Christian Humanists example essay topic

Christian humanism was the humanists' efforts to unite classical learning with the Christian faith. The Christian humanists rejected what they regarded as medieval Christianity's excessive emphasis on other worldliness. They desired to bring their knowledge of the classical languages to bear in their effort to attain a deeper knowledge and understanding of the Christian faith. Christian humanism was properly nothing but a reclaiming of the basic inheritance of history and the natural connection of culture with the religious vistas of the human being. Desiderius Erasmus was probably one of the biggest and most outstanding of the Christian humanists. He was known as the "Prince of the Humanists".

He mostly devoted his life to classical studies. His Adages, a collection of Latin proverbs, established his scholarly reputation. Most of his other early works attacked corrupt church practices and the scholasticism developed by churchmen. In the Praise of Folly, his most famous work, made fun of many attitudes of his time which were ignorance, superstition, and greed. Another big time humanist was Thomas More. An English statesman and writer, known for his religious stance against King Henry V costed him his life.

He was England's greatest humanist. More's most famous work Utopia described an ideal world where society was based on reason and ignorance. The citizens practiced a Christianity that was free of ignorance and superstition. There was no private property and no desire for profit and there was no war except in self-defense. More contrasted this society with the evils existing in his own society. These Christian humanists had similar characteristics and helped Martin Luther in his reformation process.

They both wanted huge reform in the Roman Catholic Church. In Erasmus's Colloquia his continuing assaults on the evils and errors of the church authorities and on superstition made him vulnerable to the accusation that he was a Lutheran. They both used and emphasized on scripture. Even though Erasmus denied being a Lutheran and at times even verbally attacked Luther, he is often regarded as a precursor of the Reformation.

The humanists work in translating and analyzing original sources often uncovered discrepancies among these sources, which led to questions about the Catholic Church's practices and encouraged efforts for reform. Erasmus got this ball rolling and Luther just blew it up. There was just one difference between Erasmus and Luther. Christian humanists believed strongly in the unity of the church and the preservation of a reformed Catholic tradition while Luther did not. Besides that difference Humanists inspired the spirit of questioning and skepticism that characterized the Reformation.

Erasmus set up the bomb that Luther took and detonated. Praise of Folly and Adages set up the stage and mood for Luther to continue which he did. Erasmus used his knowledge of the classical languages to get a deeper understanding of the Bible. In 1516 he published an anecdote that revealed several errors in the Latin Vulgate which was the text used by the Roman Catholic Church.

Creating this mood of saying how the church was wrong, helped Luther to achieve his goal in the Reformation.