Desiderius Erasmus (1466?/1469?-1536) was arguably the greatest scholar and most popular author of his time. With the onset of the Protestant Reformation in 1517, that time became intensely polarized (perhaps even more polarized than our own time). Accused by Catholics of “having laid the egg that Martin Luther hatched” by his biting critiques of the Catholic Church, and accused by Protestants of not having the courage of his convictions by his refusal to leave that church and join the Protestants, Erasmus nevertheless managed to rise above the polarization and maintain a middle ground for the first decades of the sixteenth century. By the end of his life, he was being systematically reviled by both sides. Does he nevertheless have something to teach us about negotiating the polarization that is plaguing us today?

Dale Schrag is a retired academic whose professional focuses include history, library science, church relations and college campus pastor. Much of his professional career was spent at Bethel College (North Newton, Kan.), where he served in various capacities over 30 years, including director of libraries, director of marketing and church relations, and campus pastor. His historical specialty focuses on the sixteenth-century Anabaptist movement. He retired in 2014, and lectures frequently in area churches on topics related to Anabaptism. Dale holds a bachelor’s degree from Bethel College, a master’s of library science from Indiana University, and a master’s of history from Wichita (Kan.) State University.