Christi Fabula: Erasmus the First Mythicist?

[Secret Alias]

Erasmus had used the expression 'totius Christi fabulae' in Methodus lb v 91c/Holborn 209, but had been attacked by Bede for his use of it in his paraphrase on Mark 11:7, where he says of the details of the entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday: 'The apostles played a supporting role in this act [fabula], even though they did not understand its meaning' (lb vii 243b/cwe 49 136). Erasmus' use of fabula and his exchange with B ́eda are discussed by Peter G. Bietenholz Historia and Fabula: Myths and Legends in Historical Thought from Antiquity to the Modern Age (Leiden 1994) 147–8; Georges Chantraine 'Mystere' et 'Philosophie de Christ' selon Erasme Bibliotheque de la faculte de philosophie et lettres de namur 49 (Gembloux 1971) 274–95 discusses Erasmus' use of the expression 'Christi Fabula.' In 1512 a heretic named Herman Ruissvich was burned to death in The Hague after being found guilty by an inquisitor of returning to various erroneous opinions and scandalous actions he had abjured in 1499, among which was that 'he traduced the Christian Faith as a fabula, and similarly the books of the Old Testament and Gospel of the New Law'; see Duplessy Collectio judiciorum i-2 342. By using the term fabula Erasmus was opening himself to misunderstanding. https://books.google.com/books?id=SvGbi ... 22&f=false

[Secret Alias]

If not Erasmus then certainly Herman Ruissvich:

That one was Herman Ruissvich, a Batavian by birth. His career commenced in the fifteenth and extended into the sixteenth century. He was condemned for his errors in 1499, and died soon after, having obstinately contended that the faith of Christians was a fable, the Bible an absurd fiction, and the Gospel a vain delusion.2 http://www.catholicapologetics.info/scr ... /Canon.pdf

Now to figure out the source - Nat. Alex., Hist. Ecclesiast. Tom. viii., p. 100. Who is this?

[Secret Alias]

Here is the author Noel Alexandre - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No%C3%ABl_Alexandre

https://books.google.com/books?id=4fbeB ... ch&f=false

There we have it. Mythicism has a martyr! You'd think this could be turned into a symbol or an emblem to sell T-shirts even a saint's day!

[Secret Alias]

Here's a list of charges associated with him - https://books.google.com/books?id=YhLx8 ... an&f=false

[davidbrainerd]

Considering the messenger I doubt one word of this is accurate. You cry wolf too much with crazy theories and half citations.

[Secret Alias]

Ignore

[enricotuccinardi]

Years ago I explored the subject in an article "Léon X et la Fable du Christ" (Cahier N. 251 du Cercle Ernest Renan, Sep. 2010).
You can find there many details also about the history of the well-know anecdote.

https://www.academia.edu/12773749/L%C3% ... _du_Christ

In analyzing the historical and cultural context where the anecdote arose I was struck by a passage from a work by Erasmus Adagiorum Chiliades quatuor published in 1515 and dedicated precisely to the new Pope Leo X where Erasmus, probably exploiting the rhetorical feature dissimulatio, says:

Si fabula est Christus, cur non explodimus ingenue ? Cur illius titulo gloriamur ? Sin is vere est et via et veritas et vita, cur omnes nostrae rationes ab hoc exemplari tantopere dissident ?

[iskander]

Years ago I explored the subject in an article "Léon X et la Fable du Christ" (Cahier N. 251 du Cercle Ernest Renan, Sep. 2010).
You can find there many details also about the history of the well-know anecdote.

https://www.academia.edu/12773749/L%C3% ... _du_Christ

In analyzing the historical and cultural context where the anecdote arose I was struck by a passage from a work by Erasmus Adagiorum Chiliades quatuor published in 1515 and dedicated precisely to the new Pope Leo X where Erasmus, probably exploiting the rhetorical feature dissimulatio, says:

Si fabula est Christus, cur non explodimus ingenue ? Cur illius titulo gloriamur ? Sin is vere est et via et veritas et vita, cur omnes nostrae rationes ab hoc exemplari tantopere dissident ?

https://ia600701.us.archive.org/20/item ... Christ.pdf
1
Léon X et la Fable du Christ

par Enrico Tuccinardi

[iskander]

https://ia600701.us.archive.org/20/item ... Christ.pdf

Erasmus was asking this question : how could the redeeming act of a loving God be turned into a cruel nightmare?.

Answer , because the pope behaves as if
Si fabula est Christus, cur non explodimus ingenue ? Cur illius titulo gloriamur ? Sin is vere est et
via et veritas et vita, cur omnes nostrae rationes ab hoc exemplari tantopere dissident ?

Si le Christ est une fable, pourquoi ne la rejetons-nous pas ouvertement ? Pourquoi sommes-nous fiers de ce nom ? Mais si le Christ est le chemin, la vérité et la vie, pourquoi tous nos
comportements s'écartent-ils ainsi de ce grand exemple ?

If Christ is a fable, why do we not openly reject it? Why are we proud of this name? But if Christ is the way, the truth and the life, why do all our behaviour depart from this great example?



The Reformers rejected Leo X , the arsonist .

[iskander]

Here's a list of charges associated with him - https://books.google.com/books?id=YhLx8 ... an&f=false

How did the redeeming act of a loving God became the cruel reality of the medieval Holy Inquisition ?

The Church had not always been an organization which considered its highest duty to be the forcible suppression of dissidence at any cost.
Paul writes in Gal, 6:1-3
6 My brothers if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted.
2 Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way fulfil the law of Christ.
3 For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves.

Or as in this Galatians 6:3 . see attached file