Maverick or orthodox? Scholars have shifted from treating Erasmus primarily as a constitutional outsider to seeing him as a well-connected insider. Similarly, characterizations of his doctrinal beliefs in more recent times tend to demonstrate orthodox (and patristic) and mainstream (late medieval) provenance. Erasmus owned the works of
Jean Gerson, a favourite of
Thomas More, who had in the previous century championed lay spirituality and some degree of devout, non-apocalyptic biblicism and warned against philosophical squabbling: a constant corrective tendency through the high and late Western Middle Ages, associated with names such as
William of Auxerre, some of the
Victorines,
John of Paris,
Pierre d'Ailly and the by-then forgotten
Durandus of Saint-Pourçain. Erasmus made enemies by frequently being scathingly underwhelmed by medieval theologians, with the partial exceptions of the pre-scholastics
Bede and
Bernard of Clairvaux. From his time (1493–1495) as Latin secretary to Henricus de Berghes,
Bishop of Cambrai, Erasmus would have been well aware of that diocese' mandatory statutes
Sacris ordinibus (1307) in-force on priests, which included literacy, age, residence and financial requirements, including taking an examination; themes which Erasmus continued to promote throughout his life. These statutes were further re-enforced by Henricus, especially in 1495 (i.e., in text Erasmus may have drafted) regarding the duties of benefice holders to look after their parishioners, on pain of excommunication.
Councils Several of Erasmus' "distinctive" ideas were entirely mainstream for the time, from the
Fifth Council of the Lateran (1512-1517) (which Erasmus had been invited to attend as John Fisher's theologian): • the need for peace between Catholic princes before a war pushing back the Turks could be attempted (Session 9); • the need for formal qualifications of preachers (Session 11) who should "foster everywhere peace and mutual love" rather than false miracles and apocalyptic predictions; • the danger of unbalanced philosophical study and questions that promote doubt without attempting resolution (Session 8); • the spurious independence of friars from local bishops, • the dereliction of duty by absentee bishops and cardinals, and • a positive disinterest in apocalypticism in favour of practical preaching. The
Council of Trent further addressed many of the controversies Erasmus had been involved with: including free will, accumulated errors in the Vulgate, and priestly training, and followed his call for a renewed positive focus on the Creed. Erasmus' major ethical complaint that a certain kind of scholasticism was "" (useless, vain speculation) and artificially divisive was endorsed in the 4 December 1563
Decree Concerning Purgatory which recommended the avoidance of speculations and non-essential questions. For music and chant, Trent reduced the number of
sequences during the Mass to only four for certain special days: the large numbers and lengths of sequences, especially as found in German and French masses, and the need for verbal clarity were issues Erasmus had raised. Despite these, the Council of Trent is frequently characterized as pushing back against the humanist program, for example by its ambiguous declaration that the
Vulgate Latin bible text should be regarded as "authentic." Many commentors, such as Catholic scholar Thomas Cummings, see parallels between Erasmus' vision of Church reform and the vision of Church reform that succeeded at the
Second Vatican Council. John O'Malley has commented on a certain closeness between Erasmus and ''''.
Papal teaching Many of Erasmus' themes are now less controversial after being revisited by Popes: for example, • Soon after the
Vatican I Council,
Pope Leo XIII issued an encyclical
Providentissimus deus (1893) which taught several themes associated with Erasmus: notably that "in those things which do not come under the obligation of faith, the Saints were at liberty to hold divergent opinions, just as we ourselves are"; • In the same encyclical, Leo XIII taught that more exegetes, theologians and novices must master the original "Oriental" languages and be trained in Biblical exegesis including philology, quoting Jerome "To be ignorant of the Scripture is not to know Christ": he noted that Pope
Clement V had instigated chairs of Oriental Literature in Paris, Bologna, Oxford and Salamanca (carried out in 1317.) This was followed by an apostolic letter
Vigilantiae studiique (1902) which "warned that attacks on the Church are (now) generally based on linguistic arguments". • Pope Pius XII's "large-minded" encyclical
Mediator Dei (1947) endorses Erasmus's emphasis on interiority and preparation of the heart and life, though without his anti-ceremonial hyperbole; • that all interpretation of Scripture should rest on the literal sense was taught by
Pope Benedict XV's
Spiritus paracletus (1920), and by
Pope Pius XII Divino afflante spiritu (1943), which called for new vernacular translations, and
Humani generis (1950); • his promotion of the recognition of and toleration
within bounds was taken up, to an extent, by
Pope John XXIII: ''
in the encyclical Ad Petri Cathedram which includes a quite Erasmian agenda Truth, Unity and Peace in a spirit of Charity''; and • John Paul II's praise of the divine foolishness in the encyclical
Fides et Ratio. • His
instrumentalist approach to
Christian humanism has been compared to that of John Henry Newman and the
personalism of
John Paul II, but also has been criticized as treating the Church's doctrines merely as aids to piety.
