After the thirteenth century a certain stream of intellectuals emphasized the main sources of the ancient world. This way back to the sources (ad fontes) was a diverse movement, which later on was subordinated under the label “Humanism.” As modern research has developed, this label has come into question, even though we can find some common understanding of education founded in a common anthropology focusing on the understanding of the image of God in the creation of man, homines non nascuntur, sed finguntur (Erasmus 1529). During the process of education the human being can grow and develop in the image of God. Thus education has its goal in the image and likeness of individuals to their creator.
This attempt of education became very influential. In the northern parts of Europe, Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466–1536) became the core of a large movement, which related back through the philosophers of the Renaissance to the understanding of education in Rome and Athens.
Erasmus became influential not only for transferring this understanding over the Alps but also for a certain merger of Christian and pagan thoughts subordinated to an elaborated interpretation of Scripture based on the old languages. His theological focus came to the fore when he used Christ as the basis for his interpretation of the image of god. Nevertheless it is not clear how much Erasmus’s understanding of Christology had an impact on his anthropology or the other way around. Christ becomes the true model for pious behavior and the prototype of ethical orientation. In Christ, human beings find their model of true humanity and the image of God that they bear within their souls. Thus the discussion of piety and the way to SALVATION becomes more and more a discussion of true human behavior and orientation of life. Erasmus matches human activity—education, knowledge, and the struggle for more and better knowledge—with God’s GRACE and eternal mercy.
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