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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Folly; Satire, English; Humor / General; Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh; Philosophy / General; Philosophy / History ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

A modest disclaimer
"It is not wisdom to be always wise, and on the inward vision close the eyes" That is Santayana's wisdom. To play with it a bit ," It is not foolish always to be a fool, and on the outward shows and games of mankind make endless mockery. For who is the fool in the one place we are all to go?"
I remember reading this work in graduate school. A dutiful plodder wondering why I was not laughing out loud and being so amused. Rather I was falling asleep inside and finding the dull complaints of Erasmus a kind of spiritless exercise in predictable dumping on all things.
Alas, I am usually apologetic about not understanding works generations of mankind consider classics. But in this case I will make a modest disclaimer. This one is not in my eyes a great one, not even a very good one.
And now to another complaint. The great tolerant Erasmus who could see the folly of human greed and vanity and prejudice everywhere was himself quite vain and greed and prejudiced in regard to one very small minority of 'Europeans' who can claim to be the most persecuted people in the history of mankind. Why should I sing the praises of someone who hates me?
The bootsteps of Nazism march to the tune that Erasmus and Voltaire the two great ' liberators' of European mankind sing.
I have no praise for Erasmus folly and his wickedness in this.

A Modest Satire
Praise of Folly is what it was intended to be, a modest satire, not a masterwork.Erasmus was an interesting and accomplished man - one of the lights of his age.However, this work, written, basically, on a lark for his good friend, Thomas More, is a little difficult for the modern reader but is still, at times, quite humorous.Unlike the work of Jonathon Swift (many years later) there's little reason to read this unless you're a student of the period.

Perhaps there is hope for us all.
Granted this is pretty dry reading. Erasmus may not be the greatest writer. This does make for a turgid evening if one plans or desires to read it from cover to cover in one sitting. That said, Erasmus rode (if not found himself starting) the beginning wave of the great reformation. In his writings (which bear a not so slight foreshadowing to the great C.S. Lewis) Erasmus gives hope for all of us sinners in the guise of wit. An important addition to any library of classical literature.

Couldn't finish it!
Sorry, I tried several times to read this book.I hunted for passages that might interest me. Unfortunately, all I found was [the author] blowing his own horn.But then fantasy and science is about all that interests me.I'm sure someone with a historical bent would find this tale exhilarating.

This fool is too wise
To say the book has less than perfect unity in tone, as was written in the introduction, pg xv, is an understatement.The reader is never sure whether it is Folly or Erasmus who is talking.Perhaps for the goddess of Folly, contradictions and inconsistencies are the very follies desired - how are we mortals to tell?

And that is what we have here - all the inconsistencies, as, for example, mentioned in pages xiv-xv of the introduction again, that Erasmus wrote with the learned sophistry he denied schoolmen, philosophers, courtiers, theologians and monks.It's almost like Lao-Tzu and his Tao-Te Ching which includes the famous "The name that can be named is not the eternal name; the Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao," only to have a later poet, Po Chi-Yi, quip about the 10,000 word effort to say what cannot be said in the first place.Yes, he did say at the end that 'I hate an audience that won't forget,' but that's not a courtesy he proffered to his opponents, of whom the criticism by Erasmus seems caviling, carping and nitpicking.He should have emulated his inpiration, Lucian with his 'philosophers for sale,' and made points simple like that here.It would be unfair, though tempting, to think that Erasmus took Quitillian to heart (pg. 81, 'what can't be refuted can often be parried in laughter') and disguised his voice in silly chaos for what has not been thought out cogently.

So, one is not quite sure whether wasting away a life in idleness, corruption or avarice as priests, bishops and monks are wont to do is the same kind of folly as the folly that comes from the innocence of the simple minded people or children, since Erasmus never quite made it crystal clear.Do we praise folly here but condemn it otherwise - without unity of tone and consistency of the vantage point of the writer, the whole thing just becomes a mess of confusion.

