The ambassadors for the 'Paraphrases' of Erasmus

In disseminating the philosophia Christi, Erasmus uses secular as well as spiritual means. The Renaissance dedication of a literary work had an existence all its own, which Erasmus mastered. The New Testament Paraphrases he dedicated to politically important figures in church and state, reserving the paraphrases of Acts and the four gospels for the pope and for the Holy Roman Emperor, his successor, and the kings of England and France. The author explains the significance of the dedications - including those to the "pious reader" - in relation to Erasmus' pleas for good literature and his defense of his own Biblical scholarship.