Erasmus (1466-1536) was, above all...
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Erasmus (1466-1536) was, above all, a man of letters and culture. He had a wide correspondence with the leading minds of his age. And he loved the Bible. Gerald Kennedy dug this out about him:
I wish that even the weakest woman should read the Gospel --should read the epistles of Paul. And I wish these were translated into all languages, so that they might be read and understood, not only by Scots and Irishmen, but also by Turks and Saracens. To make them understand is surely the first step. It may be that they might be ridiculed by many, but some would take them to heart. I long that the husbandman should sing portions of them to himself as he follows the plough, that the weaver should hum them to the tune of his shuttle, that the traveller should beguile with their stories the tedium of his journey.
Erasmus of Rotterdam
Quoted by Gerald Kennedy, A Second Reader's Notebook, (Harper & Brothers, 1959), p. 29.
I wish that even the weakest woman should read the Gospel --should read the epistles of Paul. And I wish these were translated into all languages, so that they might be read and understood, not only by Scots and Irishmen, but also by Turks and Saracens. To make them understand is surely the first step. It may be that they might be ridiculed by many, but some would take them to heart. I long that the husbandman should sing portions of them to himself as he follows the plough, that the weaver should hum them to the tune of his shuttle, that the traveller should beguile with their stories the tedium of his journey.
Erasmus of Rotterdam
Quoted by Gerald Kennedy, A Second Reader's Notebook, (Harper & Brothers, 1959), p. 29.
