Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536) is widely regarded as the most influential biblical scholar and humanist of the Renaissance. In 1517, shortly after completing his revolutionary Greek New Testament, Erasmus began writing “paraphrases” of the canonical epistles, eventually turning to the Gospels and the book of Acts as well. The paraphrases clarified, explained, expanded upon, and restated the biblical text in contemporary and accessible language. They were intended to help a broad range of readers understand the Bible. Erasmus eventually paraphrased every book in the New Testament except Revelation. This is the first volume of the first complete edition. It contains the Gospels and Acts.