Erasmus yearned to make the Bible an effective instrument in the reform of society, church, and everyday life. He therefore composed Paraphrases in which the words of Holy Scripture provided the core of a text, vastly expanded to embrace the reforming philosophy of Christ.' The Paraphrases were successful beyond all expectations, and were quickly translated into French, English, and other languages. The Paraphrase on Acts is the fifth volume of Paraphrases to be published in the New Testament Scholarship series in the Collected Works of Erasmus.

The highly dramatic narrative of Acts...

The correspondence of Erasmus has never been completely translated into English, although it has long been acknowledged to be one of the most illuminating sources for the history of northern humanism and the first two decades of the Protestant Reformation. In his letters, to and from scholars and religions leaders, printers and patrons, princes and prelates in every country of western Europe, the interests and issues of that critical era found free expression. They are connected by the thread of Erasmus' personal experience, his joys and sorrows, triumphs and tribulations, and his...

The correspondence of Erasmus has never been completely translated into English, although it has long been acknowledged to be one of the most illuminating sources for the history of northern humanism and the first two decades of the Protestant Reformation. In his letters to and from scholars and religious leaders, printers and patrons, princes and prelates in every country of western Europe, the interests and issues of that critical era found free expression. They are connected by the thread of Erasmus' personal experience, his joys and sorrows, triumphs and tribulations, and his...

Volume 3 contains Erasmus' surviving correspondence from August 1514 to August 1516, including one letter by Erasmus never before published in a collection of his correspondence. There are one hundred and fifty-one letters from this period, more than survive from the whole of the first forty years of his life. They range in character from hasty personal notes to extended formal treatises, and they appear with remarkable regularity. This closely woven and uniform fabric of evidence coincides with the moment in Erasmus' career that marks his departure from England and his reception on the...

Erasmus' Adagia has been called 'one of the world's biggest bedside books, ' and certainly the more than 4000 proverbs and maxims gathered and commented on by Erasmus, sometimes in a few lines and sometimes in full-scale essays, have great appeal for both scholar and educated layman. The aim of the Adages was to recapture, in this handy portmanteau form, the outlook and way of life of the classical world through its customs, legends, and social institutions, and to put within reach of a modern public the accumulated wisdom of the past. Each adage is traced in the works of as many authors...

'A knowledge of proverbs contributes to a number of things, ' wrote Erasmus in his Introduction to the Adages, 'but to four especially: philosophy, persuasiveness, grace and charm in speaking, and the understanding of the best authors...' This volume contains the second 500 of the more than 4000 adages gathered and commented on by Erasmus, sometimes in a few lines and sometimes in full-scale essays. The notes identify the classical sources and indicate how Erasmus' reading and thinking developed over the quarter-century spanned by the eight revisions of the original work. Many of...

Erasmus yearned to popularize the New Testament, to make the Bible and the understanding of Scripture available to everyone - to 'the farmer, the tailor, the mason, prostitutes, pimps, and Turks, ' in his words. He therefore composed paraphrases in order to simplify and explain Scripture. The Paraphrases were successful beyond his expectations and were quickly translated into French, German, English and other languages.

In them the words of the Apostle Paul provide the core of a text which is expanded to clarify Paul's argument, revealing its assumptions, suggesting its...