Lamento de la paz

by Erasmus, Eduardo Gil Bera (Translator)

Escrito en Lovaina en 1516 bajo la influencia del exordio de «Sobre la clemencia» de Séneca, el Príncipe de los humanistas exhorta a emperadores, reyes, príncipes, obispos y sacerdotes a trabajar, cada uno según su poder, para poner fin a los conflictos que azotan a la población y establecer así una paz duradera. Redactado en una Europa tan enfrentada como en sucesivos siglos, este texto es una apelación intemporal a la unidad de los pueblos europeos y una denuncia actualísima de los móviles ocultos de la guerra y del ejercicio del poder como mero instrumento para satisfacer las ambiciones personales de los poderosos, que, pese a no ser los mismos, siguen existiendo y actuando de un modo similar. Una extraordinaria reflexión sobre la necesidad de concordia.

Genres: Philosophy, Religion, Theology, Nonfiction, Essays, War, Medieval

88 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1517

About the author

Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (28 October 1466 – 12 July 1536), known as Erasmus of Rotterdam, or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, social critic, teacher, and theologian.

Erasmus was a classical scholar and wrote in a pure Latin style. Among humanists he enjoyed the sobriquet "Prince of the Humanists", and has been called "the crowning glory of the Christian humanists". Using humanist techniques for working on texts, he prepared important new Latin and Greek editions of the New Testament, which raised questions that would be influential in the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation. He also wrote On Free Will, The Praise of Folly, Handbook of a Christian Knight, On Civility in Children, Copia: Foundations of the Abundant Style, Julius Exclusus, and many other works.

Erasmus lived against the backdrop of the growing European religious Reformation, but while he was critical of the abuses within the Catholic Church and called for reform, he kept his distance from Luther and Melanchthon and continued to recognise the authority of the pope, emphasizing a middle way with a deep respect for traditional faith, piety and grace, rejecting Luther's emphasis on faith alone. Erasmus remained a member of the Roman Catholic Church all his life, remaining committed to reforming the Church and its clerics' abuses from within. He also held to the Catholic doctrine of free will, which some Reformers rejected in favor of the doctrine of predestination. His middle road approach disappointed and even angered scholars in both camps.

Erasmus died suddenly in Basel in 1536 while preparing to return to Brabant, and was buried in the Basel Minster, the former cathedral of the city. A bronze statue of him was erected in his city of birth in 1622, replacing an earlier work in stone.

Reviews

[Murat Dural · Rating 3 out of 5]

Erasmus hastası biri olarak böylesi bir yüzyılda böylesi fikirleri “Barış’ın dili”nden yazmak. Yine çok etkiledi. Kısa ama dolu dolu bir kitap. Dedalus Yayınları’nı kutluyorum. Ancak, Erasmus’un tüm hümanist düşüncelerine rağmen bunu sadece Hristiyanlık Dünyası icin öne sürmesi bir hayal kırıklığı oldu. Tabii bunu asla Ortaçağ’da manastırda yetişmiş, Rönesans’ın mimarlarından Erasmus icin ancak küçük bir ayrıntı olarak görüyorum. “Deliliğe Övgü” her evde olması, okunması gereken müthiş bir eser.

[Ozkan Kose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hiçbir şey bilmemek, ah ne mutlu bir yaşam.

[M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this short piece, Erasmus does not emphasize pacifism but the true menaing of peace as Christianity ought to understand it, an avoidance of war due to internal division, a defense of one's own land from invaders and to presever tranquility, and a duty of every Christian to preach and practice peace as Christ came to give and has promised us.

[meloh · Rating 5 out of 5]

"With what face should you dare to recommend the Christian religion to an unbelieving nation, as the religion of peace, when you yourselves are never at peace, but engaged in bitter quarrels and hostilities among each other, without the least intermission?"

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Недавно исполнилось 500 лет с момента первой публикации книги, а она все ещё крайне актуальна. Страшно? Страшно.

[Esra Akkaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

“İnsan konuşma yetisine sahip tek varlık olmasına rağmen aynı zamanda barıştan en uzakta tek varlıktır.”
Öyle anlaşılması zor bir kitap değil, basit bir anlatım.

[Max Mustermann]

Großer Geist, aus der Renaissance, der sich als Pazifist, Humanist und erster Europäer, neutral und unbestechlich für den Frieden eingesetzt hat. Seine Gedanken und Aussagen sind aktueller denn je!

[Hans · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pity he could not deliver this speech. So applicable for the nobles and kings.
Peace brings so much more good and prosperity. With war all sides become impoverished.

[Vampi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pesar que fue escrito en 1516 sigue vigente. Me uno a su lamento. Ojalá y en medio de ésta onda de nacionalismos y gente clamando por guerra en nombre de la " identidad" se atreviera a meditar sobre las consecuencias de lo que está pidiendo y los horrores de la guerra en donde no hay ganadores, apenas vencidos y mercenarios ricos e impunes.

[Shawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short work of only about 30 pages but very well done.
In reading this Renaissance-era work, it is easy to see how much of what Erasmus wrote about still applies today.

[Wilson Perez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a treatise that bears continous re-reading because of how perennial it is.