No Room for Skeptics

1518) he associated skepticism with humanism in general.4 He began by depicting biblical humanists as perverters of theology, who 

After this description of the humanists literary propensities, Masson proceeds to discuss their mental habits, noting in particular their negative attitude toward authority and their rejection of dogmatism. They protest if their speech 

In their commentaries they want to have the freedom to state their own or another man s opinion. They say they are not doctrinaire. 

Masson rejected open-ended argumentation or arguing on both sides of a question because it leaves doubt. This kind of argument was incompatible with Christian philosophy, he said. Brushing aside all epistemological difficulties, he declared that the Christian must be assertive It is sufficient for the lover of truth to embrace truth itself and corroborate it with firm arguments.  

In the compass of our study it is pertinent to ask how humanistic skeptics fared in the Reformation debate. Erasmus, Agrippa of Nettesheim, and Castellio, who were clearly identified as skeptics by their contemporaries, deserve our special attention. Participants in the religious debate showed no tolerance for skeptical humanists and saw no useful application for their method. On the contrary, skepticism impeded their purpose, which was the clarification of doctrine. It could not be marshaled in support of a specific interpretation. It could not aid in the process of con- 

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