In the last chapter, Erasmus makes no bones that we are to forgive those who harm us and love those who would do us ill. We should look to the Supreme Example, Christ, who died for a world that didn't accept Him, and in so doing gained the keys to the Kingdom. Revenge only deepens hurt and portends disaster, Erasmus lets us know on a more practical level. In seeking recompense for errors committed against us, we ironically only create more trouble for ourselves and not our 'enemy'.
In these words, I have not found a better voice that blends the best Pagan Wisdom with the Truth of the Revealed Word.
So who is the enemy? Earlier in the book, Erasmus lets us know it is the flesh. We have both an inner and outer man. The outer, connected to the world and all it's trappings, the possibilities of gluttony, drunkenness and lustful pursuits which only end in death, and that inner man, which is connected to things Spiritual, and Christ utmost. Clearly, as St. Paul stated, who is oft quoted here by the author, the flesh must be crucified. We must recognize another irony. That the more we deny the flesh, the more we flourish Spiritually.
Thoughts are given on how to flee temptation, where we are urged to reign in Vanity, Pride in order to live a simple, humble, Christian life.
Seneca wrote letters to a Stoic. Erasmus wrote this manual for a boy just being initiated into manhood.
What a resplendent re-capitulation of the Old World Wisdom during the Renaissance where the knowledges of Plato, Origen and Augustine could once again be remembered and carried forward to us here in the postmodern world.
A gem.
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