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[89 ] the Concept of Law in the Thought of Erasmus by C. DOUGLAS MCCULLOUGH I T HE Explication of Erasmus' Concept of Law Can Be

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[89 ] the Concept of Law in the Thought of Erasmus by C. DOUGLAS MCCULLOUGH I T HE Explication of Erasmus' Concept of Law Can Be The Concept of Law in the Thought of Erasmus by C. DOUGLAS MCCULLOUGH I HE explication of Erasmus' concept of law can best be accom- T plished from the perspectives of its source and structure and its purpose and effect. While this approach may be somewhat artificial, it does provide convenient, perhaps necessary, categories useful to inter- preting the concept. Erasmus was not a lawyer, and never wrote any- thing which can be called a treatise on law. Further, he had almost no interest in jurisprudence, and the attempt to place him in the historical tradition of jurisprudence, for example in that which developed from the time of Thomas Aquinas to Hugo Grotius,1 meets with question- able success. He was foremost a humanist and theologian; compari- sons between his concept of law and the major philosophies of law of his own time or of earlier times would serve only to show how unconcerned he was, generally, with the ongoing legal tradition. Still, 2 he did not totally disregard human laws.2 1 Guido Kisch, Erasmusund diejurisprudenz seinerZeit (Basel, ig6o), attempts to do this, but does not establish a viable connection. The epilogue to this work appeared in English as "Humanistic Jurisprudence" in Studies in the Renaissance,8, ig6i. The influence of Aquinas on the development of the philosophy of law in the Middle Ages was so profound that, perhaps, even Erasmus was affected, though he never acknowl- edged the possibility. There are some obvious similarities between categories oflaw set forth by Aquinas and Erasmus, but the latter makes no attempt to give crcdit to the former. See, e.g., Aquinas' Summa Theologica,Ia-IIae, Ques. XCI, Articles 1 -4;see also Michael B. Foster, Masters of PoliticalThought, 3 vols. (New York, 194 1),VOI. I, pp. z49-6 i . 2 There is a paucity of references to civil or positive law in Erasmus' works, but he does give some advice to those in positions of responsibility. The best example of a formal treatise on political theory written by Erasmus is his InstitutioPrincipis Christiani (1516) in Opera Omnia, Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami (Amsterdam, ig6g-), IV-i: 133-219; hereafter cited as ASD, with volume and page numbers. In the Ifistitutioare found the most numerous references to civil laws; most of these range beyond mere positive law and reflect a moral perspective. Other references are found in Espistolaad Paulum Volzium(ISIS), DesideriusErasmus Roterodamus, Ausgew3hlte Werke, ed. Anne- marie Holborn and Hajo Holborn (Munchen, 1964), 3-21; hereafter cited as Holborn, [89 ] 90 The "Erasmian system" as a whole is not easily set down in an orderly fashion; the Erasmian concept of law is no less difficult to extricate from the labyrinth of ideas, theories, viewpoints and images which fill the works of this remarkable sixteenth-century Christian humanist.3 Simple expositional examination of portions of his writ- ings may be adequate for determining Erasmus' position on many issues, but often those sections containing references to law must be analyzed in greater depth. This analytical approach often entails the structuring (perhaps even the restructuring) of specific aspects of his thought.4 Within the embracing thrusts of his major and mature works, attention must be given to ideas, inferences, postulates and associated concepts pertaining to law. These must then be related to explicit discussions of law which are found at points within his writ- I ings.5 Erasmus' concern with law turns upon his more basic interest in the ethical dimension of man's existence-the quest for virtue. This quest Volzio, with page numbers. See also Querela Pacis (i S 17),in Erasmi Opera Omnia, ed. Jean Le Clerc, 10 vols. (Leiden, 1703-06), IV, 6zs-42; Opera Omnia hereafter cited as LB, with volume and page numbers. Secondary writings dealing with Erasmus' political ideas are many; one of the most recent and insightful is James D. Tracy, The Politicsof Erasmus(Toronto, 1978). 3 Secondary writings on Erasmus' thought in general are legion, but his concept of law has received scant attention. Some have spoken to the problem of jurisprudence and legal history in Erasmus' time, as Kisch, jurisprudenz, cited above. Otto Schotten- loher has perhaps written more on the subject than anyone else, though he has touched " on specific or restricted aspects. See his: "Lcx Naturae und Lex Christi bei Erasmus," Scrinium Erasmianum, 2 vols., ed. J. Coppens (Leiden, 1969), vol. 2, pp. 253-99; "Erasmus und die Respublica Christiana," HistorischeZeitschrift, 210:2 (April 1970), pp. 295-323; and "Zur Legum Humanitas bei Erasmus," Festschrift fiirHermann Heim- pel, 2 vols. (Gottingen, 1971), vol. I, pp. 667-83. 4 Some aspects of his concept oflaw are more easily found than others. The principal elements of the source and structure of law (as categorized in this essay), i.e., the lex Christi and the lex naturae, are more easily discovered, while those relating to the purpose and effect oflaw sometimes require speculation and conjecture for explication. 5 Principal sources of his concept of law are: the Adagia (rsoo-33); the Colloquia (15 16-34);Enchiridion ( i So3,1 S I 8);Paraclesis (I S t 6);Institutio Principis Christiani (I Querela Pacis (1517); Epistola ad Paulum Volzium(ISI8); Ratio Verae Theologiae(ISI8); Paraphrases in Novum Testamentum(ISI7-24); De Libero Arbitrio (IS24); Ecclesiastes (1535). 6 John C. Olin, "Erasmus and Reform," Six Essayson Erasmus (New York, 1979), pp. 7, 13, says that Erasmus' goal was unquestionably reform; he was a reformer of theology, morals, and society. I have no difficulty agreeing with Olin; Erasmus' .
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