Liturgical contribution Notably, since the 1950s, the Roman Catholic
Easter Vigil mass has included a
Renewal of Baptismal Promises, an innovation first proposed by Erasmus in his
Paraphrases.
Religious communities Several of the Catholic religious reforms or changes had parallels in Erasmus' ideas. For example, the rise of non-mendicant, non-cloistered, non-choir-based societies such as notably the
Jesuits, and changes to the rules relating to formal vows.
Supporters Erasmus was continually protected by popes, bishops, inquisitors-general, and Catholic kings }} during his lifetime. Erasmus corresponded with a succession of protective Inquisitors General of Castille/Spain in the 1510s and 1520s, consulting with them on his work and attacks on it. }} He was a bishops' man: promoting the episcopal and apostolic system and in constant contact, correspondence, patronage and direction with dozens at any time, and their Latin secretaries: for example, his book
On Free Will was squeezed out of him by bishops, and strategized, discussed, vetted (his local bishop in Basel got him to remove some polemic material from it, for example) and promoted by them. His relationship with his patron Archbishop of Canterbury
William Warham was so close that Warham even wanted Erasmus to share his grave. The following generation of saints and scholars included many influenced by Erasmian humanism or spirituality, notably
Ignatius of Loyola,
Teresa of Ávila,
John of Ávila, and
Angela Merici.
Bartolomé de las Casas relied on several of Erasmus' arguments in his Valladolid debates against the "natural slavery" of Amerindians. In 1517, writing to Thomas More when working with Cuthbert Tunstall (himself a future Bishop) on the second edition of the New Testament, Erasmus noted that he had been offered a bishopric, the first offer of several, all rejected. Several sources claim that Erasmus had been offered a cardinalship at the end of his life as well. In the last year of his life, Pope
Paul III appointed him in 1535 as Provost of the Canons in Deventer (i.e., the famous semi-monastic
Brethren of the Common Life chapter of the town where he first learned Latin) as a reward for "fighting with all your ability against the deserters of the faith", and lauded "your virtue and erudition" but "also your judgement and intentions."
Opponents However, Erasmus attracted enemies in contemporary theologians in Paris, Louvain, Valladolid, Salamanca and Rome, notably
Sepúlveda,
Stúñica,
Edward Lee, Noël Beda (who Erasmus had known in France in the 1490s, but who opposed Greek and Hebrew), as well as Alberto Pio, Count of
Carpi (and former student of
Aldus Manutius), who read his work with dedicated
suspicion. These theologians were usually from the mendicant orders that were Erasmus' particular target (such as
Dominicans,
Carmelites and
Franciscans); they held a positive-going "linear view of history" for theology }} that privileged recent late-medieval theology and rejected the '''' methodology. Erasmus believed the vehemence of the attacks on Luther was a strategem to blacken humanism (and himself) by association, part of the centuries-long power struggle at the universities between scholastic "theologians" and humanist "poets". A particularly powerful opponent of Erasmus was Italian humanist Jerome
Aleander, Erasmus' former close friend and bedmate in Venice at the Aldine Press and future cardinal. They fell out over Aleander's violent speech against Luther at the
Diet of Worms, and with Aleander's identification of Erasmus as "the great cornerstone of the Lutheran heresy." They periodically reconciled in warm personal meetings, only to fall into mutual suspicion again when distant. In 1531 the prestigious theology faculty of the University of Paris censured over 100 propositions they claimed were in his writings, however he denied the accuracy of the interpretations and the logic of the conclusions. Erasmus spent considerable effort defending himself in writing, which he could not do after his death. He wrote 35 books defending against accusations by Catholic opponents, and 9 against Protestant opponents: an unanswered accusation of heresy or
Nicodemism could cascade into trials and fatal unsafety.
