Michael Massing’s book Fatal Discord: Erasmus, Luther, and the Fight for the Western Mind, chronicles the religious and political conflicts of the 1500’s. It highlights the writings and lives of two of the most important players in the conflict, the Dutch humanist, Desiderius Erasmus, and the German reformist, Martin Luther.

An era of corruption cried out for reform. The newly invented printing press gave dissidents a means of appealing to the masses, similar to the power unleashed today by the internet.

Too often, however, those with different views failed to listen to each other.

The author comments on Erasmus in the year 1514, as European conflicts descended into savage bloodletting: “He wondered what it was ‘that drives the whole human race, not merely Christians, to such a pitch of frenzy that they will undergo such effort, expense, and danger for the sake of mutual destruction.’”

The young Holy Roman Emperor at this time, Charles V, “had inherited the idea of the church as a universal and absolutist institution that could not tolerate the tainting presence of Jews or Muslims . . . ”

When Martin Luther first set out his famous theses in Wittenberg, he intended only to call attention to certain church abuses. He wanted to reform the church, not rebel against it. For this and other writings, he was labeled a heretic and left the church.

His writings became more incendiary. His approval of the crushing of the peasant uprisings, as well as his anti Semitism, are horrifying.

Today, we grow increasingly shrill in cursing and labeling each other. Accusations are magnified by the ubiquitous internet. To what end?

Fatal Discourse provides a cautionary history.