Melanchton

Philip 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.

He stands next to Luther and John Calvin as a reformer, theologian, and shaper of Protestantism.

Early life and education

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" ().

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.

His first publications included a number of poems in a collection edited by Jakob Wimpfeling (), the preface to Reuchlin's ' (1514), an edition of Terence (1516), and a book of Greek grammar (1518).

Professor at Wittenberg

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.

Theological disputes

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 ecclesiastic

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases