ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the neglected humanist side of Andreas von Karlstadt’s intellectual life, and therefore to reveal the close relationship between the Reformation and the humanist movement. It examines the compatibility of humanism and the Reformation becomes apparent when the beliefs of specific humanists. Humanists devoted themselves to the recovery of the lost truths of antiquity. The debate between Johannes Eck and Karlstadt was a debate between a scholastic/humanist and a humanist. Karlstadt refused to accept Aristotle as a legitimate authority in the field of theology; and Eck justified his use of Aristotle, citing Cicero, Quintilian, and Plato in his defence. Karlstadt’s desire to go back to the Greek and Hebrew texts of the Bible and his use of the church fathers were well within the biblical humanist tradition. He drew a balance between the dominant authority of the Bible and the supporting role of the church fathers.
