Pioneering humanistic Dutch scholar who edited the first printed edition of a Greek NT (1516). The 5th edition of Erasmus' version (1535) became the standard Greek biblical text in England & western Europe.

The illegitimate son of a parish priest at Rotterdam (or Gouda), Erasmus joined an Augustinian monastic order & was himself ordained as priest in 1492. But he left the monastery 2 years later to begin a long career as an itinerant scholar that took him to many of the leading universities in western Europe: Paris (France), Oxford & Cambridge (England), Louvain (Belgium), Basel (Switzerland) & Freiburg (Germany).

Erasmus' eloquent Latin earned him early distinction as a classicist. Recognizing the potential of the printing press to produce a "library without limits," he produced the first printed editions of the works of early Christian fathers (including Irenaeus, Origen, Jerome & Augustine). His own Latin translation of the NT was recognized by scholars as superior to the traditional Vulgate.

His greatest influence, however, was as editor of the Greek NT. For more than 200 years, Erasmus' work was uncritically accepted as the "received text" (textus receptus) of the NT by publishers & scholars alike, until J. A. Bengel & later textual critics produced more accurate editions based on older & better Greek mss.

The 16th century's preeminent classical scholar was hardly an elitist. His roots in the popular "modern devotion" of the Netherlands dedicated him to the cause of public education. He wanted to make the gospels part of the everyday life of the common person.

I wish that every woman could read the Gospel and the letters of St. Paul. I want these translated into each and every language so that they might be read & understood not only by Scots & Irishmen, but also by Turks & Saracens... I want the farmer to sing bits of scripture at his plow & the weaver to hum scriptural phrases to the tune of his shuttle & the traveler to lighten his journey with stories from scripture. [from preface to first edition of the Greek NT (1516)].

This dream of seeing the NT translated into every vernacular set the agenda for later missionary Bible societies.

Erasmus himself remained a visionary scholar rather than an activist. While he was sharply critical of abuses by clergy & church policies of his day, he was alienated by the crude tactics of more politically minded radical reformers. Yet, he sympathized with many of the goals of leading Protestants (& corresponded with them). As a pacifistic imperial councilor, he tried to mediate between the Reformers & Roman church authorities, even though the latter were just as suspicious of him as they were of the Protestants. But his ineffective moderation only made him the object of Protestant attacks. Ironically, however, less than a century after his death his last edition of the Greek NT was adopted as the basis of the English translation authorized by James I --- the so-called King James Version -- which became the standard Bible of English-speaking Protestants for more than 300 years.

[For a fuller account of the editorial history of Erasmus' Greek NT see M. M. Parvis' article on the NT Text (Interpreters' Dictionary of the Bible 4. New York/Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962), pp. 599-601].

Other On-line Resources

• The Textus Receptus - Robert B. Waltz gives a detailed textual history of Erasmus' edition of the NT, the mss. on which it was based & its relation to later standard "received texts" (Site inspired by Encyclopedia of New Testament Textual Criticism).

• Desiderius Erasmus - extensive evaluation of Erasmus' life, works & thought (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).

• Desiderius Erasmus - Full texts of In Praise of Folly, Colloquies & Against War digitized for free reading online or downloads (Christian Classics Ethereal Library)

• Desiderius Erasmus - detailed biographical essay (Luminarium Encyclopedia Project).