Erasmus allowed his religious beliefs to evolve in response to the Reformation's theological debates: in 1524 he gave in to pressure to write against Martin Luther and his position on free will; by 1527 he had begun to develop a theology of grace remarkably similar to that of leading Protestants. A chief source of evidence for Erasmus' theological views can be found in his changing understandings of Saint Paul's Epistle to the Romans and other teachings during this period.

Erasmus in the Footsteps of Paul is the first book to investigate Erasmus' negotiations of Romans in...