David Bentley-Taylor has written a most interesting account of the Dutch biblical scholar Erasmus, by telling the story of his life and writings by introducing us to him through his writings. Erasmus lived just after the invention of printing and used this new technology to publish the Greek New Testament and to retranslate it into Latin, correcting errors that had persisted for over a thousand years.

He tells us of Erasmus' strengths and weaknesses. We see him as the instigator of the Reformation, yet a critic of Luther and others who would take what he had begun to the next logical step.

He would sometimes stand up for what he believed in, but at other times would deny what he had previously written, to keep in favour with the leaders of the Church.

We see Erasmus' perseverance in the face of opposition and many illnesses, but we are also informed of the many contradictions in what he wrote.

This is a great book. It is even better than his very good volume on Augustine.

Highly recommended.

Good book with lots of information. Not a heavy read, but best read by serious students.
Lots of historical info about the people and times that Augustine lived in.
One example was the description of a Goth leader who threatened Africa. The Goth's ships were wrecked in a storm. The followers of this leader diverted a river's flow, buried the guy in the river bed, and then let the river run back in the original bed. Then all the people who had worked to divert the flow were killed in order to keep the site a secret.
Lots of good insight into St Augustine and his views about common place things in life.
Overall a good book. Short, only about 170 pages. A couple of drawings and maps at the back help the reader understand the geography of the Mediteranean/North Africa area.

Bentley-Taylor's book is short [166 pages of text] and easy to read. It includes a plentiful supply of short quotations from Augustine, tells the story of his life and gives an introduction to his writings. It is written from an evangelical point of view, but the author's theological perspective is not intrusive.

In the course of telling the story, he mentions lots of names of people from Augustine's times who modern readers will not be familiar with. This may be necessary, but it would be helpful if he had told us a little more about some of these people, as on occasion, the story seems to be little more than a string of names.

The author is not afraid to tell us where he thinks Augustine made mistakes. He is also fairly generous with him, and explains that many of Augustine's quirky ideas [to us today] are a product of his times.

I highly recommend the book as a simple introduction to one of the most important people in Christian history.