Philipp Melanchthon

Philipp Melanchthon (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, an intellectual leader of the Lutheran Reformation, and influential designer of educational systems. Along with Luther and John Calvin, he played a major role in shaping Protestantism.

He was born Philipp Schwartzerdt on 16 February 1497 at Bretten, where his father Georg Schwarzerdt (1459–1508) was armorer to Philip, Count Palatine of the Rhine. His mother was Barbara Reuter (1476/77-1529). Bretten was burned in 1689 by French troops during the War of the Palatinate Succession. The town's Melanchthonhaus was built on the site of his place of birth in 1897.

In 1507 he was sent to the Latin school at Pforzheim, where the rector, Georg Simler of Wimpfen, introduced him to the Latin and Greek poets and to Aristotle. He was influenced by his great-uncle Johann Reuchlin, a Renaissance humanist, who suggested Philipp follow a custom common among humanists of the time and change his surname from "Schwartzerdt" (literally 'black earth'), into the Greek equivalent "Melanchthon" (Μελάγχθων).

Philipp was 11 years old in 1508 when both his grandfather (d. 17 October) and father (d. 27 October) died within eleven days of each other. He and a brother were brought to Pforzheim to live with his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Reuter, sister of Reuchlin.

The next year he entered the University of Heidelberg, where he studied philosophy, rhetoric, astronomy, and astrology, and became known as a scholar of Greek thought. In 1509, Melanchthon received his B.A. at the University of Heidelberg, and in 1512, his M.A. at Tübingen, where he would teach after obtaining his degrees. In 1518, he was called to Wittenberg at the request of his uncle to teach Greek. While there, he was also taught the technical aspects of astrology by Johannes Stöffler.

After gaining a master's degree in 1512, he began to study theology at Tübingen. Under the influence of Reuchlin, Erasmus, and others, he became convinced that true Christianity was something different from the scholastic theology taught at the university. In 1519, he received a B.D. and quickly began collaborating with Martin Luther on a translation of the Bible.

Already recognized as a reformer, he was opposed at Tübingen. He accepted a call to the University of Wittenberg from Martin Luther on the recommendation of his great-uncle, and became professor of Greek there in 1518 at the age of 21. He studied the Scriptures, especially of Paul, and evangelical doctrine. He attended the disputation of Leipzig (1519) as a spectator, but participated with his own comments. After his views were attacked by Johann Eck, he replied based on the authority of Scripture in his Defensio contra Johannem Eckium (Wittenberg, 1519).

Following lectures on the Gospel of Matthew and the Epistle to the Romans, together with his investigations into Pauline doctrine, he was granted the degree of bachelor of theology, and transferred to the theological faculty. He married Katharina Krapp (Katharina Melanchthon), (1497–1557) daughter of Wittenberg's mayor, on 25 November 1520. They had four children: Anna, Philipp, Georg, and Magdalen.

In the beginning of 1521, Melanchthon defended Luther in his Didymi Faventini versus Thomam Placentinum pro M. Luthero oratio (Wittenberg, n.d.). He argued that Luther rejected only papal and ecclesiastical practises which were at variance with Scripture. But while Luther was absent at Wartburg Castle, during the disturbances caused by the Zwickau prophets, Melanchthon wavered.

The appearance of Melanchthon's Loci communes rerum theologicarum seu hypotyposes theologicae (Wittenberg and Basel, 1521) was of subsequent importance to the Reformation. Melanchthon discussed the "leading thoughts" of Paul's Letter to the Romans and used this platform to present a new doctrine of Christianity; one where faith in God was more important than good deeds. Loci communes contributed to the gradual rise of the Lutheran scholastic tradition, and the later theologians Martin Chemnitz, Mathias Haffenreffer, and Leonhard Hutter expanded upon it. Melanchthon continued to lecture on the classics.

On a journey in 1524 to his native town, he encountered the papal legate, Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio, who tried to draw him from Luther's cause. In his Unterricht der Visitatorn an die Pfarherrn im Kurfürstentum zu Sachssen (1528) Melanchthon presented the evangelical doctrine of salvation as well as regulations for churches and schools.

In 1529, Melanchthon accompanied the elector to the Diet of Speyer. His hopes of persuading the Holy Roman Empire to recognize the Reformation were not fulfilled. A friendly attitude towards the Swiss at the Diet was something he later changed, calling Huldrych Zwingli's doctrine of the Lord's Supper "an impious dogma".

