Christian Humanism

Christian Humanism

Who: Erasmus is a key figure as well as Thomas More

What: humanist ideas reconciled more with Christian theology to more fully understand man in relation to God, emphasized role of education in reforming the individual to better society as a whole

When:16th century

Where: North, especially Germany, England

Why: Ideas that erupted into the Protestant Reformation

• Erasmus translated directly from the Greek texts a new Latin edition of the New Testament which was in turn translated into German by Luther, undercutting the primacy of the Vulgate, amplified by Luther’s push for the individual to read the text themselves.
• Thus, leading to a more open interpretation of theology.
• Criticism of the Church practices like indulgences and other excesses of the clergy