Authority and the Bible: Reformations: 1453-1800

A religious awakening began in fifteenth century, one that was to threaten authority of the institutional church and the pope in particular. This threat emerged from people who wanted a religion that depended more on the authority of the Bible. To be sure, medieval Christians also accepted the Bible as an authority; however their understanding of the Bible was given to them through the church's teaching tradition and pronouncements.

Among those looking for "reformation by restoration" were Christian humanists like Erasmus. They envisioned a new Roman church, one which would turn back to the Christian and classical sources. Sources included the Greek philosopher Aristotle, the Hebrew and Greek scriptures, and the writings of the Early Church Fathers, especially Augustine. The humanists undercut the interpretive authority of the Scholastics and rejected the dominant Medievel interpretive style of allegorizing the Bible, one of the earliest forms of biblical criticism.

The Bible and the Common People

In the Middle Ages, the Latin Vulgate was not read by many people. For one thing, not a lot of copies were available because manuscripts were transcribed by hand and therefore were expensive. Although laity were not forbidden to read the Bible, often they were discouraged from doing so. Parish priests seldom had access to a Bible either.

One result of Gutenberg's invention of the printing press (1456) was that more Bibles were made distributed at less expense. At least 92 editions of the Vulgate were printed before 1500. The following translations also appeared:

The growing availability of scriptures and the biblical preaching of the Reformers enabled people in the pews to begin to compare their church with the one described in the New Testament and to see how it measured up. By the 1520s, the "rediscovered" Bible had become a revolutionary force.

Desiderius Erasmus

A key leader of the Christian humanists was Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466-1536), a man whose ideas and personality were to draw fire from both Roman Catholics and those in the Lutheran movement. Erasmus is best known for his stinging satire "In Praise of Folly," which attacked corruption in both religious and secular circles.
Erasmus was born in the Netherlands, the illegimate son of a priest. His early schooling awakened his love of learning. Because he was extremely poor, he entered a monastery in 1487, but left six years later because the monastic life was not for him.
A major turning point in his life occurred in 1499 when Erasmus visited England and met the country's leading Christian humanists, including two with whom he became close friends, John Colet and Thomas More. Colet inspired Erasmus to begin serious study of the Bible and the church fathers, which required that he master the Greek language. Later he was to published an edition of the New Testament in Greek with his own Latin translation and to supervise the publication of many editions of books with the writings of the church fathers.
Erasmus became upset with the church, believing it to be full of superstition, corruption, error, and ignorance. Although agreed with Martin Luther (1483-1546) that church reform was needed, he also believed that dissension went against Christ's teachings. He did not want the church to split.
At first, Erasmus tried to facilitate a peaceful compromise with Martin Luther, whose educational background was in Scholastic theology, and did not criticize him publicly. In 1524, however, he responded to the pope's pressure and wrote "The Freedom of the Will," an attack on Luther's doctrine of the human will. Luther's and Erasmus' relationship was never the same again, although Eramus did continue on friendly terms with at least one Reformer, Melanchthon.
During his lifetime, Erasmus was supported by the pope but some other Roman Catholics regarded him with suspicion and even hostility. In 1527, the Paris Sorbonne censured thirty-two of his propositions. Shortly before his death he heard the sorrowful news of the execution of two of his English friends, Sir Thomas More and Bishop Fisher. In 1559, his books were placed on the list as those forbidden to be read.
Erasmus helped to lay the foundations for the Reformation. The story goes that Erasmus was charged with having "laid the egg that Luther hatched" to which he replied that he had expected quite another kind of a bird.
Painting: Hans Holbein the Younger. Portrait of Erasmus. 1523. Oil on wood. Louvre, Paris, France. Used by permission of Olga's Gallery-Online Art Museum, http://www.abcgallery.com.

Take the Highway

The Bible Today: Our Journey: Each of us has other reasons about why the Bible is important to us, including the affirmation in the United Methodist doctrinal standards-- that the Holy Scripture contains all things necessary to salvation.

Choose a Byway

1. Reformations: 1453-1800. Read more about the time of Erasmus. Meet Bartolomé de Las Casas, a Spanish priest and historian who sought to abolish the oppression of the native peoples in the Americas.

3. Visit other web sites that have information about this time period. Here are some of particular interest: