Background
Philip Melancthon was born on February 16, 1497 at Bretten in Swabia, Germany.
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educator humanist reformer author theologion
Philip Melancthon was born on February 16, 1497 at Bretten in Swabia, Germany.
Philip Melancthon's earliest education was supervised by his father and grandfather and, after their deaths in 1508, was directed by his grandmother's brother, the famous jurist and Hebrew scholar Johann Reuchlin.
The young Melancthon studied at Pforzheim and Heidelberg, receiving a bachelor of arts degree from the latter in 1511.
He took his master's degree at Tübingen in 1514.
Hailed by Erasmus and others as a wunder-kind, he accepted a position as professor of Greek at the new University of Wittenberg in 1518. There he and Martin Luther formed a close working relationship at the heart of a team that propagated Luther's reform program. The two influenced each other's thought profoundly. Luther appropriated Melanchthon's philological insights into his translation of Scripture and his theology. Melanchthon in turn expressed Luther's thought in his Loci Communes Rerum Theologicarum (1521; Common topics in theology), an introduction to the study of theology, based on Paul's Epistle to the Romans. Completely revamped later editions (1535, 1543) presented a survey of all theological topics.
Although he held a second professorship in theology after 1526, Melanchthon was foremost an instructor in the arts, particularly rhetoric and dialectic. His innovative blend of the two, based on principles of Cicero, Quintilian, Aristotle, and recent humanists, became standard for European learning. Especially important was his concept of organizing learning by "commonplaces" (loci communes, 'topics'). He lectured and wrote on Aristotle's physics, politics, and ethics as well as history, astronomy, and ancient Greek literature. His encouragement and support of educational reform led to the establishment of many secondary schools and the universities at Königsberg, Jena, and Marburg.
Not only did Melanchthon lay the groundwork for subsequent Lutheran dogmatic instruction; his biblical commentaries employed humanist exegesis and provided sermonic and teaching helps for pastors. He led in producing a series of New Testament expositions (early 1520s), the "Wittenberg Commentary" with his own works on the Gospels of Matthew and John, followed by commentaries on Paul's Epistles to the Romans and the Colossians, as well as other biblical books.
At Luther's side Melanchthon helped spread the Reformation, for example in his organization of the Saxon visitation (1527/1528) and the composition of defining documents for Lutheran teaching, the Augsburg Confession (1530), its Apology (1531), and the Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope (1537), later authoring the Saxon Confession (1551). As chief ecclesiastical diplomat of electoral Saxony and other Lutheran governments, he attempted to forge plans for reform based on the Augsburg Confession for the French and English kings. Through correspondence and memoranda on ecclesiastical problems, often composed for his Wittenberg colleagues, he exercised widespread influence. He led Evangelical representatives at the Augsburg Diet of 1530 and in colloquies with Roman Catholics at Hagenau/Worms/Regensburg (1540/1541) and again at Worms in 1557.
After the defeat of the Evangelical Schmalkaldic League by Emperor Charles V in 1547, Melanchthon strove to preserve the integrity of Wittenberg University and to stave off imperial occupation of Saxony. Under his new prince, Elector Maurice, he sought to placate Charles's demands by forging a religious policy, the so-called Leipzig Interim, that reinstituted some medieval practices while seeking to retain Luther's teaching. Melanchthon considered such rites neutral or adiaphora, but some of his best students considered these concessions to the papacy a betrayal of the Reformation. Melanchthon in turn felt betrayed by these students; their criticism embittered him. His former student and colleague, Matthias Flacius, and his "Gnesio-Lutheran" associates, who claimed to be adhering to Luther's teachings, also accused him of synergism and a focus on the law in the Christian life that turned believers back to reliance on good works. His writings show, however, that throughout his life he continued to center his theology on God's justification of sinners on the basis of his gracious favor alone, which created trust in the promise of forgiveness of sin and life through Christ. The hermeneutical guide to his teaching lay in the distinction of God's law (God's expectation for human creatures that condemns them when they sin) from God's gospel (the message of forgiveness in Christ that liberates people from evil for service to God). His functional interpretation of the presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper also elicited the critique of former students.
As the "Preceptor of Germany" his contributions to the intellectual life of Europe continued to determine elements of learning for more than two centuries, and his theology remains influential into the twenty-first century.
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(The Augsberg Confession By Philip Melancthon)