Philipp Melancthon

Collaborator and friend of Luther, born at Bretten (in Unterpfalz,
now Baden), 16 February, 1497; died at Wittenberg, 19 April, 1560.

(1) His Rearing and Education

Melancthon was of respectable and well-to-do parentage. His
father, Georg Schwarzerd (Schwarzert) was a celebrated armourer,
while his pious and intelligent mother was the daughter of Reuter,
the burgomaster of Bretten. He received his first instruction at
home from a private tutor, and in 1507 he went to Pforzheim, where
he lived with his grandmother Elizabeth, sister of the great
humanist, Johann Reuchlin. Here the rector, Georg Simler, made him
acquainted with the Greek and Latin poets, and with the philosophy
of Aristotle. But of greater influence still was his intercouirse
with Reuchlin, his grand-uncle, who gave a strong impetus to his
studies. It was Reuchlin also who persuaded him to translate his
name Schwarzerd into the Greek Melancthon, (written Melanthon
after 1531). In 1509 Melancthon, not yet 13 years of age, entered
the University of Heidelberg. This institution had already passed
its humanistic prime under Dalberg and Agricola (see HUMANISM). It
is true that Pallas Spangel, Melancthon's eminent teacher, was
also familiar with humanists and humanism, but he was nonetheless
an able scholastic and adherent of Thomism. Melancthon studied
rhetoric under Peter Gunther, and astronomy under Conrad
Helvetius, a pupil of Caesarius. Meanwhile he continued eagerly
his private studies, the reading of ancient poets and historians
as well as of the neo-Latins, grammar, rhetoric, and dialectics.
He obtained the baccalaureate in 1511, but his application for the
master's degree in 1512 was rejected because of his youth. He
therefore went to T�bingen, where the scientific spirit was in
full vigour, and he became there a pupil of the celebrated
Latinist Heinrich Bebel, and, for a second time, of Georg Simler,
who was then teaching humanities in T�bingen, and was later
professor of jurisprudence. He studied astronomy and astrology
under Stoffler. With Franciscus Stadianus he planned an edition of
the genuine text of Aristotle, but nothing ever came of this. His
thirst for knowledge led him into jurisprudence, mathematics, and
even medicine.

In 1514 he won the master's degree as first among eleven
candidates, and he was made an instructor in the university. His
subjects were Vergil and Terence; later he was assigned the
lectureship on eloquence and expounded Cicero and Livy. He also
became (1514) press-corrector in the printing office of Thomas
Anshelm, pursued his private studies, and at last turned to
theology. For the antiquated scholastic methods of this science as
taught at T�bingen, and for Dr. Jacob Lemp, who, as Melancthon
said, had attempted to picture transubstantiation on the
blackboard, he had, later on, only words of derision. He studied
patristics on his own account and took up the New Testament in the
original text, but did not at this time reach any definite
theological view; in this branch of knowledge, as he himself
afterwards repeatedly declared, his intellectual father was
Luther. He naturally took Reuchlin's part in the latter's
controversy with the Cologne professors (see HUMANISM), and wrote
in 1514 a preface to the "Epistolae clarorum virorum"; but he did
not come prominently to the fore. His own earliest publications
were an edition of Terence (1516), and a Greek grammar (1518). In
1518 he was offered, on Reuchlin's recommendation, a professorship
of Greek at Wittenberg. "I know of no one among the Germans who is
superior to him", wrote Reuchlin to the Elector of Saxony, "save
only Erasmus Roterodamus, and he is a dutchman". The first
impression made by the simple, bashful and frail-looking youth was
not favourable. But his opening address: "De corrigendis
adolescentiae studiis" (29 Aug., 1518), elicited enthusiastic
applause. He extolled the return to the authentic sources of
genuine science as a signal merit of the new humanistic and
scientific spirit, and he promised to apply this method to the
study of theology.

