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Handout #145 |
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A letter to a Friend -- Erasmus |
| The return to scripture should allow a
religious purification and a practical Christianity which rejects otiose
theological speculation. Erasmus tells his friend Jean Carondelet, in
January 1523 A.D. how he understands the links between scripture, dogma
and theology.
The ancient writers of the church philosophized on divine things only with extreme sobriety. They did not dare to affirm anything which was not clearly declared in the letters whose authority is sacrosanct of us ... Let us forgive the men of old who gave their definitions only grudgingly. But the rest of us have no excuse for raising so many inquisitive questions and defining so many things which are of no use for salvation. Is it impossible to be united to the Trinity without being capable of explaining the distinction between the Father and the Son or between the Spirit and the other two persons? What matters, that to which we have to apply all our energies, is to purge our soul of passions: envy, hatred, pride, greed, concupiscence. Unless I have a pure heart, I shall never see God. Unless I forgive my brother, God will not forgive me ... We shall never be damned for not knowing whether the principle of the Holy Spirit is single or double; but we shall not escape damnation unless we try to possess their fruits of the Spirit, which are love, joy, patience, goodness, gentleness, faith, modesty, continence ... The essence of our religion is peace and concord, and we can only easily maintain this on condition that we define a very small number of dogmatic points and leave everyone the freedom to form his own judgment on the majority of problems. The true science of theology consists in not defining anything that is not indicated in the scriptures. And it is seemly to communicate these very indications simply and in good faith. Nowadays appeal is made to an ecumenical council decide on many problems; but we would do much better to postpone them until the day when we see God face to face. At one time faith consisted more in life than in the profession of articles of faith. Little by little it became necessary to impose dogmas; but there were not many of them and they had a quite apostolic simplicity. Subsequently, because of the disloyalty of the heretics, scripture was submitted to a more rigorous examination. The symbol of faith began to be found more in writings that in hearts. Articles accumulated; sincerity decreased. The doctrine of Christ, which initially rejected all wars of words, sought protection from the schools of philosophers; that was the first step in the decline of the church. Then riches increased, and that led to violence. The instrument of imperial authority in church affairs impaired the sincerity of faith. Religion became simply sophistic argument. And the church was inundated with myriad of articles. From there things moved on to terror and threats. By force and fear we are trying to make people believe things that they do not believe, to make them love what they do not love, and to compel them to understand what they do not understand. Constraint cannot bring people together in sincerity, and Christ only accepts the voluntary gift of our souls. Letter from Erasmus to Jean Carondelet, Archbishop of Palermo, 5 January 1523. |
