one was given the original title oiNovum Instmmentum instead of Novum Testamentum). When reference is made to the annotations rather than to the Biblical text, the abbreviation will be NTA 1516, etc.

28 ‘AHoqui — hoc est, a posterius intelligendo, ubi quis lapsus, re peracta, turn demum animadvertit erratum suum … Meo judicio commode verti poterat, Resipiscite, sive ad mentem redite, Siquidem resipiscit, cui vita superior displicet.’ NTA 1519, p. 16.

29 NTA 1535, p. 18.

30 ATM 1535, P-353.

31 Schlingensiepen, p. 33, n. 3.

32 Luther, , Letter to Staupitz, 1518, in Werke: Briefwechsel 1 (Weimar, 1930)Google Scholar. Translation from A Compend of Luther's Theology, ed. H. T. Kerr (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1943). P-40.

33 Ibid.

34 Ibid., p. 41.

35 Luther, , Disputatiopro Declaratione Virtutis Indulgentiarum, Werke,I (Weimar, 1883), 233–238 Google Scholar; translation from The Works of Martin Luther, 1 (Philadelphia, A.J. Holman, 1915). 29.

36 Ibid.

37 NTA 1535, P- 363.

38 Ibid., p. 364.

39 See Luther's Lectures on Romans, especially the excellent discussion of this point in Pauck's introduction to the work, pp. xliv-lxi (Pauck, Wilhelm, ed., Luther: Lectures on Romans, Library of Christian Classics, xv, London: S.C.M. Press, 1961)Google Scholar.

40 Pauck, p. xliv.

41 Luther, , Werke, LVI (Weimar, 1938), 268 Google Scholar.

42 Ibid., p. 347.

43 ‘Nun wir dann sind gerecht worden durch den glawben / so haben wir fride mit Gott… .’ Biblia … D. Mart. Luth. (Augsburg, 1535).

44 Luther, Lectures on Romans, in Werke, op. cit., p. 297; the translation is Pauck's, op. cit., p. 153.

45 The seconde tome or volume of the Paraphrase of Erasmus upon the newe testament … Imprinted at London… by Edward Whitchurche, 1549. P. xir. In Latin: ‘Et enim quum sola peccata simultatem pariant inter deum & homines, posteaquam ex impiis & peccatoribus iusti facti sumus, idque nee per legem Mosai earn, quae magis augebat ofFensas, nee factorum nostrorum merito sed ad exemplum patris nostri Abrahae, commendatione fidei reconciliati sumus deo patri, cui & Abraham amicus est factus fidei merito… .' Paraphrases Erasmi Roterodami in omnes Epistolas Pauligermanas…. (Basel: Froben, 1521), sig. d3r.

46 Ibid. ‘. . . non per Mosen, sed per filium dei unicum, dominum nostrum Iesum Christum, qui noxias nostras suo sanguine diluens, & morte sua, deum nobis ante ob commissa nostra infensum, reconcilians, aperuit nobis aditum: ut intercedente fide, citra legis aut circun [sic] cisionis adminiculum ad hanc Evangelii gratiam perduceremur. In qua quidem fide firmi stamus….’

47 Ibid., p. xiv. ‘Quandoquidem iam nunc certissimum pignus & arrabonem tenemus, miram & inauditam dei charitatem erga nos, quae non solum exhibita est foris, verumetiam abundantissime impressa est cordibus nostris, quae nos ilium redamare compellat, idque per spiritum sanctum… .’ sig. djv.

48 Luther, , Werke: Briefwechsel 1 (Weimar, 1930), p. 70 Google Scholar. See also Pauck, p. xlii.

49 Op. tit., p. lxv.

50 NT 1516 omits the preposition in aftertax, but it is included in subsequent editions.

51 NTA 1516, p. 322.

52 NTA 1522, p. 140: ‘lam non amplius interstitium est coelum.’

53 NTA 1527, p . 155: ‘Pax est ipse filius dei. Ego enim, inquit, sum pax. Haec igitur pax, nempe filius dei, in terra facta est. Et in hominibus bona voluntas, seu beneplacitum, hoc est, refocillatio dei.'

54 NTA 1527, p. 156: ‘Pacem hie vocat reconciliationem. Ita Christum apud Paulum dicitur pax nostra, hoc est reconciliatio, & ideam suis precatur pacem, hoc est peccatorum remissionem.’

55 Ibid. ‘… unde ista pax quam nunciatis, respondeant angeli, non est ex meritis vestris, sed haec pax est pius affectus dei erga homines.’