(2) Melancthon and the German Reformation

Luther was a strong believer in making humanism serve the cause of
the "Gospel", and it was not long before the still plastic
Melancthon fell under the sway of Luther's powerful personality.
He accompanied the latter to his Leipzig disputation in 1519;
though he did not participate in the discussion itself, he
seconded with his knowledge Luther's preparatory labours. After
the disputation he composed, with the co-operation of
Oecolampadius, a report which was the occasion of an attack upon
him by Eck to whom he replied with his "Defensio Phil.
Melancthonis contra Joh. Eckium professorem". He was now persuaded
by Luther to take up theological lectures, and became in 1519 a
Bachelor of Theology, then a professor of the same science. For 42
years he laboured at Wittenberg in the very front rank of
university professors. His theological courses were folowed by 500
or 600, later by as many as 1500 students, whereas his
philological lectures were often but poorly attended. Yet he
persistently refused the title of Doctor of Divinity, and never
accepted ordination; nor was he ever known to preach. His desire
was to remain a humanist, and to the end of his life he continued
his work on the classics, along with his exegetical studies. And
yet he became the father of evangelical theology. He composed the
first treatise on "evangelical" doctrine (Loci communes rerum
theologicarum, 1521). It deals principally with practical
religious questions, sin and grace, law and gospel, justification
and regeneration. This work ran through more than 100 editions
before his death. He was a friend and supporter of Luther the
Reformer, and defended him, e.g., against the Italian Dominican,
Thomas Radinus of Piacenza, and the Sorbonne in Paris (1521).

But he was not qualified to play the part of a leader amid the
turmoil of a troublous period. The life which he was fitted for
was the uiet existence of the scholar. He was always of a retiring
and timid disposition, temperate, prudent, and peace-loving, with
a pious turn of mind and a deeply religious training. He never
completely lost his attachment for the Catholic Church and for
many of her ceremonies. His limitations first became apparent
when, during Luther's stay on the Wartburg, 1521, he found himself
in Wittenberg confronted with the task of maintaining order
against the Zwickau fanatics, with their wild notions as to the
establishment of Christ's Kingdom upon earth, communism and so
forth. What Luther accomplished in a few days on his return had
proved impossible to Melancthon. On the other hand he showed his
ability as an organizer when he undertook the reorganization of
Church affairs in Saxony which then appeared to be in a very bad
state. For the visitations ordered by the Elector, Melancthon drew
up the "Instructions for Visitors of the parochial clergy"
(printed, 1528), which work is remarkable for its practical sense
and simplicity. Here also appears the difference between Luther
and Melancthon, for Melancthon warns against reviling pope or
bishop; whereas Luther remarks: "You must denounce vehemently the
papacy and its followers, for it is already doomed by God even as
the devil and his kingdom". Melancthon, it is true, preached the
doctrine that faith alone justifies and that "God will forgive
sins for the sake of Christ, and without works on our part"; but
he added: "We must nevertheless do good works, which God has
commanded." Later he invariably sought to preserve peace as long
as might be possible, and no one took so much to heart as he the
break between the churches.

While Luther in the Smalkaldic Articles (1537), described the pope
as Antichrist and other theologians subscribed to this
declaration, Melancthon wrote: "My idea of the pope is this, that
if he would give due recognition to the Gospel, his supremacy over
the bishops, which he enjoys by human consent (not by Divine
ordinance) should also be acknowledged by us for the sake of peace
and of the unity of those Christians who are now, and in the
future may be, subject to him." He had made a diplomatic plea for
the Reformation at the Reichstag in Speyer (1529). He hoped that
it would be recognized without difficulty by the emperor and the
Catholic party, but unstead of this, a resolution was adopted to
carry out vigorously the Edict of Worms (1521) which prohibited
all innovations. The evangelical element, "a small handful,"
protested against this (whence the name, "Protestants"), and
Melancthon felt grave concern over this "terrible state of
things". At a religious conference with the Zwinglians in Marburg
(autumn of 1529), he joined hands with Luther in opposing a union
with Zwingli. The latter's views on the Eucharist seemed to him an
"impious doctrine". Melancthon composed for the Reichstag of
Augsburg (1530) the Augsburg Confession (confessio Augustana) in
which he aimed to prove that the Protestants, in spite of the
innovations, still belonged to the Catholic Church and had a right
to remain in her fold. To this end he alleged in defence of
Protestant doctrine the Scriptures and statements of recognized
Catholic authorities. The innovations in question were represented
as merely a reformation of abuses which had crept into the Church.
The tenor of the Confession in general and its wording in
particular, were the work of Melancthon. Luther saw its outline
and gave it his approval. It received numerous additions and
changes at Augsburg, and its final form was determined by common
agreement of theologians from all the evangelical bodies.