Catholic regional prohibitions Erasmus' peak posthumous influence, in the 1540s, was followed by a rapid marked downturn in reception. From then, at various times and durations, various of Erasmus' works, especially in Protestantized or bastardized editions, were placed on the various Roman, Dutch, French, Spanish and Mexican
Indexes of Prohibited Books, either to not be read, or needing to be censored and expurgated: each area had different censorship considerations and severity. • Several of Erasmus' works, including his
Paraphrases were banned in the Milanese and Venetian indexes of 1554. • Erasmus' works were to some extent prohibited in England under Queen Mary I, from 1555. • For the
Papal States, in the Roman
Index as it emerged at the close of the Council of Trent, Erasmus's works were completely banned (1559), mostly unbanned except for unauthorized editions of Italian translations (1564), completely banned again (1590), and then mostly unbanned again with strategic revisions (1596) by the erratic Indexes of successive Popes. • In Spain's
Index, the translation of the ''
only needed the climactic phrase "Monkishness is not piety" removed to become acceptable. Despite any Indexes, Charles V had The Education of a Christian Prince'', which had been written for him, translated into Spanish for his son Philip II. • It is notable that instead a posthumous translation, of Erasmus's rival
Alberto Pio's book against ideas ascribed to Erasmus, was itself placed on the Spanish (and Portuguese) Indexes throughout the 1550s, seemingly for misrepresenting Erasmus's text and promoting scandal. By 1896, the Roman Index still listed Erasmus' ''
, The Praise of Folly
, The Tongue
, The Institution of Christian Marriage
, and one other as banned, plus particular editions of the and Paraphrase of Matthew''. All other works could be read in suitable expurgated versions. Because Erasmus' scholarly editions were frequently the only sources of Patristic information in print, the strict bans were often impractical, so theologians worked to produce replacement editions building on, or copying, Erasmus' editions. The Jesuits received a dispensation from the Roman Inquisitor General to read and use Erasmus' work (not kept on the open shelves of their libraries), as did priests working near Protestant areas such as Francis de Sales.
Post-Tridentine suspicion Early Dutch Jesuit scholar
Peter Canisius, who produced several works superseding Erasmus', }} is known to have read, or used phrases from, Erasmus' New Testament (including the Annotations and Notes) and perhaps the Paraphrases, his Jerome biography and complete works, the Adages, the '''', and the Colloquies: Canisius, having actually read Erasmus, had an ambivalent view on Erasmus that contrasted with the negative line of some of his contemporaries: In contrast,
Robert Bellarmine's
Controversies mentions Erasmus (as presented by Erasmus' opponent Albert Pío) negatively over 100 times, categorizing him as a "forerunner of the heretics"; though not a heretic. }} }}
Alphonsus Ligouri, who also had not read Erasmus, judged that Erasmus "died with the character of an unsound Catholic but not a heretic," putting it all in the context of a dispute between Theologians and Rhetoricians. His patristic scholarship continued to be valued by academics, as were un-controversial parts of his biblical scholarship, though Catholic biblical scholars started to criticize Erasmus' limited range of manuscripts for his direct New Testament as undermining his premise of correcting the Latin from the "original" Greek. adopted the approach of cultural
accommodation linked to Erasmus. The early Jesuits were exposed to Erasmus at their colleges, and their positioning of Confucius echoed Erasmus' positioning of "Saint" Socrates.
