If you ever end up in a feud among family or friends, you’re likely to get attacked from both sides. Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said, “Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by traffic from both sides.” That’s what happened to Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536). Erasmus was first and foremost a scholar as evident in his comment, “When I get a little money, I buy books. If there is money left…I buy food and clothes.” His lasting contribution to the church is his translation of the New Testament. Prior to Erasmus, the only Bible available was in Latin, translated by Jerome in the early 400’s from the original Greek text. Erasmus painstakingly worked to provide a new translation and correct six hundred human errors in the Latin Vulgate edition. He noted in his preface that he undertook the project so everyone could finally read the Bible. He wrote, “would that the farmer might sing snatches of Scripture at his plough, or the weaver might hum phrases of Scripture to the tune of his shuttle or that the traveler might lighten with stories from Scripture the weariness of his journey.” Erasmus became caught in the crossfire between Catholics and Protestants in the sixteenth-century. As a scholar, he could recognize the contributions of both sides. He agreed with Luther that the church needed reform yet wanted to do it from the inside. While he pleaded for moderation, his mediating position satisfied no one. Catholics accused him of inciting Luther to schism while Protestants regarded him a traitor to the Gospel. He wrote near the end of his life, “Some claim that since I do not attack Luther, I agree with him, while the Lutherans declare that I am a coward who has forsaken the gospel.”
Erasmus’ prayer reminds us of our need for more light, not heat in human relationships and church disputes: