Erasmus Roterdamos was a Dutch humanist and theologian. He was born in Rotterdam and was educated in a series of
monastic and semi-monastic schools. In 1492 he was admitted to the priesthood, but never became a priest, instead he became one of the attackers upon the evils of the
church. Erasmus avoided any formal ties with the church or with the academic world, or any position of honor. Erasmus preferred to live as an independent scholar; he believed that these kinds of ties will limit his
freedom of intellect and literary expression. With his revolt against the form of church life Erasmus was exposed to criticism, but he used his doctrines and learning to purify and liberalize the church from medieval time.
While living in England Erasmus
dealt with examinations of manuscripts from the New Testament, his serious writing begun in 1503 when he published the "
Handbook of the Christian soldier" where he outlines his view about Christian life. His most important work is the "
Ecclesiastes" which means the "
Gospel preacher", where he supports preaching as the ultimate tool of the priest.
Erasmus always had respect for Martin Luther, and when Luther urged him to join the Lutheran
party Erasmus refused. Erasmus dealt with the freedom of will, he
claimed that the Lutheran Party limits the human freedom. Erasmus theory claims that man is bound to sin, and can be forgiven only if he accepts church and Christianity. Luther, as a response, attacked Erasmus and claimed that Erasmus is not a Christian.
After his death in 1536 in Basel, the Roman Catholic church put his books in the index of prohibited book.
More summaries about the Desiderius Erasmus Roterdamos (1446-1536)