What Erasmus wanted to say does deserve our attention, but one wishes that he could have done it in a more fluid style and without all that pretentious classical references, for unlike Lucian, he lived not in that period.And certainly it could be better organized into chapters and sections, and used some editing to eliminate the endless repetitions, ensure consistency and unity of tone.Casson's 'Selected Satires of Lucian' is a much better read and is highly recommended over this one. ... Read more

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This Norton Critical Edition provides a wide selection of Erasmus’swritings, translated from the Latin into fresh, modern English.Besides the celebrated Praise of Folly, Robert M. Adams has includedthe political "Complaint of Peace," the brutal antipapal satire "JuliusExcluded from Heaven," two versions of Erasmus’s important preface tothe Latin translation of the New Testament, and a selection bothserious and comic of his Colloquies and his letters.  Adams has madethese selections to emphasize the humane, rather than the doctrinaire,side of the first and arguably greatest humanist.

Critical commentary is provided in essays by H. R. Trevor-Roper, R. S.Allen, J. Huizinga, Mikhail Bakhtin, Paul Oskar Kristeller, and RobertM. Adams.

Also included are a Chronology of Erasmus’s life and a SelectedBibliography. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Thin on secondary materials
The other reviewers have praised Erasmus, and, well, duh.Anyone still in print after 500 years probably had some profound and interesting things to say.

But I suspect most people looking at this edition will be doing so in the hope it will contain the variety of secondary materials commonly found in the usually excellent Norton Critical Editions.In that respect I was disappointed with this volume.It does an excellent job of selecting from Erasmus's works, but a poor one, in my opinion, of including secondary literature.

I like what is there, I just want more.

Intelligent, Insightful, Witty
Erasmus conveys in his writings a deeply principled, heartfelt faith leavened with genuinely funny and often cutting wit.He is a great Rationalist while admitting the workings of the irrational and mystical. His attacks on the excesses of the Church are exactly that, attacks on the excesses but not the Church itself.There is a profound integrity that never slips into a self-righteousness.HIs letter to Martin Dorp is an excellent example. The Praise of Folly is a gem, but is only an introduction to the riches in the other selections. If your are interested in issues of religious faith, church history, theology or the early Renaissance, this is a must read.

What a fascinating man!
I stumbled upon Erasmus while reading Durant's Reformation volume of the Story of Civilization, and later while reading Johnson's History of Christianity.Both authors were rightly impressed with the great influence he had on the Christian world prior to and during the time of the reformation.I had previously known that Luther and Calvin were the major players in the reformation but hadn't realized that so many characters prepared for it and also tried to temper the violent outcomes.Erasmus stood out for me as an intriguing person that I wanted to learn more about.As a result, I purchased this book to get a sample of his writings.

This book of just over 300 pages contains as its major work "The Praise of Folly".This satirical gem has Folly incarnated as a type of a classical goddess discussing the virtues of folly and using various classical and everyday examples to justify why folly is such a good thing.Fortunately, the compiler has footnotes to explain the classical references to those not familiar with most of them; this helped me a lot.

There follows the brilliant anti-war piece entitled "The Compliant of Peace", where peace is embodied and complains of how he is abused and neglected.Then follows two forewords to his groundbreaking Latin translation of the Greek New Testament, explaining why he did this.I hadn't realized how intense the opposition was.After that we have the hilarious "Julius Excluded from Heaven"; an imagined conversation between Pope Julius and St. Peter at heavens gate.I can see why it was initially published anonymously.

The next section includes four of his Colloquies; very well written and bringing out some good points.Three letters are also included including one defending his Praise of Folly, another describing his travels, and another to a high ranking Bishop.The final section includes six essays of varying interest discussing Erasmus.

I loved Erasmus' writing style and though the compilation a very good introduction to his writing.Adam's translation was very clear.I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more of Erasmus and sample his writing.

