Was Erasmus a devout Roman Catholic?

[BaptistLady02]

Hi everyone. Was Erasmus, the one who translated the textus receptus, a devout Catholic? I thought that he wasn't until someone on another board pointed out a Catholic Encyclopedia article about him:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05510b.htm

What is your answer to this? I need a good answer because this article pretty much refutes, in my opinion, a book chapter that I read on Chick.com about Erasmus. Please help! :puzzled:

[Revelation3:20]

He certainly was catholic. How devout he was is questionable. He did often sympathize with the reformers but he never could bring himself to leave the catholic church. He kept to much baggage. That is the plain truth. It does not however effect the fact that he was a skilled translator with a high regard for the word of God.

P.S. Don't put to much faith in Chick, unfortunately there are times when the are not as accurate as they should be.

[BaptistLady02]

He certainly was catholic. How devout he was is questionable. He did often sympathize with the reformers but he never could bring himself to leave the catholic church. He kept to much baggage. That is the plain truth. It does not however effect the fact that he was a skilled translator with a high regard for the word of God.

P.S. Don't put to much faith in Chick, unfortunately there are times when the are not as accurate as they should be.

Oh ok. But if it is true that he sometimes sympathized with the Reformers then why did this person I was debating with say that he was even chosen to be a Cardinal at one point? Apparently he rejected the offer but according to the person I was debating with on another board, he was chosen to be a Catholic Cardinal.

[Revelation3:20]

Oh ok. But if it is true that he sometimes sympathized with the Reformers then why did this person I was debating with say that he was even chosen to be a Cardinal at one point? Apparently he rejected the offer but according to the person I was debating with on another board, he was chosen to be a Catholic Cardinal.

I don't know if there is any proof for that or not, if it is true there are a number of political reasons why the pope would do that. The pope wanted very much to stop the reformation and would probably have been willing to make even Martin Luther a cardinal if he would only have agreed to stop making waves. The very article you link to says that Erasmus did not take the last sacraments before death. That does not support that he was a devout catholic very well. The facts show that Erasmus was a weak catholic who knew much was wrong with catholicism, but could not bring himself to leave it.

[BaptistLady02]

I don't know if there is any proof for that or not, if it is true there are a number of political reasons why the pope would do that. The pope wanted very much to stop the reformation and would probably have been willing to make even Martin Luther a cardinal if he would only have agreed to stop making waves. The very article you link to says that Erasmus did not take the last sacraments before death. That does not support that he was a devout catholic very well. The facts show that Erasmus was a weak catholic who knew much was wrong with catholicism, but could not bring himself to leave it.

Ah ok. Thank you for this information. It is very helpful. :thumb