How Erasmus Hacked the Bible

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In this episode of pplpod, we explore the life of Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, the illegitimate son of a priest who rose from poverty to become the most influential scholar in Europe and a central figure of the Northern Renaissance. Born in Rotterdam around 1466, Erasmus lost both parents to plague in 1483 and was pushed into monastic life at Stein, where he endured a harsh routine but gained access to a library. He used his mastery of Latin to escape as a bishop's secretary, and a 1499 trip to England, where he met John Colet and Thomas More, turned him toward biblical humanism and the principle of returning to original sources.

The episode follows Erasmus's rise as a wandering scholar who built a vast network of correspondents and used it to find ancient Greek manuscripts. His 1516 edition of the New Testament placed the Greek text beside his own Latin translation, exposing errors in the Vulgate, including the shift from "do penance" to the idea of inward repentance. His satire The Praise of Folly and his call for a "philosophy of Christ" criticized church corruption, and the saying that he laid the egg Luther hatched followed him. Committed to peace and moderation, he refused to join the Reformation and broke with Martin Luther over free will in 1524, drawing attacks from both camps. He grieved the 1535 executions of More and John Fisher, lived his last years as a refugee plagued by illness, and died in Basel in 1536, leaving a legacy of tolerance, dialogue, and open learning that lives on in the Erasmus student exchange program.

In this episode we cover...

• Erasmus's birth as an illegitimate son of a priest, the death of his parents, and his harsh years at Stein
• His escape through Latin scholarship, the 1499 trip to England, and the influence of John Colet and Thomas More
• His letter network, the hunt for Greek manuscripts, the 1516 New Testament, and the "do penance" versus repentance translation issue
• The Praise of Folly, the philosophy of Christ, his refusal to join Luther, and the 1524 free will debate
• The executions of More and Fisher, his final years in Freiburg and Basel, his death in 1536, and the legacy of the Erasmus program

Source credit: Research for this episode included transcript materials and supporting Northern Renaissance, biblical humanist, Reformation, theological, and biographical sources accessed October 31, 2026. Content is summarized and adapted for commentary and educational use.