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Downloaded from Brill.Com10/01/2021 04:33:44PM Via Free Access 138 Simpson to Regrounding Christianity in Scripture Erasmus Studies 37 (2017) 137–160 brill.com/eras The Use of evangelicus in the Paraphrases Dean Simpson* University of Richmond [email protected] Abstract This article is a word study that analyses and interprets how Erasmus uses the adjective evangelicus, -a, -um in his New Testament Paraphrases. The development of the idiom ‘gospel-blank’ (evangelicus + noun) is analyzed diachronically; the phrases denoting gospel things are divided into six semantic categories. The study shows, on the one hand, that there is a general consistency in how evangelicus is used, the most common pairings predominating in most Paraphrases on the Epistles and Gospels, while, on the other, there is some broadening and lowering of the nouns with which evangelicus is joined, moving from the Paraphrases on the Epistles to the Gospel Paraphrases. Erasmus’ changing attitude to the project of paraphrasing the New Testament provides biographical and historical context in which to place the study’s findings. The study concludes by highlighting the New Testament Paraphrases as Erasmus’ humanistic response to worsening divisions in the early 1520s. Keywords genitive – God’s salvific power – gospel – Paraphrases The Biblical scholarship of Erasmus of Rotterdam holds a prominent place among the many things that make the Renaissance author historically impor- tant. Erasmus’ first edition of the Greek New Testament, his Latin translation, and the Annotations, published together in 1516 as the Novum Instrumentum, are supreme illustrations of Erasmus’ humanistic erudition and commitment * I want to express my gratitude to the anonymous readers for a number of corrections and helpful suggestions. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2017 | doi: 10.1163/18749275-03702001Downloaded from Brill.com10/01/2021 04:33:44PM via free access 138 simpson to regrounding Christianity in Scripture. A fourth component of Erasmus’ bib- lical scholarship, the New Testament Paraphrases, fits so well with the Novum Instrumentum that it could easily be imagined that Erasmus planned his bib- lical scholarship as a fourfold project: text, translation, notes, and elaborated commentaries written from the point of view of the biblical authors. The truth of the matter is different. Erasmus had no plan to paraphrase the New Testament1 and as the scope of the Paraphrases increased—Paraphrase on Romans, Paraphrases on the Pauline Epistles, Paraphrases on the Epistles of Paul and Peter, Paraphrases on all the Epistles, Paraphrase on Matthew—he hoped each new work might suffice, until, remarkably late, he saw the need to finish the project ending with Acts, omitting Revelation for obvious rea- sons.2 Working in concentrated periods of weeks interspersed amid his other liter- ary activities, Erasmus wrote the Paraphrases between 1517 and 1524. Paraphras- ing was hard work,3 requiring the close reading of biblical texts and selected commentaries to arrive at a synthesis that could serve as the basis for informed reading and preaching. As hard as it was to persuade Erasmus to move beyond his original intension of paraphrasing only Paul’s Epistle to the Romans and tackle the other New Testament Epistles, it was much harder to prevail on Erasmus to jump from paraphrasing Epistles to paraphrasing Gospels. As letters, the Epistles left out a lot for a paraphrast to supply. The Gospels were already continuous and well elaborated, raising the question, what was there for the paraphrast to add? Eras- mus also worried about the presumption of altering the recorded statements of Jesus Christ.4 Redundancies and discrepancies between the Gosples also posed 1 See “The Paraphrases of Erasmus: Origin and Character” in cwe 42, xv and (cited there) Albert Rabil Jr, “Erasmus’ Paraphrase of the Gospel of John,” Church History 48 (1979) 142– 155, esp. 142–144 where Erasmus is described as not being “self-conscious about the project of writing paraphrases of the New Testament.” I think an attitude of reluctance is closer to the mark. 2 Erasmus recounts the stages in Ep. 1341a, 30 Jan. 1523, to Johann von Botzheim, lines 750–774 cwe. For an overview of the publication history of the Paraphrases see R.A.B. Mynors, “The Publication of the Latin Paraphrases” cwe 42 xx–xxix. See also Rabil, note 1. 3 Erasmus begins Ep. 1171, 16 Dec. 1520, dedicating the Paraphrase on James to Cardinal Matthäus Schiner, by likening himself to an athlete: “I thought I had already reached the end of my race, and was intending to give myself a rest, at any rate from studies of this kind, having explained all the Epistles which I thought genuinely Pauline.” lines 4–6 cwe; the metaphor is repeated at lines 50–51. 