Erasmus, Desiderius

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Erasmus, Desiderius (1466–1536) ( Gerhard Gerhards) Dutch scholar and teacher, the greatest of the Renaissance humanists. His Latin translation of the Greek New Testament revealed flaws in the Vulgate text. He also edited the writings of Saint Jerome and other patristic literature. Among his original works, his Enchiridion militis (‘Manual of the Christian Knight’, 1503) emphasized simple piety as an ideal of Christianity and called for reform of the Church. His works influenced Martin Luther and other Protestant reformers, although Erasmus sought change from within the Catholic Church and disagreed with the course of the Reformation. In On Free Will (1524), he clashed openly with Luther. See also humanism

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