ABSTRACT
The Colloquies were soon famous and infamous for their Lucianism. On picking up a copy, all but the ill-informed must have known what to expect. Laughter or smiles mark page after page. But nothing prepared readers of that time to find satire or laughter at ignorance and madness in Erasmus's Annotations on the New Testament. Few scriptural commentators have ever encouraged scoffing and laughter in their glosses and explanations. Erasmus constantly does. Erasmus was ruthless in provoking laughter at the gaffes of guides who knew no Greek. A laugher at others, he never got used to being laughed at himself. He bridled at the laughter of opponents who preferred Aristotle's teaching on war to Christ's. Laughter was returned in kind. With the years the scoffing increased. Each new edition contained some fresh nodes of sneering and laughter.
