Desiderius Erasmus · Philosophy

The Philosophy of Christ: Piety From the Inside Out

Erasmus&rsquo;s core religious vision, set out in the <em>Enchiridion</em> and named in the <em>Paraclesis</em>: the &lsquo;philosophy of Christ&rsquo; is not a system of doctrines or a schedule of ceremonies but an inward disposition of the heart - and ritual without that inner spirit is, for Erasmus, the deepest corruption of religion.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that Erasmus taught a philosophia Christi : piety as an inward disposition, drawn from Scripture and lived by all, not a matter of external rites; that in the Enchiridion he urged the Christian to rise from visible to invisible things; and that he thought ceremony without the heart was the gravest religiou…

Leads to Plato.

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