Melancthon's desire for peace appears even in this basic document
of Protestantism, and he has often been reproached with lack of
vigour in his opposition to the Catholic Church. Luther himself
explained (only, it is true, after the hopes of obtaining for the
Confession the ear of the emperor and of Catholics proved vain),
that he had no intention of showing "servile submission", and that
he regretted the omission of an attack on Purgatory, the
veneration of the Saints and the Papacy. The formal merits of the
Confession, its simple, clear, calm, and terse statement of
doctrine won the unanimous praise of the Evangelical party. His
"masterful clearness and vigorous doctrine" were also admired in
the "Apology" for the Augsburg Confession, which is more decided
in tone because written at a later date (when Melancthon himself
had determined "to throw aside moderation") and directed against
the Catholic "Confutatio". On the other hand, Melancthon was
sharply criticized for his personal conduct in the Reichstag, for
his apprehension and concern, his failure to take a firm and
dignified attitude against the Catholic party. He himself once
declared, in justification of his course: "I know that the people
decry our moderation; but it does not become us to heed the
clamour of the multitude. We must labour for peace and for the
future It will prove a great blessing for us all if unity be
restored in Germany." He feared the overthrow of all order. Hence
he made decided concessions to the Catholics at the subsequent
conferences and debates on religion. He seems to have been lured
by some dream of an Evangelical-Catholic Church. He thought it
possible to remain within the Catholic Church, even with the new
theology. But he was never a Cryptocatholic, as has been laid to
his charge, and while evincing in every other way a spirit of
reconciliation, he held fast to the "purified doctrine", and
repeatedly qualified as blasphemy the lending of a hand, even in
the cause of peace, to any suppression of the truth.

The story that when his mother asked which was the better of the
two religions, he replied that the modified one was the more
plausible, while the old one was the surer, is nothing but a
ridiculous invention. His attempt to bring about a reconciliation
between the two brought him, instead of thanks, only mortification
and abuse. From the age of 30 to that of 50, Melancthon was at the
height of his career as spokesman and advocate of the Reformation,
which, as had formerly been the case in Hesse and Prussia, was
introduced under his guidance into Wurtemberg, Brandenburg, and
Saxony. He never absented himself from a convention of theologians
or statesmen, but found himself differing from Luther on many
points, for as time went on Melancthon emancipated himself more
and more from Luther's teaching. More eventful still and more
painful was the last portion of his life, following the death of
Luther (1546). He rejected the Augsburg Interim (1548) which was
to regulate Church affairs until they should be definitively
settled by the Council, on the ground that it did not harmonize
with Evangelical principles. On the other hand he was prevailed
upon to take part in a conference for a modified interim, the so-
called Leipzig Interim, and he addressed on this occasion a letter
(28 April, 1548) to Minister Carlowitz, of Saxony, which once more
provoked bitter criticism. He lamented therein the thraldom in
which he had been held by the violence of Luther, and again showed
himself favourable to the Catholic system of church organization
and was even ready to accept Catholic practices, though he desired
to hold fast to the "evangelical" doctrines.

A result of this Adiaphora controversy, in which Melancthon
declared Catholic practices adiaphorous (indifferent things,
neither good nor bad), hence permissible provided that the proper
doctrine were maintained and its import made clear to the people.
Matthias Flacius Illyricus and other zealots objected that these
practices had heretofore been the centres of impiety and
superstition, and Melancthon was attacked and reviled by Flacius,
Amsdorf, and the other "Gnesiolutherans", as a renegade and a
heretic. The Lutheran theologians met at Weimar in 1556, and
declared their adhesion to Luther's teaching as to good works and
the Last Supper. Melancthon participated in the religious
discussion which took place at Worms, in 1557, between Catholic
and Protestant theologians. His Lutheran opponents' behaviour
toward him here proved grossly insulting. The last ten years of
his life (1550-60) were almost completely taken up with
theological wrangles (adiaphoristic, osiandric, stankaristic,
majoristic, Calvinistic, and cryptocalvinistic) and with attempts
to compose these various differences. He continued in spite of all
to labour for his Church and for her peace. But one readily
understands why, a few days before he died, he gave as a reason
for not fearing death: "thou shalt be freed from the theologians'
fury (a rabie theologorum)." His last wish was that the Churches
might become reunited in Christ. He died praying, quietly and
peacefully, without apparent struggle.