4 Ep. 1255, 13 Jan., 1522, dedicating the Paraphrase on Matthew to Charles v, gives numerous reasons why Erasmus did not want to paraphrase the Gospel of Matthew after having para- ErasmusDownloaded Studies from 37 Brill.com10/01/2021 (2017) 137–160 04:33:44PM via free access the use of evangelicus in the paraphrases 139 a problem. In the end, a white lie on the part of Cardinal Schiner, who spread word that the Paraphrase on Matthew was nearly ready for publication, forced Erasmus’ hand.5 As he worked on the Paraphrase on Matthew in November and December, 1521, Erasmus held out hope that one Gospel paraphrase might be enough.6 Rather than finding the task of paraphrasing the Gospels daunting, it is clear that Erasmus found the exercise of impersonating the evangelists satisfying and illumining.There is no evidence in the Gospel Paraphrases themselves that Erasmus felt any scruple in rephrasing Jesus’ words. This type of work, it turned out, suited Erasmus very well: the literary, analytical, and pastoral challenges drew him in and up.7 The popularity of the Paraphrases also buoyed him.8 As phrased the New Testament Epistles (lines 31–79 cwe). Chief among these was that it was too bold an undertaking: “the majesty of Christ was too great for the same boldness to be permissible in respect of the words he uttered.” lines 34–36 cwe. Also Ep. 1333, 5 Jan., 1523, dedicating the Paraphrase on John to Archduke Ferdinand: “The very grandeur of the work inspired a certain awe that deterred my mind from approaching it.” lines 7–8 cwe. 5 Again from Ep. 1255: “[Cardinal Shiner] went on to Milan, and promised the Germans in my name that the work would come out this winter. Consequently on my return to Basel I was beset by my German friends, who can be very obstinate when they want something, so that to fulfill my promises he and I had made I finished the work in about a month.” lines 88–92 cwe. Also Ep. 1248, 14 Dec. 1521, to Matthäus Shiner, lines 16–18 cwe. 6 Ep. 1333, on completing the Paraphrase on Matthew: “I then thought that in this class of composition I had done all I ever should.” lines 10–11 cwe. 7 Recent studies of the Paraphrases as scholarly and literary achievements are found in Holy Scripture Speaks: The Production and Reception of Erasmus’ Paraphrases on the New Testa- ment, eds. Hilmar M. Pabel and Mark Vessey (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002). Also of note, Reiner Leushuis, “Speaking the Gospel: The Voice of the Evangelist in Erasmus’ Paraphrases on the New Testament,” Erasmus Studies, 36.2 (2016) 163–185; see also Cottier (note 20) and Bloemendal (note 26). For a recent historical study of Erasmus’ approach to the project, see Christine Christ-von Wedel, Erasmus of Rotterdam: Advocate of a New Chris- tianity (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2013) ch. 7 “The New Testament Scholar” 79–96 and ch. 8 “The Paraphrast” 97–110. 8 Erasmus was extremely pleased by Charles v’s letter of 1 April 1522 acknowledging the Para- phrase on Matthew which Erasmus dedicated to him. Charles praises the work and comments on “the great applause with which it has been received by all authoritative and learned crit- ics.” He adds: “Great as is the reputation you have won by the other products of your labours, which are famous everywhere, by none are you thought to have earned a richer harvest than by your paraphrases.” Ep. 1270, lines 6–7 and 10–12 cwe. In Ep. 1331, 25 Dec. 1522, to Johann von Botzheim, Erasmus lists six dignitaries who reported the emperor’s high estimate of his work separately from the emperor himself, lines 12–19. Cf. Epp. 1299:41–46 and 1342:280–286 cwe. Erasmus Studies 37 (2017) 137–160 Downloaded from Brill.com10/01/2021 04:33:44PM via free access 140 simpson we will see, before he was done, Erasmus came to have a strong personal affinity for the project and to feel an urgent desire to complete and publish his learned, coherent interpretation of the New Testament. The present study arises from the experience of translating Erasmus’Paraphra- sis in Mattheum (cwe 45, 2008) and the curiosity that arose about one word, the adjective evangelicus (noun root evangel- ‘gospel’ + adjective forming suffix -icus, a, um = ‘of, belonging to, pertaining to, having the characteristic of, appro- priate to’). In deciding how to translate evangelicus, account had to be taken of the fact that Erasmus combines the word with a surprising array of nouns, some of which do not have a natural Christian reference. As stated in the preface, it was felt that Erasmus’ use of evangelicus was “clearly intended to impress, at times to arrest if not to shock” (cwe 45:xiii). Following upon this observation was the decision to translate evangelicus most often as ‘gospel’ because it makes phrases that are rhetorically strong (e.g., gospel vigor vs. the vigor of the gospel) and because in English it connects directly to the noun ‘the gospel’ (the good news), in preference to ‘evangelical’ which is not built on an English noun and has a number of meanings (e.g., gospel faith vs.
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