Amazing book by and amazing writer.
Erasmus knew the heart of man. His writings in the 16th Century AD are completely relevant to today. If only our leaders read Erasmus he could have told them what folly any war is.

Renascence Man
Robert Adams' translation is great and helps feature Erasmus wit and wisdom with modern usage, with plenty of footnote explanation of period literature.Erasmus' satirical writing is amusing and insightful of the political and social thinking of his time.Amazing to read how little has changed intellectually over 500 years. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Free Will?
I really enjoyed this book, it helps me to see that God in his sovereignty gives us Free Will.

Abridged
Be advised the Luther is *heavily* abridged.The book itself is not very clear about this fact which becomes obvious as you read it.

The Ongoing Debate
I purchased this book for my "Formation of Modern Christianity" class and am in the process of writing my term paper on the debate between Erasmus and Luther on the issue of free will.This book does an excellent job of reviewing Erasmus' case for free will and briefly summarizes Luther's case for the bondage of will, as well.Buy this book if you'd like a concise review of this ongoing debate.

Discourse on Free Will
Readers of Discourse on Free Will, a written debate between Martin Luther and Desiderius Erasmus, will find one of the early essential philosophical divisions of the Roman Catholic Church.These two theologians debate the heart of Luther's fundamental differences over church doctrine.Never mind issues like indulgences and purgatory (indeed Luther thanks Erasmus for not discussing such "trifles") because Luther's primary argument concerned justification by faith through the grace of God.The book compiled here, edited by Ernst Winter, is a glimpse into the minds of these two influential men.

Winter's editing is a bit suspect, as Erasmus enjoys the first 94 pages while Luther receives only the final 44, but this really gives Erasmus more time to make a fool of himself.Erasmus wonders around raising many points and attempts to connect all into his free will argument, but it is not until his conclusion that he begins to make his point.In section 48, Erasmus confuses free will with grace, on page 56 he refers to a chamber pot to make his point.He makes a weak argument until his conclusion, which takes on the appearance of a lawyer closing his case.Ultimately though, one must consider this: Rotterdam has never been known for its scholars; Erasmus is no exception.

But this is not to say Luther is the "winner" here.The book is somewhat akin to a pre-Reformation version of "Grumpy Old Men."The debate gets personal at times.In two instances Luther refers to Erasmus as "stupid" andErasmus states Luther is "without reason."This makes for a more interesting read but also shows the limits of each man's patience.This book may not be for everyone, but those desiring to know more about the debate of the Catholic Church will find it has much to offer.THere clearly are two different styles here.Erasmus offers hope for all, true to the elements of Humanism, while Luther's effort is not for the faint of heart.Either way, the reader will be richer for the effort.

"The Clash of the Theologians"
Desiderius Erasmus and Martin Luther's theological polemic and "Discourse on Free Will" is a wonderful source to understand the thought that classified, diversified, and divided the plain between the classical and orthodox, and the novel and heretical.These view points changed the face of an age - from common belief and good conduct, to individualism and good belief ...with this book you may decide a position for yourself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Mixed bag
This book, from the writings of Erasmus in the 1500's, contains a lot on ethics and morals, but perhaps not as much as it should have on Christ and the cross.The writing on ethics and morals, however, is strong and good.

Some sections could just as well have been left out.

Non-religious readers perhaps won't like the heavy emphasis on morals as given in this book.

Especially Roman Catholic readers won't like his views and general attacks on monks, Bishops, Cardinals, and Popes, although it is also his view that those who do not acknowledge the authority of the Pope are outside the church and thus outside salvation.

Especially conservative Protestant readers won't like his view that salvation can be earned by sufficient works of charity and mercy, and his view of the Pope as above or equal to the Gospel itself.

Especially Virgin Mary worshippers won't like his statements against praying to the Virgin Mary and Saints instead of to Christ.