(3) Melancthon as a Theologian

Melancthon considered it his mission to bring together the
religious thoughts of the Reformation, to coordinate them and give
them a clear and intelligible form. He did not feel himself called
upon to seek out their original premises or to speculate on their
logical results. His theology bears the substantial impress of his
humanistic thought, for he saw in ancient philosophy a precursor
of Christianity and sought to reconcile it with Christian
Revelation. Even in dogma he took up whatever adapted itself most
easily to the general trend of humanistic religious thought, and
his dogmatic departures from Luther were a softening of doctrine.
His theological system is contained in the "Loci Communes", as
revised by him; in substance it was brought to completion by the
edition of 1535. As late as 1521 he had upheld the harsh tenets of
fatalism with regard to all events and of determinism with regard
to the human will. He subsequently gave "Synergism" his support,
as against the deterministic tendency of the Reformation. That God
is not the cause of sin, and that man is responsible for his acts,
must be firmly maintained. Man's salvation can only be wrought out
with the cooperation of his own will, although there can be no
question of merit on his part. Likewise he emphasized the
necessity of good works from the practical, ethical standpoint. He
went so far as to say, in the Loci of 1535, that good works are
necessary for eternal life, inasmuch as they must necessarily
follow reconciliation with God. This was again attenuated later
on: what is necessary, he said, is a new spiritual life or sense
of duty. i.e., a righteous conscience.

As years went by he even abandoned Luther's doctrine as to the
Last Supper, and looked on Christ's spiritual communication of
Himself to the faithful and their internal union with Him as the
essential feature of the Sacrament; i.e., he inclined towards
Calvin's theory. In 1560 his teachings were introduced into all
the churches of Saxony, through the "Corpus Philippicum" (a
collection of Melancthonian doctrinal writings). But there came a
change fourteen years after his death. The Philippists or Crypto-
Calvinists were thrown into prison and sent into exile. They
subsequently identified themselves more and more with Calvinism,
even on the question of predestination. Lutheranismm, narrow and
harsh, won the day with its Formula of Concord (1580). So strong
indeed was the opposition that the saying ran: better a Catholic
than a Calvinist. From that time on until well into the eighteenth
century, Melancthon's memory was assailed and reviled, even in
Wittenberg. It is said that Leonard Hutter, the leading theologian
there at the beginning of the seventeenth century, was so enraged
by an appeal to Melancthon as an authority, made in the course of
a public disputation, that he had the latter's portrait torn down
from the wall and trampled underfoot before the eyes of all. It
was not until the period of the Enlightenment that Melancthon was
again appreciated and recognized as the real founder of a German-
Evangelical theology. Indeed, he carried his labours into all the
other theological fields, in some of which he worked as a pioneer,
while in all he toiled at least as a contributor. He promoted the
study of the Scriptures not only by his own active work thereon
from first to last, but also by his teachings and by his
exhortations to the clergy. Like Luther, he laid particular stress
on the necessity of a thorough philological training, as well as
of a knowledge of history and archaeology, for the prper
interpretation of the Bible. He assisted Luther constantly in his
German translation of the Bible, and also, it is said, in the
production of the Latin translation which appeared at Wittenberg,
in 1529. In exegesis he stood out vigorously for one sense, and
that the literal, (sensus literalis), as against the "four senses"
of the Scholastics. Beyond this, he held, there was nothing to be
sought in the words of the Bible save the dogmatic and practical
applications and development. His commentaries on the Old
Testament are not as important as those which he wrote on the New.
The most noteworthy are those on the Epistle to the Romans and the
Colossians, which have been published repeatedly. These are
largely given to the discussion of facts and of dogmatic and
polemical matters, and they have considerable influence on the
history of Protestant doctrines. The impulse also which he gave to
the study of theology by historical methods, was felt for a long
time. In his handling of the Chronicle of Cario he treated of the
history of the Church jointly with that of the state, and thereby
set an example which found many imitators. He was also the first
to attempt a history of dogma, and led the way in Christian
biography. In homiletics he was early recognized as the originator
of a more methodical form of pulpit oratory, as contrasted with
the "heroic" sermons of Luther. He did not himself appear as a
preacher, but was content with expounding selections from the
Gospel on Sundays and Feast-days, in his house or in a lecture
hall, using for this purpose the Latin tongue for the benefit of
the Hungarian students who did not understand the German sermons
preached in church. This was the origin of his "Postillen"
(homilies). Finally he was the author of the first Protestant
treatise on the method of theological study.

