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Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)
First he exposed the moral corruption in the church and in the monasteries and wrote a number of books on the subject.
His second contribution was his editing of the first printed Greek New Testament in 1516. This brought people's attention to the true gospel of Christ and taught that salvation is by grace and not by works. This was translated into several European languages and printed in large numbers at an expectable price.
Martin Luther said of Erasmus 'He pointed out the evil but was unable to point out the good and to lead to the promised land'. In fact Erasmus had prepared the way for the Reformation as expressed in the saying 'Erasmus laid the egg but Luther hatched it'.