Readers will, however, have access to selected writings of a famous man from the 1500's who desired reform within the church and reform of society at that time in general.So, if you are looking for a book strong on living virtuously, that at the same time presents some of the problems in the church at that period, and you are patient to find the worthwhile parts that are mixed in with some dull parts and some parts you probably won't agree with, then this book might be worth considering.

Good Erasmus compilation for the lay reader
I really like Erasmus, and after studying him in a reformation class I decided to look for a collection of his writings, and this is a nice, cheap copy.
Erasmus is a difficult person to analyze and figure out what exactly he is after.His writings can be confusing at times and one may sometimes wonder the applicability of some of his words for today; of course, such was very significant in the time period in which they were composed.Though their bearing may not have as much salient application to todays world, I think it is still very relevant, especially when considered with the proper perspective; if the writings themselves are not directly relevant, surely the motivation for his writings are.One would be wise to analyze their self, the modern church, and the modern world in light of his ideas and consider what he would propose did he live today.

One of the boldest books ever written!
Traveling toward England, Erasmus conceived the idea a little book that would become a referential text for the readers of the future. Dedicated to Thomas Moro making a curious twist of words between the name Moro and the Greek term "Moria" that designs the madness. This was a game in which he has thinking, but eventually will turn in a dangerous game. The text is apparently written by the madness itself and it says that it is the most powerful force which impulses the human life, and that all what it happens between men would be sadder, more mournful if not by its presence. This sort of allegation of the madness has a dark and corrosive emendatory, that precisely is what explicitly Erasmus is affirming. "All of you, men that populates Europe, loaded of destiny, are somehow madmen, foolish, people who ignore what you do or even go, and worst still, even don? t know the weight of your responsibilities." But wisely, he does not say in the serious tune of a preacher man, but in a mockerytune of this light satire that allows that such important isues be said and eventually contribute to shock the European conscious in a moment that was mature for that shaking, without great risk for the man who said it.

It is absolutely fundamental for any illustrated person its reading. This is one the most transcendental texts of the Western civilization,

In this sense this is a smart essay that will help us to understand evenc ?poser yjis egregious mind.


... Read more

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Third and expanded edition with a new biography of Erasmus. ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Religion / Christian Life / General; Religion / Devotional; Philosophy / General; ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Probably a great work
I would imagine that this work, like the rest of Erasmus's works, is very good.However, this version maintains entirely the old English, rendering it almost impossible to read (I am not talking about simply "thee"s and "thou"s, but archaic spelling which makes nearly every word a puzzle). ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Figures of speech; Education; Language Arts ... Read more

Product Description
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. ... Read more

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Literary Collections / General; ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Both Sides of the Debate, plus superior notes and indices.
Desiderius Erasmus (De Libero Arbitrio) and Martin Luther (De Servo Arbitrio), Luther and Erasmus: Free Will and Salvation, Translated and Edited by E. Gordon Rupp, Philip S. Watson (Philadelphia, The Westminster Press, 1969)

Martin Luther, The Bondage of the Will, translated by J. I. Packer & O. R. Johnston (Grand Rapids, Fleming H. Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 1959)