(4) Melancthon as Professor and Pedagogue

Melancthon was the embodiment of the entire intellectual culture
of his time. His learning covered all the branches of knowledge as
it then existed, and what is more remarkable, he possessed the
gift of imparting his knowledge always in the simplest, clearest
and most practical form. On this account the numerous manuals and
guides to the Latin and Greek grammars, to dialectics, rhetoric,
ethics, physics, politics, and history, which he produced in
addition to his many editions of, and commentaries on, classical
authors, were quickly adopted, and were retained for more than a
century. The exposition shows the utmost care; the style is
natural and clear. In his academic training also, he disdained all
rhetorical devices. His power lay not in brilliant oratory, but in
clearness and in the choice of the most appropriate expression
(proprietas sermonis). He did not look upon learning and
literature as ends in themselves, but as means for inculcating
morality and religion. The union of knowledge with the spirit of
religion, of humanism with the "Gospel", was ever the keynote of
his public activity, and through him it became for centuries the
educational ideal of "Evangelical" Germany, even, in a certain
sense, of Germany as a whole. It is not easy therefore to overrate
Melancthon's importance in this field. By this many-sided
practical activity and his work as an organizer he became the
founder of higher education in "Evangelical" Germany; the
elementary school lay outside his sphere. Numerous Latin schools
and universities owed to him their establishment or
reorganization; and in numberless cases he was written to for
advice, or was called on to recommend competent instructors, to
settle controversies, or to give his opinion on the advantage or
necessity of courses of study. His ideas on teaching in the three-
class Latin schools are more fully set forth in the "Unterricht
der Visitatoren" (1528) already referred to, and the "Wittenberger
Kirchen-und Schulordnung" (1533). Their novelty lies partly in the
selection of subjects, but chiefly in the method. Latin naturally
holds the place of honour.

Melancthon put an end to grammatical torture and the "Doctrinale"
of Alexander de Villa Dei; grammar exercises were appended to the
texts. He himself had a Latin school, the Schola Privata,in his
own house for ten years, in which he prepared a few boys for the
university. In 1526, he founded a second grade of the more
advanced school, the Obere Schule, in Nuremburg near St. Aegidien.
He looked on this as a connecting link between the Latin school
and the university. It comprised dialectics and rhetoric, readings
from the poets, mathematics, and Greek. This type of school,
however, did not meet with any great success. The reorganization
of universities, as advocated by Melancthon, affected chiefly the
arts and theological courses. The faculty of Arts became wholly
humanistic. Logic, till then dominant in education, gave way to
the languages, and Greek and Hebrew assumed more prominence. As
sources of philology the classic authors replaced the writers of
the Middle Ages. For the scholastic study of the liberal arts a
more simple and practical course in dialectics and rhetoric was
substituted. Likewise in theology, Scriptural interpretation was
brought to the fore. Dogmatic principles were developed by
exegesis; to these were gradually added special lectures on dogma.
The essential fact was a decided return to original sources. This
transformation was wrought not only in the University of
Wittenberg, but also in that of T�bingen, where Melancthon himself
took part in the work of reform, in those of Frankfort, Leipzig,
Rostock, and Heidelberg, where in 1557 he took part in the
deliberations concerning the university statutes. Wherever he
could not appear in person he sent his advice in writing, while
his disciples, for whom he obtained professorships taught in
accordance with his ideals and his method. The new universities of
Marburg (1527), Konigsberg (1544), and Jena (1548), which were
founded under the Reformation, also found in Melancthon a guide
and a counsellor. Hence his title "Praeceptor Germaniae".

KLEMENS LOFFLER
Transcribed by Marie Jutras

From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright � 1913 by the
Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright � 1996 by
New Advent, Inc.

Taken from the New Advent Web Page (www.knight.org/advent).

This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia Project, an
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