56 The first tome or volume of the Paraphrase of Erasmus upon the newe testamente. London: Edward Whitchurch, 1548, f. xxxiv (Dxv). In Latin: ‘Ea gratis per conciliatorem dei & hominum ofFertur, non nostris intercedentibus meritis, sed ex propensa in nos beneficentia divina, cui visum est hac mirabili ratione consulere saluti generis humani.’ Erasmus, , In Evangelium Lucae Paraphrasis (Basel: Froben, 1524), p. 69 Google Scholar.

57 NTA 1519, p. 56.

58 Ibid. ‘Tu es, inquit, Petrus, & super hanc petram quam confessus es, super hanc petram quam cognovisti, dicens: Tu es Christus filius dei vivi, aedificabo ecclesiam meam, id est, Super meipsum filium dei vivi, aedificabo ecclesiam meam. Super me aedificabo te, non me super te.’

59 Ibid. ‘Nam volentes homines aedificari super homines, dicebant, Ego quidem sum Pauli, ego autem Apollo, ego vero Cephae, ipse est Petrus. Et alii qui nolebant aedificare super Petrum, sed super petram, Ego autem sum Christi.’

60 ‘Petra autem erat Christus, quern confessus Simon, sicut et tota ecclesia confitetur, dictus est Petrus.’ Augustine, , Retractationum Libri Duo, 1, cap. 20 (21), 3 (2), ed. Pius Knoll, Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, XXXVI (Vienna, 1902), 98 Google Scholar.

61 ‘… unus pro omnibus loquens, et Ecclesiae voce respondens, ait Domine, quo ibimus?’ Opera Divi Caecilii Cypriani, 1, Ep. 3; ed. Erasmus (Basel: Froben, 1520), pp. 10-11.

62 Ibid.

63 Polman, Pontien, L'Element Historique dans la Controverse Religieuse du XVIe Steele (Gembloux, 1932), pp. 299–302 Google Scholar.

64 Gregory Baum, ‘The Magisterium in a Changing Church’, Concilium 1 (Jan., 1967), 34-42.

65 NTA 1535, P- 73.

66 Ibid.

67 NT 1516 has ‘plus his’.

68 NT A 1519, p. 197: ‘Illus obiter est, admonendum, qui ex hoc loco gloriantur sibi commissum gregem domini, eos primum oportere meminisse a Petro ter exactum amorem erga Christum, neque quemlibet amorem, sed ardentiorem caeteris, deinde ter item commissam illi curam gregis.’

69 NTA 1527, p. 255: ‘Nee commiserit devorandas, sed pascendas. Pascendas exemplo piae vitae, pascendas Evangelicae doctrinae pabulo, sive lac desiderabunt, sive solidum cibum: pascendas etiam opum subsidio, si res ita poposcerit.’

70 Cf. Colet, , Oratio habita ad clerum in conuocatione, anno 1511 (London: R. Pynson Google Scholar, [1511-12]); also McKenzie, John L., Authority in the Church (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1966)Google Scholar, for a modern study of this theme and its Scriptural foundations.

71 NT A 1519, p. 43: ‘Movet hoc loco divus Hieronymus quaestionem, quomodo iugum Evangelicae legis levius ac mollius dicatur lege Mosaica, cum haec factum duntaxat puniat, mostra voluntatem quoque, necque soluit quod proposuit.’

72 Ibid.: ‘Praeter mutuam charitatem nihil ille praecipit …’

73 Ibid.: ‘Facile toleratur, quicquid est secundum naturam. Nihil autem magis congruit cum hominis natura, quàm Christi philosophia, quae penè nihil aliud agit, quam ut naturam collapsam suae restituat innocentiae, synceritatique.'

74 Ibid., p. 44: ‘… sic libertatem à Christo datam amplectamur, ne earn occasionem dermis carni, et sub libertatis praetextu, turpius serviamus viciis.’ [sic; Vitus’ in NTA 1522].

75 NTA 1522, p. 49: ‘Minus imperat Evangelica charitas, sed plus impetrat.’

76 NT A 1522, p. 48: ‘Pontificis Rhomani sacrosancta autoritate, quae non, nisi sublevandis ecclesiae rebus valere debet, sic abutuntur quidam in absolutionibus, ia dispensationibus, in condonationibus, in executionibus, ut permulta sint, quae vere pii sine gemitu spectare non possint.’

77 Ibid.: ‘Quid loquar de perplexis et inextricabilibus votorum vinculis, quorum alia redimi possunt, sed immensa pecunia, alia nullo modo possunt.’

78 Ibid., p. 49: ‘… malintque Christum late regnare legibus evangelicis, quàm se in Augusto [sic; NT A 1527 corrects to ‘angusto’] tyrannidem obtinere decretis humanis.’

