Did Luther Hatch the Egg That Erasmus Laid

Luther and Erasmus are connected in the fact that they are both humanists. Humanists are scholars who were interest in studying ancient scripture to provide a way of life for them. Humanism was a movement that was important in the scholastic world of the early fifteenth century. So an idea that had been around for a long time before Luther was born. Humanists did not accept teachings purely on the basis that these ideas have been around for a long time, they demanded evidence. This is perhaps the basis of Luther’s idea of sola scriptura.  

Luther and Erasmus were very similar in the fact they both approached Christian scripture as humanists. This meant they were very skeptical of the text. And because of the knowledge in the languages of Ancient Greece and Rome, They were able to accurately date scripture and be in a position to translate the bible to the masses that were mostly illiterate. They both openly criticised the Catholic Church, Erasmus with his 'The Praise of Folly' and Luther's 95 Theses.

Erasmus had translated the bible and there were differences in his translation   compared to the translation   that was published before his. In the Vulgate bible there is a passage that says ‘do penance’ Whereas in Erasmus’ version he translated the passage as ‘be penitent’ This led Luther to reject Penance as a sacrament. It can be said.

While Erasmus shared Luther's anticlericalism, Erasmus only wanted moral reformation of the Church. That the corruption taking place within the church should be stopped. Luther wanted reformation of not only the Church practices but church beliefs. This left Erasmus increasingly at odds with Luther, with their correspondence and chose to disassociate himself with Luther. Erasmus believed in trying to improve the Church from within.

An issue that Luther and Erasmus differ greatly on is the idea of free will. Luther believes strongly in the idea of predestination, that man can not interfere in his own salvation. Erasmus...