cither hate or sloth fully neglect good letters (that is, among all men) I always praise and defend Erasmus as much as I can, and am very careful not to ventilate my disagreement with him, lest perchance I should thus confirm them in their hatred of him. Yet there are many things in Erasmus which seem to me far from the knowledge of Christ, if I may speak as a theologian rather than a grammarian; otherwise there is no man more learned or ingenious than he, not even Jerome whom he so much extolls. But if you communicate this opinion to others you will violate the laws of friendship. I warn you in prudence. There are many, you know, who search out every occasion of defending sound learning. What I tell you is therefore a secret. Indeed you should not believe it until you have proved it by reading. If you extort from me the result of my studies I will conceal nothing from you, as my dearest friend, but only on condition that you will not follow me except in using your own judgment.
In the first place it is most certain that the Bible cannot be mastered by study or talent. Therefore you should first begin by praying that not for your glory, but for his, the Lord may be mercifully pleased to give you some comprehen- sion of his words. . . . You must completely despair of your own industry and ability and rely solely on the influx of the Spirit. Experto crede. Then having achieved this humble despair, read the Bible from the beginning to the end, that first you may get the simple story in your mind (as I believe you have already done) in which Jerome's epistles and commen- taries will be of great help. But for the understanding of Christ and the grace of God, this is for the hidden knowledge of the spirit, Augustine and Ambrose seem to me far better guides, especially as Jerome seems to Origenize, that is, alle- gorize, too much. This I say saving Erasmus' judgment, as you asked for my opinion, not for his.
. You may begin, if you like my course of study, reading Augustine's The Spirit and the Letter, which now our Carl- stadt, a man of incomparable zeal, has edited and thoroughly well annotated. . . . Finally I am sending you the Apology^ of
^Apologia contra Fahrum Stapulensem, Antwerp, Martens (1517). Lef^rre d'St^let, in his edition of Hebrews (151 2) h*<l proposed reading "Thou haat
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