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On returning from England, Erasmus wrote his second most popular work, the Enchiridion Militis Christiani (Handbook for the Militant Christian), modelled in part on the Enchiridion of Faith, Hope, and Charity of St. Augustine. This book is his direct intervention into the new “middle class” that was developing in the cities, and was one of the first secular works designed to teach the basics of Christian morality. The initiative for the book came from a friend, a woman, whose weapons-merchant husband had become a profligate womanizer. She asked Erasmus to write something to put her husband back on the straight path. The word “Enchiridion” has a double meaning, meaning both a “manual” but also a short sword, or dagger, symbolizing the book should be used as a weapon to fight off evil.

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In the Enchiridion, Erasmus fully expresses his faith in the goodness of his fellow man and, as always, the necessity to teach: “In regard to the soul we are capable of divinity, that is, we may climb in flight above the minds of the very angels themselves and become one with God.” Later, he criticizes the Church:

Charity does not consist in many visits to churches, in many prostrations before the statues of saints, in the lighting of candles, or in the repetition of a number of designated prayers. Of all these things, God has no need. Paul declares charity to be the edification of one’s neighbor, the attempt to integrate all men into one body so that all men may become one in Christ, the loving of one’s neighbor as one’s self. Charity for Paul has many facets; he is charitable who rebukes the erring, who teaches the ignorant, who lifts up the fallen, who consoles the downhearted, who supports the needy. If a man is truly charitable, he will devote, if needs be, all his wealth, all his zeal, all his care to the benefit of others. Keep all this in mind, my brother in Christ, and accept this advice; Have only contempt for the changeable crowd with its ways. To be holy, ignore demands of your senses. ... Do not fear the crowd to the extent that you dare not defend the truth.
You say that you love your wife simply because she is your spouse. There is no merit in this. Even the pagans do this, and the love can be based on physical pleasure alone. But, on the other hand, if you love her you see the image of Christ, because you perceive in her His reverence, modesty and purity, then you do not love her in herself but in Christ. You love Christ in her. This is what we mean by spiritual love.