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Chapter 5 of "Til Death do us Part?" by Dr Joseph Webb

The Historic View/Erasmian View The fifth historic view, not written until the 16th century, is called the Erasmian View (or Traditional Protestant View). It teaches that the innocent party is allowed to divorce and subsequently permitted to marry another in the case of adultery, desertion, or any “moral uncleanness.”

Today this view is called the Matthew and Pauline Exception Theory or the Traditional Protestant View. Disiderius Erasmus (1467-1536), after whom this doctrine was named, was otherwise known as Erasmus of Rotterdam. Today he is recognized in our university libraries as the prince of humanists. This same man was declared a heretic by the early Roman Church, and most of his writings were banned or burned. The Protestant Reformation occurred under the leadership of Martin Luther, who declared justification was by faith alone.

Erasmus, translated the Latin New Testament into English and at first welcomed and encouraged the Reformation. When Luther studied Erasmus’ writings, he adopted some of his positions but eventually disfellowshipped Erasmus and declared him to be a skeptic and a rationalist. Later, Luther learned the truth about this very intelligent and talented man’s aberrant lifestyle. Upon Erasmus’ death Luther said: “He did so (died) without light and without the cross...I curse Erasmus, and all who think contrary to the Word...Erasmus is worthy of great hatred...I warn you to regard him as God’s enemy...He inflames the baser passions of young boys, and regards Christ as I regard Klaus Nerr (the court fool).”

In his treatise, Erasmus introduced the idea that any marriage was capable of being dissolved. It seemed monstrously cruel to him that a couple should be compelled to stay together in the flesh when they no longer and perhaps never were united in their spirits. In his notes on the New Testament, he introduced long excuses for divorce from such texts as I Corinthians 7 and Matthew 5 and 19, saying that Jesus approved of divorce due to the hardheartedness of the people and that those whose marriages are already on the rocks should be granted divorces, and be permitted to marry again. These were his conclusions regardless of what the other clear scripture verses taught.