"It's the generally accepted privilege of theologians to stretch the heavens, that is the Scriptures, like tanners with a hide"
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Erasmus lands this line like a well-aimed slap: polite in grammar, vicious in imagery. The comparison is doing the real work. Tanners don’t “interpret” a hide; they tug, scrape, and force it into a usable shape. By likening theologians to craftsmen who stretch leather on a rack, Erasmus suggests Scripture has been treated less as revelation than as raw material - pulled to fit pre-decided doctrines, institutional needs, or careerist display.
The phrase “generally accepted privilege” is the dagger wrapped in etiquette. He’s not only accusing theologians of distortion; he’s mocking the culture that grants them permission to do it. The target is a medieval scholastic habit of turning sacred text into an elastic proof-machine, where ingenuity counts more than fidelity. Erasmus, a Christian humanist steeped in philology, wanted a return to sources: Scripture in original languages, read with moral seriousness and rhetorical clarity, not as a playground for hair-splitting. So the insult has a reformer’s purpose: delegitimize a whole style of authority.
Context sharpens the bite. Writing on the eve of the Reformation, Erasmus is threading a needle - attacking clerical intellectual excess without torching the Church outright. His satire functions as pressure-release and warning. Keep stretching the text until it fits everything, and it ends up meaning nothing - except that the stretcher is in charge.
The phrase “generally accepted privilege” is the dagger wrapped in etiquette. He’s not only accusing theologians of distortion; he’s mocking the culture that grants them permission to do it. The target is a medieval scholastic habit of turning sacred text into an elastic proof-machine, where ingenuity counts more than fidelity. Erasmus, a Christian humanist steeped in philology, wanted a return to sources: Scripture in original languages, read with moral seriousness and rhetorical clarity, not as a playground for hair-splitting. So the insult has a reformer’s purpose: delegitimize a whole style of authority.
Context sharpens the bite. Writing on the eve of the Reformation, Erasmus is threading a needle - attacking clerical intellectual excess without torching the Church outright. His satire functions as pressure-release and warning. Keep stretching the text until it fits everything, and it ends up meaning nothing - except that the stretcher is in charge.
Quote Details
| Topic | Bible |
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