The composition now known as the Augsburg Confession was presented at the Diet of Augsburg in 1530, and would come to be considered perhaps the most significant document of the Protestant Reformation.

While the confession was based on Luther's Marburg and Schwabach articles, it was mainly the work of Melanchthon; although it was commonly thought of as a unified statement of doctrine by the two reformers, Luther did not conceal his dissatisfaction with its irenic tone. Indeed, some would criticize Melanchthon's conduct at the Diet as unbecoming of the principle he promoted, implying that faith in the truth of his cause should logically have inspired Melanchthon to a firmer and more dignified posture. Others point out that he had not sought the part of a political leader, suggesting that he seemed to lack the requisite energy and decision for such a role and may simply have been a lackluster judge of human nature.

Melanchthon represented Luther at the conference, as Luther was barred from attending. Charles V had called the Diet of Augsburg in order to unite religious groups in the face of a potential war with the Ottoman Empire. However, despite all efforts and attempts at compromise, there was no reconciliation between Catholics and Lutherans.

After the confession was discussed and official response, the Pontifical Confutation of the Augsburg Confession was produced. Melanchthon wrote a reply to this which became known as the Apology of the Augsburg Confession.

Melanchthon then settled into the comparative quiet of his academic and literary labours. His most important theological work of this period was the Commentarii in Epistolam Pauli ad Romanos (Wittenberg, 1532), noteworthy for introducing the idea that "to be justified" means "to be accounted just", whereas the Apology had placed side by side the meanings of "to be made just" and "to be accounted just". Melanchthon's increasing fame gave occasion for prestigious invitations to Tübingen (September 1534), France, and England but consideration of the elector caused him to refuse them.

Melanchthon viewed any veneration of saints rather critically but he developed positive commentaries about Mary.

In his Annotations in Evangelia, he wrote a study on Luke 2:52, and discussed Mary's faith. He noted that "she kept all things in her heart" which to him was a call to the church to follow her example. He believed that Mary was negligent when she lost her son in the temple, but she did not sin. He also believed that Mary was conceived with original sin like every other human being, but she was spared the consequences of it. As such, he opposed the feast of the Immaculate Conception, which at the time, was not dogma, but was celebrated in several cities and had been approved at the Council of Basel in 1439. He declared that the Immaculate Conception was an invention of monks. He saw Mary as a representation (typus) of the church and believed that in the Magnificat, Mary spoke for the whole church. Standing under the cross, Mary suffered like no other human being; as such, he believed that Christians have to unite with her under the cross, in order to become Christ-like.

In lecturing on the Librorum de judiciis astrologicis of Ptolemy in 1535–1536, Melanchthon expressed to students his interest in Greek mathematics, astronomy and astrology. He considered that a purposeful God had reasons to exhibit comets and eclipses. He was the first to print a paraphrased edition of Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos in Basel, 1554. Natural philosophy, in his view, was directly linked to Providence, a point of view that was influential in curriculum change after the Protestant Reformation in Germany. In the period 1536-1539 he was involved in three academic innovations: the refoundation of Wittenberg along Protestant lines, the reorganization at Tübingen, and the foundation of the University of Leipzig.

Before these theological dissensions were settled, Melanchthon died. Only a few days before his death, he had written a note which gave his reasons for not fearing death. On the left hand side of the note were the words, "You will be delivered from sins, and be freed from the acrimony and fury of theologians"; on the right, "You will go to the light, see God, look upon his Son, learn those wonderful mysteries which you have not been able to understand in this life." The immediate cause of death was a severe cold which he had contracted on a journey to Leipzig in March 1560, followed by a fever that consumed his strength, although his body had already been weakened. He was pronounced dead on 19 April 1560. His body was buried beside Luther's in the Schloßkirche in Wittenberg.

In Melanchthon's last moments, he continued to worry over the desolate condition of the church. He prayed continually and listened to passages of Scripture. The words of John 1:11-12 were especially significant to him - "His own received him not; but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God." When Caspar Peucer, his son-in-law, asked him if he wanted anything, he replied, "Nothing but heaven."

He is commemorated in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod on 16 February, his birthday, and in the calendar of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on 25 June, the date of the presentation of the Augsburg Confession.