SOURCE: Weintraub, Katy O'Brien. “O Sancte Socrate, Ora Pro Nobis: Erasmus on the Problem of Athens and Jerusalem.” In Cultural Visions: Essays in the History of Culture, edited by Penny Schine Gold and Benjamin C. Sax, pp. 259-70. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000.

In the following essay, Weintraub looks at Erasmus's efforts to reconcile Christian with pre-Christian thought by focusing on his writings on Socrates, including his famous request, “O Saint Socrates, pray for us.” Weintraub finds that Erasmus does not follow the pattern of other early Christian humanists by using the notion of “natural reason” to unite the two traditions, but instead employs a theological strategy that includes ancient pagans in the unity of creation, emphasizing the omnipotence of God rather than the achievements of individual philosophers.

For many years one simple quotation from Erasmus formed an important hallmark of the students' experience of the History of Western Civilization course...