Apologia Qva Respondet Dvabvs Invectivis Edvardi Lei

Abstract

The publication by Erasmus of the Greek New Testament, with his own Latin translation and notes, aroused the fury of the conservative theologians as had no other act of the militant humanist’s career. Many who could not read it were profoundly suspicious of the Greek text. Many more, including those who knew some Greek, resented the Greek text and the Latin translation as an impious attempt to supplant the time-hallowed Vulgate, the foundation upon which had been reared most of the dogmas of the Church. Though the editor had been guided solely by the desire to establish the true text of the Scriptures according to the best obtainable sources, certain significant variations from the Vulgate, such as the omission of the passage concerning the Three Heavenly Witnesses (I John, v, 7), convinced them that the work was dangerous and inspired by heretical ideas. Above all, the conservatives were offended by the Annotationes — and with greater reason. For the notes, charmingly written, witty and discursive, were as unorthodox in manner as in matter. Their chief purpose was to clarify the literal sense of the text; but in so doing they challenged or destroyed many of the traditional interpretations that had been accepted as fundamental truths.