Epistolarvm D. Erasmi Roterodami. Libri XXXI, et P. Melanchthonis Libri Iv. Quibus adjiciuntur Th. Mori et Lvd. Vivis epistolae

1642

de Beer Ec 1642 E

[London: M. Flesher & R. Young]

Erasmus was one of the greatest scholars of his time; Luther and Melanchthon both made use of his Latin translation of the Greek New Testament (1516). Melanchthon greatly admired Erasmus and his views on theological scholarship; he wrote to and kept up a cordial correspondence with him from the early years of the Reformation until Erasmus’ death. Luther, however, was not a fan, especially after Erasmus, who initially held no animosity towards Luther, was pressured into writing against the reformer and published de Libero Arbitrio (‘On Free Will’) in 1524. Luther answered with de Servo Arbitrio (‘On Enslaved Will’) in 1525, in which he denounced Erasmus’ ‘unlearned work’. This volume contains the correspondence of Erasmus and some of his friends – Philip Melanchthon, Sir Thomas More, and Valencian humanist Juan Vives.