Collected Works of Erasmus: Paraphrases on the Epistles to the Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippans, Colossians, and Thessalonians, Volume 43 - Softcover

Erasmus, Desiderius

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1487544723 ISBN 13: 9781487544720

Publisher: University of Toronto Press, 2021

Synopsis

As part of his effort to make the Bible an effective instrument of reform in society, church, and everyday life, Erasmus composed the Paraphrases. In these series of texts, the Holy Scripture provides the core of a work that is vastly expanded to embrace the reforming "philosophy of Christ" in all of its forms. This volume contains two sets of Paraphrases, one on the Corinthian letters (circa. 1519), and the other on the group of letters from the Ephesians to the Thessalonians (circa. 1520).

The first set presents an epistolary narrative which not only enlivens the events described but revisits them from a sixteenth-century perspective. Together, they form a sharpened portrait of the primitive Corinthian church and an intriguing critique of the church as it was in Erasmus's time. The second set, Ephesians to Thessalonians, offers an interpretation of Pauline theology with humanistic overtones that are distinctively Erasmian. In these Paraphrases, we see the craft of the philologist at work in the articulation of the doctrine of the Trinity, the humanist depicting Christ with an unmistakably human sensibility, and the artist discussing familiar theological virtues of faith and love in a new way.

Apart from providing the first complete English translations of these Paraphrases since 1549, this volume gives excellent insight into the fundamentals of Erasmian theology and includes annotations which highlight the historical and linguistic implications of Erasmus's original texts.

Volume 43 of the Collected Works of Erasmus series.

About this title

About the Authors

Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536), a Dutch humanist, Catholic priest, and scholar, was one of the most influential Renaissance figures. A professor of divinity and Greek, Erasmus wrote, taught, and travelled, meeting with Europe’s foremost scholars. A prolific author, Erasmus wrote on both ecclesiastic and general human interest subjects.


Robert D. Sider is General Editor of the New Testament Scholarship for the Collected Works of Erasmus.


Sister Mechtilde O’Mara is a retired professor in the Department of Classics at St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto.

Edward Phillips is a professor in the Division of Humanities at Grinnell College.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1487544723
• ISBN 13: 9781487544720
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 760
• Editor: Sider Robert D.