Talk:Wessel Gansfort

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the religious thought of Lefevre and that which was characteristic of the Devotio Moderna has been provided by C. Louise salley in her extensive comparisons between Lefevre's Commentary on the Four Gospels, on the one hand, and works suck as the Imitation of Christ and the writings of Wessel Gansfort, on the other. That Lefevre was familiar with the Imitation and with writings of Gansfort is clear from his direct references to them, as well as from comparison of his works with those earlier productions. Among important parallels noted by Sally are statements regarding sola scriptura, justification by faith, imitation of Christ in the life, contempt for the present world (in the sense that "the Christian should desire th be unknown in this world in order that he may receive glory in the next," to use Lefevre's words), mystical union between god and the Christian individual, distaste for empty formalism, critical attitude toward excessive veneration of saints and of the Virgin Mary, and appraisal of education as worthwhile only as it is placed within the context of the love of Christ. One cannot but be impressed by the parallels between the religious thought of Lefevre and the Northern reformers, on the one hand, and of Lefevre and the later Protestant Reformers, on the other. There are particularly striking similarities regarding such fundamental doctrinal matters as the authority of Scripture and the meaning of Justification by faith, as well in relationship to practices such as use of the yernacular. In some respects, Calvin's thought is even more similar than Luther's to that of Lefevre and the Dutch reformers. One may notice, for example, the stress which Calvin places on good works-in the context,