The exchange on the issue of free will between Erasmus and Luther may be one of the best known theological exchanges in the history of Christian literature. If for no other reason, it is memorable for being the impetus behind Luther's writing what he considered his best theological work. Both works were written in Latin, and both are peppered throughout with references to a wide range of both theological works and classical Greek and Latin authors. Both were linguists of the first order. Erasmus had St. Jerome as his hero, while Luther was especially devoted to the though of Jerome's contemporary, Augustine of Hippo.
Both works cited above contain very good translations of Luther's work, which is about four times longer than Erasmus' Diatribe. Both works also contain very good introductions by the editor / translators; however the Rupp/Watson volume is clearly superior in that it contains both works, with an introduction to both works. It also has superior footnotes and combined index to their introduction, Erasmus' work, and Luther's work.
In the first few years of Luther's career as a reformer, beginning in 1517, with the publication of the 95 Theses, most of Europe perceived Erasmus as an ally of Luther. Some, such as the papal legate, Jerome Aleander, thought Erasmus actually wrote Luther's works. In 1524, influential friends, got Erasmus to write a tract against Luther. Erasmus chose the issue of freedom of the will, as Luther posed the issue in his Heidelberg Disputation, Theological Theses Nr. 13 ` Free will, after the fall, exists in name only, and as long as it does what it is able to do, it commits a mortal sin'. Erasmus correctly affirms from the outset that this issue is difficult, and that even with all the `labor' expended to address the issue, that effort has born less fruit. This immediately alerts us to observe whether the great Erasmus can succeed where so many others have failed. He also immediately points out that his `diatribe' was solicited by two of Martin Luther's more dedicated enemies, Johann von Eck (1486 - 1543) and Andreas Carlstadt (1480 - 1541). With this, Erasmus quiets any surprise by saying that he has never been an adherent to Luther's doctrines. In these opening statements, Erasmus seems to be performing a graceful ballet of words around the disputants who are discussing things with literally deadly seriousness.
He also, very early on, simply says that I don't agree with Luther. `I think there to be a certain power of free choice.'He goes on to state the problem as:
`By free choice in this place we mean a power of the human will by which a man can apply himself to the things which lead to eternal salvation, or turn away from them'.
Before embarking on the argument over this issue, Erasmus suggests that this is not something which should be discussed in an open forum. He also gives credit to the findings in the traditions of the church, and the heritage of an `unwritten gospel', not unlike the authority the Jews give to their Mishnah, Talmud, and Midrashic writings.
Erasmus main argument against Luther's statement of the problem (Luther agrees with Erasmus' restatement) is his trotting out a large number of scriptural passages from both the Old and New Testaments which he says supports the notion that there is no sense to `sin' unless people have the free will to avoid committing sin. He also addresses in some detail a few passages which are commonly cited to argue against free will, and he claims to show how these passages don't make the case against free will.
In both Erasmus tract and in Luther's reply, it is truly amazing to see the extent to which they make personal attacks on one another's positions. About a quarter of the way through Luther's work, we stops addressing Erasmus and begins, in a consistently sneering tone, addressing the female Diatribe, a short title of Erasmus work. My Latin dictionary does not have diatribe, so I don't know if it is a masculine, feminine, or neuter noun, but Luther certainly has a lot of sport with the gender.
Luther, I believe, actually argues against two different senses of `free will', and seems to not let on that he is doing so. Early in the book, when he is countering Erasmus' scriptural examples, his sense of `free will' is that absolutely nothing that a person can do is free of sin, unless they have the faith of grace. In some sense, it totally sidesteps Erasmus' point that people have a choice in what they do. Luther tacitly agrees they have a choice, but states that everything they choose will be sinful, because everything they do will arise from their sinful nature borne of the flesh. On the other hand, I believe Luther is correct in saying that Erasmus has not make his case that one's behavior contributes to their salvation. He even goes so far as to say that Erasmus has stated the evidence for Luther's case.
After Luther dismisses Erasmus' scriptural arguments, with quite a few attacks on Erasmus' metaphorical interpretations of statements (plain reading of scripture is one of Luther's themes throughout his career), plus attacks on Erasmus' hero, Jerome, Luther seems to switch gears and provide evidence for the sense of `free will' which is denied by God's omniscience. St. Paul is famous for this argument, primarily in Romans and Ephesians. The argument is simplicity itself, which makes its absence in Luther's earlier discussion all the more evident. If there is an omniscient God, then He will know everything which will happen in the future, meaning that there is nothing that humans can do by their will to choose to differently than what God foreknows.
It is also convenient that Luther postpones elucidating this position until after he dispatches Erasmus' argument on discussing this issue openly. The inescapable consequence of this position, which Luther does not shirk, is that the image of God presented in the introduction to Job is entirely correct. God saves or damns people entirely based on his own reasons, which are a complete mystery to us. Our proper response is to praise his greatness as our LORD.
Just as Erasmus may not make his case, it is believed that Luther also did not effectively address Erasmus' points. One may leave the discussion feeling this was a tempest in a teapot, but it was not. In 1785, 260 years after Luther's work, Immanuel Kant opened his Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals with the statement 'It is impossible to conceive anything at all in the world, or even out of it, which can be taken as good without qualification, except a good will.' From this, virtually straight out of Luther, Kant adduces his categorical imperative, one of the most durable criteria for judging moral statements.

