Collected Works of Erasmus : Paraphrases on the Epistles to Timothy, Titus and Philemon, the Epistles of Peter and Jude, the Epistle of James, the Epistles of John, and the Epistle to the Hebrews

The aim of the Collected Works of Erasmus is to make available an accurate, readable English text of Erasmus' correspondence and his other principal writings. The edition is planned and directed by an Editorial Board, an Executive Committee, and an Advisory Committee.

Erasmus yearned to make the Bible an effective instrument in the reform of society, church, and everyday life. He therefore composed paraphrases in which the words of Holy Scripture provided the core of a text, vastly expanded to embrace the reforming `philosophy of Christ.' The Paraphrases were successful beyond all expectations, and were quickly translated into French, German, English, and other languages.

This is the fourth volume of Paraphrases to be published in the New Testament Scholarship Series in the CWE. The volume includes the Paraphrases on the Pastoral Epistles and the Catholic, or General, Epistles, as well as the Paraphrase on Hebrews. These books, in the biblical text, address the central issues of the Christian life within the context of family, church, and community. The Paraphrases sharpen the accent of the biblical message, speaking in an idiom appropriate to the sixteenth century but also surprisingly relevant to our own age: they condemn, for example, every form of tyrannizing in the home and self-aggrandisement in the church; perhaps above all, the Paraphrases expose the social injustice (inevitable, Erasmus would have us believe) of those who have acquired great personal wealth.

Erasmus also reformulates, and sometimes develops, some of the great theological themes already defined in earlier volumes of this series. Is sin congenital, or do we sin simply in `imitation' of Adam? How do the Hebrew Scriptures attest to the presence of divine grace in the world before the birth of Christ? What is faith if not a vision of eternal realities so sure that we can clearly recognize the things of this passing world as the shadows they are?

These Paraphrases address the modern reader with the relevance of the moral issues they define and the perennial importance of the theological questions they raise. Erasmus clarified and interpreted biblical text with immense rhetorical skill.

Volume 44 of the Collected Works of Erasmus series.

Contents 7 Preface 9 Translator's Note 13 Paraphrase on the First Epistle to Timothy 19 Paraphrase on the Second Epistle to Timothy 57 Paraphrase on the Epistle to Titus 73 Paraphrase on the Epistle to Philemon 87 Paraphrase on the First Epistle of Peter 93 Paraphrase on the Second Epistle of Peter 127 Paraphrase on the Epistle of Jude 141 Paraphrase on the Epistle of James 149 Paraphrase on the First Epistle of John 189 Paraphrase on the Second Epistle of John 221 Paraphrase on the Third Epistle of John 225 Paraphrase on the Epistle to the Hebrews 229 Notes 279 The Sequence and Dates of the Publication of the Paraphrases Editions of the Paraphrases Cited in This Volume Works Frequently Cited Short-Title Forms for Erasmus' Works Index of Scriptural Passages Cited Index of Greek and Latin Words Cited General Index 398 The Sequence and Dates of the Publication of the Paraphrases 398 Editions of the Paraphrases Cited in This Volume 399 Works Frequently Cited 401 Short-Title Forms for Erasmus' Works 405 Index of Scriptural Passages Cited 409 Index of Greek and Latin Words Cited 417 General Index 420 In the letters 1523-4, Erasmus' mounting anger at the authors of these attacks goes hand in hand with his slowly formed decision to publish a book against Luther on free will.