79 Ibid.: ‘Verum haec pluribus à me disserta video, quam vel proposueram, vel annotationes professo conveniebat.’

80 NTA 1516, p. 563: ‘Ea potius tractemus quae nos transforment in Christum, et coelo dignos reddant.’

81 NTA 1522, pp. 526-527.

82 NTA 1527, p. 595.

83 NTA 1527, p. 595: ‘Novi quendam Theologum, qui negabat annos novem sufficere ad intelligenda quae Scotus scripsit tantum in praefationem Petri Lombardi’.

84 Ibid. Cf. Bainton, op. cit., pp. 185-187.

85 Op. cit., f. iiiir (AAAAiiiir). In Latin: ‘Syncera charitas longe rectius dictat quid sit agendum, quam ullae quamvis multae constitutiones. Ea si adsit quid opus est legis praescriptis, si non adsit, quid confert legis observatio?’ F. 07V.

86 NT 1516 reads ‘in carne sua’.

87 NT 1527, p. 536: ‘In, praepositio omissa, totum subvertit sensum, quasi decretis aboleverit legem: imo abolevit legem sitam in praeceptis ac decretis.’

88 Ibid.: ‘Lex quoque mandatorum subversa est in dogmatibus, posteaquam circumcisio, et sabbatismus qui relictus est populo Dei, et pascha, et pentecoste, et non apparere in conspectu Dei vacuum, sunt altius intellecta quam resonant, et ab occidente littera recedentes, coepimus vivificantem Spiritum sequi.’

89 Ibid., p. 442: ‘Totus autem apostoli sermo videtur in hoc versari, ut reprehendat inequalitatem convivii revocetque illos ad archetypum exemplum Christi et apostolorum.’

90 Ibid., p. 443:‘… ut illius sacratissimi convivii recordatione revocarentur ad sobrietatem ac fraternam communionem, quam Dominus inter suos exhibuit proprii corporis distributione.’

91 Ibid. ‘Idem panis inter multos distributus concordiae symbolum est: idem corpus pro omnibus immolatum, amicitiae signum est.’

92 NTA 1516, ‘Preface to the Reader’, p. 228: ‘Nos rudera comportavimus, sed ad structuram templi dei. Alii locupletiores, ebur, aurum, marmor, & gemmas addituri sunt. Nos viam ante salebris ac lamis molestiam, industria nostra constravimus, sed in qua deinde magni theologi commodius essedis ac mannis vectentur.’ But as Bainton points out, the importance of the work transcended this prophecy: ‘The contribution of Erasmus to Biblical studies lies even more in the questions which he raised, the controversies which he precipitated, and the awareness which he created as to the problems of text, translation, and interpretation.’ Op cit., p. 134.

93 Allen, II, Ep. 423, 468, 471; cf. Schwarz, p. 162.

94 Allen, H, Ep. 481, p. 371.

95 Allen, m, Ep. 769, p. 210.

96 Allen, rv, Ep. 1010, pp. 58-59.

97 Cf. also W. Schwarz, pp. 162 ff: ‘The writings of these opponents of Erasmus constitute the second great battle against humanism in the sixteenth century.’ Bainton summarizes the opposition to Erasmus and Erasmus’ replies in Erasmus of Christendom, Chapter 9.

98 Letter to Martin Dorp, May, 1515; trans. Bush, John and Feeney, Martin in Erasmus, Selected Writings, ed. John C. Olin (New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1965), pp. 87–88 Google Scholar.

99 Allen, v, Ep. 1418, pp. 398-399: ‘Quum ilia scriberem, nihil minus suspicabar quam hoc seculum exoriturum. Quod si scissem, multa aut siluissem aut aliter scripsissem; non quod impia sunt, sed quod qui mali sunt, nihil non rapiunt in occasionem. Atque hac de causa ante annos duos in posterioribus aeditionibus multa sustulimus, ut talibus ansam eriperemus libenter et caetera mutaturi, si quis fraterne monuisset.'

100 Cf. Simon's, Richard survey of these controversies and his observation that Stunica said ‘Erasmus Lutherissat’ but should have said ‘Luther Erasmisat’, in Histoire critique des principaux commentateurs du Nouveau Testament (Rotterdam, 1693), p. 536 Google Scholar. Bludau (op. cit.) comments at length on Erasmus’ attacks on churchmen and the Church, even going so far as to say that the annotations are simply a repetition of the Praise of Folly in a serious tone (p. 52).

101 John O'Malley, S.J., ‘Historical Thought and the Reform Crisis of the Early Sixteenth Century’, Theological Studies 28 (Sept., 1967), 537-545.

102 Allen, n, Ep. 593, p. 599: Erasmus, there is no end to the pursuit of knowledge. For this brief span of life, there is nothing better than for us to Kve devoutly and purely, and daily to direct our efforts so that we may be purified, illumined, and perfected