ABSTRACT
The Erasmian doctrine of the madness of Christ was so widely accepted by theologians of so many churches that it is wise to recall that there were a few dissenting voices. Johannes Maldonat, a Jesuit theologian who was an admired friend of Michel de Montaigne and one of the most learned men of his day, supported Erasmus's exegesis. He accepts that it was the kinsmen, cognati of Jesus, who came to restrain him; and he accepts that they thought they were performing their legal duty. Some do interpret the accusation in Mark less starkly: judging from the examples he gives, he could possibly be criticizing Erasmus. He admits that one of the expressions used tones down the idea of madness only marginally. Erasmus realized that the worldly would find the self-denying life of the Christian insane. Erasmus accepted that meaning, which opened up such wide fields to the madness of Christ and his followers.