Salesian scholars have noted Erasmus' significant influence on
Francis de Sales: "in the approach and the spirit he (de Sales) took to reform his diocese and more importantly on how individual Christians could become better together," his optimism, civility, gentle anti-militantism that promoted "humility, penance, and asceticism" over sectarian violence, esteem of marriage. and, according to historian Charles Béné, a piety addressed to the laity, the acceptance of mental prayer, and the valuing of pagan wisdom. By 1690, Erasmus was also, rather perversely, labelled as the forerunner of the heretical tendecies in the
Jansenists. From 1648 to 1794 and then 1845 to the present, the mainly-Jesuit
Bollandist Society has been progressively publishing
Lives of the Saints, in 61 volumes and supplements. Historian John C. Olin notes an accord of approach with the hitherto "unique" method, mixing critical standards and devotional/rhetorical purpose, that Erasmus had laid out in his Life of St Jerome. A major turning point in the popular Catholic appraisal of Erasmus occurred in 1900 with rosy Benedictine historian (and, later, Cardinal)
Francis Aidan Gasquet's
The Eve of the Reformation which included a whole chapter on Erasmus based on a re-reading of his books and letters. Gasquet wrote "Erasmus, like many of his contemporaries, is often perhaps injudicious in the manner in which he advocated reforms. But when the matter is sifted to the bottom, it will commonly be found that his ideas are just." Over the last century, Erasmus's Catholic reputation has gradually started to be rehabilitated: favourable factors may include: • the increasingly active modern historical and theological scholarship on Erasmus suggested chinks in the traditional partisan characterizations of Erasmus; • the retirement of the Roman in 1966; • increased support for a view of Erasmus that portrays him as a conservative endorsed by and responsive to the hierarchy as much as a maverick, with him voicing and crystallizing mainstream and respectable Catholic thought of his time as much as innovating; and to an extent resuscitating
Victorine (the Canons Regular of St Victor) and Cappadocian and patristic approaches. • his deep, long friendships and interactions with three English Saint-Martyrs
Thomas More,
John Fisher, and Brigittine monk
Richard Reynolds; and with
confessor-bishops
Cuthbert Tunstall and
Stephen Gardiner, and with Archbishop of Canturbury
William Warham. • his acknowledged or retro-fitted influence on perhaps five
Doctors of the Church (Ignatius, Theresa of Ávila, John of Ávila, Canisius, de Sales), the positive normalization of his views in influential new orders such as the
Jesuits,
Oratorians,
Redemptorists,
Ursulines and
Salesians, and an increasing list of exemplary Catholics whose views in part channel or parallel Erasmus', such as
Bartolomé de las Casas' '''' (1537),
De la Salle's
Decorum & Civility, and Ven.
Matteo Ricci's view on accommodation in missionary work. • the acceptance of
St John Henry Cardinal Newman's "
development of doctrine", to some extent a chick hatched from the egg of Erasmus' theological historicism and his appeal to tradition (
sensus fidei fidelium) on the Eucharist; • the reinvigouration of patristic '''' and a re-surfacing of several ideas associated with Erasmus (but ideas sometimes with a longer, forgotten patrimony, and sometimes from an even more problematic figure than Erasmus) }} by and '''' theologians, such as •
Henri de Lubac •
Hans Urs von Balthasar, who ranked Erasmus with Augustine, Bonaventure, and Thomas Aquinas as the great theologians/exegetes; • Oratorian
Louis Bouyer, who wrote that the Method of True Theology (or '''') of Erasmus "represents, for the first time and in admirable fashion, the use of principles and methods entirely adequate to effect a really fruitful renewal of Catholic faith and theology;" •
Joseph Ratzinger, whose famous
Regensberg Address emphasized the fundamental influence of Hellenic philosophy on primitive Christianity. }} • For theologian George Chantraine, Erasus's so-called skepticism was actually a function of his belief that the Church defined doctrine not individual theologians.
Post-Vatican II Theologian
Lisa Cahill's summary "Official Catholic Social Thought on Nonviolence" notes Erasmus (with Augustine, Aquinas and St Francis of Assisi) as most notable in the development of Catholic peace theory. In 1963,
Thomas Merton suggested "If there had been no Luther, Erasmus would now be regarded by everyone as one of the great Doctors of the Catholic Church. I like his directness, his simplicity, and his courage. All the qualities of Erasmus, and other qualities besides, were canonized in Thomas More." In his 1987 collection
The Spirituality of Erasmus of Rotterdam historian Richard deMolen, later a Catholic priest, called for Erasmus' canonization. ==Protestant==