While both Luther and Erasmus are seeking to expose the necessity of reform in religious intuitions, both have their own distinct methods of doing so. In fact they are quite opposite to one another in their methods. Luther’s tactics of focusing on improving the faith on conscience of everyday Christians is more direct approach that directly defies the church. Erasmus’ tactic of buttering up his worries with the church in a comedic story makes for a much more subtle move that keeps the church from attacking him outright and slowly plants the idea of church reform in his audience’s minds. Luther focuses on a direct approach to reforming Christianity. He believes that God quite literally controls the fates of all men and in order to save his brothers from corruption he must force them to see the truth. So states what he thinks being a true Christian is by blatantly nailing his 95 theses up on the church doors for all to see. This strong, symbolic, and courageous move shows how deeply devoted he is to Christianity, so much so that he does not even fear the Church. His work states plainly what good Christians do and don’t do.
43. Christians should be taught that he who gives to a poor man, or lends to a needy man,
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In the end though their differences are what made them: Strength verses subtlety, scripture verses satire, Luther versus Erasmus. For Luther the idea that men could make a change did not mean much since he preferred the belief in the power of an almighty God, one who controlled the fate of men and would ultimately decide the course of action in the world. Erasmus on the other hand was a humanist who believed that the corrupt men could be changed since he believed in the free will that all men had. It is these two fundamental beliefs that both men had that made them so different in their methods of