[dwashbur]

Erasmus' insertion of 1 John 5:7 into a subsequent edition was a capitulation, but no to the church authorities. It was a capitulation to his own conscience and sense of honor. When the authorities asked him why he left it out, he said it wasn't in any of his manuscripts. They threw the requisite hissy fit and demanded that he insert it. He refused, but Erasmus being Erasmus, he made a rash promise: if they could show him one Greek manuscript with the verse in it, he would include it in his next edition. So they made one and gave it to him. He knew what they had done but he couldn't prove it, and he didn't specify that they couldn't do that. His sense of honor to his word required him to keep his promise.

It's too bad he was such a good man, and not a bit more of a jerk like me. I would have kept my promise and printed an edition with it in. Maybe 12 copies, one for each of the stuffed shirts. Then I'd put out a next edition without it, because he never promised to KEEP it in after that one edition.

Again, I'm a much bigger jerk than he was. Then again, he did write Julius Exclusus...

[Athos]

Erasmus' insertion of 1 John 5:7 into a subsequent edition was a capitulation, but no to the church authorities.

Not sure why you say that, considering the clear demand of the church authorities you outlined below. Semantics?

It was a capitulation to his own conscience and sense of honor. When the authorities asked him why he left it out, he said it wasn't in any of his manuscripts. They threw the requisite hissy fit and demanded that he insert it. He refused, but Erasmus being Erasmus, he made a rash promise: if they could show him one Greek manuscript with the verse in it, he would include it in his next edition. So they made one and gave it to him. He knew what they had done but he couldn't prove it, and he didn't specify that they couldn't do that. His sense of honor to his word required him to keep his promise.

See the parts in BOLD. Erasmus kowtowed. Claiming he was honor-bound to include the added verse seems self-serving on his part. Maybe it was a question of saving his neck, not his honor.

[dwashbur]

See the parts in BOLD. Erasmus kowtowed. Claiming he was honor-bound to include the added verse seems self-serving on his part. Maybe it was a question of saving his neck, not his honor.

Please read it again, especially the part where he refused to insert it just because they told him to.

[Athos]

Please read it again, especially the part where he refused to insert it just because they told him to.

Well, I read it again, but I read it right the first time. Ultimately, Erasmus DID insert it because they told him to. Claiming he was forced to insert it to satisfy his honor is like Trump insisting every bad fact attributed to him is a world-wide witch hunt, hoax, and a pack of lies.

That might be a little overboard, but who knows - Erasmus may be a Trumpian role model. After all, Trump's grandfather, removed 21 times, was a personal friend of Erasmus. I'd give you the secret link, but then I'd have to report you to the FBI.

[dwashbur]

It's in his letters. He wrote extensively about it to his friends.
Erasmus is my man, my friend. I've studied him almost more than I've studied Jesus. He often gets a bad rap because scholars haven't looked closely enough at what he actually said.

[Athos]

You're making a mountain out of a molehill. My friend.

[dwashbur]

Athos
You're making a mountain out of a molehill. My friend.

Uh huh. We'll go with that.