Medieval Western philosophy

When Erasmus published the Adages, his monumental collection of proverbs, he wrote in the Introduction that 'a knowledge of proverbs contributes to a number of things, but to four especially: philosophy, persuasiveness, grace and charm in speaking, and the understanding of the best authors.

‘A knowledge of proverbs contributes to a number of things,’ wrote Erasmus in his Introduction to the Adages, ‘but to four especially: philosophy, persuasiveness, grace and charm in speaking, and the understanding of the best authors…’ This volume contains the second 500 of the more than 4000 adages gathered and commented on by Erasmus, sometimes in a few lines and sometimes in full-scale essays.

Erasmus yearned to make the Bible an effective instrument of reform in society, church, and everyday life, and to this end he composed the Paraphrases, in which the words of Holy Scripture provide the core of a text, vastly expanded to embrace the reforming 'philosophy of Christ.