In 1533, Desidarius Erasmus (c. 1466-1536) wrote a little treatise entitled Liber de Sarcienda Ecclesiae Concordia or On Mending the Peace of the Church. The Protestant Reformation was well underway and both church and state seemed divided as never before. Communities and congregations were torn asunder and Erasmus, surely the best known scholar of his day, was caught in the middle, often condemned by Protestant and Catholic alike. Commenting on the treatise, historian John Dolan writes, “In advocating tolerance he reiterates his deep conviction that since Christ conquered by truth, the suppression of truth, much less conceit, cannot be used in Christ’s name. The strength of Christianity does not consist in ignorance.” (Essential Erasmus, 329)
At the School of Divinity, I hope we go searching for those truths that drive away ignorance. But I hope we do it with a great sense of tolerance for the ideas, struggles, and unique identity of those all around us. The ideas we confront in each class each semester are often as dangerous as they are intriguing. They create dissent even as they foster insight. Through it all, however, we must learn the give and take of tolerance in the free search for truth. It is a delightful and sometimes troubling quest.
And when all is said and done, the classes taught and taken, the degree conferred and the research completed, I hope we all can say that we are better “equipped to be agents of justice, reconciliation, and compassion,” as the mission statement declares. Perhaps we will even find the calling and the courage to help in mending the peace of the church, a communion of saints that often seems as broken as it was when Erasmus wrote his treatise 476 years ago. Indeed, he concluded,“Therefore if we apply ourselves to the task of establishing peace in the Church with moderate advice and calm minds, that which Isaias prophesies will take place. ‘And my people will sit down in the beauty of peace, in the tabernacles of confidence and in opulent rest.” (Essential Erasmus, 388) In the tenth year of this divinity school, that remains a challenge worth pursuing. Let’s get to it.
In Christ’s Peace,
Bill J. Leonard
