Lactantius Firmianus, Christian reader, whose eloquence Jerome greatly admires, endeavoring to defend the Christian religion against the pagans, sought zealously to attain an eloquence akin to that of Cicero, as he thought it presumptuous to aspire to be his equal. As for me—if wishes could avail anything, at least while I exhort mortals to the most holy and salutary study of Christian teaching [Christianae philosophiæ]—I sincerely desire another type of eloquence be given to me, far greater than ever Cicero had. ... It is better and more fitting to desire that Christ himself would tune the strings of our instrument that this song may e ectively attract and move the mind of all. To this end, we have little use for the colored arguments and conclusions of the rhetoricians, for nothing can accomplish what we desire so well as the truth itself, which is most e ective in persuasion when it is most plain.
AN EXHORTATION TO THE DILIGENT STUDY OF SCRIPTURE
by DESIDERIUS ERASMUS in Vol. 2 No. 2 / Oct 2016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.35285/ucc2.2.2016.art1
Download PDF
Downloaded 289 times.
Back to Article List Download Journal
Other Articles in
Vol. 2 No. 2 / Oct 2016
An Exhortation to the Diligent Study of Scripture
by DESIDERIUS ERASMUS
Erasmus and the Book That Changed the World Five Hundred Years Ago
by DANIEL B. WALLACE
Re-Establishment of the Christian Church in Mongolia: The Mongolian Standard Version Translation by National Christians
by BAYARJARGAL GARAMTSEREN
Inerrancy Is Not Enough: A Lesson in Epistemology from Clark Pinnock on Scripture
by R. CARLTON WYNNE
The “Presentation” of the Infant Jesus in Luke 2:22–24
by MICHAEL C. MULDER
From Ignominy to Glory: Jesus’s Death and Resurrection in Calvin’s Harmony of the Gospels
by W. GORDON CAMPBELL
The Holy Spirit in the Gospels
by PETER A. LILLBACK
J. Gresham Machen’s The Virgin Birth of Christ: Then and Now
by BERNARD AUBERT
Paul’s Preaching and Postmodern Skepticism
by VERN S. POYTHRESS
What Paul Says about the Covenants in Galatians 3–4
by DONALD E. COBB
The Fourth Gospel and the Apostolic Mission: John’s Common Evangelical Theology
by MATTHEW D. JENSEN
The Power of Literary Art in Revelation 12:1–6
by LEANDRO A. DE LIMA
A Panel on Vatican II
by LEONARDO DE CHIRICO, DARIUSZ M. BRYĆKO, AND JOSE DE SEGOVIA
Interview with Dr. Robert George
by PETER A. LILLBACK
Paul A. Rainbow. Johannine Theology: The Gospel, The Epistles and The Apocalypse.
by GUY PRENTISS WATERS
Michael Bräutigam. Union with Christ: Adolf Schlatter’s Relational Christology.
by ROBERT W. YARBROUGH
Martin Wallraff, Silvana Seidel Menchi, and Kaspar von Greyerz, eds. Basel 1516: Erasmus’ Edition of the New Testament.
by BERNARD AUBERT
Christopher A. Daily. Robert Morrison and the Protestant Plan for China.
by CHAD VAN DIXHOORN
Marilynne Robinson. The Givenness of Things: Essays.
by WILLIAM EDGAR