Analysis Of Erasmus's Coloquies

Through his Ten Colloquies, Desiderius Erasmus began to develop a way of thinking that Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, and John Calvin, would eventually mimic and adapt. Erasmus lived and wrote in a period of change, causing his writings to be accepted and built on. Arguably, the reformer who benefited the most from Erasmus’s writings is Martin Luther, the founder of Lutheranism. Other Protestant religions are based off of Luther’s original model, meaning that people today are still affected by the teachings of Erasmus and Luther. Throughout his colloquies Erasmus portrays several important religious themes such as how to gain a spot in Heaven, the usefulness of saints, and the importance of a person reading and …show more content…
Erasmus’s story, “The Funeral,” describes the funerals and events leading up to the deaths of two different people and invites readers to ponder which of the men was godlier. The first man was a general named George who was very wealthy, and the second was religious common man by the name of Cornelius (Erasmus, 1986, 99,107). In his last days, George spent money on multiple doctors who bought masses for him and on bringing a priest to see him in his home, all in an attempt to assure himself that he was going to Heaven. (Erasmus, 1986, 95-97). Unlike George, Cornelius carried on the life of a typical man by simply went to church, confessed, heard sermon and mass, and took communion the Sunday before he died (Erasmus, 1986, 107). He shows that he trusts God and Earthly things when he says, ‘“There is sufficient abundance of merits in Christ, and I have faith that the prayers and merits of the whole Church will benefit me, if only I am a true member of it.”’ (Erasmus, 1986, 109). In this story, Erasmus appears to be saying that it is more important to be part of the church and trust its people than to ‘buy’ a spot in Heaven. Although methods of buying a spot in Heaven may be different, Erasmus is beginning to create a way of thought against buying Earthly things to get into Heaven, somethings …show more content…
His character Ogygius says, about St. James of Compostella, “And if people do come, they merely greet him; they make no offering at all, or only a very slight one, declaring it would be better to contribute that money to the poor.” (Erasmus, 1986, 58). This is showing how the focus of Christianity is shifting from giving to Saints and Churches toward giving to the poor. Erasmus continues on to confirm that Luther agrees with his ideas in a letter from the Virgin Mary, in which she directly mentions Luther’s followers as a reason that saints are becoming useless (Luther, 1986, 60). Based on this, Erasmus appears to believe that Luther is a major factor behind the decline of the following of saints. Erasmus and Luther seem to agree that it is less important to raise money for a rich church based on Saints, and more important to give to the