Erasmus: A Play on Words

by James David Barber

A dramatic play in both verse and prose which outlines the struggle and ensuing schism between the dogma of the Roman Catholic Church and Martin Luther's doctrines. This drama highlights Erasmus's pivotal role in the success or failure of a compromise which would prevent an open break with the Church, culminating in a formal disputation between Erasmus and Luther held before the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Pope Adrian VI.

80 pages, Hardcover

First published August 18, 1981

About the author

Dr. James David Barber (July 31, 1930 – September 12, 2004) was a political scientist whose book The Presidential Character made him famous for his classification of presidents through their worldviews. From 1977 to 1995 he was a professor of political science at Duke University.

Barber was born on July 31, 1930, in Charleston, West Virginia, to a physician and nurse. In the 1950s he served in the United States Army as a counter-intelligence agent before attending the University of Chicago. He earned a master's degree in political science while he was there, and he moved on to receive a PhD in the same field at Yale University.

He joined the faculty at Duke University in 1972, and he became a fully fledged professor at that institute in 1977.