Luther at his best? He is protestant for sure.
When you start to read book of such caliber you think you will finally understand the greatness of a great Luther.And here is coming a shocker.You can incur from his writing that he is very angry spiteful man indeed.I am not even talking about theology-cause you know how it is with theology nowdays.Everyone is a theologian, everyone put scripture out of context to serve his or her own profit (hopefully spiritual not monetary).And Luther wasn't exception in this case either (his theology maybe to your liking if you are protestant, if not, better to read the Church Fathers).His denial of free will is just shocking, you can see that this idea is something that was later on developed by Calvin, but it was started by Luther.But again his style of writing is just so damning so unchristianlike that you may think that he is simply mad man.As for Erasmus, I tend to agree with his view much more-the reason, I have read some Church Father.Again if you never read theologians of ancient Christianity you may like what Luther say, if you will read them, you may see Luther differently.

Luther and Erasmus
The work of Luther andErasmus was well done by the translators.It was an interesting controversy, but unfortunately Erasmus did not do as good a job on this particular piece as he probably could have done.

Luther as always was wordy.

But, it was a good positioning of the two men and an area of thought that is very interesting to me.

The translator for Luther, Philip S. Watson, was my Master's professor at Garrett.

J. Robert Ewbank, author of "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"

\
Luther and Erasmus causes one to pause and consider their views on Free Will and Salvation.

Luther and Erasmus
This was a gift.She loved it.It is a rather expensive book, so I hope she wasn't lying. ... Read more

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This title has fewer than 24 printed text pages. Pet Farm is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Roger D. Aycock is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Roger D. Aycock then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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These letters to and from Erasmus introduce students to a lively form of Latin and an exciting period of Western history. The letters are of historical importance or deal with matters of compelling human interest, making this a fascinating volume. The book includes biographical material, notes, and vocabulary.

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For over 30 years Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers has produced the highest quality Latin and ancient Greek books. From Dr. Seuss books in Latin to Plato's Apology, Bolchazy-Carducci's titles help readers learn about ancient Rome and Greece; the Latin and ancient Greek languages are alive and well with titles like Cicero's De Amicitia and Kaegi's Greek Grammar. We also feature a line of contemporary eastern European and WWII books.

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The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Biography ... Read more

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Colloquies of Erasmus, Volume I. is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Desiderius Erasmus is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Desiderius Erasmus then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

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Publisher: Oxford : The Clarendon PressPublication date: 1908Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

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Volumes 71-84 of the Collected Works of Erasmus contain Erasmus' arguments with his numerous critics - English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian, both Catholic and Protestant, - on a range of theological, educational, literary, classical, social, and philological topics.Volume 83 includes four treatises: Apology against Jacques Lefèvre d'Etaples; An Appendix on the Writings of Josse Clichtove; Refutation of the Accusations of Josse Clichtove against the Suasoria of Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam in Praise of Marriage; and The Reply of Erasmus to the Disputation of a Certain Phimostomus on Divorce. In these essays Erasmus discusses popular concerns such as the relations between the sexes, celibacy, marriage, divorce, and how to live a good life. Modern readers will be surprised to discover how close the problems that preoccupied Erasmus are to our own concerns today.

Professor Bedouelle's introduction provides an indispensable guide to the major points of controversy between Erasmus and Lef¦vre, Clichtove, and Dietenberger. ... Read more